Environment

Milo Cress says straws are among the most common disposable plastic items, along with bottle caps, that can be found polluting oceans and beaches.

One Child's Outsized Influence On The Debate Over Plastic Straws

7:40pm July 22, 2018

One of the most common statistics that comes up in conversations around plastic straw waste comes from a study conducted by Milo Cress when he was just nine years old.

Queue Listen Now

The way cows digest food takes a lot of energy and generates a lot of heat. This makes them lose their appetite and produce less milk.

As Milk Production Cools In Summer, Farmers Try To Help Cows Take The Heat

8:15am July 21, 2018

by Mose Buchele

From fans and misting water to creating a whole new breed of cow, farmers and researchers are fighting rising temperatures to keep the dairy industry from losing millions of dollars to "heat stress."

Why Heat Waves Are More Challenging For Pregnant Women

4:26pm July 20, 2018

by Courtney Collins

Forecasters say Friday should be the hottest July 20 ever in North Texas with temperatures reaching at least 107 degrees. Think you're hot? Think about if you were a pregnant mom.

Queue Listen Now

A hotel employee prepares coconut husks for recycling into rope at the luxury Soneva Fushi island resort in the Maldives. It's just one of many initiatives the resort is taking to reduce food waste.

How Luxury Hotels And Restaurants In Developing Countries Fight Food Waste

8:02am July 20, 2018

by Laura Ratliff

The United Nations says nearly one-fourth of food purchases in hotels and restaurants are thrown away. Luxury properties in Mexico, India, and elsewhere are trying programs to bring that figure down.

EPA Inspector General Blames 'Management Weakness' In Flint Response

5:55am July 20, 2018

by Steve Carmody

The EPA's internal watchdog says "management weakness" delayed the federal government's response to the Flint, Mich., water crisis.

Queue Listen Now

The texture and shapes of icebergs are caused by many different forces, such as the movement of water and air around and through the ice.

Photographer Captures The Contradictions Of Otherworldly Antarctica

5:02pm July 19, 2018

by Maureen Pao

WAMU's Tyrone Turner was mesmerized by the majestic ice and surprised by how he felt in the presence of these massive structures.

Environment

How The Campaign To Ban Plastic Straws Got Its Start

4:28pm July 19, 2018

by Stacey Vanek Smith

As more companies announce bans on plastic straws, NPR's Planet Money talks to one of the originators of the campaign against plastic straws to learn the strategic choices that made this campaign catch on.

Queue Listen Now

Barnacle geese have sped up their migration to their breeding grounds because of warming Arctic temperatures.

Migrating Arctic Geese Are Confused, Exhausted By Rising Temperatures

2:05pm July 19, 2018

by Merrit Kennedy

Warmer weather means that barnacle geese fly faster to their breeding grounds, leaving them too tired to lay eggs right away. By the time they're ready, the babies have missed the best food.

Marriott International became the latest company to announce it will stop using plastic straws, saying it would remove them from its more than 6,500 properties by next July.

Environment

Marriott Follows Starbucks In Dropping Plastic Straws

3:09pm July 18, 2018

by Avie Schneider

The giant hotel chain became the latest company to announce it will stop using plastic straws, saying it would remove them from its more than 6,500 properties by next July.

A tour boat was damaged and 23 people injured when lava crashed through the roof of the vessel off the Big Island of Hawaii Monday.

Kilauea Lava Explosion Injures 23 Tourists

7:53pm July 16, 2018

by Vanessa Romo

A basketball-sized lava bomb slammed through the roof of a tour boat near an active fissure of the Hawaiian volcano early Monday morning, showering the vessel with debris.