Environment

To a lot of people, mosquito bites are annoying. But to the rare Hawaiian honeycreepers, they're deadly. Scientists in Maui are racing against time to save them ... and discovering some pretty crazy innovations along the way. Like, releasing-mosquitos-incapable-of-breeding level innovations. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Joro spiders are spreading across the east coast. They are an invasive species that most likely arrived in shipping containers from eastern Asia. Today, we look into why some people find them scary, why to not panic about them and what their trajectory illustrates about the wider issue of invasive species. Questions? You can also email those to shortwave@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Wildlife trafficking is one of the largest and most profitable crime sectors in the world. The illegal trade estimated to be a multi-billion dollar industry. On a high level, that illegal trade causes problems for everything from global biodiversity to local economies and the balance of entire ecosystems. And on the immediate level, authorities are tasked with caring for confiscated animals and placing them in long-term care facilities. One network launched last year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Association for Zoos and Aquariums hopes to help. And with wildlife trafficking surging globally, the organizations are now in talks to expand the program to other parts of the country. Read more about illegal wildlife trafficking and check out more photos in climate correspondent Nate Rott's full story. Have other wildlife stories you want us to cover? Email us at shortwave@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

June 6, 1944 the Allied Forces stormed the beaches of Normandy and took the Nazis by surprise in the largest sea-to-land invasion in history. This would be remembered as D-Day and would ultimately lead to the end of World War II in Europe. However, this planned attack wouldn't have been possible without deep knowledge of ocean tides! We get into the whole story, including why tides sit at the intersection of astronomy and marine ecology — and why understanding tides are key to a greener future. Want to hear us cover more science history? Email us at shortwave@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Scientists are testing the limits of artificial intelligence when it comes to language learning. One recent challenge? Learning ... whale! Researchers are using machine learning to analyze and decode whale sounds — and it's just as complicated as it seems. Curious about other mysteries of nature? Email us at shortwave@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Baobabs are sometimes called the "tree of life" with their thick trunks, crown of branches and flowers that only open at twilight. But theories about their geographic origin was divided among three places: the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa, the Kimberley region of western Australia and the dry forests of the island nation of Madagascar. To solve this mystery, a global research team led by scientists at the Wuhan Botanical Garden at the Chinese Academy of Sciences examined high-quality genomic data from all eight baobab species. Have another origin story you want us to cover? Email us at shortwave@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Wildlife ecologists have seen white-tailed deer expanding their range in North America over many decades. And since the early-2000s these deer have moved north into the boreal forests of western Canada. These forests are full of spruce and pine trees, sandy soil and freezing winters with lots of snow. They can be a harsh winter wonderland. And ecologists haven't known whether a warmer climate in these forests or human land development might be driving the deer north. A recent study tries to disentangle these factors – and finds that a warming climate seems to play the most significant role in the movement of deer. Read more in the journal Global Change Biology. Curious about more wildlife news? Email us at shortwave@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Today, we're going full nerd to talk about a new board game — Catan: New Energies. The game's goal is simple: Build and develop a modern-day island without catastrophically polluting it. Although the concept mirrors the effects of climate change, those words don't actually appear in the game. NPR correspondent Nate Rott talks to Emily about the thinking behind the new game and how the developers hope it can start conversations around energy use and pollution. 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! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Ten years ago, Flint, Mich. switched water sources to the Flint River. The lack of corrosion control in the pipes caused lead to leach into the water supply of tens of thousands of residents. Pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha recognized a public health crisis in the making and gathered data proving the negative health impact on Flint's young children. In doing so, she and community organizers in Flint sparked a national conversation about lead in the U.S. water system that persists today. Today on the show, host Emily Kwong and science correspondent Pien Huang talk about the state of Flint and other cities with lead pipes. Efforts to replace these pipes hinge on proposed changes to the EPA's Lead and Copper Rule. 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! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Roughly 196 million tons of fish were harvested in 2020, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The organization also notes that the number of overfished stocks worldwide has tripled in the last century. All of this overfishing has led to the decline of entire species, like Atlantic cod. Enter the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch. It and other free guides give consumers an overview of the world of fish and seafood, helping people to figure out the most sustainable fish available to them. With the help of Life Kit's Clare Marie Schneider, we figure out how to make informed decisions about what we eating – whether that's at a restaurant or the local supermarket. Check out more from Life Kit on sustainable seafood. 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! A previous version of this episode incorrectly stated that there are native wild salmon in Chile. Salmon are not native to Chile. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

The Panama Canal has been dubbed the greatest engineering feat in human history. It's also (perhaps less favorably) been called the greatest liberty mankind has ever taken with Mother Nature. But due to climate change, the Canal is drying up and fewer than half of the ships that used to pass through are now able to do so. So how did we get here? Today on the show, we're talking to Cristina Henriquez, the author of a new novel that explores the making of the Canal. It took 50,000 people from 90 different countries to carve the land in two — and the consequences of that extraordinary, nature-defying act are still echoing through our present. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

President Biden has been pushing new regulations to promote electric vehicle production to combat the climate crisis — and former president Trump is using those regulations as a talking point against Biden. To break down how cars became the latest weapons in the culture wars, host Brittany Luse is joined by NPR's transportation correspondent Camila Domonoske and Dan Brekke, a reporter and editor at KQED in San Francisco who covers transit. Together, they talk about why Americans are so invested in their cars — and how cars became more than just a policy battle. Then Brittany discusses a new HBO documentary series that is making waves right now: Quiet On Set. The show alleges a pattern of sexual harassment behind the scenes at Nickelodeon, and includes interviews with several former child stars describing experiences that range from taking part in sexualized gags to facing downright sexual abuse while working for the network. Brittany looks closer at the trouble with child performers with Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson, co-hosts of the Eating for Free podcast. They discuss what makes child performers especially vulnerable to abuse — and they ask why society demands performances from children. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

"A total solar eclipse is so much more than something you just see with your eyes. It's something you experience with your whole body," says science writer David Baron. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Historic numbers of animals across the globe have become endangered or pushed to extinction. But some of these species sit in limbo — not definitively extinct yet missing from the scientific record. Rediscovering a "lost" species is not easy. It can require trips to remote areas and canvassing a large area in search of only a handful of animals. But new technology and stronger partnerships with local communities have helped these hidden, "uncharismatic" creatures come to light. Have other scientific gray areas you want us to cover in a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Across the animal kingdom, menopause is something of an evolutionary blip. We humans are one of the few animals to experience it. But Sam Ellis, a researcher in animal behavior, argues that this isn't so surprising. "The best way to propagate your genes is to get as many offspring as possible into the next generation," says Ellis. "The best way to do that is almost always to reproduce your whole life." So how did menopause evolve? The answer may lie in whales. Ellis and his team at the University of Exeter recently published a study in the journal Nature that studies the evolution of menopause in the undersea animals most known for it. What they uncovered may even help explain menopause in humans. Curious about other animal behavior mysteries? Email us at shortwave@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

What happens if your car runs out of power on a road trip? Is it better to buy an EV now or wait until you need a new car? A roundup of smart questions from our listeners. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

On August 6, 1945, a stone-faced President Harry Truman appeared on television and told Americans about the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima. The attack on Hiroshima marked the first time nuclear power was used in war, but the atomic bomb was actually tested a month earlier in the Jornada del Muerto desert of New Mexico. At least hundreds of New Mexicans were harmed by the test's fallout. Radiation creeped into the grass their cows grazed, on the food they ate, and the water they drank. A program compensating victims of government-caused nuclear contamination has been in place since 1990, but it never included downwinders in New Mexico, the site of the very first nuclear test. This week, the Senate voted to broaden the bi-partisan legislation that could compensate people who have suffered health consequences of radiation testing. Now, the bill will go to a House vote. Generations after the Trinity Nuclear Test, will downwinders in New Mexico finally get compensation? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Fish populations are dwindling around the world due to overfishing. Here's how to make the right choices when dining out or buying fish at the market. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Why is it so complicated to save the Everglades? The Everglades is home to the largest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere and a sanctuary for over three dozen endangered and threatened species. It also provides fresh water, flood control, and a buffer against hurricanes and rising seas for about 9 million Floridians. But climate change, pollution, agriculture and rapid development are causing potentially irreversible damage. In 2000, the state of Florida and the federal government struck an extraordinary deal to save the Everglades. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan was the largest ecosystem restoration project in the world. But from the moment it was signed into law, things got complicated. Now almost 25 years later, the Everglades is as endangered as ever, and the problems have become even more difficult—and expensive—to solve. Today on The Sunday Story, Ayesha Rascoe talks with WLRN's Jenny Staletovich. Jenny has a new podcast series out called Bright Lit Place that tells the dramatic story of the Everglades, what's been done to the ecosystem, and what needs to happen to save it. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy