Environment

A Scientist's New Job: Keeping The Polar Bears' Plight Public

3:43pm December 28, 2013

by Elizabeth Shogren

Global warming is pushing species like the polar bear to the brink of extinction. It's not a typical conservation problem, so one government biologist discovered the best way he could help save the great white bears was to quit his job.

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Oil Company Looks To Great Lakes As Shipping Demand Booms

7:15pm December 27, 2013

by David Schaper

North Dakota and western Canada are producing crude oil faster than rail cars and pipelines can take it to refineries. Now, one company wants to ship it by barge across the Great Lakes. That worries environmentalists, who say a 2010 tar sands oil spill near Lake Michigan has yet to be fully cleaned up.

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Ripening fruit in a grove in Plant City, Fla., this month. Florida citrus growers are worried about citrus greening, which causes bacteria to grow on the leaf and fruit, eventually killing the tree.

Time Is Running Out To Save Florida's Oranges

7:15pm December 27, 2013

by Greg Allen

Scientists and growers are in a bitter fight against citrus greening, a disease that has devastated Florida's orange and grapefruit crops. They fear that unless scientists find a cure for greening soon, it's just a matter of time before economic realities and the disease force growers out of business.

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Environment

What Does The Future Hold For Climate Change?

7:24am December 25, 2013

For the third interview in our year-end conversations about the future, Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep talks about climate change with Andrew Steer of the World Resources Institute.

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Oranges ripen in a Plant City, Fla., grove on Wednesday. Growers in Florida, Texas and California are worried about citrus greening, a disease that makes the fruit bitter and unmarketable.

USDA Steps Up The Fight To Save Florida's Oranges

7:52am December 13, 2013

by Greg Allen

The agency is launching a new coordinated research effort to stop citrus greening, a disease imported from Asia that turns fruit bitter and unmarketable. It first turned up in Florida eight years. Now, it threatens to destroy the nation's citrus industry.

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Sediment samples from the seafloor near Long Island.

Long Island Wins Ultimate Faceoff Against Hurricane Sandy

8:50pm December 12, 2013

by Christopher Joyce

The storm's damage and disruption to homes, cities and families is undisputed. But researchers studying the underwater coastline say Long Island fared relatively well. The face of the shore retained much of its shape because underwater ridges of sand just offshore may have cushioned the blow.

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Chefs Andrew Taylor, left, and Mike Wiley, co-owners of two Portland, Maine, restaurants, say the moratorium is worth it if it helps sustain the shrimp population.

Fishery Closure Puts New England's Shrimp Season On Ice

9:56pm December 07, 2013

by Tom Porter

After several years of declining shrimp stocks, regulators have imposed a moratorium on shrimping in New England waters. The closure could hurt commercial fisherman and future demand for the Gulf of Maine shrimp, but scientists say the move may be the only way to prevent the population from collapsing.

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Puddled meltwater very likely primed this ancient edge of the Antarctic's Larsen Ice Shelf to rapidly disintegrate over just several weeks. This view of the splintered mix of frozen bergs is from a Feb. 21, 2002, satellite image.

Ready — Or Not. Abrupt Climate Changes Worry Scientists Most

8:09pm December 03, 2013

by Richard Harris

To forecast sudden global catastrophe — and, perhaps, head it off — we should be spying on the climate at least as closely as we spy on each other, an expert panel warns. Yet the primary global monitoring network has been cut by 30 percent.

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Wind turbines twirl above farmland on the outskirts of Madison, Wis. Not all locals are pleased.

Slashing Fossil Fuel Consumption Comes With A Price

8:56am December 03, 2013

by Richard Harris

The U.S. aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Wind and solar power can help. But folks doing the math say other pricey, controversial technologies — such as burying carbon gas underground, and expanding nuclear power — are also likely to be part of a low-carbon future.

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Environment

Australia Disapproves Of Seeds In Katy Perry CD

1:27pm December 02, 2013

Singer Katy Perry's new album has been adored in some reviews, but one critic is the Australian Department of Agriculture. Seeds included in the CD could pose a threat to the environment there.

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