Environment

Full shade can lower pavement temperatures 15 degrees, a potentially life-saving benefit during extreme heat. But efforts to bring more shade to cities, especially their less-leafy, lower-income neighborhoods, could wither like ferns in a heat wave.

For a week, NPR has been exploring various solutions to climate change, from quitting fossil fuels to putting coastal homes up on stilts.

Seattle, along with other cities, is struggling to balance the need for more housing with the preservation and growth of trees that help address the impacts of climate change.

Multnomah County’s Office of Sustainability avoided deep cuts. A commissioner had proposed eliminating 4 out of 5 positions in the office to fund other programs. The office will see funding reductions equating to 1.5 full-time positions.

The huge amphibians "will literally just feed on anything that fits into their mouth" — including turtle hatchlings. Clearing thousands of frogs from ponds helped other species stage a comeback.

Oregon’s Recycling Modernization Act, passed in 2021, takes effect next month. Starting July 1, residential recycling will look much like it did before 2018, when East Asian facilities stopped accepting U.S. materials.

More than 200 wildfires are raging across Canada, sending a thick blanket of choking smoke through the U.S. Midwest. Experts says climate change means U.S. residents better get used to it.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has a long history of failing to help those who need assistance the most after disasters. Biden-era changes meant to fix some of those problems now face an uncertain future.

Environmental groups are asking a court to reverse a permit for a proposed renewable diesel refinery in Columbia County, over concerns it could pollute the Columbia River and disrupt working farms.

For a limited window after the program opens, qualifying Oregonians may be able to cut the price of a home heat pump installation by a combined $4,000.