All Environment
Should Congress fund climate-change skeptics?A few scientists skeptical of the consensus on climate change want Congress to fund a 'red team,' but critics say doing so would undermine the organization tasked with doing just that for more than a century. 聽
First LookDecades after extinction declaration, hunt for Tasmanian tiger resumesThere have been many reported sightings, but one, in particular, was enough to get scientists to begin the search for a creature thought to have gone extinct in 1936.
Westinghouse bankruptcy: What does it mean for US nuclear power?The company's struggles have reignited the debate over nuclear power, with some framing Westinghouse's bankruptcy filing as the end of the line for nuclear power and others seeing it as a temporary setback for the industry.
Courts now at front line in battles over climate changeAs governments make commitments on emissions 鈥� or fail to do so 鈥� questions of follow-through increasingly lands in court. Vienna's airport is a case in point.
First LookAs US bows out of leading role on climate, China waits in the wingsPresident Trump's executive order rolls back a number of Obama-era climate change initiatives. Meanwhile, China is pushing ahead with its efforts to curb human-caused climate change.
Without more sand, SoCal stands to lose big chunk of its beachesThe USGS forecasts a six-foot rise in sea level and says preserving California's beaches will require more sand and a sustained, coordinated commitment to distributing it.
Is the end in sight for the Flint water crisis?A new settlement would require the state to replace 18,000 water lines linked to the lead contamination of Flint's drinking water, at a cost of聽at least $87 million.
For water users on Colorado River, a mind-set of shared sacrificeA wet winter is easing water strains in the Southwest, but the longer-term outlook is generally hotter and drier. States now have that in mind in water bargaining.- Decoupling the world economy from fossil fuelsIn this edition: Carbon emissions stay flat for three years, yet global economy grows; a Cheerios-led effort to save bees; could a Moore's Law for carbon halt climate change?
North Dakota pipeline spill larger than previously thoughtAn initial appraisal of the聽Belle Fourche Pipeline spill in December estimated that聽176,000 gallons of oil had been released from the leaking pipe. But now, officials are saying that number was actually about three times larger 鈥� 529,839 gallons of leaked oil.
First LookWhat is Earth Hour, and why are the lights out?From Sydney's Opera House to London's Big Ben and New York's Empire State Building, icons around the world are going dark from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday night 'to help change climate change.'
First LookIn break with Trump administration, California commits to cleaner carsThe sheer size of California鈥檚 car market, and a unique waiver from the Clean Air Act, give it an outsized role in determining what comes out of your car鈥檚 tailpipe.
Hopeful combo: World economy grows, carbon emissions stay flatFor three years running, global carbon dioxide emissions have been essentially flat, a survey finds. It hints at the potential for 'decoupling' economic growth from burning fossil fuels.
First LookDeeper down, are coral reefs surviving climate change?Greater depth and colder temperatures could buffer the so-called mesophotic zone against climate change and other well-known threats facing reefs.聽
First LookEvacuation orders lifted, but Oroville dam saga may have just begunAn unusually wet rainy season in California is in its final month, and officials are breathing slightly easier. But a new assessment of the dam's spillways has reached some alarming conclusions.
First LookWhy did the Germans build a super sun?Germany built what's being billed as an 'artificial sun' in the hopes of someday using real sunlight to make fake sunlight to produce sun-fuel, which we could use to power cars and other machines.聽
First LookMother Ganges: Can human rights save India's sacred river?An Indian court granted the Ganges River and one of its main tributaries the status of legal personhood, granting environmentalists a key tool to clean up the sacred waters. But advocates worry the new legal status may not be enough.
The Cheerios bee rescue: Can corporations help save pollinators?Many bee species have been on the decline for decades, but a new promotion from Cheerios hopes to raise awareness of their plight.- Is Trump pulling the plug on electric cars?In this edition: As government revisits gas-mileage targets, it'll test carmaker commitment to cleaner vehicles; science funding slashed in Trump budget proposal; why solar panels bloom in the land of hydropower.
Can crowdsourcing help save the Steller sea lions?Alaska sea lion populations have been rebounding, but not in the isolated western Aleutian islands. NOAA's solution: Crowdsourcing research with citizen scientists.