NPR News - Environment

Syndicate content NPR Topics: Environment
Breaking news on the environment, climate change, pollution, and endangered species. Also featuring Climate Connections, a special series on climate change co-produced by NPR and National Geographic.
Updated: 3 hours 53 min ago

Advocates worry about North Carolina's old growth forests, damaged by Hurricane Helene

Sat, 2025/01/18 - 6:01am

The old growth forests of Western North Carolina took a beating from Hurricane Helene. Now they've lost a bid for federal protection. This worries advocates that the forests could soon vanish.

Categories: Environment

Is the air quality index actually useful right now?

Sat, 2025/01/18 - 5:00am

The air has improved in the LA region as firefighters get blazes under control, but there are questions about how safe the air actually is.

(Image credit: Ryan Kellman)

Categories: Environment

'The birds are back.' Resilience in the ruins of the Palisades fire

Fri, 2025/01/17 - 4:35pm

Will Rogers State Historic Park is a vast stretch of natural space in the Santa Monica Mountains. It's a treasure to Angelenos. People get married there, picnic there, and have kids' birthday parties on the great lawn.

The park's namesake, Will Rogers, was a vaudeville performer, radio and movie star, and was known as America's "cowboy philosopher."

His nearly century-old ranch house is the park's centerpiece. It's survived a near miss with wildfire before. Last week, as firestorm engulfed large parts of Los Angeles, this piece of American history was reduced to rubble.

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(Image credit: Apu Gomes)

Categories: Environment

Development is taking a toll on Florida's precious springs

Fri, 2025/01/17 - 3:00am

The state has been slow to adopt rules to protect Florida's endangered springs. While a boom in residential construction has increased the amount of groundwater being taken from the aquifers.

(Image credit: Zack Wittman for NPR)

Categories: Environment

U.S. electricity demand is set to explode. That will make it harder to cut climate pollution

Fri, 2025/01/17 - 2:01am

Analysts say the country will burn a lot more natural gas in the coming years to meet soaring electricity demand, potentially locking in decades of heat-trapping emissions.

(Image credit: George Frey)

Categories: Environment

Hazmat crews tackle toxic waste left behind by LA's fires

Fri, 2025/01/17 - 1:58am

The fires have turned some electric car batteries and household items into "unexploded ordnances," says an EPA official tasked with the cleanup

(Image credit: David Crane/MediaNews Group)

Categories: Environment

Trained crews begin hazardous waste removal in LA

Fri, 2025/01/17 - 1:58am

Crews have started hazardous waste removal in LA — a critical first phase of cleanup. Trained personnel carefully remove household items turned dangerous or deadly by "heat assault" from the fires.

Categories: Environment

Trump's pick for EPA administrator is Lee Zeldin. Here's what to know.

Thu, 2025/01/16 - 3:17pm

Democrats worry the Trump administration will roll back efforts to limit climate change.

(Image credit: Mark Schiefelbein)

Categories: Environment

Toyota's commercial truck company will pay $1.6 billion for faking emissions tests

Thu, 2025/01/16 - 11:57am

Hino Motors will plead guilty to submitting false emissions data to regulators for more than 100,000 heavy-duty trucks. The company will pay an array of fines, and fix some affected vehicles for free.

(Image credit: Ivan Couronne/AFP)

Categories: Environment

Trump's pick to lead the EPA, Lee Zeldin, expected to roll back environmental rules

Thu, 2025/01/16 - 1:51am

Trump's pick to lead the EPA, former N.Y. Rep. Lee Zeldin, does not have a major profile on environmental issues and is expected to embrace Trump's promised roll back of environmental regulations.

Categories: Environment

Invasive green crabs threaten West Coast ecosystems. One solution? Otters

Wed, 2025/01/15 - 11:50am

As invasive green crabs wreak havoc on California's estuaries, a new study has found that a restored sea otter population might be the solution.

(Image credit: Lilian Carswell)

Categories: Environment

Hellbender salamanders could be added to endangered species list

Tue, 2025/01/14 - 3:49am

A giant salamander called the "hellbender" is on its way to becoming an endangered species. It needs very clean water to survive and that's getting harder to find.

Categories: Environment

Invasive crabs threatened West Coast ecosystems for decades. One solution? Otters

Mon, 2025/01/13 - 3:20pm

NPR's Juana Summers speaks to researcher Rikke Jeppesen about her work on how sea otters, which were hunted to almost near extinction, have been able to thrive by eating up to 120,000 crabs a year.

Categories: Environment

Weird weather isn't always because of climate change — but sometimes it is

Mon, 2025/01/13 - 3:15am

Sometimes, weather is just weather. And other times human-caused climate change had an obvious impact.

(Image credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Categories: Environment

How one U.S. conservationist's work is helping to preserve Chile's wilderness

Sun, 2025/01/12 - 4:00am

Chile is set to gain its 47th national park early this year — largely due to the efforts of U.S. conservationist Kristine Tompkins and her organization.

(Image credit: Tamara Merino for NPR)

Categories: Environment

People are rushing to install solar panels before Trump becomes president

Sun, 2025/01/12 - 3:00am

Potential rooftop solar customers and installers worry the incoming Trump administration might try to eliminate a 30% federal tax credit. Some customers plan to install sooner because of that. And solar companies are changing their business plans.

(Image credit: David Paul Morris)

Categories: Environment