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Today โ€” 13 June 2025NPR Topics: Environment
Yesterday โ€” 12 June 2025NPR Topics: Environment
Before yesterdayNPR Topics: Environment

Intense weather means rethinking your home construction โ€” and insurance

11 June 2025 at 07:00
Contractors install a storm-ready roof in Mobile County, Alabama.

Homeowners' insurance isn't just getting more expensive ... it's also getting harder to secure in the first place. Across the country, an increase in climate-related disasters like heat waves, wildfires and hurricanes is creating challenges for both insurers and their customers. One successful strategy taking hold in Alabama and other states: Climate-proofing houses โ€” and incentivizing it with insurance discounts.

Still, not all states or homeowners face similar risks. And insurers aren't legally required to take climate-proofing into account when assessing the insurability of a home. That's why states are experimenting with different programs โ€” and insurance legislation โ€” to find a solution.

This episode is part of NPR's Climate Solutions Week: a series of stories covering real world solutions for building, and living, on a hotter planet.

(Image credit: Stephan Bisaha)

How New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern broke the political mold

4 June 2025 at 20:21
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern speaks during Cinema Cafe 2 during the 2025 Sundance Film Festival Awards.

Whether it was her history making win in 2017.

Or the history she made as only the second woman elected to lead a country to give birth while IN office.

Or her decision to step away from power after leading New Zealand through crisis after crisis.

Jacinda Ardern could never be described as a TYPICAL politician. But perhaps the most norm-busting feature of her time as Prime Minister was her rejection of the old ways of leadership.

Now as she reflects on her time as Prime Minister of New Zealand Ardern is emphasizing the need to lead with kindness and empathy.

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Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

(Image credit: Maya Dehlin Spach)

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