climate change

John Carlon of River Partners says restoring floodplains can help take pressure off downstream levees by storing floodwaters, as well as providing much-needed wildlife habitat.

Environment

California is still at risk of flooding. Maybe rivers just need some space

6:00am May 28, 2023

by Lauren Sommer

To prevent flooding, communities often raise levees next to rivers higher and higher. Now, a new approach is about backing off, moving levees away from rivers to create floodplains.

Adam Savage, host of Tested, and right to repair advocate, shows off the lathe he's fixing at his San Francisco workshop.

Fixit culture is on the rise, but repair legislation faces resistance

9:39am May 27, 2023

by Chloe Veltman

U.S. consumers are showing an increased interest in prolonging the life of the things they own, rather than throwing them out. But some products are easier to fix than others.

Damage from Hurricane Ian near Pine Island, Fla., in 2022. The storm caused at least $50 billion in insured damage.

Insurance firms need more climate change information. Scientists say they can help

10:56am May 23, 2023

by Rebecca Hersher

Floods, wildfires, heat waves and hurricanes cause billions of dollars of property damage each year. Can federal climate scientists help the insurance industry keep up?

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Arizona farmer Craig Alameda stands next to a tractor on his farm near Yuma.

Politics & Government

Arizona's farms are running out of water, forcing farmers to confront climate change

1:15pm May 18, 2023

by Ximena Bustillo

Farmers in Arizona are facing the brunt of climate change as the Colorado River experiences shortages. Even in rural and conservative areas, most agree something needs to change.

The San Joaquin River has spread far beyond its banks as the snowpack melts in California's Sierra Nevada.

Environment

The latest to be evacuated from California's floods? Bunnies

2:25pm May 04, 2023

by Lauren Sommer

Rising rivers are stranding endangered riparian brush rabbits in California. Wildlife officials are searching out and relocating hundreds of them to help protect the species.

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Jin Liqun, AIIB's president, addresses journalists at a Beijing press conference in 2016.

World News

Tracking the impact of U.S.-China tensions on global financial institutions

5:02am May 01, 2023

by H.J. Mai

NPR's Steve Inskeep asks the president of a China-led development bank about the impact of the friction between the U.S. and China.

Environment

Catawba, Davidson team up to study how climate change impacts insects

11:16am April 25, 2023

by Neal Charnoff

It’s been said that in the event of an apocalypse, cockroaches will outlast us all. But how resilient overall are creepy-crawlies?

Fire burns in the hollow of an old-growth redwood tree in Big Basin Redwoods State Park in California. The Biden administration has identified more than 175,000 square miles of old growth and mature forests on U.S. government lands.

The U.S. plans new protections for old forests facing pressure from climate change

1:38pm April 20, 2023

by The Associated Press

The Biden administration catalogued 175,000 square miles of old growth and mature forests on federal land. It plans a new rule to better protect woodlands from fires and other climate change effects.

Environment

How melting Arctic ice could be fueling extreme wildfires in the Western U.S.

11:06am April 20, 2023

by Lauren Sommer

As Western wildfires get more destructive, scientists are finding a far-off connection to shrinking ice on the Arctic Ocean.

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An estimated 15 million people around the world are threatened by floods from glacial lakes, according to recent research.And the danger is growing as Earth heats up. Nepal is ground zero for research about dangerous glacial lakes, in part because the mountainous country is on the front lines of the problem.

The race to protect people from dangerous glacial lakes

4:14pm April 19, 2023

by Rebecca Hersher

An estimated 15 million people are threatened by floods that happen when glaciers melt rapidly. Nepal's Himalayan communities are on the front lines.