Environment

President Trump, Climate Change And 1 Trillion Trees

7:33pm January 22, 2020

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.

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Drinking fountains are marked "Do Not Drink Until Further Notice" at Flint Northwestern High School in Flint, Mich., in May 2016. After 18 months of insisting that water drawn from the Flint River was safe to drink, officials admitted it was not.

Supreme Court Allows Flint Water Lawsuits To Move Forward, Officials Not 'Immune'

9:50pm January 21, 2020

by Vanessa Romo

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.

NASA Taps Snowstorm-Chasing Team To Improve Forecasting

5:31pm January 20, 2020

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.

Environment

Tropical Fish Are No Longer Just In The Tropics As Climate Change Affects Habitats

5:07pm January 20, 2020

by Jay Price

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.

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Golf-ball-sized hail carpets a street in Canberra on Monday, in a new twist on Australia's summer of extreme weather. The Australian Capital Territory's emergency service said it received a record number of calls for help — more than 1,900.

Destructive Hail And A Massive Dust Storm Descend On Fire-Ravaged Australia

4:21pm January 20, 2020

by Bill Chappell

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.

American Firefighters Battle Australian Blazes

5:17pm January 19, 2020

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

'You Need To Act Now': Meet 4 Girls Working To Save The Warming World

7:00am January 19, 2020

by Anya Kamenetz

"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 Brings New Worries To Burned Areas In Australia

7:55am January 18, 2020

by Rebecca Hersher

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

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Elk graze in Skagit Valley, an area north of Seattle, Wash., populated for centuries by Native Americans and, more recently, by farmers.

Elk Raise Tensions Between Tribes And Farmers In Washington's Skagit Valley

7:55am January 18, 2020

by Eilís O'Neill

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.

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Levi Draheim, 11, wears a dust mask as he participates in a demonstration in Miami in July 2019. A lawsuit file by him and other young people urging action against climate change was thrown out by a federal appeals court Friday.

Kids' Climate Case 'Reluctantly' Dismissed By Appeals Court

8:04pm January 17, 2020

by Nathan Rott

The court said the nearly two dozen young people who were trying to force action by the government on climate change did not have standing to sue. The judges said climate change is a political issue.