Covering Climate

Here & Now's continued coverage of climate change and environmental news.

In this aerial picture taken on January 14, 2023, the Salines River overflows its banks, inundating farms near Chualar, California, as a series of atmospheric river storms continues to cause widespread destruction across the state. (David McNew/AFP via Getty Images)

Extreme weather events make it difficult for California farmworkers to put food on their own tables

Extreme weather events, including the recent rains and last summer's heat, have taken on toll on some of the crops.

Here & Now

05:16Jan 26, 2023

Training anesthesiology residents like Dr. Lillye Anderson, now includes the climate context of her work in the OR at Massachusetts General Hospital. /(Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Mass General tries performance reports to cut greenhouse gas use in anesthesia

“You see these numbers that are just astounding,” said Sam Smith, an anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. “There’s probably no other speciality that can make such a dramatic impact with...

Health

04:27Jan 10, 2023

The world is on track to use a record amount of coal in 2022

This year, the world is on track to use more than 8 billion tons of coal, according to the International Energy Agency.

Here & Now

03:50Dec 20, 2022

In Montana, young activists take fight against climate change to court

Young people across the country are challenging state energy policy in court.

Here & Now

09:33Dec 16, 2022

Cars that pollute the most stay popular despite automakers' push for energy-efficient vehicles

A new report from the Environmental Protection Agency found that people continued to buy less-efficient trucks and SUVs through 2021 in spite of a push for low CO2 options.

Here & Now

03:32Dec 13, 2022

This historically dry, hot year is wreaking havoc across the U.S.

In the Great Plains, widespread drought has dried up water supplies, decimated crop harvests and left cattle with no grass to eat.

Here & Now

04:54Dec 6, 2022

Floating wind farms off California to create more renewable energy sources

Dozens of energy companies are bidding for the right to build and operate floating wind farms off the coast of Morro Bay.

Here & Now

04:56Dec 6, 2022

Christmas decorations sit on top of rubbish in a bin waiting to be collected outside a home. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Making the holidays greener — and cheaper — by reducing trash, toxins and waste

Americans toss out about 25% more garbage during the holidays.

Here & Now

09:25Nov 28, 2022

A firefighter from the National Republican Guard GIPS works on a fire in a forest after a wildfire took dozens of lives on June 19, 2017 near Pedrogao Grande, in Leiria district, Portugal. (Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)

Why eucalyptus overgrowth spurs wildfires in Portugal

Five years ago, Portugal's biggest wildfires to date engulfed the country's center.

Here & Now

05:49Nov 17, 2022

How California plans to reach zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045

California released a plan Wednesday to reduce the state's dependence on fossil fuels.

Here & Now

02:43Nov 17, 2022

War in Ukraine gives country's scientists platform at COP27

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is raising the profile of Ukrainian scientists and activists at COP27, the international climate conference in Egypt.

Here & Now

03:44Nov 17, 2022

Biden addresses climate summit

President Biden just finished addressing the climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh, where he was expected to do a victory lap following his administration’s $370 billion clean energy bill.

Here & Now

05:21Nov 11, 2022

Environmental reporters share the biggest climate issues impacting Brazil, Nigeria, Pakistan

It's no question that climate change is an urgent issue affecting the entire world. Still, journalists continue to face challenges in helping people understand the climate crisis facing their local...

Here & Now

10:54Nov 10, 2022

Developing countries intensify calls for climate reparations at COP27

Poorer countries suffer the brunt of floods, fires and hurricanes, but contribute far less of the carbon in the atmosphere that triggers those events.

Here & Now

05:52Nov 9, 2022

What's happening at COP27 so far?

The global climate summit COP27 began Sunday, with leaders gathered in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, to make decisions on how to tackle climate change.

Here & Now

05:43Nov 8, 2022

Recycled plastic bottles. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Only 5% to 6% of U.S. plastics get recycled, new Greenpeace report finds

The organization calls for the petrochemical industry to end the plastic recycling narrative that places the blame for pollution on the consumer rather than the industry itself.

Here & Now

05:57Nov 2, 2022

Along I-85 in West Georgia, previously vacant land now hosts 2,600 solar panels generating one megawatt of electricity, enough to power about 100 homes. (Courtesy of Emily Jones)

A Georgia group helps states put solar panels on unused roadside land

Emily Jones of WABE visited the 18-mile Ray Highway in Georgia, where a solar array powers 100 homes.

Here & Now

04:10Nov 2, 2022

A man takes a drink of water. (Darren England/Getty Images).

This California town is about to run out of water

The Central Valley city of Coalinga, California, is on the verge of running out of water unless provided help soon.

Here & Now

05:45Oct 21, 2022

Myrtle Felton, from left, Sharon Lavigne, Gail LeBoeuf and Rita Cooper, members of RISE St. James, conduct a live stream video on property owned by Formosa on March 11, 2020, in St. James Parish, La. The Environmental Protection Agency said it has evidence that Black residents in an industrial section of Louisiana face an increased risk of cancer from a nearby chemical plant and that state officials have allowed air pollution to remain high and downplayed its threat. (Gerald Herbert/AP)

New head of EPA office of environmental justice says they're putting civil rights into agency's DNA

Will the agency succeed where prior administrations and initiatives fell short?

Here & Now

07:00Oct 18, 2022

Bob and Georgene Bond's property on Lake Priest. (Bob and Georgene Bond)

Dr. Bob Bond grew up going to Priest Lake, the remote Idaho wetlands at center of Supreme Court case

Dr. Bob Bond has been coming to the lake since 1939 shortly after he was born. His Dad built a cabin there, not on wetlands, where Bond and his wife...

Here & Now

06:03Oct 3, 2022

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Extreme weather events make it difficult for California farmworkers to put food on their own tables

Mass General tries performance reports to cut greenhouse gas use in anesthesia

The world is on track to use a record amount of coal in 2022

In Montana, young activists take fight against climate change to court

Cars that pollute the most stay popular despite automakers' push for energy-efficient vehicles

This historically dry, hot year is wreaking havoc across the U.S.

Floating wind farms off California to create more renewable energy sources

Making the holidays greener — and cheaper — by reducing trash, toxins and waste

Why eucalyptus overgrowth spurs wildfires in Portugal

How California plans to reach zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045

War in Ukraine gives country's scientists platform at COP27

Biden addresses climate summit

Environmental reporters share the biggest climate issues impacting Brazil, Nigeria, Pakistan

Developing countries intensify calls for climate reparations at COP27

What's happening at COP27 so far?

Only 5% to 6% of U.S. plastics get recycled, new Greenpeace report finds

A Georgia group helps states put solar panels on unused roadside land

This California town is about to run out of water

New head of EPA office of environmental justice says they're putting civil rights into agency's DNA

Dr. Bob Bond grew up going to Priest Lake, the remote Idaho wetlands at center of Supreme Court case