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Climate Change in Mass.

A series of stories examining the effects of climate change here in Massachusetts

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(Courtesy of the Climate Ready Boston Map Explorer)

WBUR News

Sep 21, 2017

You Can Explore Boston Sea Level Rise And Flooding Scenarios With This City Map

The city has turned the data from its massive Climate Ready Boston report into an interactive map.

  • Boston To Host International Climate Summit In 2018
  • Chart: How Temperatures Have Increased In Mass. Since 1900
  • Here's What You Can Do About Climate Change
The three harbor barrier proposals being studied (Courtesy of the Climate Ready Boston report)

A Barrier For Boston Harbor: UMass Team Studies Flood-Protection Plans

If the city decides it wants to go forward, it could take decades -- and untold billions of dollars -- before a harbor barrier is built.

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WBUR News

06:42Sep 6, 2017
City-owned harbor property behind Shaw's in East Boston. (Elizabeth Gillis/WBUR)

As Construction And Tides Rise, Group Aims To Make Eastie 'More Resilient' Against Climate Change

Harborkeepers, an East Boston group dedicated to community-based climate work, pushes for residents to play a greater role in the city's climate preparedness.

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WBUR News

05:07Sep 6, 2017
In Duxbury, James Kearns, center, pulls a cage of oysters from beneath the float, exposing them to air, to begin the race to crate, count, bag and ice the oysters in the one hour time limit they are allowed before shipping to the Pangea wholesale facility in Boston. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Bacteria That Thrive In Warmer Waters Keep Mass. Oyster Fisheries On High Alert

The ways oysters are harvested have become more challenging since 2013. That's when bacteria linked to warming waters appeared in our marshes for the first time.

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WBUR News

07:16Aug 30, 2017
In this January file photo, construction is under way on the Wynn Boston Harbor casino on the shoreline of the Mystic River. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

How Wynn Is Building Its Casino To Protect Against Climate Change

The Everett casino project is the largest single-phase development in state history, and with an eye toward flooding, Wynn is elevating the building.

Play

Bostonomix

06:46Aug 30, 2017
As the ocean slowly advances it undercuts the salt marsh in Essex until it collapses into the water. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

The North Shore's Salt Marshes Play A Key Environmental Role

"[I]f we care about flood protection, storm protection, we care about salt marshes," says Liz Duff, with the conservation group Mass Audubon.

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WBUR News

05:49Aug 30, 2017
While governments and industry can effect greater change, individual actions also have the power to help mitigate some of the catastrophic potential effects of climate change -- like giving up your car. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Here's What You Can Do About Climate Change

While governments and industry can effect greater change, individual actions also have the power to mitigate some of the catastrophic potential effects of climate change.

WBUR News

Aug 29, 2017
Volunteers and staffers with the Buzzards Bay Coalition have been collecting water quality data for decades in an effort to help the struggling bay. Now they're teaming up with with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to use the data to help fight climate change. Here, a house sits on the rocky north end of East Beach in New Bedford overlooking Buzzards Bay. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Concerned Citizens And Fishermen Help Scientists Track Ocean Changes In Effort To Fight Climate Change

The Buzzards Bay Coalition has been collecting water quality data for decades. Now it is teaming up with with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to use the data to help...

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WBUR News

07:33Aug 23, 2017
(WBUR file photo)

Environmentalists Tend To Have Bad Voting Records — And Lie About It

Only 50 percent of environmentalists turned out to vote in the 2016 presidential election, says Nathaniel Stinnett.

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WBUR News

04:25Aug 23, 2017
(Photo)

Chart: How Temperatures Have Increased In Mass. Since 1900

1992 was the last year in which Massachusetts had an annual temperature average below the 20th century mean.

WBUR News

Aug 23, 2017
Indigo Agriculture's goal is simple, albeit lofty: to help farmers sustainably feed the planet. To do that, it's working on creating drought-resistant seeds coated with tiny microbes. Here, Geoff von Maltzahn, the co-founder of Indigo, checks on the plants in the company's grow room at its Charlestown headquarters. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Boston Startup Hopes Its Seeds Will Help Farmers Cope With Climate Change

Indigo Agriculture's goal is simple, albeit lofty: to help farmers sustainably feed the planet. To do that, it's working on creating drought-resistant seeds coated with tiny microbes.

Play

Bostonomix

04:28Aug 16, 2017
A delivery truck leaves the New England Produce Center in Chelsea. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

How A Bad Storm Could Endanger New England's Food Supply

The facility responsible for getting produce out to almost 8 million people sits in a flood zone in Chelsea.

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WBUR News

05:05Aug 16, 2017
The Atlantic Ocean laps at the feet of a condemned house on Seagull Drive on Nags Head Beach on North Carolina's Outer Banks. The house was part of a larger development of houses that have either been moved or have succumbed to the ocean. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

On North Carolina's Outer Banks, A Preview Of What Might Be In Store For Mass. Barrier Beaches

We look to the Outer Banks, where beaches and seaside homes are succumbing to the encroaching ocean, as a possible harbinger of what's to come for barrier beaches here in...

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WBUR News

08:08Aug 9, 2017
A view down Border Street in East Boston, where the Maverick Landing housing development abuts the Boston Harbor. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

City Plots A Series Of Defenses For East Boston's Coast

The city estimates that in 50 years, nearly half of East Boston's territory will be at risk during a major storm.

Play

WBUR News

06:56Aug 2, 2017
A kettle pond shoreline in the Cape Cod National Seashore (Courtesy CCNS)

Cape Cod's Kettle Ponds Are Showing Signs Of Climate Change

Of the Cape's waterways, kettle ponds may be showing the most visible signs of climate change.

Play

WBUR News

05:36Aug 2, 2017
The New Bedford seawall. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

New Bedford Hurricane Barrier: Not An 'Impermeable Line Of Defense' Against Climate Change

New Bedford is home to the longest hurricane barrier on the East Coast, but city leaders know the wall can only hold back the sea for so long. The sea...

Play

WBUR News

06:30Jul 26, 2017
The twin cooling towers at Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, Mass. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Analysis: Non-White Mass. Voters More Troubled By Climate Change Than White Voters

A recent WBUR poll shows non-white Mass. voters are even more concerned about the consequences of climate change than the state population as a whole -- and voters are already...

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WBUR News

02:49Jul 26, 2017
Several industrial sites are located on the Chelsea Creek. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

'Hit First And Worst': Region's Communities Of Color Brace For Climate Change Impacts

The consequences of climate change, experts say, will disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color.

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WBUR News

06:25Jul 26, 2017
Shannon Nangle and her colleagues at the Silver Lab at Harvard Medical School are working on a project that could one day help reduce a cause of global warming. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

'Bionic Leaf' Could One Day Help Reduce CO2 In The Atmosphere

A project at Harvard Medical School could one day help reduce a cause of global warming.

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WBUR News

04:36Jul 19, 2017
Dan and Harriet Tolpin's house on Plum Island Beach (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Signs Of Climate Change — Past, Present And Future — On Plum Island

The Plum Island shoreline is a case study in the complexities of human-caused climate change interacting locally with man-made structures and coastal development.

Play

WBUR News

07:24Jul 19, 2017
Biologist Richard Primack uses Henry David Thoreau’s records from his time living on Walden Pond to look for effects of climate change on area wildlife. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

How Thoreau Helped Make Walden Pond One Of The Best Places To Study Climate Change In The U.S.

We take a walk around Walden Pond with biologist Richard Primack, who uses Thoreau’s records to look for effects of climate change on area wildlife.

Play

WBUR News

06:35Jul 12, 2017
Members of NOAH’s Climate CARE Tree Program team stand by an oak tree on Lexington Street, the first tree planted during the project. From left: Michael Passariello, Jenn Pineda, NOAH Community Engagement Coordinator Melinda Vega, Gabriela Ramirez and Stephan Marin. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Youth Brigade Aims To Close Tree Canopy Gap In East Boston

The students mapped tree cover in their neighborhood. They calculated that Eastie sidewalks have just 15 percent of the ideal number of trees. Their goal is to double that.

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WBUR News

07:23Jul 5, 2017
The view down Second Street in Chelsea, where asphalt, cement, brick, metal and human activity all contribute to make this area an urban heat island (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

No Tropical Paradise: Urban 'Heat Islands' Are Hotbeds For Health Problems

Most of the city of Chelsea is a heat island, meaning temperatures are consistently hotter than average. For residents of these islands, health risks rise with the heat.

Play

CommonHealth

06:41Jul 5, 2017

WBUR Poll Shows Big Jump In Concern About Climate Change And Its Effects

A new WBUR poll finds a dramatic progression in Massachusetts residents' worries about global warming and its effects.

Play

WBUR News

05:37Jun 28, 2017
Volunteers and ecologist Brooks Matthewson, left, examine a tree as they track the effects of climate change at Mount Auburn Cemetery. (Courtesy Jeanne Mooney)

Mount Auburn Cemetery Tree Trackers Gather Climate Data Amid Changing Beauty

Long known for its natural beauty and the Boston luminaries buried there, Mount Auburn Cemetery is now becoming a hot spot for "citizen scientists" who want to help track climate...

Play

WBUR News

04:59Jun 28, 2017
In 2015, 78 percent of Massachusetts voters said they believed the world was getting warmer. Today it's 88 percent -- and the public is coalescing around the cause. Here, the coal-fired Plant Scherer, one of the nation's top carbon dioxide emitters, stands in the distance in Georgia. (Branden Camp/AP)

WBUR Poll Finds A Sharp Increase In Concern About Climate Change Among Mass. Voters

In 2015, 78 percent of Massachusetts voters said they believed the world was getting warmer. Today it's 88 percent -- and the public is coalescing around a cause.

Play

WBUR News

05:20Jun 28, 2017

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