Environment

Scenes after heavy rainfall flooded a commuter parking lot in Reston, VA with some cars completely submerged.

Floods threaten to shut down a quarter of U.S. roads and critical buildings

6:26pm October 14, 2021

by Jeffrey Pierre

A new report says floods could shut down a quarter of the country's critical facilities like airports, hospitals, government buildings, and schools — and the roads that take you there.

A walrus pictured at the Pairi Daiza animal park in Brugelette, Belgium.

Environment

Researchers are asking for volunteer 'walrus detectives' to spot walruses from space

1:36pm October 14, 2021

by Sharon Pruitt-Young

Conservationists are trying to track walrus populations amid climate change but they can't do it alone.

Dome home by Vidyun R Hebbar, India, Winner, 10 Years and Under. Vidyun R Hebbar watches a tent spider as a tuk-tuk passes by. Exploring his local theme park, he found an occupied spider's web in a gap in a wall. A passing tuk-tuk provided a backdrop of r

Immerse yourself in nature with these 2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year images

5:24pm October 13, 2021

The top two winners of the 2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition were selected from more than 50,000 entries worldwide. They are a biologist from France and a 10 year old from India.

Will the offshore wind industry solve pay and environmental issues?

7:43am October 13, 2021

by Miriam Wasser

Offshore wind is on the verge of becoming a major new industry in the U.S. There's a push to make sure it creates lots of good-paying union jobs.

Cleanup contractors deploy skimmers and floating barriers known as booms to try to stop further crude oil incursion into Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach, Calif., on Oct. 3 after an oil spill off the Southern California coast.

California's Justice Department is now investigating the cause of the oil spill

11:01am October 12, 2021

by Jaclyn Diaz

California Attorney General Rob Bonta says investigators will work to find the cause of the oil spill and whether anything could have been done to prevent the spill.

Catch limits imposed on menhaden have sparked a population rebound

7:43am October 12, 2021

by Murray Carpenter

Along the Northeast coast, seals, whales and tuna feast on menhaden, fish that rebounded after regulators limited the catch. The oily fish are a foundation of coastal ecosystems from Florida to Maine.

Environment

Prince Charles' Aston Martin runs on a unique power source

6:07am October 12, 2021

In 2008, Prince Charles asked engineers to convert his Aston Martin to run on something more environmentally friendly. They came up with a way to power a car that's fit for royalty: wine and cheese.

An invasive plant is taking over the Kansas prairie. It may be too late to stop it

5:05pm October 11, 2021

by David Condos

In the land of the open prairie, an invasive plant is threatening to transform Kansas' grassland ecosystems into biodiversity wastelands. Researchers are running out of time to find ways to stop it.

Raising the price of fossil fuels to reflect the true social cost

5:05pm October 11, 2021

Researchers at the International Monetary Fund say trillions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies are making greenhouse-gas-producing fuels cheaper than they should be and making climate change worse.

The impact of the California oil spill could have been worse for wildlife

7:12am October 11, 2021

Wildlife is threatened after a pipeline leaked oil off the Southern California coast. NPR's A Martínez talks to Michael Ziccardi of the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at UC Davis, about rescue efforts.