Environment : NPR

The world's tropical rainforests are still getting hit hard by deforestation. Now, scientists are finding that's having an expected impact: causing droughts.

California has been deluged by storms this winter, but fixing the state's severe drought will take more than rain. The state had deeper problems in how it uses water.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Richard Connor of UNESCO about Wednesday's report on the state of the world's water supply.

The Navajo Nation says the federal government isn't delivering water it's owed from the Colorado River. The case could affect how much water is available for non-tribal uses.

NPR's Pien Huang speaks with Gregory Ablavsky, professor at Stanford Law School, about a set of cases the Supreme Court will hear on Monday involving the water rights of the Navajo Nation.

In Denver, local indigenous groups are helping the city manage its bison herds.

Citizens for Responsible Solar is part of a growing backlash against renewable energy in rural communities across the United States.

The Biden administration approved a major oil extraction project in Alaska, a decision that has divided Democrats. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Sen. Ed Markey, who opposes the project.

Since 2011, a fleet of seaweed patches double the size of the contiguous U.S. has cycled from West Africa to Florida, threatening beaches from Martinique to Miami. This year, it could grow bigger.

The EPA proposed new regulations for PFAS and PFOA in the nation's drinking water. The chemicals are part of a class of so-called forever chemicals associated with a variety of health problems.

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Jade Begay of the group NDN Collective, which advocates for indigenous communities, about the White House approving the controversial Willow drilling project in Alaska.

The population of an endangered bird, the Everglade snail kite, has rebounded recently. Scientists it's all thanks to an invasive snail that has provided kites with a new abundant food source.

ConocoPhillip's $8 billion Willow project in the Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve will move ahead. Biden put millions of acres off-limits to future oil drilling; environment groups aren't thrilled.

One in five Sierra Nevada conifers are no longer compatible with the environmental conditions around them, raising questions about how to manage the land. Researchers say it may get worse.

An unregulated landfill that accepts vegetative waste has burned underground for months. Neighbors were inundated with smoke and left wondering why the site wasn't regulated in the first place.