Environment

Scientists are raising the alarm about Trump's deep sea mining executive order

NPR News - Environment - Fri, 2025/04/25 - 2:41pm

President Trump signed an executive order aimed at making it easier for companies to mine the ocean floor. Scientists and environmentalists worry it could harm an ecosystem we don't know much about.

Categories: Environment

The U.S. takes a step toward allowing mining on the ocean floor, a fragile ecosystem

NPR News - Environment - Fri, 2025/04/25 - 2:00am

President Trump signed an order Thursday aimed at making it easier for companies to mine the ocean floor. Scientists and environmental groups say it could harm a fragile ecosystem.

(Image credit: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research)

Categories: Environment

Trail advocates say Trump administration puts active transportation projects at risk

NPR News - Environment - Fri, 2025/04/25 - 1:22am

Spring means more people hitting biking and hiking trails. But trail advocates say a Trump administration review of grants made under President Biden puts active transportation projects at risk.

Categories: Environment

Air pollution still plagues nearly half of Americans. That does a number on our health

NPR News - Environment - Wed, 2025/04/23 - 2:56pm

Despite improvements in air quality in past decades, 156 million Americans still breathe in too much soot or ozone, says the annual State of the Air report from the American Lung Association.

(Image credit: ETIENNE LAURENT)

Categories: Environment

Environmental groups say Trump administration violated their free-speech rights

NPR News - Environment - Wed, 2025/04/23 - 4:47am

A lawsuit alleges the Trump administration violated the free-speech rights of nonprofits and municipalities that have had federal funding for climate and environmental projects frozen or cancelled.

(Image credit: BRYAN DOZIER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty)

Categories: Environment

Our medications are leaking into waterways — and may be changing fish behavior

NPR News - Environment - Wed, 2025/04/23 - 12:00am
Salmo salar) in Iceland. Fish and other aquatic creatures are increasingly affected by pharmaceutical pollution in the waterways they call home; now, scientists are trying to figure out how that might affect their behavior.'/>

A fish walks into a pharmacy ... well, not exactly. Fish aren't being prescribed anti-anxiety drugs. But they are experiencing the effects. Researchers have found more than 900 different pharmaceutical ingredients in rivers and streams around the world, though they're not yet sure how this could change the behavior of fish and other aquatic animals in the wild.
"We can't, you know, dump a bunch of pharmaceuticals into the river," says Jack Brand, biologist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Instead, Jack's team did the next best thing – with some surprising results.

This episode was reported by NPR science correspondent Jon Lambert. Check out more of his reporting.

Want to hear more stories about animal behavior? Email us and let us know at shortwave@npr.org.

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

Categories: Environment

Meet the artists behind the U.N.'s second annual nature sounds mixtape

NPR News - Environment - Tue, 2025/04/22 - 1:15am

Thirty artists release songs with nature sounds to generate royalties for nature conservation in second annual United Nations Earth Day mixtape.

(Image credit: Poyenchen, Andrew Quinn)

Categories: Environment

Flowers and trees are blooming earlier. Is it because of climate change?

NPR News - Environment - Tue, 2025/04/22 - 12:00am

Welcome!! This is the first episode of Nature Quest, a monthly Short Wave segment that answers listener questions about your local environment. This month, we hear from a listener in California who's concerned that the flowers in his neighborhood are blooming way, way earlier. Is that normal? And is climate change the culprit? Short Wavers Emily Kwong and Hannah Chinn investigate.

Got a question about changes in your local environment? Send a voice memo to shortwave@npr.org with your name, where you live and your question. We might make it into our next Nature Quest episode!

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at
plus.npr.org/shortwave.

(Image credit: Beata Whitehead)

Categories: Environment

Need Earth Day optimism? Here are some environmental do-gooders in your backyard

NPR News - Environment - Mon, 2025/04/21 - 2:00am

At a time when communities feel fractured, here's a look at online communities taking a pragmatic approach to changing the world for the better.

(Image credit: Igor Dudkovskiy)

Categories: Environment

Destroying endangered species' habitat wouldn't count as 'harm' under proposed Trump rule

NPR News - Environment - Thu, 2025/04/17 - 2:00am

The Trump administration is reinterpreting a key word in the Endangered Species Act that could have big consequences for the habitats of species at risk.

(Image credit: Greg Vaughn / VWPics)

Categories: Environment

Tracking Wolves in Italy

NPR News - Environment - Wed, 2025/04/16 - 1:37pm

After being hunted to near extinction, wolves have made a population comeback in recent decades with the help of conservation efforts. Now, the country with the most wolves in Europe is Italy. Our correspondent in Rome set's out for the Italian forest with an organization that takes small groups to try to see wolves in the wild.

(Image credit: Paolo Picciotto)

Categories: Environment

California battery facility fire raises concerns over energy storage plant regulation

NPR News - Environment - Wed, 2025/04/16 - 1:39am

Following a lithium-ion battery fire at the Moss Landing plant in Monterey County in California, communities nationwide are expressing concerns about hosting similar plants.

Categories: Environment

Trump orders coal revival, but market favors natural gas

NPR News - Environment - Wed, 2025/04/16 - 1:30am

The president signed four executive orders to reverse the trend away from coal-fired electricity in the U.S., but there's little economic incentive for utilities to bring it back when natural gas is so much cheaper.

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker)

Categories: Environment

Trump orders coal revival, but market favors natural gas

NPR News - Environment - Wed, 2025/04/16 - 1:30am

Four new executive orders aimed at reviving coal mines include plans to keep coal fired power plants open even if companies operating them want to close.

Categories: Environment

Exclusive: Climate activists were hacked. There was a link between victims and an alleged attacker

NPR News - Environment - Tue, 2025/04/15 - 2:00am

'/>

Prosecutors say the operation was aimed at gathering information to foil lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry over damage communities have faced from climate change.

(Image credit: John Minchillo/AP)

Categories: Environment

Spring allergies are in bloom. Here's why and what to do about it

NPR News - Environment - Tue, 2025/04/15 - 12:00am

Plants are blooming right now – and so are people's allergies. And if it feels like those pesky symptoms are getting worse ... you're probably right. Wednesday, a review published in the journal The Laryngoscope looked at the link between climate change and increasing rates of allergic rhinitis, or hay fever. So today, we turn back to a classic Short Wave episode from Brit Hanson and Maddie Sofia, who spoke to allergy expert Dr. Juanita Mora about some quick tips for managing seasonal allergies.

Want more of the science behind your health questions? Send us an email at shortwave@npr.org.

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at
plus.npr.org/shortwave.

(Image credit: Roy Morsch)

Categories: Environment

Federal funding freeze halts key infrastructure projects in tribal communities

NPR News - Environment - Mon, 2025/04/14 - 6:55pm

Riverbank stabilization, lead and asbestos contamination are just some of the projects tribes planned to address before the Trump administration froze funds.

(Image credit: Mark Ralston)

Categories: Environment

Millions watch as underwater camera documents daily life on a Miami coral reef

NPR News - Environment - Mon, 2025/04/14 - 11:49am

For five years, the Coral City Camera has given viewers a live look at aquatic reef life near Miami. It's documented the declining conditions and shown a surprising vitality among some coral species.

Categories: Environment

A changing ecosystem is depleting the whitefish population in the Great Lakes

NPR News - Environment - Sat, 2025/04/12 - 5:03am

Changes in ecosystems mean bad news for lake whitefish and those who love it. The species' population is rapidly declining in some areas of the Great Lakes.

Categories: Environment

Major budget cuts proposed for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NPR News - Environment - Fri, 2025/04/11 - 1:52pm

The agency forecasts weather, manages fisheries, and researches the world's oceans, atmosphere, and climate. The proposed budget cuts would slash the climate work entirely.

(Image credit: Handout/Getty Images)

Categories: Environment
Syndicate content