Environment

In Spain, Seville hopes naming heat waves can save lives

6:31pm October 19, 2021

The mayor of Seville, Spain, has announced a new program — the world's first — to give official names to severe heat waves. The hope is that such a system will make people take them more seriously.

Primatologist Jane Goodall is honored for her lifetime achievements at a ceremony on her 85th birthday at City Hall in Los Angeles on April 3, 2019.

Jane Goodall encourages all to act to save Earth in 'The Book of Hope'

7:40am October 19, 2021

by Barbara J. King

The primatologist says it's crucial that young people know how positive action can still shift the frightening trajectories of climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and the ongoing global pandemic.

Fewer cars on the road during lockdowns was good news for frogs and salamanders

5:07pm October 18, 2021

Fewer cars were on the road during pandemic lockdowns. And for Maine's frogs and salamanders, that translated to far fewer roadkill deaths.

With Biden's climate plan in jeopardy, can America lead on climate change?

5:07pm October 18, 2021

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with environmental policy expert Leah Stokes about what the Democrats' spending plan can achieve on climate, with President Biden's clean electricity performance plan in limbo.

California's farmers are pumping billions of tons of extra water from underground aquifers this year, because of the drought. But new restrictions on such pumping are coming into force.

Satellites reveal the secrets of water-guzzling farms in California

3:40pm October 18, 2021

by Dan Charles

California wants to limit the water that farmers can pump from depleted aquifers. To enforce those limits, regulators are turning to remote sensing satellites.

Workers in protective suits clean the contaminated beach in Corona Del Mar on Oct. 7 after an oil spill in Newport Beach, Calif.

Coast Guard says a ship's anchor dragged California oil pipeline that later leaked

9:51pm October 17, 2021

by The Associated Press

Investigators believe a 1,200-foot cargo ship dragging anchor in rough seas caught an underwater oil pipeline and pulled it across the seafloor, months before a leak from the line.

Environment

How the Amazon rainforest is faring under climate change

7:54am October 17, 2021

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks to climate scientist Antonio Nobre about how climate change is affecting the Amazon forest in Brazil.

To improve wildfire resistance, researchers look to beavers

5:07pm October 16, 2021

by Alex Hager

Last year Colorado saw the two largest wildfires in it's history, destroying hundreds of homes and 600 square miles of forest. Largely unbothered, though, are beavers, whose wet habitats offer refuge.

This Climate.gov graphic shows how La Niña generally affects weather conditions in the United States. Forecasters say there's a nearly 90% chance that La Niña conditions will be in place from December 2021 to February 2022.

La Niña is coming. Here's what that means for winter weather in the U.S.

5:11pm October 15, 2021

by Rachel Treisman

The climate pattern known as La Niña generally brings winters that are drier and warmer than usual across the southern U.S. and cooler and wetter in the northern part of the country.

When buying her new home in Big Pine Key, Fla., Amy Tripp closed early, just before federal flood insurance rates rose by thousands of dollars. Her rate will still go up more slowly over time.

Flood insurance rates are spiking for many, to account for climate risk

10:44am October 15, 2021

by Greg Allen

FEMA says its new rates better reflect the risk from more intense and frequent rain and floods. The increase could make housing unaffordable for some in the most flood-prone areas.