Environment

As Midwest Dams Reach End Of Life, Soaked States Can't Handle Repair Costs

7:53pm July 31, 2015

by Logan Layden

More than 11,000 dams across the U.S. have protected lives and property from flooding for decades. But age is catching up to them, and many need repairs. Record rain hasn't helped matters this year.

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As The West Craves Drought Relief, El Nino May Do More Harm Than Good

7:53pm July 31, 2015

by Kirk Siegler

There is much hype around a potential El Nino that could help ease the drought on the West Coast. But there are concerns that a deluge of rain could do more harm than good for the long term drought outlook.

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As Beijing Prepares To Host Winter Olympics, Where Will It Get The Snow?

7:53pm July 31, 2015

NPR's Melissa Block talks with Jennifer Turner, director of the China Environment Forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center, about water resources and environmental concerns in the extremely arid region.

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Sea bass, pollock, striped bass and other fish species are seen for sale at the Harbor Fish Market in Portland, Maine.

Do Fish Names Encourage Fishy Business?

9:41pm July 30, 2015

by Clare Leschin-Hoar

Legally, a single fish species can go by many names from sea to plate, and different fish can go by the same name. An environmental group says that hampers efforts to combat illegal fishing and fraud.

A Lebanese woman covers her nose as she walks past piles of garbage on a Beirut street.

Amid Political Dysfunction, Beirut Residents Suffer The Stench Of Garbage

8:04pm July 30, 2015

by Alice Fordham

Beirut's streets are piled with two weeks' worth of uncollected trash. To many Lebanese, it's no surprise. The country has been without a president for more than a year.

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Greenpeace Activists Protest Shell Oil's Plan To Drill In The Arctic Ocean

6:47pm July 30, 2015

NPR's Melissa Block speaks with KUCB reporter John Ryan about how protesters are trying to block Shell's plan to drill in the Arctic by keeping a Shell icebreaker from leaving Portland, Ore.

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Shell Announces Plans To Eliminate 6,500 Jobs

6:42pm July 30, 2015

by John Ydstie

Royal Dutch Shell has announced plans to eliminate 6,500 jobs as slumping oil prices force the industry to make adjustments. Shell's profits fell by more than 30 percent in the second quarter.

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AP Study Finds Viruses Linked To Raw Sewage In Rio De Janeiro Olympic Waters

6:24pm July 30, 2015

NPR's Melissa Block speaks with the AP's Brazil bureau chief Brad Brooks about the investigation, which found high levels of dangerous viruses in water venues for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

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Experts: Flight MH370 Debris Could Have Reached Western Indian Ocean

4:00pm July 30, 2015

by Scott Neuman

A scientist who studies ocean circulation patterns tells NPR that it's "highly likely" that floating wreckage from the airliner could have reached the island of Reunion near Madagascar.

A town in California's Central Valley plans to transform farmland into an eco-friendly residential community. An artist's rendering shows plans for Kings River Village in Reedley, Calif.

California's Drought Spurs Unexpected Effect: Eco-Friendly Development

7:56pm July 29, 2015

by Ezra David Romero

In the state's agricultural Central Valley, planning is under way to transform peach and plum fields into Kings River Village, a solar-powered community that will send wastewater back into an aquifer.

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