Environment
As opposition to an Alabama medical waste treatment facility boils over, a mysterious Facebook page weighs in
Dozens of residents opposed to Harvest Med Waste Disposal’s site in Remlap packed the Blount County courthouse to voice their concerns. Online, a paid campaign supporting the facility has been active, though its backers have remained anonymous.
The world’s oldest and largest iceberg will soon be no more
The iceberg, known as A23a, has been on a journey following the current into warmer waters for months. Now, it has begun the predicted and natural process of breaking apart, and eventually melting.
Sell it, donate it — recycle it? A beloved old minivan faces a fork in the road
After 20 years of service, an NPR reporter's beloved minivan is on the fritz. But what is its best and highest calling now: Pass it on to another family, or recycle it into parts?
The Trump administration wants to build more roads through national forests
The Trump administration argues that rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule will help wildland firefighters. Fire researchers warn that more roads could exacerbate the problem.
Public media stations in rural America say emergency-alert funding is in jeopardy
Without Congressionally-approved funding, public media stations say communities will be left with aging infrastructure amid growing risks from extreme weather.
These investigators patrol Las Vegas looking for one thing: water waste
The Southern Nevada Water Authority has investigators who patrol Las Vegas neighborhoods in search of wasted water.
Hurricane Katrina forced changes at FEMA. Trump is rolling them back
The government's colossal failure to respond after Hurricane Katrina led to major reforms at the nation's top disaster agency. Now, the Trump administration has reversed some of those changes.
Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts again and shoots lava for 31st time since December
Hawaii's Kilauea volcano resumed erupting Friday by shooting an arc of lava 100 feet into the air and across a section of its summit crater floor.
The EV tax credit ends soon — but there’s a little bit of wiggle room for car buyers
A federal EV tax credit worth up to $7,500 ends Sept. 30. But the IRS has just clarified that shoppers don't need to actually have the keys in hand by the deadline to get the credit.
Wilsonville residents seek preemptive strike against massive data center project
“That’s going to be their legacy, to potentially destroy a small town,” said one resident of the landowner and developers of a proposed hyperscale data center.
New study raises questions about effectiveness of wolf hunting as a tool to help ranchers
One of the goals of controversial wolf hunts in the Western U.S. is to help reduce the burden on ranchers, who lose livestock to wolves every year. A new study finds that those hunts have had a measurable, but small effect on livestock depredations.
Ticks are migrating, but scant surveillance may leave doctors in the dark on patient treatment
Health departments struggle to adequately survey for ticks to warn doctors about new species and the diseases they carry.
Businesses face ‘chaos’ as EPA aims to repeal its authority over climate pollution
A lot of companies want the EPA in charge of setting national climate regulations because it helps shield them from lawsuits and creates a predictable environment in which to make investments.
Washington’s hydropower has created a data center boom. Some are concerned about its future.
In small town Washington — where hydropower is plentiful — data centers are creating jobs and funding amenities. But water and energy aren't unlimited — and some worry about long-term sustainability.
After a freeze, Trump administration reluctantly agrees to fund EV chargers
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he doesn't agree with federal subsidies for high-speed EV chargers, but that his department "will respect Congress' will" and release the funds.
‘Who’s running the show?’ is a key question in ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ challenge
A lawsuit challenging construction and operations of an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as 'Alligator Alley' has wrapped up with several key questions unanswered.
The strange-but-true origin story of the humble potato
Scientists have long wondered about how the potato's genetic lineage came to be. Now they know: The plants are a cross between tomatoes and a plant known as Etuberosum.
In Alabama, a dredging project in Mobile Bay brings together unlikely allies
Dredging waterways for navigation is a centuries-old practice, but this project is controversial because the mud being dug out of the channel is put into other parts of Mobile Bay.
Colorado wildfires burn more than 120,000 acres as firefighters await better weather
In western Colorado, firefighters are up against windy, hot weather as they try to protect homes and infrastructure from a pair of lightning-caused wildfires.
Far more environmental data is being deleted in Trump’s second term than before
The second Trump administration has removed more climate and environmental data from websites in the first 100 days than the first administration, according to a new report
Federal judge halts construction at Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
The 14-day stoppage comes as a federal judge considers whether additional construction of the immigration detention facility in south Florida's Everglades is detrimental to the environment.
New Orleans musicians feel the heat of rising temperatures: ‘You can hear it in the music’
Data from climate scientists show that the heat is turning up in New Orleans, and the rate that it’s increasing is getting faster. Here’s why.
Why a NASA satellite that scientists and farmers rely on may be destroyed on purpose
The Trump administration has asked NASA staffers to draw up plans to end at least two satellite missions that measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to current and former NASA employees.
Russian volcano erupts days after monster quake shakes region
The volcano may have been primed to erupt before the magnitude 8.8 quake pushed it over the edge.
In reversal, Defense Department will continue providing crucial satellite weather data
About a month after announcing that it would stop sharing data that hurricane forecasters and scientists rely on, the Navy now says it will continue distributing it.
What makes a tsunami — and what to do if one comes
Several factors help determine whether a given earthquake will generate a dangerous tsunami, but the process is not yet fully understood.
Capped Alabama coal ash pond still polluting groundwater 7 years after closure, lawsuit claims
Coosa Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Alabama Power, alleging significant groundwater pollution violations from the utility’s Gadsden coal ash pond that has been capped in place since 2018.
Researchers find that songbirds sometimes get ‘divorced’
A new study from Oxford University finds that a common European songbird sometimes divorces its partner between breeding seasons.
Trump’s EPA wants to eliminate regulation for greenhouse gases
The Trump administration proposes eliminating a 2009 finding that greenhouse gases endanger people. That would undermine the EPA's climate change regulations for power plants and cars.
The EPA proposes gutting its greenhouse gas rules. Here’s what it means for cars and pollution
The Trump administration has effectively eliminated two rules designed to promote cleaner cars. Now, as the EPA suggests not considering carbon dioxide to be pollution, the last is poised to fall.
Texas flash flood recovery effort turns its focus to lakes
With 101 people still missing after the July 4 flash flood, the focus turns to local lakes, and what may be buried in them.
The White House took down the nation’s top climate report. You can still find it here
The National Climate Assessment is the most influential source of information about climate change in the United States.
