Small Towns Fear They Are Unprepared For Future Climate-Driven Flooding The central U.S. just experienced the most widespread river flooding ever recorded there. Flood defenses in major cities largely performed well, but many smaller communities were simply overwhelmed. Rebecca Hersher
The Water Crisis In Chennai: Who's To Blame, How Do You Fix It? Reservoirs are dry in India's sixth biggest city. Municipal taps work only a few hours a day. Trains are delivering emergency water supplies. Lauren Frayer
The Dawn Of Low-Carbon Shipping The shipping industry is starting to move away from pollutant-intensive heavy fuel oil. Scientists and private companies are betting on a clean replacement technology: hydrogen fuel cells. Rebecca Hersher
Giant Shipper Bets Big On Ending Its Carbon Emissions. Will It Pay Off? Maersk, the world's largest container shipping company, has set a massive goal for itself: going carbon neutral by 2050. This would be good for the world. But how would it be good for the bottom line? Camila Domonoske
Air agency: Tacoma gas plant not a climate threat. Science: yes it is Environmentalists have soured on natural gas. It used to be viewed as a promising step in the transition from dirtier fuels like coal and oil toward a climate-friendly future. John Ryan
High-Tide Flooding On The Rise, Especially Along The East Coast, Forecasters Warn As sea levels rise, coastal flooding that used to happen only during storms is increasingly occurring on sunny days. That has local officials reconsidering everything from zoning to police budgets. Rebecca Hersher
France Plans To Put An 'Ecotax' On Nearly All Air Travel The new tax could bring in some $200 million that would be used to support modes of travel that pollute less — such as trains. Bill Chappell
Plastic Has A Big Carbon Footprint — But That Isn't The Whole Story Plastic waste litters cities, oceans and even the air. Largely overlooked is how making plastic affects the environment. Plastic is a big contributor to global warming. So are its alternatives. Christopher Joyce
Taking The Temperature Of NPR's Climate Coverage For some, the coverage is not hot enough (and hard to find). Elizabeth Jensen
Have you noticed all the cotton fluff drifting in the air? "What's up with all the white fluff in the air?" That was one listener's question we recently answered in our SoundsQs podcast. Kyle Norris
