Environment

A man-made island in South Carolina provides much needed sanctuary for shorebirds

10:58am June 13, 2023

by Victoria Hansen

There's a man-made island near Charleston that's now serving as a sanctuary for thousands of shorebirds. It's one beneficial way to use soil from dredging rivers.

Queue Listen Now

Most of the fish that were found dead in Quintana Beach County were small creatures called menhaden.

Why thousands of fish washed up on these Texas beaches

3:43pm June 12, 2023

by Juliana Kim

Thousands of dead fish washed ashore in southeast Texas this past weekend. The cause of death was low oxygen, meaning fish struggled to "breathe" in the warm weather.

The process produces a protein-shake like texture that can be dried and used similarly to seitan, a popular protein substitute for vegans.

The special ingredient for Mars travel meal prep? Astronaut breath

5:00am June 12, 2023

by Juliana Kim

Chemical physicist Stafford Sheehan invented a process that can turn carbon dioxide into yeast. It's now a finalist in the NASA-sponsored Deep Space Food Challenge.

Alessandra Korap Munduruku demanded that mining company Anglo American withdraw its permits to develop projects on her ancestral land.

This Brazilian activist stared down mining giants to protect the rainforest she loves

6:22am June 11, 2023

by Jill Langlois

Champion of her ancestral forest, Brazilian Indigenous activist Alessandra Korap Munduruku was one of this year's recipients of the Goldman Environmental Prize for grassroots activists.

A burnt landscape caused by wildfires is pictured near Entrance, Wild Hay area, Alberta, Canada on May 10.

Rain may soon help put out flames in Canada's worst recorded wildfire season

6:15pm June 10, 2023

by Halisia Hubbard

Rain is expected to start on Sunday evening, potentially helping to put out wildfires in Canada's Alberta and Quebec provinces. This is already the country's worst wildfire year on record.

Horseshoe crabs are bled at a facility in Charleston, S.C., in June 2014.

Coastal biomedical labs are bleeding more horseshoe crabs with little accountability

11:58am June 10, 2023

by Chiara Eisner

Horseshoe crab blood is used to test vaccines around the world. But while Europe has approved a synthetic alternative, biomedical labs are bleeding more crabs from the Atlantic Coast.

Queue Listen Now

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, is seen in the background of the shallow Kakhovka Reservoir. Water levels in the reservoir have been falling rapidly after a critical dam collapsed.

A Ukrainian nuclear plant is facing a water shortage

5:01am June 10, 2023

by Geoff Brumfiel

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant used a large reservoir for cooling water. Now that reservoir is rapidly draining.

How residents of Baltimore are coping with the smoke coming from Canada

4:43pm June 09, 2023

by Scott Maucione

Homeless shelters handed out masks and schools cancelled activities as Baltimore residents endured another day of smoky air from wildfires in Canada.

Queue Listen Now

A statewide survey of California's bumblebees hopes to help conserve them

4:43pm June 09, 2023

NPR's Ailsa Chang searches coastal California for wild bumblebees with conservation biologist Leif Richardson, one of the leaders of the California Bumble Bee Atlas.

Queue Listen Now

Wildfire smoke filling the New York City skyline was a familiar sight to communities in the Western U.S., who have had to learn to live with the effects of more extreme fires.

Environment

3 lessons from the Western U.S. for dealing with wildfire smoke

1:23pm June 09, 2023

by Lauren Sommer

How bad does the air get inside your house? What should schools do about recess? Western states have grappled with all that before.