Climate and environmental news from independent sources.
While the Trump administration is directing hundreds of millions of dollars to coal projects, miners in Appalachia are suffering from a resurgence of black lung disease. But industry pushback is delaying federal rules that would reduce miners’ exposure to deadly silica dust.
New Jersey is home to nearly 9 percent of the nation’s Superfund sites—more than any other state. They range from chemical plants with toxic byproducts leached into the soil, to oil-filled lagoons, open fields rife with septic waste and rivers polluted with toxic chemicals. Many have remained...
As a child growing up in Southern California, Ann Carlson remembers mountains obscured by haze and yellowish brown air that stung her eyes and made her lungs ache. It was just “the environment,” her stepfather said of the smog many years later. It would be decades before Carlson learned the...
From our collaborating partner “Living on Earth,” public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by host Steve Curwood with Alannah Hurley, executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay. In 2001, a Canadian mining company proposed a massive gold and copper mine at the headwaters...
Julie Zahringer hears a common refrain at her environmental laboratory in Alamosa, Colorado: A customer has been drinking well water on family land where they’ve lived for years, but recently noticed it has changed. They want to know why. “All of a sudden it looks different, tastes different,...
A new study identifies thousands of flowering plants belonging to rare and ancient lineages that are in urgent need of protection. Read more on E360 →
It’s not in your head. Climate change is contributing to longer and more severe pollen seasons across the Northern Hemisphere. Dr. Neelima Tummala, an ear, nose and throat doctor at NYU Langone Health, said her patients tell her every year that their allergies are the worst they’ve ever been—and...
No shade, but cities aren’t planting enough trees.
The U.S. has threatened countries that support the tax with visa restrictions, tariffs, and port fees. But a slim majority of U.N. nations are still backing it.
New research shows every $1 the U.S. Forest Service spent to minimize wildfire risk prevented nearly $4 in damages.
Scientists are increasingly worried that a vast system of ocean circulation, which delivers warmth to northern Europe and impacts climate globally, is at risk of collapse. Mounting evidence suggests it may be nearing a tipping point, though the research is far from certain. Read more on E360 →
SILER CITY, N.C.—John Alderman opened the letter, sent by certified mail from an attorney in New Orleans. This is trouble, Alderman thought. It can’t be good news. In late April Enbridge, a Canadian company, announced its plans to build a new 28-mile natural gas pipeline through Chatham County, from...
Jill Mauer spent more than 30 years as a government inspector, watching over meat plants as workers slaughtered and processed animals into market-ready chops and wings. Now she has a warning. In comments Mauer submitted last month to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she wrote that recent Trump...
Record flooding pushed Michigan's dams to the brink of disaster. The near miss reflects the national problem of infrastructure that is not suited to the challenges of a warming world.
A North Carolina nonprofit is taking on “forever chemicals” in rural communities.
Rising seas could render New Orleans uninhabitable before the end of this century, according to a new paper calling for a managed retreat from the city. Read more on E360 →
BROOMFIELD, Colo.—Colorado’s top wildfire officials said they expect a significantly increased risk of wildfire this summer—and while they’ll partner with neighboring states as much as they can, resources for fighting the blazes will be tested. A dismal snowpack this winter is likely to leave a...
The Trump administration is rushing to approve a 650-mile pipeline to bring oil from Canada’s tar sands into the U.S.
The U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is facing questions about its effectiveness amid a broader U.N. budget crisis.
Why are politicians from both parties targeting measures that have saved Americans trillions of dollars?