Environment

BP Oil Spill Trial To Begin Second Phase

11:16am September 28, 2013

The months-long federal trial is examining how much fault should be placed on BP and its contractors for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion. The accident killed 11 rig workers and released almost 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Host Scott Simon speaks with NPR's Debbie Elliott to preview the civil trial.

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How Recycling Bias Affects What You Toss Where

6:07am September 27, 2013

by NPR Staff

People tend to throw whole pieces of paper in the recycling bin — and fragments of paper in the trash. Research on the trend finds that we may be acting on unconscious prejudice about what is worth recycling.

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An iceberg floats through the water in Ilulissat, Greenland, in July. Researchers are studying how climate change and melting glaciers will affect the rest of the world.

How Many Scientists Does It Take To Write A Climate Report?

10:53am September 24, 2013

by Richard Harris

Scientists are about to deliver another major assessment of climate change. The report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change involved hundreds of scientists from around the world and has left some of them wondering whether there's a more effective way to put the document together.

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Nature writer Jackson Landers kept a black widow alive in a jar on his desk for months.

Black Widow Spider Fan Gets Dangerously Close To His Subject

8:07pm September 21, 2013

by NPR Staff

The first time nature writer Jackson Landers spotted a black widow spider on his front porch, he was transfixed. He grew curious about the spiders and kept one for months as a pet. One day, he got bit.

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EPA Wants To Limit Greenhouse Gases From New Coal Power Plants

8:11pm September 20, 2013

by Elizabeth Shogren

Under the proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency, new plants that run on coal would be permitted to emit only about half as much carbon dioxide as the average coal plant puts into the air today. Emissions from the electricity industry are already declining as utilities turn to natural gas and wind farms.

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The wild population of the golden lion tamarin, which lives only in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, fell to just 200 in the 1970s. Conservationists have helped the species rebound, but the monkeys are still at risk as development encroaches on their remaining h

Beloved Brazilian Monkey Clings To A Shrinking Forest

11:15am September 20, 2013

by NPR Staff

Brazil's Atlantic Forest, home to the golden lion tamarin, was once a massive ecosystem stretching along the Brazilian coast. But centuries of human activity have encroached upon the forest, leaving the future of this tiny, lion-maned monkey in doubt.

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Black soldier flies mate and lay eggs inside these cages at EnviroFlight.

Making Food From Flies (It's Not That Icky)

9:14pm September 19, 2013

by Dan Charles

One of the really big challenges facing our world is how to grow more food without using up the globe's land and water. One company in Ohio says we've been ignoring one solution: insects. It's using larvae of the black soldier fly to convert waste into feed for fish or pigs.

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Natural Gas May Be Easier On Climate Than Coal, Despite Methane Leaks

7:11pm September 16, 2013

by Richard Harris

Some scientists have argued that so much gas leaks out during production that it is actually worse for the environment than coal. But a new nationwide study shows that methane leaks from natural gas production aren't as bad as some feared.

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A Global Hawk unmanned aircraft comes in for a landing at the Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va., on Sept. 7, 2012, after studying Hurricane Leslie. The remotely controlled planes can stay in the air for as long as 28 hours and fly over hurric

Spy Drones Turning Up New Data About Hurricanes And Weather

6:57pm September 13, 2013

by Jon Hamilton

For the past couple of years, NASA has been using remotely piloted aircraft to study hurricanes. And they are turning up new information about things like how dust from Africa can determine whether weather systems become hurricanes in the Atlantic.

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Gwynns Falls runs beneath Interstate 95 at Carroll Park in Baltimore. The chemistry of this river, like many across the country, is changing.

'Rivers On Rolaids': How Acid Rain Is Changing Waterways

10:47am September 13, 2013

by Christopher Joyce

The chemistry of dozens of streams and rivers across the U.S. is changing. Waters are becoming more alkaline — the opposite of acidic. And the reason is counterintuitive — researchers believe that acid rain is to blame.

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