Chocolate may never be the same. The majority of chocolate is made in just two countries and erratic weather from climate change is decreasing cocoa production. A handful of extreme weather events—from drought to heavy rainfall—could have lasting effects on the chocolate industry. Yasmin Tayag, a food, health and science writer at The Atlantic, talks to host Emily Kwong about the cocoa shortage: What's causing it, how it's linked to poor farming conditions and potential solutions. Plus, they enjoy a chocolate alternative taste test.
Afuá, a remote town in the Brazilian Amazon, banned motor vehicles over 20 years ago. Writer Mac Margolis and photographer Stefan Kolumban paid the town a visit to see what life is like.
El Niño helped drive global average temperatures to new records over the last year. Forecasters say it's waning, but that 2024 may still be one for the record books.
What happens when small town politics collide with the climate crisis? And how do hazard maps—maps that show which homes in your neighborhood are at risk of getting destroyed or damaged by a natural disaster—come into play? On today's episode, how some people—from Indiana to Oregon to Alaska—are facing some very real concerns about insurance and the ability to sell their houses.
In Western Colorado, towns and farms are banding together to pay a hundred million dollars for water they don't intend to use. Today on the show, how scarcity, climate change and a first-dibs system of water management is forcing towns, farms and rural residents to get spendy.
Some doctors are promoting propellant-free inhalers over puff inhalers that emit greenhouse gases. Climate change can exacerbate respiratory ills because of more fires, air pollution and allergens.
Ithaca, N.Y., will require that 50% of the money spent on its energy transition and on major infrastructure projects is directed toward those residents most at risk from climate change.
A federal judge sentenced Joanna Smith to 60 days in prison for smearing paint on the case surrounding Edgar Degas' Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen at the National Gallery of Art.
Plaintiffs including 17-month-old boy nicknamed Woodpecker bring landmark climate litigation in South Korea, the first in Asia to get a public hearing.
NPR's Tom Dreisbach is back in the host chair for a day. This time, he reports on a story very close to home: The years-long battle his parents have been locked in with the local wild beaver population. Each night, the beavers would dam the culverts along the Dreisbachs' property, threatening to make their home inaccessible. Each morning, Tom's parents deconstructed those dams — until the annual winter freeze hit and left them all in a temporary stalemate.
As beaver populations have increased, so have these kinds of conflicts with people...like Tom's parents. But the solution may not be to chase away the beavers. They're a keystone species that scientists believe could play an important role in cleaning water supplies, creating healthy ecosystems and alleviating some of the effects of climate change. So, today, Tom calls up Jakob Shockey, the executive director of the non-profit Project Beaver. Jakob offers a bit of perspective to Tom and his parents, and the Dreisbachs contemplate what a peaceful coexistence with these furry neighbors might look like.
Have questions or comments for us to consider for a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!
In a parking lot and on San Francisco Bay, NPR witnesses two different tests for solar geoengineering to tackle climate change. With much science unsettled, experts say regulations aren't keeping up.
A new version of the popular board game Catan aims to make players wrestle with a 21st-century problem: How do you develop and expand without overly polluting the planet?
