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Some of the most pristine ecosystems in the U.S. are in the Pacific Ocean. They're federally protected, but now, the Trump administration is rolling back some of those protections.

The largest human composting facility in the nation is soon opening in Maryland, with capacity to handle 2,000 bodies a year. It's meeting a growing demand for eco-friendly interment options.

Wildfires in Spokane have destroyed hundreds of homes and led to evacuation orders for 60,000 people.

(Image credit: Young Kwak/AP)

NPR's Rob Schmitz speaks with Russ Schumacher, professor at Colorado State University, about a new government proposal to reallocate water from the Colorado River among Western states who rely on it.

Under a new federal plan out today to manage the Colorado river, Arizona, California and Nevada face potentially steep water cuts over the next decade. The plan by the Interior Department will impact communities and farms across those states. For now, the proposal spares Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming from mandatory water cuts. Legal battles are expected.

Half a century ago, a series of landmark federal laws started reining in water pollution. As a result, some rivers across the country are bouncing back to life, but threats to clean rivers remain.

Authorities in France and Spain say some of their wildfires are mostly contained, but others are blazing on and a new wave of extreme heat is raising fears of more fires to come.

(Image credit: Emma Da Silva)

Soldiers and emergency workers combed through a badly damaged shopping mall and collapsed houses looking for trapped survivors Wednesday after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 18 people, including a foreigner, in southwestern Japan.

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Traditional lawns may be green, but that doesn't mean they're good for the environment. The team at NPR's Life Kit podcast report on one lawn alternative that's gaining popularity.

In southern France, a wildfire in the region of Gironde is still active, while two major fires in central Spain are finally coming under control, ahead of the fourth heat wave of the summer.

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When summer rolls around, many parents scramble to sign up their young kids for outdoor activities. But what do you do when extreme heat and wildfire smoke increasingly make the outdoors dangerous?

(Image credit: YMCA of the North)

For more than a decade, there's been something fishy going on in a lake that straddles Vermont and the province of Quebec. It involves cancer, a kind of catfish, and — possibly — clues about how tumors metastasize.

(Image credit: Joshua Brown)

Swifts have nested in Jerusalem's Western Wall since biblical times. Now one Israeli paraglider is trying to save them.

(Image credit: Ruth Sherlock)

NPR's Adrian Ma speaks with Derek Mallia, professor University of Utah's Department of Atmospheric Sciences, about why wildfire smoke in the northeast has a distinctive smell.

Orange skies and heavy smoke covered large parts of the U.S. on Thursday as Canada and Minnesota grapple with wildfires. Hazardous air quality is expected to continue.

(Image credit: Spencer Platt)

People in Monticello, Utah have been tense and preparing to evacuate since shortly after the Babylon fire started June 26th

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President Trump reduced by 90% the size of two national monuments in Utah that were established by Presidents Clinton and Obama.

By altering the definition of the word "harm" as used by the Endangered Species Act, the Trump administration may limit how wildlife is protected in the United States. Environmental groups are suing.

(Image credit: Jared Lloyd)

For some electric vehicle batteries, it costs more to recycle them than they're worth. That creates all kinds of problems, which a new Colorado law aims to solve.

The Trump administration finalized a rule Friday that changes how agencies enforce the Endangered Species Act. The administration narrowed the definition of "harm" under the landmark law.

(Image credit: Carolyn Kaster)