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Christopher Joyce Christopher Joyce is a correspondent on the science desk at NPR. His stories can be heard on all of NPR's news programs, including NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.
Christopher Joyce 2010
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Christopher Joyce

Environment

Researchers Analyze Economic Impact Of Climate Change In The U.S.

A team of scientists and economists claims they've come up with the most thorough analysis of the cost of climate change in the U.S. Most of the country will suffer economic loss in addition to higher mortality from heat waves and loss of agriculture productivity by 2100. But like all predictions far into the future, this one has a wide range of outcomes and could be overshadowed by new technology still to be invented.

Researchers Analyze Economic Impact Of Climate Change In The U.S.

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Mapping The Potential Economic Effects Of Climate Change

Potential annual damages are shown on the county-level in a scenario in which emissions of greenhouse gasses continue at current rates. Negative damages indicate economic benefits. Hsiang, Kopp, Jina, Rising, et al./Science hide caption

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Hsiang, Kopp, Jina, Rising, et al./Science

The Two-Way

Mapping The Potential Economic Effects Of Climate Change

Scientists and economists predict what parts of the U.S. may get hit hardest by climate change. A new study goes county by county to gauge the potential cost of global warming.

How Do Eggs Get Their Shapes? Scientists Think They've Cracked It

An international team of scientists believes it has solved the mystery of how eggs got their shapes. Frans Lanting/Mint Images RM/Getty Images hide caption

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Frans Lanting/Mint Images RM/Getty Images

The Two-Way

How Do Eggs Get Their Shapes? Scientists Think They've Cracked It

Eggs evolved over 300 million years ago and now come in all kinds of shapes, from Tic Tacs to teardrops to pingpong balls. After studying some 50,000 eggs, a team of researchers thinks it knows why.

How Do Eggs Get Their Shapes? Scientists Think They've Cracked It

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315,000-Year-Old Fossils From Morocco Could Be Earliest Recorded Homo Sapiens

Max Planck Institute paleoanthropologist Jean-Jacques Hublin examines the new finds at Jebel Irhoud, in Morocco. The eye orbits of a crushed human skull more than 300,000 years old are visible just beyond his fingertip. Shannon McPherron/Nature hide caption

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Shannon McPherron/Nature

Shots - Health News

315,000-Year-Old Fossils From Morocco Could Be Earliest Recorded Homo Sapiens

Scientists who found the fossils believe they are the remains of five people and far older than all previous finds. But how do the remains really fit into the bushy family tree of modern humans?

315,000-Year-Old Fossils From Morocco Could Be Earliest Recorded Homo Sapiens

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Environment

What Are The Ramifications Of The U.S. Leaving The Climate Accord?

President Trump announced on Thursday that the U.S. will leave the Paris climate deal. They are many things that could be affected by that decision, we explain.

What Are The Ramifications Of The U.S. Leaving The Climate Accord?

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Environment

Morning News Brief: U.S. Pulls Out Of International Climate Accord

President Trump played to his base, ignored the advice of scientists, industry titans and world leaders and pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement.

Morning News Brief: U.S. Pulls Out Of International Climate Accord

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Environment

President Trump Decides To Pull U.S. Out Of Paris Climate Agreement

President Trump announced Thursday the U.S. will leave the Paris agreement. The decision is likely to have a big impact on both the climate and environmental policy around the world.

President Trump Decides To Pull U.S. Out Of Paris Climate Agreement

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Politics

President Trump Expected To Make Decision On Paris Climate Accord

President Trump is expected to make a decision regarding whether or not the U.S. will pull out of the Paris climate accord. NPR takes a look at the potential political and environmental impacts of leaving the agreement.

President Trump Expected To Make Decision On Paris Climate Accord

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Environment

Market Forces May Impact Emissions More Than Climate Agreements

Today President Trump is at the G-7 summit and high on the agenda is climate change. Many world leaders are imploring Trump stay in the global climate agreement, but emissions are going down already.

Market Forces May Impact Emissions More Than Climate Agreements

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Trump's Budget Would Eliminate A Key Funder Of Research On Coastal Pollution

UMCES chemist Michael Gonsior gathers water samples from Cocktown Creek in Maryland. Andrew Heyes/Courtesy of University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science hide caption

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Andrew Heyes/Courtesy of University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

Science

Trump's Budget Would Eliminate A Key Funder Of Research On Coastal Pollution

The Sea Grant program, which funds research on coastal environments, is slated by White House for elimination in 2018. If it goes, a project that finds leaking septic tanks goes down the drain, too.

Trump's Budget Would Eliminate A Key Funder Of Research On Coastal Pollution

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America's Protected Natural Areas Are Polluted, By Noise

Cars line up at the south entrance to Zion National Park in Utah, bringing with them the urban soundscape. Education Images/UIG via Getty Images hide caption

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Education Images/UIG via Getty Images

The Two-Way

America's Protected Natural Areas Are Polluted, By Noise

A new survey shows that the sound of cars and planes and other forms of noise pollution are rampant across the American wilderness. In many cases, man-made noise is drowning out the background sounds.

America's Protected Natural Areas Are Polluted, By Noise

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Environmentalists, Coal Companies Rally Around Technology To Clean Up Coal

Coal is piled up at the Gallatin Fossil Plant in Gallatin, Tenn. Mark Humphrey/AP hide caption

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Mark Humphrey/AP

The Two-Way

Environmentalists, Coal Companies Rally Around Technology To Clean Up Coal

The industry has been in decline for years, partly because burning coal creates CO2 and warms the atmosphere. But there's a way to capture it — which has drawn praise from traditional enemies.

Environmentalists, Coal Companies Rally Around Technology To Clean Up Coal

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New Evidence Suggests Humans Arrived In The Americas Far Earlier Than Thought

(Left) A close-up view of a spirally fractured mastodon femur. (Right) A boulder discovered at the Cerutti Mastodon site in San Diego County thought to have been used by early humans as a hammerstone. Tom Démeré/San Diego Natural History Museum hide caption

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Tom Démeré/San Diego Natural History Museum

The Two-Way

New Evidence Suggests Humans Arrived In The Americas Far Earlier Than Thought

Until now, the earliest signs of humans in the Americas dated back about 15,000 years. But new research puts people in California 130,000 years ago. Experts are wondering whether to believe it.

New Evidence Suggests Humans Arrived In The Americas Far Earlier Than Thought

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In The Rockies, Climate Change Spells Trouble For Cutthroat Trout

Native westslope cutthroat trout swim in the north fork of the Flathead River in northwestern Montana. However, cutthroat trout populations are threatened by hybridization from mating with rainbow trout. Jonny Armstrong/USGS hide caption

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Jonny Armstrong/USGS

The Two-Way

In The Rockies, Climate Change Spells Trouble For Cutthroat Trout

Native cutthroat trout, an iconic part of the mountain West, thrive in cold streams. But warmer weather has allowed invaders to move in — and it's killing off the cutthroats.

In The Rockies, Climate Change Spells Trouble For Cutthroat Trout

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Natural Gas Plant Makes A Play For Coal's Market, Using 'Clean' Technology

NET Power has built carbon capture technology into its power plant outside Houston, which will generate electricity by burning natural gas. The demonstration project should be fully operational later this year, according to NET Power. Courtesy of NET Power hide caption

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Courtesy of NET Power

Science

Natural Gas Plant Makes A Play For Coal's Market, Using 'Clean' Technology

The idea behind "clean coal" is technology that would capture for reuse most of the carbon dioxide emitted by coal-burning power plants. Entrepreneurs aim to use similar tech to clean natural gas.

Natural Gas Plant Makes A Play For Coal's Market, Using 'Clean' Technology

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