Environment

This bur oak, called "The Big Tree" by Missouri locals, has been around for centuries. When a drought hit the state last year, the community came together to offer help and water for the iconic tree.

Environment

In Missouri, Days Of Drought Send Caretakers To One 'Big Tree'

10:52am April 04, 2013

by Peggy Lowe

Before the American Revolution, a huge tree has been standing in central Missouri, growing to 90 feet tall. The beloved bur oak, which everybody calls "The Big Tree," has survived all kinds of punishments during 350 years on the prairie. But last year's record drought was rough on the tree, causing it to wilt and alarming two locals who nursed it back to health.

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Spilled crude oil is seen in a drainage ditch near evacuated homes near Starlite Road in Mayflower, Ark., on March 31. An Exxon Mobil pipeline carrying Canadian crude oil was shut off after it ruptured March 29, causing an evacuation of 22 homes.

Arkansas Oil Spill Sheds Light On Aging Pipeline System

10:45am April 04, 2013

by Elizabeth Shogren

More than half of the nation's pipelines were built before 1970. In fact, ExxonMobil's Pegasus pipeline, which burst Friday in Mayflower, Ark., is 65 years old. According to federal statistics, pipelines have on average 280 significant spills a year. Most aren't big enough to make headlines.

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The Buzz On Bees: Why Many Colonies Are Collapsing

2:57pm April 02, 2013

Bees have been dying off in increasing numbers over the past few years. Experts say that habitat loss and disease are the biggest culprits, and some believe that pesticides are to blame. NPR science correspondent Dan Charles explains the possible causes and what is being done to stop this trend.

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European bison, or wisents, keep a safe distance from human visitors to their enclosure on the property of Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg in Germany's densely populated state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

German Prince Plans To Put Bison Back In The Wild

5:17pm April 01, 2013

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

The prince's dream of reintroducing European bison, or wisent, into Germany's most densely populated state will soon be reality. It will be the first time in nearly 300 years that these creatures will roam Western Europe. But not everyone is as excited as the prince.

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The Secret Life Of the Sonoran Desert

9:26am March 30, 2013

The Sonoran Desert, which spans some 100,000 square miles in southwestern North America, is one of the most diverse desert ecosystems in the world. Host Ira Flatow and guests discuss some lesser known desert creatures, and explore the secret life of that American southwest icon, the saguaro cactus.

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Chief Almir of Brazil's Surui tribe attends a press conference with Google representatives in Rio de Janeiro last year. Chief Almir has brought technology to his previously isolated people, who now use smartphones to send photos of illegal logging in the

From The Stone Age To The Digital Age In One Big Leap

6:38pm March 28, 2013

by Juan Forero

Deep in the Amazon, an isolated Brazilian tribe almost vanished when it first had contact with the modern world. Now the Surui tribe is working with Google to do things like report on illegal logging in the forest.

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Workers clear honey from dead beehives at a bee farm east of Merced, Calif.

Are Agriculture's Most Popular Insecticides Killing Our Bees?

10:42am March 28, 2013

by Dan Charles

Neonicotinoids are pesticides widely used to coat the seeds of agricultural plants, especially corn. But some evidence suggests these chemicals may also be poisoning bees. A tell-tale clue: reports of massive bee die-offs that all took place during corn-planting season.

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Demonstrators carry a mock pipeline as they pass the White House to protest the Keystone Pipeline, in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 18, 2012.

After Keystone Review, Environmentalists Vow To Continue Fight

2:33pm March 25, 2013

by Elizabeth Shogren

A report released by the State Department Friday says the pipeline won't have much of an impact on the development of oil from Alberta. But activists who oppose the project aren't giving in.

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The Abnormally Normal Science Of Sinkholes

2:58pm March 22, 2013

by NPR Staff

When a Florida man vanished into a massive sinkhole that opened underneath his home in February, the case garnered national attention. But geologists say sinkholes occur regularly without much notice.

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When The Earth Swallows

3:04pm March 21, 2013

Last week a Florida man was swallowed by the Earth as he slept, the victim of a sinkhole. In 1981, another Florida sinkhole ate a swimming pool and a Porsche repair shop. Randall Orndorff, a geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, discusses this mysterious phenomenon, and whether technology exists to predict when--and where--the surface might crumble.

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