Environment

Great Salt Lake Is No 'Dead Sea'

10:21am April 26, 2013

Parts of Utah's Great Salt Lake are 10 times saltier than the ocean. But the lake is host to plenty of life, including salt-loving microbes that can turn the lake's water bubblegum pink. Bonnie Baxter, director of the Great Salt Lake, discusses how the bugs might hold the secrets to better sunscreen, hydrogen fuel cells--even life on Mars.

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Illinois River Crests To All-Time High Near Peoria

8:16pm April 25, 2013

by Tanya Koonce

Peoria has a front row seat to the great Illinois River flood of 2013. A temporary flood wall is in place and pumps are keeping the water at the lowest points from coming up through the sewers and into the store fronts. Whether their property is underwater or not, the resolve of people living and working along the Illinois River isn't wavering.

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Missouri farmer Gary Riedel says wet weather will put him about a month behind last year's planting.

For Corn, Fickle Weather Makes For Uncertain Yields

9:06am April 24, 2013

by Abbie Fentress Swanson

Corn production was down last year thanks to drought. This year, conditions are too cold and wet for farmers to plant the crop. Without a break in the clouds pretty soon, there may be another shortage of the crop at harvest time.

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After being frozen for thousands of years in a Siberian riverbed, this pristine mammoth tusk is a financial boon to the hunter who found it.

As Arctic Ice Melts, It's A Free-For-All For Oil ... And Tusks

11:47am April 23, 2013

by NPR Staff

The melting of ice in the northern latitudes is feeding new industries. Among them: speculating for petroleum products where vast amounts of undiscovered oil and natural gas are believed to be, and hunting for mammoth tusks unearthed in the softening tundra.

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Members of the research team fend for themselves in a communal kitchen (while fending off persistent ants) before heading out for a challenging day on the reef.

This Scientist Aims High To Save The World's Coral Reefs

9:52pm April 22, 2013

by Richard Harris

Ken Caldeira is trying to come up with a big solution to the problem of increasingly acid oceans: antacids for coral reefs. That might keep the reefs from being destroyed by humans' use of fossil fuels. And that's not his only big idea. But even Caldeira admits that his audacious plan could fail.

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Photovoltaic cells on the office building's roof.

This Building Is Supergreen. Will It Be Copied?

10:18am April 22, 2013

by Wendy Kaufman

The Bullitt Foundation's new Seattle headquarters, billed as the world's "greenest" building, is designed to be entirely self-sustaining. The developers hope it can inspire others to build this way.

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Environment

Students Turn Recycled Bags Into Works of Art

2:41pm April 19, 2013

by Keri Brown

A Triad middle school teacher is using an art project to educate her students about plastic pollution in waterways and in the soil.

Lionfish, like this one spotted in the Bahamas, are a nonnative predatory fish that can decimate native fish populations.

Lionfish Attacking Atlantic Ocean Like A Living Oil Spill

1:45pm April 18, 2013

by Elizabeth Shogren

Scientists say they have few weapons to wield against the poison-spined lionfish, which is gobbling up reef fish in the Bahamas and other habitats.

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Environment

Triad Communities Plan Climate Change Rallies

5:35pm April 17, 2013

by Keri Brown

Cyclists from different points in North Carolina will converge on Raleigh this weekend to draw attention to climate change issues. Winston-Salem and Greensboro, will host rallies to support the cyclists during their journey.

A glass-bottomed boat glides along water in Silver Springs, Fla. The springs, once a major tourist destination, have declined both in volume and in water quality.

Now Endangered, Florida's Silver Springs Once Lured Tourists

5:24pm April 13, 2013

by Greg Allen

Countless movies were filmed there, including Tarzan and Creature From the Black Lagoon. With its wildlife and freshwater springs, Silver Springs in Central Florida was one of the state's most popular tourist destinations. Those waters have receded now as the delicate ecosystem suffers from problems that threaten the entire state.

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