Environment

Laura Kemp, a technician at The Land Institute, hand harvests an experimental crop of Kernza in Kansas. Scientists think that this perennial crop could help fight climate change by trapping more carbon in the soil.

After A Long Day Of Fighting Climate Change, This Grain Is Ready For A Beer

4:00pm October 26, 2016

by Alastair Bland

Kernza is a kind of grassy wheat that traps more carbon in the soil than crops like wheat and rice. Now, a West Coast brewery is using the grain in its new beer called Long Root Ale.

Volkswagen Agrees To $14.7 Billion Settlement In Emissions Cheating Scandal

6:00pm October 25, 2016

by Sonari Glinton

Nearly 500,000 dirty diesel vehicles could be taken off the roads under a settlement approved by a judge in the Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal. VW has agreed to pay up to $14.7 billion to resolve claims from consumers and the U.S. government. Customers will be compensated under a VW buyback program, and the company will also pay to offset the pollution caused by the rigged diesel vehicles.

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This image taken in 2012 shows part of the Crosson Ice Shelf (center left) and Mount Murphy (foreground) on the western edge of Antarctica. Thwaites Ice Shelf lies beyond the highly fractured expanse of ice (center).

Antarctica's Ice Sheets Are Melting Faster — And From Beneath

4:23pm October 25, 2016

by Christopher Joyce

Researchers say the ice is melting more quickly than they've ever seen. They think it's because warm water is circulating under the ice shelf, and that the melting process appears to be irreversible.

Waste, Families Left Behind As Nuclear Plants Close

10:09am October 24, 2016

by Frank Morris

The Fort Calhoun nuclear plant in Nebraska shuts down Monday, 17 years ahead of schedule. It is just the latest U.S. nuclear plant to close because it can't compete with other cheaper energy.

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After Hurricane Matthew, Town Wonders: Rebuild Or Relocate?

5:11pm October 22, 2016

by Leoneda Inge

Flooding from Hurricane Matthew wrecked hundreds of homes in Princeville, N.C. It's the second time the town has flooded in 20 years. Now residents debate whether to rebuild or just relocate.

Wrecked Haiti Still Reeling From Deadly Hurricane Matthew

8:22am October 22, 2016

Haiti is still recovering from a Category 4 storm that ravaged its southern coast two weeks ago. Scott Simon speaks with Chief Medical Officer Joanna Cherry of Hospital Bernard Mevs in Port-Au-Prince.

Director Holly Morris speaking at TED Global in 2013.

What Can We Learn From One of the World's Most Toxic Accidents?

9:09am October 21, 2016

by NPR/TED Staff

Filmmaker Holly Morris talks about her time with the "Babushkas of Chernobyl" — the elderly women who decided to stay in Chernobyl, Ukraine, after the worst nuclear accident in history.

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Biologist Tyrone Hayes speaking with filmmaker Penelope Jagessar Chaffer at TED Women.

How Do Common Chemicals Affect Frogs, Rats — And Maybe Us?

9:09am October 21, 2016

by NPR/TED Staff

Biologist Tyrone Hayes talks about the concerning effects of the herbicide atrazine, which is part of a group of chemicals that are found in everyday food and household products.

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How Do Toxins From Plastics Find Their Way Into Our Food?

9:09am October 21, 2016

by NPR/TED Staff

Ocean advocate Emily Penn has seen first hand how much plastic ends up in the oceans. She explains how the toxins from plastic makes their way into our food chain and how we might be able to stop it.

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Rishi Manchanda giving his TED Talk on TED MED 2014

How Can Your Home Make You Sick?

9:09am October 21, 2016

by NPR/TED Staff

When Dr. Rishi Manchanda worked in a clinic in South Central Los Angeles, he saw that patients were getting sick because of toxic living conditions — so he tried a unique treatment approach.

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