Environment

The two-minute warning that had held over the past two years has now shrunk to 100 seconds before midnight on the Doomsday Clock set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

The EPA has moved to dramatically shrink which waters fall under federal protection. It's welcomed by farmers and builders, but environmentalists are sure to file a legal challenge.

The controversial rule change dramatically reduces pollution protections for many waterways. Farmers and builders approve, but environmental groups plan to challenge it.

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Janet Ranganathan of the World Resources Institute about the Trillion Trees initiative which President Trump said the U.S. would contribute to at Davos.

In refusing to take up two cases involving the 2014 water crisis, the higher court has upheld earlier rulings saying neither city nor state officials are protected from being sued.

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Lynn McMurdie, a University of Washington professor and principal investigator for IMPACTS, NASA's new project to more accurately predict snowstorms.

Climate change is fueling some big changes under the sea. Tropical reef fish are being found much farther north, far from the tropics. Scientists worry about what the shifts will mean for ecosystems.

Canberra, Melbourne and other areas of southeast Australia were hit by golf-ball-sized hail that destroyed car windshields, killed birds and shredded the leaves off trees.

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Joel Kerley, an American helicopter pilot and wildfire manager who has been fighting the wildfires in Australia.

"When we organize, we model the world we want to see," says teenager Xiye Bastida. Activist girls like Bastida have been especially visible in the fight against climate change.

Rain is coming to parts of Australia that have burned, flooding some areas, damaging the vegetation and increasing the risk of landslides.

In Washington state's Skagit Valley, a conflict is unfolding between Native Americans and farmers. Elk are making a comeback there. Local tribes are thrilled, but the agriculture industry is not.