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Pregnant stingray Charlotte brings in traffic, business to North Carolina town
Charlotte the stingray in a small North Carolina aquarium has been attracting visitors since she got pregnant without a mate. Businesses in Hendersonville are delighted by the influx.
Taxpayers subsidize plastics plants that violate pollution standards, report says
Shell's plastics plant outside Pittsburgh, which was built with over a billion dollars in tax credits from the state, has violated clean air laws 19 times since it began operating two years ago.
The U.S. Coast Guard's new system reduces the number of whales hit by vessels
The U.S. Coast Guard has developed a new system to try to reduce the number whales hit by vessels. It's trying it out in the waters in and around Seattle.
A volcano in Iceland is erupting for the fourth time in 3 months
A volcano in Iceland erupted Saturday evening for the fourth time in three months, sending orange jets of lava into the night sky.
Ecuadorian Indigenous Women on why they march
Women from different Indigenous nationalities traveled from their territories to Puyo, Ecuador on March 8 to march through the city's streets as they do every year on International Women's Day
Razones por la que mujeres indígenas Ecuatorianas marchan en 8M
Mujeres de diferentes nacionalidades indígenas viajaron desde sus territorios a Puyo, Ecuador, para marchar por las calles de la ciudad como lo hacen cada año en el Día Internacional de la Mujer.
Daniel Lewis explored the roles of different trees play his new book, 'Twelve Trees'
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with writer Daniel Lewis about his new book, Twelve Trees, which zeroes in on a different tree species in each chapter.
After the fires, a Maui community tries a novel approach to keep homes in local hands
As burned properties come up for sale in Lahaina, many worry outside developers will scoop them up. Some are turning to a tool that's helped other towns after a disaster: a community land trust.
(Image credit: Ryan Kellman)
Oil and gas companies emit more climate-warming methane than EPA reports
Oil and gas drillers are releasing more climate-warming methane than the government estimates, a new study shows.
(Image credit: David Goldman)
This often-overlooked sea creature may be quietly protecting the planet's coral reefs
The pickle-shaped bottom feeders may reduce the amount of microbes on the seafloor that could potentially sicken coral, scientists suggest
(Image credit: Terry Moore)
How sea cucumbers act as little allies for disappearing coral reefs
The words "coral reef" evoke a riot of color and life. But the ecosystem's disappearing. Now, new evidence points to an ally for the coral reef: a little creature called the sea cucumber.
Old power lines plus climate change mean a growing risk of utilities starting fires
Texas investigators say the largest wildfire in state history appears to be caused by a power line. Aging utility infrastructure ups the risk of starting wildfires as the climate heats up.
(Image credit: Scott Olson)
Pee-cycling could help to solve Cape Cod's wastewater problem
In Massachusetts, many of Cape Cod's iconic beaches and ponds are polluted with wastewater leaching from septic systems. Recycling that waste could be an affordable fix.
Probe finds that the largest wildfire in Texas history was 'ignited by power lines'
The U.S. faces a dangerous combination of aging utility infrastructure and rising wildfire risk because of global warming. Experts say many utilities aren't employing solutions to reduce the threat.
Farmers accused of drying up the imperiled Great Salt Lake say they can help save it
Environmentalists are suing Utah to force water cutbacks to farmers to save the Great Salt Lake. Farmers call the blame unfair and say that would have its own environmental and economic consequences.
U.S. has warmest winter on record – and no, that's not a good thing
From lack of snow to wildfires, a record-warm winter had impacts across the country. Scientists say winters are warming faster than any other season in the U.S.
(Image credit: Scott Olson)
As a deadline approaches, Colorado River states are still far apart on water sharing
Ahead of a deadline next week, the seven states that share the Colorado River have revealed competing plans for how the river should be managed in the future.
(Image credit: Alex Hager)
Mexico City's long-running water problems are getting even worse
Reservoirs that furnish a large part of the Mexican capital have fallen to historic lows, as low rainfall, climate change and mismanagement exacerbate the problem.
Generations After The First Nuclear Test, Those Sickened Fight For Compensation
On August 6, 1945, a stone-faced President Harry Truman appeared on television and told Americans about the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima.
The attack on Hiroshima marked the first time nuclear power was used in war, but the atomic bomb was actually tested a month earlier in the Jornada del Muerto desert of New Mexico.
At least hundreds of New Mexicans were harmed by the test's fallout. Radiation creeped into the grass their cows grazed, on the food they ate, and the water they drank.
A program compensating victims of government-caused nuclear contamination has been in place since 1990, but it never included downwinders in New Mexico, the site of the very first nuclear test.
This week, the Senate voted to broaden the bi-partisan legislation that could compensate people who have suffered health consequences of radiation testing. Now, the bill will go to a House vote.
Generations after the Trinity Nuclear Test, will downwinders in New Mexico finally get compensation?
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(Image credit: VALERIE MACON)
A stingray named Charlotte got pregnant — exactly how remains a mystery
The world is waiting for a stingray to give birth in the small town of Hendersonville, N.C. That's because it's not clear how she got pregrant, as there's no other stingray in the aquarium.