Environment

Since purple sea urchins have eaten up their food supply, many of them are empty inside.

Saving California's Kelp Forest May Depend On Eating Purple Sea Urchins

1:54pm September 09, 2019

by Erika Mahoney

Purple sea urchins are devouring the kelp forest off California's coast. To help the forest survive, researchers are trying to make these urchins a delicacy on menus at seafood restaurants.

Environment

Current Marine Heat Wave Reminds Scientists Of 'The Blob'

6:26am September 09, 2019

by Cassandra Profita

A marine heat wave off the West Coast is causing ocean temperatures to rise from Alaska to California. Scientists say it looks a lot like the warm water mass they nicknamed the blob five years ago.

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A Rough Terrain Container Handler, or RTCH, moves a shipping container full of about 40,000 pounds of wood chips to a nearby railcar.

Chip-And-Ship Forest Clearing May Help Prevent Wildfire Disasters

7:56am September 08, 2019

by Ryan Heinsius

Large-scale forest thinning in northern Arizona to prevent wildfires is behind schedule. But a new program is taking low-value logs and shipping them across the Pacific to markets in Asia.

Antigua And Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne On Rebuilding After A Hurricane

7:56am September 08, 2019

Hurricane Irma devastated the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda two years ago. NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with the country's prime minster, Gaston Browne, about rebuilding and climate change.

Flooding from Hurricane Dorian swamped Ocracoke Island on Friday in North Carolina's Outer Banks.

Dorian's Floodwaters Trapped Hundreds In The Outer Banks Until Boat Rescuers Arrived

11:44pm September 07, 2019

by Bobby Allyn

One islander who was saved described Dorian this way: "It was like being in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome mixed with the Wizard of Oz," she said. "The noise, the intensity was just outrageous."

Former NOAA Official On Trump's Alabama Hurricane Threat

5:13pm September 07, 2019

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Monica Medina, a former official for the NOAA, about the controversy surrounding president Trump's assertion that Alabama had been in the path of Hurricane Dorian.

A gas flare from the Shell Chemical LP petroleum refinery illuminates the sky on Aug. 21 in Norco, La.

Opinion: Earth Has Survived Extinctions Before, It's Humans Who Are Fragile

8:37am September 07, 2019

by Scott Simon

Earth has experienced cataclysmic life-destroying events before. NPR's Scott Simon reflects on what this means for humans in the midst of climate change.

President Trump holds a chart as he talks with reporters after receiving a briefing on Hurricane Dorian in the Oval Office of the White House, on Wednesday in Washington.

NOAA Contradicts Weather Service, Backs Trump On Hurricane Threat In Alabama

11:42pm September 06, 2019

by Richard Gonzales

In the escalating debate over weather projections, meteorologists fear their credibility is at stake.

Ford Motor Co., BMW, Honda and Volkswagen received letters from the Justice Department about a deal they entered with California earlier this year for reducing vehicle emissions.

Trump Administration Challenges California And Automakers On Fuel Economy

8:14pm September 06, 2019

The Trump administration says only the federal government can set tailpipe emissions standards. It's the latest move in a months long standoff over efforts to weaken a key Obama-era climate rule.

Mike Hickey works on capping an an orphaned well in Adams County, Colo. The EPA estimates there are more than 1 million abandoned gas and oil wells across the country.

Cleaning Up Abandoned Wells Proves Costly To Gas And Oil Producing States

7:35pm September 06, 2019

by Matt Bloom

Abandoned gas and oil wells dot many states. These orphaned sites need to be capped and cleaned up, but doing so is difficult when the responsible companies have gone bankrupt.

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