The offshore wind farm in the North Sea near Borkum, Germany, is nearly complete. The Riffgat facility, seen here on June 23, includes 30 turbines, each with a generating capacity of 3.6 megawatts. David Hecker/Getty Images hide caption
Environment Breaking news on the environment, climate change, pollution, and endangered species. Also featuring Climate Connections, a special series on climate change co-produced by NPR and National Geographic.
Environment
Roughnecks build a drilling rig at the MEG Energy site near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. In addition to large, open-pit mining operations, tar sands oil can be extracted from the ground by pumping down high-pressure steam. Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post/Getty Images hide caption
The Crosstex NGL Pipeline is just one such project in the country that has forced long, unwanted legal battles between oil companies and landowners. Mose Buchele/KUT hide caption
The remains of a tree are seen in front of a boulder in the Dome Wilderness area of New Mexico in August 2012. The Las Conchas Fire torched the land in 2011, burning through more than 150,000 acres of forest. David Gilkey/NPR hide caption
Tropical Storm Flossie approaches Hawaii. National Weather Service hide caption
The Ivanpah solar project in California's Mojave Desert will be the largest solar power plant of its kind in the world. Josh Cassidy/KQED hide caption
The Asian tiger mosquito, an invasive, disease-carrying pest, was likely introduced to the United States from used tires shipped over from Asia. Jim Newman/University of Florida/IFAS/AP hide caption
The beaked whale is one of the most vulnerable of all whale species to underwater noise pollution. Robin Baird/Cascadia Research hide caption
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) workers work on waste water tanks at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in the town of Okuma, Fukushima prefecture in Japan on June 12, 2013. Noboru Hashimoto /AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Canals created for navigation and oil and gas pipelines cut through the marsh off the coast of Louisiana, seen in 2010. Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption