Environment

Horsham, Pa., is one of many towns around the country grappling with potentially harmful chemicals in its water. They're known as PFAS, and they're linked to cancer and other illnesses.

Decades Old Chemicals, New Angst Over Drinking Water

5:57pm October 02, 2018

by Jeff Brady

Around the country, communities are learning their drinking water is polluted with a potentially harmful group of chemicals. The Trump Administration is working on a plan to manage them.

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Environment

State Officials Say No Elevated Levels Of Metals In Neuse River

2:05pm October 02, 2018

by Jason DeBruyn, WUNC

Regulators with the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality say their tests on the Neuse River show no elevated levels of dangerous metals in the water.

Deadly Earthquake and Tsunami Hits Indonesia's Island of Sulawesi

Environment

Death Toll Rises In Indonesia After Tsunami

1:55pm October 02, 2018

After a 7.5-magnitude earthquake catalyzed a tsunami, survivors in the coastal city of Palu, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, are struggling. The BBC reports that the death toll is

Fire ecologist Malcolm North looks down at the still-burning Lions Fire from a ridge in the Sierra Nevadas.

Fire Ecologists Say More Fires Should Be Left To Burn. So Why Aren't They?

9:32pm September 27, 2018

by Nathan Rott

Fire ecologists are urging forest managers to allow more wildfires to burn on the landscape to help thin overgrown forests. Many challenges stand in the way.

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Cypress trees line Reelfoot Lake, in northwestern Tennessee. Some of them show signs of damage from an herbicide that farmers sprayed on nearby soybean fields.

A Drifting Weedkiller Puts Prized Trees At Risk

6:05pm September 27, 2018

by Dan Charles

The EPA is deciding whether to let farmers keep using an herbicide called dicamba. The chemical is controversial because it can damage nearby crops. What's less well-known: It's hurting wildlife, too.

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Environment

Florence Floods Breed Large, Aggressive Mosquitoes

11:42am September 27, 2018

A North Carolina city dealing with fallout from Hurricane Florence has been swarmed by aggressive mosquitoes nearly three times larger than regular mosquitoes.

A different beluga whale swims under ice at the Arctic Circle dive center in northern Russia.

Beluga Charms British With Impromptu Visit

6:02pm September 26, 2018

by Ruben Kimmelman

People lined the River Thames east of London on Wednesday trying to catch a glimpse of a beluga whale swimming far out of its normal range.

Environment

EPA Drops 26 North Carolina Counties From Emissions Program

3:49pm September 26, 2018

by Associated Press

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has dropped 26 counties from North Carolina's requirement for vehicle emissions inspections.

Fuel Efficiency And Smog In Arizona

5:14am September 26, 2018

by Will Stone

The EPA is holding hearings on a proposal to relax fuel efficiency standards. Arizona has come out in opposition — the state has a bad smog problem and was counting on the fuel rules to help fix it.

A new study from the University of Texas at Austin suggests that bees exposed to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, lose some of the beneficial bacteria in their guts and are more susceptible to infection and death.

Study: Roundup Weed Killer Could Be Linked To Widespread Bee Deaths

8:06pm September 25, 2018

by Vanessa Romo

Scientists at the University of Texas at Austin posit that glyphosate destroys specialized gut bacteria in bees, leaving them more susceptible to infection and death from harmful bacteria.