Environment

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission, shown in an artist's rendering, will measure tiny fluctuations in Earth's gravitational field to show how water moves around the planet.

NASA Launching New Satellites To Measure Earth's Lumpy Gravity

5:14pm May 21, 2018

by Christopher Joyce

The two satellites, which are collectively called GRACE and will replace two retired probes, are one of the most important tools for understanding the effects of climate change.

Lava flows from fissures near Pahoa, Hawaii, on Saturday.

Hawaii Volcano's Lava Spews 'Laze' Of Toxic Gas And Glass Into The Air

2:11pm May 21, 2018

Lava from the Kilauea volcano is pouring into the Pacific Ocean, generating a plume of "laze" — hydrochloric acid and steam with fine glass particles — into the air.

Mike Stone, left, and Andy Sherman in the pumping station for Hannibal, Mo., during a flood in 1993. The city has since constructed a flood wall, and flood managers have built up levees to protect against flooding. But scientists warn those structures are

Levees Make Mississippi River Floods Worse, But We Keep Building Them

11:15am May 21, 2018

by Rebecca Hersher

For more than 150 years, scientists have known that levees increase flood risk on the Mississippi River. That hasn't stopped local officials from building up levees in response to more severe floods.

California Game Warden Pat Freeling replants stolen succulents along the Mendocino coastline.

The Case Of The Stolen Succulents

7:49pm May 20, 2018

by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi

California Fish and Wildlife agents are combating a rash of succulent poaching incidents on the state's coastline, apparently to satisfy a booming demand for the plants in Korean and Chinese markets.

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The USDA has released several options for what the labels might look like.

USDA Unveils Prototypes For GMO Food Labels, And They're ... Confusing

7:56am May 19, 2018

by Merrit Kennedy

The labels use the letters BE, for bioengineered, not GMO, which critics say could baffle consumers. One design features a smiling sun that a skeptic calls "essentially propaganda for the industry."

An image provided by NOAA shows the hole in the ozone layer in 2015. NOAA scientists now say emissions of one ozone-depleting chemical appear to be rising, even though the chemical has been banned and reported production has essentially been at zero for y

Banned Ozone-Depleting Chemical Is Still Being Produced Somewhere, Scientists Say

7:08pm May 17, 2018

by Camila Domonoske

Trichlorofluoromethane, or CFC-11, hurts the ozone layer and was phased out of production by 2010. Supposedly. But a NOAA study says CFC-11 emissions began to rise after 2012.

An image provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows sulfur dioxide plumes rising from Kilauea's fissures along the rift and accumulating in the cloud deck, viewed from a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory overflight on Wednesday.

Ash Cloud And 'Ballistic Blocks' Shot From Kilauea's Crater, USGS Says

4:23pm May 17, 2018

by Scott Neuman

Volcanic rocks 2 feet in diameter have been found in a parking lot a few hundred yards from the volcano's Halemaumau crater, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

Austin Steeves packages lobsters after hauling traps on his grandfather's boat in Casco Bay, Portland, Maine.

Warming Waters Push Fish To Cooler Climes, Out Of Some Fishermen's Reach

10:57am May 17, 2018

by Christopher Joyce

From bass to lobster, hundreds of species that live along U.S. coastlines are projected to migrate north over the next 80 years, making them harder to catch and manage. It's already happening.

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Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, arrives for his testimony Wednesday before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee.

EPA's Scott Pruitt, Subject Of Many Ethics Probes, Plays Defense Before Senate

3:22pm May 16, 2018

by Colin Dwyer

Pruitt is facing a slew of allegations of excess spending and, as of this week, claims his agency sought to block a study on a suspected carcinogen. "I share your concerns," he told senators.

How Those Affected By Hawaii's Volcano Eruption Are Coping

4:35pm May 15, 2018

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Monica Devlin a retired school teacher who, house was destroyed when lava flowed into her neighborhood. Devlin says she has no house to go back to she says, but she is happy to be alive.

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