Ragweed, seen here, can trigger allergies for some people. Ragweed is common in the fall. Research has found that the window for seasonal allergies is getting longer. Roy Morsch/Getty Images hide caption
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
Tornados have been spotted on every continent except Antarctica, but tornado alley has far more twisters than other spots on the globe. Connect Images/Jason Persoff Stormdoctor/Getty Images hide caption
In the Cretaceous period, sauropods were major ecosystem engineers. They knocked down trees and distributed nutrients through their poop, dramatically altering the landscape of ancient Earth. Joe Regan/Getty Images hide caption
In the summer, there are enough phytoplankton to feed the millions of tons of krill that then feed the migratory whales that tourists travel very far to see in Antarctica. Andrew Peacock/Getty Images hide caption
Here's how tourists are solving a plankton puzzle in Antarctica
Bone tool shaped on a 1.5-million-year-old elephant humerus. CSIC hide caption
Early humans made tools from bones 1 million years sooner than scientists thought
Conservation detection dogs help biologists find a range of hard-to-find targets, from invasive and endangered species, to animal scat to poachers. Collette Yee hide caption
How a dog's nose became a powerful tool for science and conservation
California Flats is a 2900 acre plot of land in central California that's covered in solar panels. The extra energy generated from all that solar flows straight into batteries right on site. Hearst Corporation, California Flats Solar-plus-Storage Project hide caption
To ease the energy crisis, we're going to need better batteries
Naaja Nathanielsen poses for a portrait in her office in Nuuk, Greenland on Feb. 20, 2025. Grace Widyatmadja/NPR hide caption
The view from Greenland: 'We don't want to be Americans'
This harlequin frog (Atelopus seminiferus) was found in the Alto Mayo landscape at higher elevations than previously recorded. It is considered endangered by the IUCN Red List. Trond Larsen hide caption
New in Peru: 27 species previously undiscovered by science
A worker picks roses at a flower farm in Chia, Cundinamarca department, Colombia, on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025 Ivan Valencia/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption