Accessibility links
Climate NPR's full coverage of climate change and related issues.

Climate

Wednesday

U.S. skies in the Northeast and the Midwest are hazy with smoke from Canada

A good chunk of the United States is dealing with smoke following a series of wildfires in Canada. Winds have carried the smoke across the Northeast and parts of the Midwest.

U.S. skies in the Northeast and the Midwest are hazy with smoke from Canada

Listen · 4:15
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1180840809/1180840810" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Environment

Record-breaking wildfires in Canada are impacting air quality in the U.S.

The Canadian wildfire season has started early and already broken records, with toxic smoke drifting south to the U.S. and many air quality alerts in place.

Record-breaking wildfires in Canada are impacting air quality in the U.S.

Listen · 3:25
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1180840781/1180840782" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Photos: Extreme Canadian wildfire smoke shrouds parts of U.S.

The sun rises over a hazy New York City skyline as seen from Jersey City, N.J., Wednesday, June 7, 2023. Intense Canadian wildfires are blanketing the northeastern U.S. in a haze, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish gray and prompting warnings for vulnerable populations to stay inside. Seth Wenig/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Seth Wenig/AP

The Picture Show

Photos: Extreme Canadian wildfire smoke shrouds parts of U.S.

Unhealthy air quality grips the East Coast reaching as far south as North and South Carolina.

Canadian wildfires are raising air quality alarms across much of the Eastern U.S.

NPR's Michel Martin talks Peter DeCarlo at Johns Hopkins University about the haze and air quality alerts throughout the U.S. that are generated by hundreds of wildfires in Canada.

Canadian wildfires are raising air quality alarms across much of the Eastern U.S.

Listen · 4:41
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1180686400/1180688170" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

National

Colorado pushes ahead in green hydrogen — a new technology to curb global warming

CPR News

Colorado is leading the way on standards for green hydrogen, a young industry that could play a major role in helping the U.S. meet its climate goals.

Colorado pushes ahead in green hydrogen — a new technology to curb global warming

Listen · 3:57
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1180361094/1180361095" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

Rain brings much-needed relief to firefighters battling Nova Scotia wildfires

Department of Natural Resources and Renewables firefighter Kalen MacMullin of Sydney, Nova Scotia, works on a fire in Shelburne County, N.S. on Thursday. Rain and a rainy forecast for the weekend have fire officials hopeful. Communications Nova Scotia/The Canadian Press via AP hide caption

toggle caption
Communications Nova Scotia/The Canadian Press via AP

Weather

Rain brings much-needed relief to firefighters battling Nova Scotia wildfires

Officials in Canada's Atlantic Coast province of Nova Scotia said a wildfire that forced thousands of residents from their homes is now largely contained because of rain.

Business

The risk of wildfires is making insurance companies turn away from California

Some big national insurance companies have stopped insuring new homes and businesses in California - citing wildfire risk and the rising cost of rebuilding.

The risk of wildfires is making insurance companies turn away from California

Listen · 3:49
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1179979770/1179979771" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Vietnam faces criticism for arresting climate activist as it closes clean energy deal

High tides have destroyed roads and structures in Vietnam as rising sea levels threaten farmland in the country's Mekong River Delta. Linh Pham/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Linh Pham/Getty Images

Vietnam faces criticism for arresting climate activist as it closes clean energy deal

Hoang Hong, founder of the environmental group CHANGE VN, was arrested Wednesday on tax charges, the U.N. says. Human rights experts say Vietnamese officials use the law to target civil society.

Friday

Weather

Take a yearlong road trip where the weather is perfect

A climate scientist in Alaska has mapped out a yearlong road trip around the country where the weather averages 70 degrees the entire trip.

Take a yearlong road trip where the weather is perfect

Listen · 2:39
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1179850177/1179850178" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

National

New Orleans neighbors create spaces that can operate off the grid after hurricanes

Cities are trying to help residents during extreme weather events. In New Orleans, churches and community centers have come together to create "community lighthouses" that will help after hurricanes.

New Orleans neighbors create spaces that can operate off the grid after hurricanes

Listen · 4:28
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1179850112/1179850113" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
NASA is sending an Ada Limón poem to Jupiter's moon Europa — and maybe your name too?

This Aug 25, 2020 image captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows the planet Jupiter and one of its moons, Europa, at left, when the planet was 406 million miles from Earth. AP hide caption

toggle caption
AP

Author Interviews

NASA is sending an Ada Limón poem to Jupiter's moon Europa — and maybe your name too?

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón has written a poem that will fly on NASA's Europa Clipper, which will explore one of Jupiter's moons. And you can add your name to the poem.

NASA is sending an Ada Limón poem to Jupiter's moon Europa — and maybe your name too?

Listen · 2:41
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1179612115/1179612116" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Facing water shortages, Arizona will curtail some new development around Phoenix

In this Oct. 8, 2019, file photo, the Central Arizona Project canal runs through rural desert near Phoenix. The canal diverts Colorado River water down a 336-mile long system of aqueducts, tunnels, pumping plants and pipelines to the state of Arizona. Ross D. Franklin/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Ross D. Franklin/AP

Facing water shortages, Arizona will curtail some new development around Phoenix

The state of Arizona today said it will no longer issue new development approvals based on groundwater alone.

How to prepare for the 2023 hurricane season with climate change in mind

A resident bails water from a flooded home in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Catano, Puerto Rico in 2017. Climate change is making hurricanes more dangerous. Carlos Giusti/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Carlos Giusti/AP

How to prepare for the 2023 hurricane season with climate change in mind

Climate change is causing hurricanes to get more powerful and dangerous. Scientists weigh in on what that means for forecasts, emergency officials and you.

How to prepare for the 2023 hurricane season with climate change in mind

Listen · 3:26
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1175203801/1179378225" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript