Environment

This oblique view of the Himalayan landscape was captured by a KH-9 Hexagon satellite on Dec. 20, 1975, on the border between eastern Nepal and Sikkim, India.

I Spy, Via Spy Satellite: Melting Himalayan Glaciers

5:12pm June 19, 2019

by Pien Huang

Scientists are using old spy satellite images to measure the effects of climate change. They're finding that glaciers in the Himalayas are melting twice as fast as they were a few decades earlier.

A tugboat operator secures a floating razor wire security fence during an emergency response exercise at the Kinder Morgan Inc. Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, last September. A new expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline

Canada's Trudeau Approves Controversial Pipeline Expansion

8:13am June 19, 2019

by Scott Neuman

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first approved the project, which is opposed by many environmental groups, in 2016, but Tuesday's announcement means construction can begin later this year.

In California's Mojave Desert sits First Solar Inc.'s Desert Sunlight Solar Farm. California is among the states leading the decarbonization charge.

Going 'Zero Carbon' Is All The Rage. But Will It Slow Climate Change?

5:34pm June 18, 2019

by Nathan Rott

Cities, states, businesses and electric utilities are setting ambitious goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions. But it's not clear exactly how they'll do that or whether it will actually work.

How Ohio's Cuyahoga River Came Back To Life 50 Years After It Caught On Fire

4:22pm June 18, 2019

by Mark Urycki

The Cleveland river's 1969 burning inspired Randy Newman's song and endless jokes. But its cleanup has been such a success that environmental officials travel from around the world to take notes.

50 Years Later: Burning Cuyahoga River Called Poster Child For Clean Water Act

10:30am June 18, 2019

by Mark Urycki

Cleveland wasn't the first city to have a river burn, but it was the first to get widespread attention. That 1969 blaze helped spur environmental regulations.

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Anne Schauer-Gimenez (from left) Allison Pieja and Molly Morse of Mango Materials stand next to the biopolymer fermenter at a sewage treatment plant next to San Francisco Bay. The fermenter feeds bacteria the methane they need to produce a biological form

Replacing Plastic: Can Bacteria Help Us Break The Habit?

11:06am June 17, 2019

by Christopher Joyce

Entrepreneurs are eager to find substitutes for plastic that naturally degrade. One option is a "natural" plastic made by microbes and then eaten by them. But the process is still in the early days.

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The Gulf Of Mexico's Expanding Dead Zone

8:03am June 16, 2019

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with marine ecologist Nancy Rabalais about the expanding dead zone that is likely to appear in the Gulf of Mexico because of record Midwest rains.

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High Flooding On Lake Ontario And St. Lawrence River

7:58am June 15, 2019

by Emily Russell

The U.S. and Canada are under pressure to show a water control plan for the area along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River didn't actually make flooding worse.

A coyote runs down the road in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park. In 2018, more than 68,000 coyotes were killed in the U.S., including 5,600 just in Wyoming, under an Agriculture Department program.

Killing Coyotes Is Not As Effective As Once Thought, Researchers Say

1:59pm June 14, 2019

by Melodie Edwards

Government agencies kill more than 68,000 coyotes a year to keep them from preying on livestock and big game. But scientists say tracking them might be a better solution.

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New Orleans Sues Big Oil

8:35am June 14, 2019

by Tegan Wendland

New Orleans is suing oil and gas companies to help it pay for flood protection. It's a major move against an industry that's key to the city's economy.

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