A giant salamander called the "hellbender" is on its way to becoming an endangered species. It needs very clean water to survive and that's getting harder to find.

NPR's Juana Summers speaks to researcher Rikke Jeppesen about her work on how sea otters, which were hunted to almost near extinction, have been able to thrive by eating up to 120,000 crabs a year.

Sometimes, weather is just weather. And other times human-caused climate change had an obvious impact.

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Chile is set to gain its 47th national park early this year — largely due to the efforts of U.S. conservationist Kristine Tompkins and her organization.

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Potential rooftop solar customers and installers worry the incoming Trump administration might try to eliminate a 30% federal tax credit. Some customers plan to install sooner because of that. And solar companies are changing their business plans.

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The official numbers are in: 2024 is the hottest year on record. Climate change is the main culprit. But there might be something else going on, too.

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As fire crews and air tankers work to block the wildfires' explosive growth, images of red clouds of fire retardant falling onto trees are common. What is it — and what's in it?

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Over 29,000 acres in the greater Los Angeles area are on fire right now. The fires emerged after the Santa Ana winds swept into the Los Angeles area Tuesday. The largest is the Palisades fire, which is quickly burning through the Pacific Palisades and Malibu communities. It's one of four ongoing critical fires — only one of which is partially contained. Ahead of the windy week, a Red Flag Warning was issued for an increased fire risk due to the strong winds, low humidity and higher temperature. Today, we dig into the Santa Ana winds: What they are and how they combined with other factors to create conditions for the most destructive fire in Los Angeles' history.

Questions, story ideas or want us to dig more into the science underpinning natural disasters? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!

The Great Lakes don't readily evoke images of surfing and surfboard-making, but a surfer in Wisconsin is on an eco-friendly mission to change that.

Planet Money buys a "biodiversity credit" and travels to the Andean cloud forest in Colombia — to see how these credits work, and if they can really help save threatened species.

Southern states don't often deal with winter conditions, but New England does. New Hampshire especially has tips for how to prepare for a winter storm.

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Exposure to wildfire smoke is a growing health problem across the U.S., as climate change increases the risk and intensity of wildfires.

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Extremely dry conditions coupled with high winds have led to an explosive wildfire situation in southern California.

Multiple fires have erupted across the Los Angeles area since Tuesday. Tens of thousands of people have had to evacuate, and firefighters are struggling to contain the flames.

Adria Kloke is one of the people who has had to flee. She packed up her belongings, along with her cat, and left her home in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday. Kloke shares her story with NPR.

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(Image credit: Apu Gomes)

The Great Lakes don't readily evoke images of surfing and surfboard-making, but a surfer in Wisconsin is on an eco-friendly mission to change that.

President Joe Biden is moving to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters, an effort to block possible action by the incoming Trump administration to expand offshore drilling.

(Image credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta)

As President, Jimmy Carter's priorities included energy efficiency and shifting away from foreign crude oil. The actions he took were criticized then, but laid the groundwork for a country to address climate change now.

Snowflakes. These intricate, whimsical crystals are a staple of magical wintry scenes, but how big can they really get? Well, according to the Guinness World Record keepers, the "largest snowflake" ever recorded was a whopping 15 inches in diameter. It was spotted near Missoula, Montana in 1887. But Kenneth Libbrecht, a physicist at Caltech, has long been skeptical of that record. So he set out to find what makes a snowflake a snowflake and whether that 1887 record is scientifically possible. You can read more about what he discovered here. (encore)

Want to share the snowflakes you've spotted this winter? Email us a photo at shortwave@npr.org.

Farmland is being abandoned across Europe as it's difficult to make a living. Some ecologist fear that some plant and species will lose ground but some hope that other species may fill in the gaps.

New research shows artificial light can upend underwater communities around coral reefs just like they do on land.

Former President Jimmy Carter's work on energy efficiency and renewable energy were criticized, but it laid the groundwork for the country to address climate change now.