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Regenerative agriculture is sold as a climate solution. Can it do all it says?

NPR News - Environment - Tue, 2024/09/10 - 9:00am

Governments and industries are pouring billions of dollars into so-called “regenerative agriculture.” But while scientists say some of these farming practices do reduce planet heating pollution, for others the science is less clear.

(Image credit: Julia Simon/NPR)

Categories: Environment

Winter crabbing strained Chesapeake Bay’s blue crab population. It may soon resume

NPR News - Environment - Tue, 2024/09/10 - 2:00am

After a 16-year prohibition, a group of Virginia watermen voted to reinstate winter crab dredging. Many argue the decision puts the blue crab’s fragile population in jeopardy.

(Image credit: Mark Wilson)

Categories: Environment

Idaho is having its worst wildfire smoke summer in decades

NPR News - Environment - Mon, 2024/09/09 - 3:00pm

Idaho is having its worst summer for wildfire smoke in 25 years and has been America's top smoke producer since June. One megafire will likely only stop when snows arrive.

Categories: Environment

Florida’s coral reefs are still ailing but doing better

NPR News - Environment - Mon, 2024/09/09 - 11:33am

A year after the worst coral bleaching ever recorded, Florida's reefs are slowly recovering. Despite elevated ocean temperatures, scientists say this summer they didn’t see significant bleaching.

(Image credit: Image courtesy of)

Categories: Environment

Alleged shooter's mom warned Ga. school. And, opposition leader flees Venezuela

NPR News - Environment - Mon, 2024/09/09 - 5:12am

The mother of the alleged shooter at Apalachee High School warned officials the morning of the shooting. Here's how administrators responded. And, Venezuela's opposition leader has fled the country.

(Image credit: Mike Stewart)

Categories: Environment

Can the most popular red wine in the U.S. endure climate change?

NPR News - Environment - Mon, 2024/09/09 - 3:00am

Bold cabernet sauvignon wines made Napa Valley famous. Now, hotter temperatures are starting to damage the grapes, so some wineries are starting to experiment.

(Image credit: Ryan Kellman)

Categories: Environment

Climate change is coming for your wine

NPR News - Environment - Mon, 2024/09/09 - 12:00am

In California's Napa Valley, the nation's unofficial wine capital, one varietal reigns supreme: cabernet sauvignon. But climate change is threatening the small blue-black grapes for which cabernet sauvignon is named. Increasingly severe heat waves are taking a toll on the grape variety, especially in late summer during ripening.

To kick off NPR's Climate Solutions Week, climate correspondent Lauren Sommer joins host Regina G. Barber for a deep dive into the innovations wineries are actualizing — and the ways that cabernet farmers and fans alike could learn to adapt.

Climate change is affecting our food, and our food is affecting the climate. NPR is dedicating a week to stories and conversations about the search for solutions.

Read more of Lauren's reporting on how climate change is affecting wine.

Interested in hearing more climate solutions? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

(Image credit: Ryan Kellman)

Categories: Environment

Proposed Midwest carbon capture pipeline is stirring controversy

NPR News - Environment - Sat, 2024/09/07 - 2:05pm

In recent years, there have been lots of proposals for new carbon dioxide pipelines tied to a technology called carbon capture and storage. It's an effort to blunt the impact of climate change. A proposed pipeline in the Midwest would be one of the country's largest designated for carbon capture.

Categories: Environment

Could you live without shopping for a year? Try the 'no-buy challenge'

NPR News - Environment - Thu, 2024/09/05 - 8:01am

The goal is to save money, cut back on overconsumption and be more mindful of wasteful and unsustainable shopping habits. This guide can help you start a challenge of your own.

Categories: Environment

Many Marylanders, conservationists worry winter crabbing puts Chesapeake Bay at risk

NPR News - Environment - Wed, 2024/09/04 - 12:20am

After a 16-year prohibition, a group of Virginia watermen have voted to reinstate winter crab dredging. Many argue the decision puts the health of the crab population and the Chesapeake Bay at risk.

Categories: Environment

Feeling itchy? Air pollution might be making it worse

NPR News - Environment - Wed, 2024/09/04 - 12:00am

Short Wave producer Hannah Chinn has adult-onset eczema. They're not the only one. Up to ten percent of people in the United States have it, according to the National Eczema Association — and its prevalence is increasing. Despite its ubiquity, a lot about this skin condition remains a mystery.
So today, Hannah's getting answers. They sat down with Raj Fadadu, a dermatologist at UC San Diego, to ask: What is eczema? What triggers it in the first place? And might climate change make it worse sometimes?

If you liked this episode, check out our episode on the science of itchiness. Also, follow us! That way you never miss another Short Wave episode.

Interested in hearing more about climate change and human health? Email us at shortwave@npr.orgwe'd love to hear your feedback!

(Image credit: Brittany Hosea-Small)

Categories: Environment

Coastal flooding is getting more common, even on sunny days

NPR News - Environment - Tue, 2024/09/03 - 4:37pm

High tide floods – when water collects in streets or even seeps into buildings on days without rain – are increasingly common in coastal areas as sea levels rise, a new report warns.

(Image credit: Lynne Sladky)

Categories: Environment

Corn sweat is real, and it's made extreme heat in the Midwest even more uncomfortable

NPR News - Environment - Tue, 2024/09/03 - 12:13am

Corn sweat is real. Corn draws in water, then releases it into the air through evaporation. And all that moisture produced by more than 90 million acres of corn nationwide can make it more humid.

Categories: Environment

A growing number of backcountry spots now require a permit for camping

NPR News - Environment - Mon, 2024/09/02 - 11:39pm

Recreation.gov is kind of like Ticketmaster for campsites — a government website that controls access to the most popular recreational sites on federal public land. Many critics say it’s not fair.

Categories: Environment

PFAS spill raises questions about older fire systems found in U.S. airport hangars

NPR News - Environment - Mon, 2024/09/02 - 11:28pm

More than 1,400 gallons of firefighting foam with toxic PFAS "forever chemicals" spilled into the environment when a fire suppression system at an airplane hangar in Maine went off by accident.

Categories: Environment

Too hot for trout: Why some anglers are rethinking their approach to fly fishing

NPR News - Environment - Sat, 2024/08/31 - 2:15am

As Western Montana's blue-ribbon trout waters warm due to climate change, anglers are increasingly wrestling with the ethics of their sport.

(Image credit: Jonny Armstrong)

Categories: Environment

How listening to the sounds of insects can help detect agricultural pests

NPR News - Environment - Fri, 2024/08/30 - 12:00am

From Indonesia to Wisconsin, farmers all over the world struggle with a huge problem: pests. On top of that, it's tough for farmers to identify where exactly they have the pests and when. Reporter Lina Tran from NPR member station WUWM in Milwaukee joins host Emily Kwong to tell the story of how researchers in the Midwest are inventing new forms of pest detection that involve eavesdropping on the world of insects. Plus, hear what aphid slurping sounds like.

If you liked this episode, check out behind-the-scenes photos of Insect Eavesdropper experiments in Lina's digital story!

Interested in hearing more insect news? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

Categories: Environment

When birds build nests, they're also building a culture

NPR News - Environment - Thu, 2024/08/29 - 11:00am

Nest-building isn’t just instinct. Birds can learn from others, letting groups within one species develop their own distinctive nest-building traditions.

(Image credit: Maria Cristina Tello-Ramos)

Categories: Environment

Water in the West

NPR News - Environment - Thu, 2024/08/29 - 12:00am

What does it mean to do the greatest good for the greatest number? When the Los Angeles Aqueduct opened in 1913, it rerouted the Owens River from its natural path through an Eastern California valley hundreds of miles south to LA, enabling a dusty town to grow into a global city. But of course, there was a price.

Today on the show: Greed, glory, and obsession; what the water made possible, and at what cost.

Categories: Environment

In Palau, residents are divided on easing fishing restrictions

NPR News - Environment - Sun, 2024/08/25 - 2:50pm

Palau made history a decade ago when it closed off 80% of its oceans to any kind of fishing. A proposal to open up some of its marine sanctuary to fishing has divided residents on how best to protect the oceans around the Pacific nation.

Categories: Environment
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