Environment

Ang Tenzing Sherpa, 74, has been married to his wife Furdiki for 4 decades. They have 7 children and 9 grandchildren, some of whom live in the same valley. However, Sherpa is concerned about flooding, he says "All summer, I can't sleep. Every sound, I wonder if it's the lake finally releasing its water. I lie down in my clothes every night, in case I need to flee."

Living in the shadow of a dangerous shrinking glacier

5:01am April 19, 2023

Melting glaciers are leaving behind unstable lakes around the world. Millions of people live downstream, in places increasingly threatened by deadly flash floods. What will it take to protect them?

Wildfires are getting bigger. Arctic ice is melting. Now, scientists say they're linked.

The surprising connection between Arctic ice and Western wildfires

5:00am April 19, 2023

The ice that covers the Arctic Ocean is shrinking as the climate gets hotter. Scientists are finding it could be linked to weather that's helping fuel disasters.

Climate change is pushing already imperiled whales to the brink, a sign of deeper shifts in the oceans as the world's ice melts.

The unexpected link between imperiled whales and Greenland's melting ice

5:00am April 19, 2023

Climate change is pushing already endangered right whales to the brink. Scientists say the oceans will fundamentally shift as the world's ice melts.

Melting ice in Greenland could be driving the deaths of an already endangered whale.

Environment

Greenland's melting ice could be changing our oceans. Just ask the whales

10:06am April 18, 2023

by Lauren Sommer

The massive ice sheet on Greenland is shrinking as the climate gets hotter, pouring fresh water into the Atlantic Ocean. That could be setting off a chain reaction that's altering ocean ecosystems.

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Sewage often becomes fertilizer, but the issue is it's tainted with PFAS

5:08am April 18, 2023

by Barbara Moran

A lot of products contain toxic PFAS. Some of these "forever chemicals" are ending up in sewage that is turned into fertilizer.

A year after New Mexico's biggest wildfire, victims have yet to see $2.5 billion aid

5:14pm April 17, 2023

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Congress set aside $2.5 billion for victims of New Mexico's biggest wildfire, started by accident by the U.S. Forest Service. A year after the fire, distributing that money is still in the works.

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New emissions rules can only be met if auto makers can sell lots of EVs soon

5:10pm April 17, 2023

NPR's Ailsa Chang and Keith Barry of Consumer Reports discuss whether now is a good time to buy a new electric vehicle, or whether it's best to wait.

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A piece of plastic debris that's been colonized by both costal barnacles (pink and striped) and a gooseneck barnacle from the open ocean.

This floating ocean garbage is home to a surprising amount of life from the coasts

11:00am April 17, 2023

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

A study of plastic trash hauled out of the Pacific Ocean found that most of it had been colonized by coastal life that was thriving right next to species that normally live in the open sea.

Lake Tahoe's clear water is due to tiny creatures called Zooplankton, researchers say

7:48am April 16, 2023

by Ayesha Rascoe

Lake Tahoe's water is clearer than it's been in decades. Why? NPR's Ayesha Rascoe gets the answer from Geoffrey Schladow, Director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.

Independence Hall in Philadelphia, May 4, 2022. The National Park Service plans to install gas-fired boilers at Independence National Historical Park, despite a 2007 law mandating new and remodeled federal buildings be 100% free of fossil fuels by 2030.

A 15-year-old law would end fossil fuels in federal buildings, but it's on hold

6:44am April 16, 2023

by Jeff Brady

A 2007 law could help the country meet its climate change goals by barring fossil fuels from new and remodeled federal buildings. But the law has been on hold and gas utilities want to repeal it.

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