Environment

We explore how data errors might have inflated New Hampshire's progress on distributing the COVID-19 vaccine. We also get an update on the latest environmental news in the Granite State and hear from NHPR's CEO about the decision to cease production of The Exchange at the end of the month. And we chat with long-time Berlin Sun editor Barbara Tetreault about her upcoming retirement. Air date: Friday, June 11, 2021.

Spring in New Hampshire is a double-edged sword. On one hand you have longer, warmer days — plants and trees are blooming! On the other hand, the pollen springtime trees produce can present an array of unpleasant seasonal symptoms. Yet pollen is so incredibly important to our survival – we think we should give it the credit it deserves. O ur friend Sam Evans Brown is the host of NHPR’s Outside/In; when pollen makes his eyes watery and the roof of his mouth itchy this time of year, Sam likes...

Every other Friday on Morning Edition, Outside/In host Sam Evans-Brown tackles a question from a listener. Suzanne from Concord asks: “I’m trying to find out why ladybugs are in my house in the spring, and did they all live together in my house over the winter? And if they did that, what did they eat? Or do they eat? Do they hibernate? And now they’re dropping dead, I mean out of six ladybugs, there are two alive.” Note: This eidition of Ask Sam originally aired in March of 2020. What you...

COVID-19 has been hard on just about every industry in New Hampshire, and renewable energy is no exception. People worried about money are putting off investing in solar panels, and health concerns have made home energy efficiency visits more complicated. But scientists say investments like these can lower energy costs, and remain a critical way to combat the other big crisis we’re facing – climate change. As part of NHPR’s new climate change reporting project, By Degrees , NHPR’s Annie...

Earlier this year, the city of Lebanon gave a small group of residents the chance to bring not their trash and recyclables to the local landfill, but their compost too. It makes Lebanon one of a few cities in the state helping residents reduce food waste, which is a major contributor to climate change.

New Hampshire is seeing more heat waves due to climate change. And staying cool is even harder this year because of COVID-19. Our new climate change reporting project, By Degrees , has this look at how New Hampshire's cities are coping.

By Degrees is a new reporting project by NHPR shedding new light on climate change in New Hampshire. That project launches this week. Air pollution is known to cause health problems like premature deaths, hospitalizations, heart attacks, and childhood asthma. It's also closely connected to climate change. Syracuse University Professor Charles Driscoll joined NHPR’s All Things Considered host Peter Biello to talk about what air quality in New Hampshire can tell us about the extent of the...

Our new climate change reporting initiative, By Degrees , begins in an unprecedented time – one where people are making seismic shifts in their lifestyles and attitudes in response to COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement. Many of our listeners have wondered: why haven’t people reacted the same way to the climate emergency, and could that be about to change?

By Degrees is a multi-year reporting project from NHPR that will tell stories about climate change in New Hampshire - its challenges, solutions and connections to other forces shaping our lives today. The project begins today. Morning Edition Host Rick Ganley spoke with lead reporter Annie Ropeik, who covers energy, the environment and the Seacoast for NHPR, to learn more about the project's goals, what to expect this week and how listeners can contribute. We want to know your questions and...

To kick off NHPR's new reporting project By Degrees , we're unpacking the basics of how climate change is already affecting life in New Hampshire, and how the state is contributing to and responding to the problem. Rachel Cleetus is the policy director for the Union of Concerned Scientists' Climate and Energy Program, based in Massachusetts.

Hundreds of hikers and skiers started the new year outside as part of New Hampshire State Parks' First Day Hikes program. Five parks throughout the state - Monadnock, Franconia Notch, Odiorne Point, Milan Hill, and Bear Brook - welcomed visitors with trail maps, campfires, and hot chocolate.

A common theme on Something Wild is breeding. (Which is why we always sip our tea with our pinkies extended.) Seriously, though, we talk about the how, when and where because there are a lot of different reproductive strategies that have evolved in nature. Today we take a closer look at two such strategies through the lens of "how often": semelparity and iteroparity.

We focus on environmental news on this edition of the Weekly New Hampshire News Roundup. We talk about climate issues on the 2020 campaign trail after the departure of Jay Inslee, and compare the climate plans offered by other Democratic candidates. Following protests at the statehouse over the Merrimack Station coal plant, we discuss the future of fossil fuel generators in the state. Plus, the latest environmental vetoes and bill signings from Governor Chris Sununu. Annie Ropeik, NHPR's...

You may be familiar with hoarders (not the TV show, but same idea). In nature, a hoarder will hide food in one place. Everything it gathers will be stored in a single tree or den. But for some animals one food cache isn't enough. We call them scatter hoarders. A "scatter hoarder" hides food in a bunch of different places within its territory. The gray squirrel is a classic example, gathering acorns and burying them in trees or in the ground. Not all squirrels are hoarders. Red squirrels are...

The recent defeat of Northern Pass was a major setback for the import of large-scale hydropower into the region. Meanwhile, efforts to build more solar and wind power are still underway… and some towns and cities have set their own renewable goals. We'll look at the reliability of these technologies… and talk about their role in the future of our region’s power grid.

The solid waste company Casella says it's running out of space for Northern New England's trash. So it's taking the rare step of planning a brand-new landfill, in the small Coös County town of Dalton. Lots of locals agree – they don't want the landfill. But they're divided on one potential tool to block it: zoning.

We know…we’ve been remiss, and it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room. Something Wild, as you know, is a chance to take a closer look at the wildlife, ecosystems and marvelous phenomena you can find in and around New Hampshire. But over the years there is one species in New Hampshire that we haven’t spent much time examining. A species, I think that has been conspicuous in its absence. Humans. So we’re grabbing the bull by the horns and digging in to a complex species that is an...

This summer, towns in southern New Hampshire are breaking ground on what will become the state’s largest regional water system. It is being built in part with money from massive settlements between New Hampshire and gas companies, including ExxonMobil, that used to produce MtBE, a chemical that polluted local drinking water.

New restrictions on PFAS and what that means for Granite State communities. These chemicals have been found in public water supplies around the state. Used for decades in such products as Teflon and Gortex, they've been linked to serious health problems, spurring communities to take action, including lawsuits. Now, after intense pressure from community activists, New Hampshire officials have proposed some of the lowest PFAS limits in the country. We'll find out what's in store now, in terms...

The specter of drought is often raised in these early days of summer. And for good reason, though water levels have returned to normal around the New Hampshire, state officials are still warning residents to remain cautious after last summer drought. And while we often fret about the health of our lawns and our gardens, Dave (from the Forest Society) wanted to address drought resistance among his favorite species, trees. So, we all know that trees need water to survive. Basically the many...