Climate

Miles Hatfield at his Kentucky home, which he had to abandon after it was flooded by runoff from an old coal mine.

National

How big coal companies avoid cleaning up their messes

6:00am October 29, 2022

A Bloomberg News/NPR investigation found that large U.S. coal companies used bankruptcy and asset transfers to move old mines to shaky new owners, putting at risk federally mandated land reclamation.

Queue Listen Now

The two candidates in Brazil's presidential elections campaign leading up to a runoff election. Left: President Jair Bolsonaro in Guarulhos on Saturday. Right: Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Rio de Janeiro State on Oct. 11.

What to know about Brazil's election as Bolsonaro faces Lula, with major world impacts

5:18pm October 28, 2022

by Carrie Kahn

Brazilians head to the polls Sunday to vote in a presidential election that is testing the world's fourth-largest democracy and could have a critical impact on the fight against climate change.

Arts

Climate activists have been attacking artworks recently, but how effective is this?

5:10pm October 28, 2022

by Chloe Veltman

Climate activists have been attacking artworks recently, but how effective is this at getting a message across? Does this inspire or alienate their target audience? Who is their target audience?

Ready for good news? The Ozone hole is shrinking

4:29pm October 27, 2022

NPR's Juana Summers speaks to Paul Newman, Chief Scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, about some good news: a giant hole in the ozone layer is slowly shrinking.

Coal power has resurged since the pandemic, like at this coal processing plant in China's Shanxi Province, but research shows it should be phased out by 2030 to avoid extreme climate change.

Environment

Here's how far behind the world is on reining in climate change

4:29pm October 27, 2022

by Lauren Sommer

The world is set to start crucial climate change negotiations soon. To avoid extreme warming, nations have to make deep cuts in heat-trapping emissions, fast.

A gas pump displays current fuel prices, along with a sticker of President Biden, at a gas station in Arlington, Va., on March 16. The sticker says "I did that" — but the president wasn't responsible for rising prices then or falling prices now.

Economy

Whether gas prices are up or down, don't blame or thank the president

10:12am October 27, 2022

by Camila Domonoske

Prices at the pump are falling, which is welcome news for Democrats this election season. But politicians have very limited control over energy costs.

Queue Listen Now

Climate promises are still not enough to avoid catastrophic global warming, U.N. says

7:29am October 27, 2022

Jennifer Allan of the International Institute for Sustainable Development speaks with NPR's Rachel Martin about a new U.N. report that finds the world falling far behind in fighting global warming.

Queue Listen Now

As the Earth warms, city parks will become climate oases

4:48pm October 26, 2022

As the Earth warms, city parks will become more and more important as climate oases. This is a day in the life of one city park.

A cow walks through a field as an oil pumpjack and a flare burning off methane and other hydrocarbons stand in the background in the Permian Basin in Jal, N.M., Oct. 14, 2021.

World News

Greenhouse gases reach a new record as nations fall behind on climate pledges

2:39pm October 26, 2022

by The Associated Press

The three main greenhouse gases hit record high levels in the atmosphere last year, the U.N. weather agency said Wednesday, calling it an ominous sign.

Emperor penguins, found in Antarctica, are in serious danger due to climate change.

Emperor penguins will receive endangered species protections

5:00am October 26, 2022

by James Doubek

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is listing the penguins native to Antarctica as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.