Covering Climate Now

Covering Climate Now is a project co-founded by Columbia Journalism Review and The Nation aimed at strengthening the media’s focus on the climate crisis. WBUR is one of more than 250 news organizations around the world that have committed to running a week’s worth of climate coverage in the lead-up to the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York on Sept. 23, 2019.

Youth climate strike protesters march through Boston toward the State House. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Scenes From The Youth Climate Strike In Boston

Thousands of young people from Massachusetts and surrounding states have "gone on strike," emptying out classrooms to gather at Boston City Hall Plaza Friday to demand bold and immediate action...

Earthwhile

03:21Sep 20, 2019

A new report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finds that the Earth's soil is degrading at an alarming rate. (Michael Tewelde/AFP/Getty Images)

U.N. Report Links Soil Degradation To Climate Change

Scientists revealed that the Earth's soil is being lost 10 to 100 times faster than it is forming.

Here & Now

09:45Sep 20, 2019

What can and cannot be recycled? (Ezequiel Becerra/AFP/Getty Images)

Exposing The Myth Of Plastic Recycling: Why A Majority Is Burned Or Thrown In A Landfill

Very little of plastic we recycle is actually removed from the waste stream.

Here & Now

10:55Sep 20, 2019

The Trump administration says it's revoking a waiver that allowed California to set its own standards for automobile emissions. (Frank Franklin II/AP)

Trump Administration Official Defends Decision To Revoke California's Emissions Standards Waiver

He says concerns about clean air must be addressed by “practical steps that are not informed by ideology.”

Here & Now

06:20Sep 20, 2019

Tatiana Schlossberg pictured at Zion National Park in Utah, May 2019. (Courtesy)

On Climate Guilt, 2020, And Why Your Jeans Are Bad For The Environment: 5 Questions With Tatiana Schlossberg

The former New York Times science reporter (and Kennedy family scion) is out with a new book that illustrates how everything in our lives comes back to the climate --...

Cognoscenti

Sep 20, 2019

The author speaking at an event near the Massachusetts State House in June 2019. (Courtesy Eben Bein for Our Climate)

The Words Of One Young Climate Activist: 'We Cannot Consider Ourselves Separate From The Natural World'

In 12 years, I will be 27 years old, writes Izzy Goodrich. I will not yet have experienced three full decades on Earth before it begins its irreversible decline.

Cognoscenti

Sep 20, 2019

Emerging flaring of gas at the Shedgum Gas Plant, Saudi Arabia, captured by the Sentinel-2 satellite in September 2019. (Photo credit: European Space Agency)

Attacks On Saudi Oil Plant Carry Heavy Environmental Cost

One researcher says attacks on oil facilities can have disastrous environmental consequences.

Here & Now

05:22Sep 19, 2019

Dr. Lewis Ziska says attempts were made by the Trump administration to suppress his climate change related research on how rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are altering the nutritional content in rice. (Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP/Getty Images)

Former USDA Scientist Says He'll Make A Bigger Impact On Climate Change Research Outside Of The Government

A scientist at the USDA recently resigned after citing attempts by the Trump administration to suppress his climate change related research.

Here & Now

09:52Sep 19, 2019

'Choked' By Air Pollution: An Invisible Consequence Of Climate Change

Climate change is exacerbating the negative health effects of air pollution.

Here & Now

09:47Sep 19, 2019

The scene at a March youth climate strike around the steps of the State House (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

What To Know About Friday’s Youth Climate Strike In Boston

Organizers estimate 10,000 people from across Massachusetts will participate in a rally at City Hall Plaza and a march to the State House.

Earthwhile

Sep 19, 2019

Martin Greenwald demonstrates how you can use a magnetic fields to contain and insulate a hot fusion plasma. Here the magnet pushes the bright plasma away from the wall of the glass tube. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

For Green Energy, MIT Aims To Build 'A Star On Earth'

Skeptics joke that fusion is the energy source of the future ... and always will be. But a local company says it's getting close to making reliable fusion energy a...

Earthwhile

07:09Sep 19, 2019

In this July 27, 2018, file photo, the Dave Johnson coal-fired power plant is silhouetted against the morning sun in Glenrock, Wyo. (J. David Ake/AP)

The Hundreds Of Ways Trump Has Trampled Science

It's time to hold our leaders accountable for suppressing, denying, censoring and otherwise sidelining science, write Rachel Licker and Andrew Rosenberg.

Cognoscenti

Sep 19, 2019

View of the downtown Phoenix city skyline as seen from South Mountain Park. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

Phoenix Residents Will Need To Adapt To An Even Hotter Climate

Higher temperatures, the urban heat island, and the prospect of prolonged drought will force Phoenix to adapt to living with climate change in the desert.

Here & Now

11:08Sep 18, 2019

Floating nuclear power plant 'Akademik Lomonosov' is towed out of the St. Petersburg, Russia shipyard where it was constructed in St. Petersburg, Russia. (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)

Big Plans For Small Nuclear Plants

The big, complex nuclear plants of the past are enormously expensive to build and maintain. So nuclear engineers, scientists and startups are looking for smaller, faster, cheaper nuclear reactor designs.

Earthwhile

08:41Sep 18, 2019

View of American Legion Playground from the Condor Street Urban Wild Park along the Chelsea Creek. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

The Injustice Of Climate Change

Boston is failing to implement the climate policies we know are right, to the detriment of some of the state's poorest and most vulnerable residents, write Roseann Bongiovanni and John...

Cognoscenti

Sep 18, 2019

An aeriel view of Clippership Wharf in East Boston. (Courtesy: Lendlease)

How A New Housing Development In East Boston Is Preparing For Climate Change

A new luxury and mixed-used development in East Boston, called Clippership Wharf, has prepared. The complex was built to anticipate expected sea level rise in the city.

Radio Boston

13:31Sep 17, 2019

Reverend Michael Malcom (Courtesy of Rush Memorial Congregational United Church of Christ)

'Plant A Vision Of Hope': How This Alabama Pastor Addresses Climate Change From The Pulpit

“The way we treat the land and the way we treat people is our relationship with God,” Rev. Michael Malcom says.

Here & Now

09:38Sep 17, 2019

The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

To Combat Climate Change, Do We Need The Nuclear Option?

Scientists say we must "decarbonize" the world's economy by mid-century to avert a global climate catastrophe. There is a carbon-free energy source available now, but there's a catch: it's nuclear...

Earthwhile

07:31Sep 17, 2019

Swedish youth climate activist Greta Thunberg, center in blue, joins other young climate activists Friday for a climate strike outside the White House in Washington, Friday, Sept. 13, 2019. (Susan Walsh/AP)

The Moral Case For Fighting Climate Change

I’m willing to entertain wild possibilities, writes Frederick Hewett, as long as the youth of the world are willing to speak truth to power.

Cognoscenti

Sep 17, 2019

Students and supporters of the Massachusetts Youth Climate Strike crowd around the steps of the State House in Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

This Week In Climate News: A Global Summit, A Protest, And Catholic Bishops

Activists in Boston and cities around the world are planning a "climate strike" immediately before the UN summit to demand transformative action on climate change.

Radio Boston

21:01Sep 16, 2019

On Being

Scenes From The Youth Climate Strike In Boston

U.N. Report Links Soil Degradation To Climate Change

Exposing The Myth Of Plastic Recycling: Why A Majority Is Burned Or Thrown In A Landfill

Trump Administration Official Defends Decision To Revoke California's Emissions Standards Waiver

On Climate Guilt, 2020, And Why Your Jeans Are Bad For The Environment: 5 Questions With Tatiana Schlossberg

The Words Of One Young Climate Activist: 'We Cannot Consider Ourselves Separate From The Natural World'

Attacks On Saudi Oil Plant Carry Heavy Environmental Cost

Former USDA Scientist Says He'll Make A Bigger Impact On Climate Change Research Outside Of The Government

'Choked' By Air Pollution: An Invisible Consequence Of Climate Change

What To Know About Friday’s Youth Climate Strike In Boston

For Green Energy, MIT Aims To Build 'A Star On Earth'

The Hundreds Of Ways Trump Has Trampled Science

Phoenix Residents Will Need To Adapt To An Even Hotter Climate

Big Plans For Small Nuclear Plants

The Injustice Of Climate Change

How A New Housing Development In East Boston Is Preparing For Climate Change

'Plant A Vision Of Hope': How This Alabama Pastor Addresses Climate Change From The Pulpit

To Combat Climate Change, Do We Need The Nuclear Option?

The Moral Case For Fighting Climate Change

This Week In Climate News: A Global Summit, A Protest, And Catholic Bishops