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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

Interviews

Reflections of a Liberian Environmental Activist

Goldman Environmental Prize winner Silas Siakor's reports on illegal logging in Liberia helped persuade the U.N. Security Council to ban Liberian timber exports. That stripped warlords of key income and led to political change. Siakor looks back... and forward.

Reflections of a Liberian Environmental Activist

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World

Problems Plague Ambitious Irrigation Plan in Africa

Tanzania hopes to jump-start its agricultural production by dramatically increasing the use of irrigation. But existing schemes have had significant, but unintended, consequences: power outages, dried-up rivers, and little, if any, growth in crop yields.

Problems Plague Ambitious Irrigation Plan in Africa

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Coral Find Ways to Fight Off Warming Effects

Overly warm water can cause "coral bleaching," in which coral die and lose their pigmentation, leaving only ghostly skeletons behind. New research suggests that by actively engaging in 'tentacle feeding' on small marine organisms, some coral may be able to resist bleaching events.

Coral Find Ways to Fight Off Warming Effects

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Research News

Exploring the Methanol Economy 

This week, President Bush called for greater reliance on ethanol as a fuel source, along with increased use of alternative fuels such as biodiesel and hydrogen. Nobel Laureate George Olah says that the answer isn't ethanol or hydrogen -- it's methanol.

Exploring the Methanol Economy 

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Radio Expeditions

Interviews: Giant Panda Released to the Wild

Friday is a big day for one of the most charismatic animals on Earth: the giant panda. Native to central China, the black-and-white bear was almost driven to extinction -- now one bred in captivity has been released back into the wild.

Interviews: Giant Panda Released to the Wild

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World

Russia Plans Nuclear Power Expansion

Russia says it will double its nuclear energy capabilities in the next 25 years. The Kremlin promises the country's nuclear industry is safe. But experts argue that it is alarmingly dangerous and on the verge of collapse.

Russia Plans Nuclear Power Expansion

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World

African Farmers Face Critical Loss of Fertile Land

African agriculture is in crisis, and Africa's farmland is losing its fertility at an alarming rate. Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa don't produce enough food to feed their own people, while population growth is outpacing agricultural production.

African Farmers Face Critical Loss of Fertile Land

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Health

Too Much Pollen? Blame the Males

The pollen count can be lowered if people plant more female plants and fewer male plants, says horticulturist Tom Ogren. He says male plants have been popular because they don't produce messy fruit or seed pods -- but they are responsible for most of the pollen in the air.

Too Much Pollen? Blame the Males

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National

Crab Ranching in the Chesapeake, Hoping for Change

The Chesapeake Bay blue crab, a tasty and valuable crustacean, is in big trouble. Populations are down 80 percent. Desperate to reverse the trend, scientists are hoping to boost populations by hatching thousands of baby crabs and releasing them into the bay. Such ranching or "stock enhancement" programs have drawn criticism in the past. Skeptics say they raise false hopes and do little to boost wild populations. But the ranchers say they have improved their practices.

Crab Ranching in the Chesapeake, Hoping for Change

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World

Debate Rages About Impact of Chernobyl Disaster

Twenty years after the world's worst nuclear accident, more countries are beginning to discuss nuclear power as part of the answer to global energy demands. But a rancorous debate about the Chernobyl disaster's impact still rages, and the reactor continues to pose a serious safety threat.

Debate Rages About Impact of Chernobyl Disaster

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The Future of Fuel

Turning Dirty Coal into Clean Energy

Today's expensive gasoline is making people look for alternatives. That has opened doors of opportunity for entrepreneurs like Andrew Perlman, who is betting that the newest fuel will be made from one of humanity's oldest: coal.

Turning Dirty Coal into Clean Energy

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Opinion

Paying at the Pump

Which Is Greener: Hybrids or Compacts?

Robert Siegel talks about new, smaller cars with Jamie Kitman, New York bureau chief for Automobile magazine. Kitman wrote an op-ed in The New York Times about how small cars with better gas-mileage are in many ways better for the environment than some hybrids.

Which Is Greener: Hybrids or Compacts?

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Endangered Species Act Used to Sue Circus

Animal-rights groups are suing the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, citing a provision of the Endangered Species Act. It is the first time that the federal law, normally used to protect endangered species in the wild, is being used as an argument to protect the Asian elephants that are part of the circus act.

Endangered Species Act Used to Sue Circus

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Global Warming

To Cool the Earth, Plan Would Pull a Shade

A recently announced plan to reduce the effects of global warming would send a huge glass shield into space, lining it up to deflect 2 percent of the sunlight bound for the Earth. Robert Siegel talks with Roger Angel, professor of Astronomy and Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona, where he started the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab.

To Cool the Earth, Plan Would Pull a Shade

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Business

Brazil Nears Oil Independence

Brazilian oil company Petrobras officially opens its latest deep-water oil platform. The new rig is expected to end decades of Brazilian dependence on foreign oil, and protect the country's economy from oil-price shocks.

Brazil Nears Oil Independence

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