Environment
WBHM Partners on Gulf Coast Consortium to Cover Oil Spill
WBHM is partnering with public media outlets across the Gulf Coast region to create the Gulf Coast Consortium, a multi-media project to expand reporting on the Gulf oil spill.
Conservation: The Behavior Gap
What are you doing to help the environment? Have you ditched the plastic water bottles and carry a reusable one instead. Maybe you bike to work a couple days a week. According to a recent study, there's sometimes a big gap between what we say we should do and what we actually do.
Oil Spill and Hair Sausages
Many of us watch the coverage of the BP Oil Spill and wonder: What can we do to help? Some people are traveling to the Gulf region to volunteer. But others who can't make the trip are getting creative with hair?
New EPA Sulfur Dioxide Rules
Next week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will release much-anticipated new rules limiting sulfur dioxide in the air. When sulfur dioxide spews from smoke stacks and diesel engines it can cause acid rain. But that's just the beginning of the problem.
Alabama and the Oil Spill: Seafood Safety
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is looming over the seafood industry. Early tests don't show substantial chemical contamination of Gulf seafood. But officials have closed many fishing grounds. And that means we're going to see more imported seafood in the coming months. But as WBHM's Tanya Ott reports, some people question the safety of those imports.
Alabama and the Oil Spill: Hurricane Season
Hurricane season starts in just a few weeks, and experts say it's going to be an active year. What happens if a tropical storm hits while there's still oil in the gulf waters?
Alabama and the Oil Spill: Protecting the Beaches
BP continues to try to stop the flow from the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil has already come ashore in Louisiana. And other coastal communities are scrambling to prepare. As WBHM's Tanya Ott reports, volunteers in Alabama are taking some low-tech steps to protect the shore.
The Oil Spill & Alabama
Governor Bob Riley and Alabama's cabinet heads are working on plans to deal with the massive oil spill that threatens to come ashore this weekend. When an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana exploded last week, gulf coast officials knew they had a problem on their hands. But it's worse than they originally thought.
US 280: The Environmental Perspective
All this week on Morning Edition/All Things Considered we're examining the state's proposed elevated toll road for U.S. 280. Yesterday we talked with someone from the Birmingham Business Alliance, one of the plan's biggest cheerleaders. Today, we hear from Gil Rogers, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.
Seagrass Beds in Crisis
Alabama is losing sea grass beds at an alarming rate, according to researchers at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. A new aerial survey indicates that Mobile Bay lost nearly 1,400 acres of sea grass in recent years. That comes on top of significant grass losses over the last quarter century.
Southern Environmentalism
When Forbes Magazine ranked states by their "greenness" the usual suspects topped the list - Vermont, Oregon, and Washington, all progressive states known for their environmental movements. Seven out of the ten "least green" states were in the South, the land of coal mines and timber plots. But as WBHM's Tanya Ott reports there's a growing environmental movement down south and some of its members might surprise you.
Restoring Wetlands on Farmlands
Hundreds of years ago the Mississippi Delta was covered with hardwood forests that could withstand seasonal flooding. In the early 20th century, levvies and dams were installed to drain land for row crops. Some of that land has since been turned back into wetlands, and a new study tracks how that's effected wildlife.
Greening the Greens
This time of year golf might be the farthest thing from your mind. But during the off-season golf course managers get to strategize how to best treat their million dollar turf. Some golf courses have a bad rap with environmentalists. But as WBHM's Tanya Ott reports there's a budding green movement in the golf industry.
Estrogen Contamination in Waterways
A recent report from the U.S. Geological Survey confirms past findings that fish are in trouble. They're turning up with lesions and intersexed, meaning they have both male and female characteristics. What does this mean for humans?
Tri-State Water Wars: Atlanta
It's called "the economic engine of the South". Atlanta, Georgia's population has exploded in the last two decades. But with that growth come environmental problems... like where to get enough drinking water. Georgia, Florida and Alabama have been fighting over who gets how much water from rivers that flow through the states. And as Tanya Ott reports a decision in the federal lawsuit could effect communities across the country.
Global Warming & National Parks
A new report warns that U.S. National Parks could be devastated by global warming. The report identifies 25 national parks, lakeshores, seashores and monuments most at risk from warming temperatures, rising sea levels and retreating snow.
Coal Ash Controversy
Every day for the rest of the year, a long train will travel through Birmingham on its way from a power plant in Tennessee to a landfill in Uniontown, Alabama. Tim Lennox has our report on the controversy the muck on board that train is causing in Alabama's Black Belt.
Birmingham: A Hub for Green Building
Green Building is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy right now. A lot of federal stimulus money is focused on weatherization and alternative energy. And James Smith believes Birmingham can be the sustainability hub of the Southeast. Smith is President and CEO of Green Building Focus. He's gathered internationally-recognized sustainability experts in Birmingham this week for a Green Building Conference.
My City Was Gone
Have an unexplained phenomenon, unusual behavior or an unexpected baby boom? You can always declare, "There must be something in the water." But for the Anniston community, this is not simply an innocuous cliche. Dumping decades ago by the Monsanto corporation has left Anniston with elevated levels of PCBs, a chemical banned since the 70s, but blamed for high rates of cancer and birth defects in the east Alabama town. Public outrage culminated in a legal settlement about 5 years ago which approached $800 million. Journalist Dennis Love followed the case in his book "My City Was Gone." The Anniston native spoke with WBHM's Andrew Yeager.
Air Quality: Portland
This week we've been talking about Birmingham's air quality: why it's bad on some days and the effect of particle pollutants on your health. We've looked at possible solutions, including 'smart traffic lights' and vehicle emissions testing. Today, we turn our focus to Portland, Oregon, which might seem like a strange choice. But a decade ago that city faced air quality problems like Birmingham's. Reporter Barbara Bernstein explains how Portland turned things around and what new challenges it faces.
Air Quality: On The Line
Birmingham's air quality has improved significantly over the last century. But you wouldn't know it. The area still has problems with smog and other particulate matter, exceeding federal standards. On the next On The Line, Monday June 23 at 6:30 p.m., our guests take your comments and questions about Air Pollution and how to clean up Birmingham.
Air Quality: Emissions
The average price of regular unleaded gas in Alabama is $3.94 a gallon, and that has many people thinking about alternatives. The Birmingham Regional Planning Commission says hundreds of people have signed up for their carpool program, and some businesses are moving to four-day workweeks. All of this could have an impact on the environment. In today's installment in our Air Quality series, reporter Gigi Douban examines vehicle emissions testing in Alabama.
Air Quality: Traffic
When people and businesses think about moving to a city they consider all kinds of things, including air quality and traffic. The two are linked, afterall. More time spent idling at traffic lights means more CO2 emissions. More air pollution. WBHM's Tanya Ott takes us on a road trip.
Air Quality: a history
Birmingham's air quality has improved significantly over the last century. But you wouldn't know it. The area still has problems with smog and other particulate matter, exceeding federal standards. WBHM's Steve Chiotakis harkens back to a time when bad air meant big Birmingham business.
Drought Update – water supply
The latest drought monitor still labels Birmingham and points north and east as in a severe drought, but it is much improved over the exceptional drought that plagued the area months ago. That was when lake levels dropped to historic lows and water restrictions were put in place.
Severe Storms
People throughout the South are cleaning up today after another round of severe weather stuck the region over the weekend. At least one tornado and severe thunderstorms tore through portions of north and central Alabama, waking people up in the middle of the night with vivid lightning, loud thunder and tornado warning sirens. There are no reports of injuries, but damage has been reported in Marion, Winston, and Cullman counties, with downed trees and power lines in many areas.
Alabama Appalachian Trail
State tourism officials are hailing their latest attraction as something hundreds of millions of years in the making. It is a natural path that connects Alabama's portion of the Appalachian Mountains to the Appalachian Trail. The decades long effort has spurred some to ask why the trail doesn't officially end in Alabama. WBHM's Steve Chiotakis reports.
Code Red
The Birmingham metropolitan area was placed under an air quality alert once again Wednesday for particle pollution, a code red for what officials say was a particularly dangerous situation: smoke coming from wildfires burning in Georgia and Florida. Winds have shifted and the smoke has moved out of the area -- for now.
March Storms
March roared in like a lion across the Southeast and Midwest, bringing with it a band of bad weather. The system spawned several deadly storms that left a total of twenty people dead in Georgia, Missouri and Alabama -- including eight high school students in Coffee County.
Watermelon 101
It’s an age-old puzzle. You’re standing in front of dozens of gorgeous watermelons…how do you choose the best one? The experts say there are two schools of thought on that… ‘You want one that’s not a bright, shiny green…’ ‘You pat on it, like that” ‘There’s a little stem, and when it turns brown it’s […]
The Clean Air Quest
NPR News and Classical Music for North Central Alabama
Alabama Earthquake
NPR News and Classical Music for North Central Alabama
