Environment

To help protect the salamander, the National Autonomous University of Mexico launched a campaign asking people to virtually adopt an axolotl or help pay for one of its meals.

(Image credit: AdoptAxolotl)

A top strategy for preventing catastrophic wildfires is periodically burning forests under controlled conditions. The U.S. Forest Service conducted more "prescribed" fires than ever this year.

Crews with rail operator CSX and Kentucky officials are working to remove train cars and spilled material at the site of a derailment that sparked a chemical fire and prompted home evacuations.

(Image credit: WTVQ via/AP)

The 1984 gas leak in Bhopal, India, killed thousands. New research finds babies born to mothers who were pregnant at the time have suffered long-term impacts worse than those directly exposed.

(Image credit: Manjunath Kiran /AFP via Getty Images)

There are more than a million insect species, but entomologists say they're declining at alarming rates. Scientists are trying to determine how to save these tiny creatures that prop up life on Earth.

The Pontifex has long used his platform to advocate for climate change awareness. Now he's attending one of the biggest conferences seeking to address it.

(Image credit: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

The United Nations wants to finish a plastics treaty by the end of 2024. Almost every piece of plastic is made from fossil fuels, and the industry wants a big say in how it's cleaned up.

(Image credit: TONY KARUMBA/AFP via Getty Images)

A new study finds that 5.5 million adults worldwide died in 2019 from cardiovascular disease attributable to lead exposure, more than six times higher than a previous estimate.

(Image credit: Jonathan Raa/Nurphoto via Getty Images)

A proposed rule change from the US Forest Service would allow storage of carbon dioxide pollution under national forests. The plan comes as communities resist such projects in their areas

(Image credit: Julia Simon/NPR)

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Professor Andrew Fountain from Portland State University about melting glaciers in the American West.

The island of Nyangai off the coast of Sierra Leone is on the frontline of climate change. More frequent and intense weather has eroded Nyangai to a nubbin. Residents who remain fear for its future.

(Image credit: Tommy Trenchard for NPR)

The USDA is updating an important map for gardeners and growers picking plants and flowers. The new map shows the contiguous U.S. is about 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the last map 11 years ago.

(Image credit: USDA)

Aviram Azari was sentenced to almost seven years in prison on Thursday. Azari directed a group of hackers that targeted thousands of victims globally, including U.S. climate activists.

(Image credit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

A long running effort to permanently boost pay for thousands of federal wildland firefighters is finally gaining traction in Congress but fire managers warn it could be too little too late.

(Image credit: Inciweb)

Rice's whales are one of the world's newly discovered whale species – and already one of the most endangered. Protections for the whales in the Gulf of Mexico are not coming fast.

(Image credit: KL Murphy for NPR)

More than half of Brazil's exported gold is believed to come from illegal mining which destroys the Amazon and Indigenous lands. The government is cracking down on a system ripe for abuse.

The latest Lancet Countdown, an annual analysis from the prestigious medical journal, underscores the vast and growing costs of fossil fuel burning on health.

(Image credit: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

On an extinct volcano in Uganda, hundreds of thousands face disaster due to climate change. The charity GiveDirectly is trying a surprising approach to help them get out of harm's way.

(Image credit: Isaac Kasamani/AFP via Getty Images)

The preservation group Historic England says it passed news of its analysis on to Northumbria Police, which has now made at least four arrests linked to the case.

(Image credit: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

Hundreds of small earthquakes have been rattling the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland as meteorologists anticipate a volcanic eruption and residents evacuate.

(Image credit: Brynjar Gunnarsson/AP)