Each day, we increasingly feel the effects of climate change and WBUR's environmental journalists play a vital role in shining a light on the stories of a planet in peril and the promising ways we might change its course.

WBUR journalists are watchdogs: holding public leaders accountable as stewards of our environment. They are inquisitors: digging through scientific research and asking about the most vulnerable areas affected by human-made climate change. They are also educators: making complex science accessible to everyone.

WBUR has reported on breaking disasters such as flash flooding, extreme heat and, most recently, the turbine failure and fallout for Vineyard Wind. The Environment & Climate team has also stepped back to understand what these events mean: How can we adapt to the changing climate and curb the worst effects? Potential solutions include restoring wetlands in order to prevent devastating flash floods and a controversial idea to engineer the ocean to absorb more carbon as a way to slow climate change.

Massachusetts must drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions in the next two-and-a-half decades, among other changes required by state law. WBUR has followed the legislation closely: explaining what it does, evaluating if the state's on track to meeting those goals and exploring what it would take to meet the targets. At the same time, the effects of the changing climate are not the same across communities. Because of structural inequities, people of color and people with lower incomes often feel the worst of it. That's why WBUR's reporting has centered environmental justice in its coverage, especially its assessments of the state's progress.

WBUR continues to follow the topic of renewable energy, particularly offshore wind. The team's reporting has marked milestones in the Vineyard Wind project, the country's first large-scale offshore wind project, as well as the headwinds facing the nascent offshore wind industry. Most recently, WBUR has been looking at Vineyard Wind's broken turbine blade, finding out what happened and what it does or does not tell us about offshore wind projects.

NPR called on WBUR reporters to inform its national audience about what's happening with the industry. National shows like On Point have leveraged WBUR's Environment & Climate team's on-the-ground journalism to describe and understand offshore wind's development and ripple effects on the U.S. economy.

This trust is a testament to the expertise WBUR journalists developed over the years. The national boost has extended the reach of WBUR's Environment & Climate journalism. Anyone who wants to understand what's happening with this sector of renewable energy in Massachusetts and what it could mean for the rest of the nation can rely on — and, most importantly, understand — WBUR's reporting.

Finding ways to support and care for the planet is critical for the next generation, which is one of the reasons WBUR's Environment & Climate journalists focus on sustainability.

Among this year's highlights was a look at how the fashion industry could reduce waste, produced in partnership with CitySpace at the Lavine Broadcast Center, WBUR's state-of-the-art (and LEED Gold Certified) events venue. The team also put together a comedic and informational video about rethinking lawns, designed to get people's attention on social media platforms and spur action.

The Public Media Journalists Association honored WBUR's “"Cooked: The Search For Sustainable Eats" as one of the best multimedia series in the country in 2023. In classic WBUR environment reporting style, "Cooked" had an array of pieces strategically pulled together to educate and engage people regardless of whether they've thought about where their food comes from or if the subject keeps them awake at night.

WBUR built on the successful newsletter series this year by adding three additional topics: examining the health and environmental effects of gas vs. electric stoves, ways to help local pollinators and the environmental pros and cons of farmed fish.

The intersection of health and climate change is an under-reported area. WBUR's health journalists and environmental journalists work closely together to illuminate the ways the climate affects our health, the ways the health care system affects our climate and what we can do about it.

In 2023, WBUR reported an in-depth series on PFAS, the so-called "forever chemicals," and their effects on the human body and the planet. In 2024, WBUR stayed on the story, following new regulations and how they could affect Massachusetts. NPR broadcast some of the reporting nationally. This past summer, NPR and WBUR's collaborative health and environmental coverage received a first-place award from the Public Media Journalists Association.

WBUR health reporter Martha Bebinger revealed how asthma inhalers release a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, and how some doctors are offering an alternative to the devices. NPR broadcast a version of the reporting. It was also translated into Portuguese through the WBUR newsroom's new partnership with the Brazilian Times, based in Somerville, Mass., as well as into Spanish through our longstanding partnership with El Planeta, allowing more people and communities to access important journalism.

The collaboration with the Brazilian Times is one of many between WBUR's environmental journalists and other organizations. Also new this year: an editorial partnership with Scientific American.

WBUR correspondent Barbara Moran teamed up with documentary filmmaker Duy Linh Tu to look at septic pollution in Cape Cod waters. Their reporting explained how wastewater ended up in the bays and ponds, and what could be done to clean it up. Estimates suggest it would take 30 years and $1.4 billion to fix the infrastructure issues causing the wastewater leaks. Moran reported another way: recycling your urine.

In many ways, it was a quintessential WBUR environment story: explaining technical research in a digestible way and exploring a surprising solution (plus a dash of humor). The two-part series was published on WBUR and Scientific American, tapping into the magazine’s monthly audience of 10 million people around the world. The package also included a short documentary film and a short-run podcast, delivering the information in different ways to distinct audiences. A version of the story was also broadcast nationally on NPR's Morning Edition.

These stories were among the most read of WBUR's environmental journalism. Of particular note, about two-thirds of the pageviews came from local users. It's an example of WBUR's strong original reporting serving our core local audience, while also holding national significance.

The teamwork has also led to another reporting project — currently underway — looking at climate change and a key New England industry.

WBUR has also continued projects with long-standing partners.

In March 2024, senior reporter Miriam Wasser co-reported a piece on third-party electric suppliers in Massachusetts with The Boston Globe. Regulators created the competitive supply market in the 1990s, hoping to drive down prices through increased competition. Instead, the majority of people on competitive electric supply plans paid more than they would have on the basic service rate. WBUR and the Globe reviewed hundreds of complaints about the suppliers, obtained through public records requests.

Wasser had reported extensively on these suppliers in the spring of 2023, which included easily digestible ways consumers could avoid getting scammed. Building on her previous reporting, the partnership with the Globe delivered important information to protect consumers and examined the policy debate about these suppliers as the legislature prepared to tackle this complex market.

WBUR's environmental reporting has also been enriched through a partnership with the New England News Collaborative, a collaboration among NPR stations in the Northeast.

In 2023, WBUR contributed several stories to the collaborative's series "Beyond Normal," looking at how climate change is affecting the region's summers. Wasser revealed that most New England states are not accurately counting heat-related deaths, which makes it difficult to address the issues around heat and health. WBUR health reporter Martha Bebinger reported on a pilot program that would alert clinicians to heat risks when temperatures rise. The alerts provide reminders about discussing precautions patients can take and who is especially vulnerable to health complications from rising heat. The innovative test case was rebroadcast nationally on NPR and as part of the series, WBUR produced posts for social media with easy to understand — and shareable — advice on how to monitor heat and your health. WBUR also broadcast and published numerous stories from collaborative journalists, as climate and environment remains a core focus for the region's news organizations.

Routinely, WBUR's environmental reporting is packaged for multiple on-air programs, such as Radio Boston or Morning Edition, and The Common, WBUR's weekly podcast about news and culture. Designing these stories specifically for the audiences they serve increases the number of people who have access to our environmental reporting, while being mindful about different approaches and styles that resonate with those audiences.

A foundational value of public media journalism is to provide trustworthy information to everyone. WBUR has been strategically building partnerships to expand access to our reporting. In addition to increasing the number of people and communities who can see our work through partnerships with peer news organizations, we've also been able to partner with organizations that serve diverse communities.

We mentioned our new collaboration with The Brazilian Times, which translated and published one of our stories about climate and health into Portuguese. WBUR continues to have a similar partnership with El Planeta, the Boston Spanish-language news company.

In addition to translation of select WBUR reporting, we have worked with El Planeta's talented journalists on stories important to the communities they serve. One example from this year is with El Planeta reporter Rosanna Marinelli, looking at efforts by the Mass Save energy efficiency program to reach and enroll more Spanish-speaking residents.

These partnerships both expand the reach of WBUR's top-notch journalism and leverage the experience and resources of both organizations.

WBUR's environment and climate journalism has always focused on providing useful information for people. Included in that is making it easy to use — especially for people who don't study or work on these issues.

One example this year is WBUR’s reporting on combined sewage overflow and a real-time tracker that allows people to find information on overflow events in one place. New England's aging sewer systems are getting overwhelmed more often by the increasingly rapid, hard rain storms. These older systems essentially mix stormwater runoff and sewage in the same pipes heading to wastewater treatment plants. So when moderate to heavy rain dumps on the area, these pipes overflow into rivers, streams and other waterways.

Municipalities are required to alert the community when this wastewater flows into local water. But it's patchwork. Each municipality does it differently, and residents in or near these areas have to know about it to sign up for the alerts.

Until now. Anyone can go to WBUR's real-time tracker map and find out if there's been a combined sewage overflow in the last 24 - 48 hours so they have information about whether their local water is safe. WBUR promoted the tracker through videos on social media explaining the problem.

WBUR utilizes different mediums in order to create compelling, insightful and easily understood journalism. Another example is an illustrated story about climate change effects specific to New England. The designs were carefully researched and constructed to explain five key impacts of climate change: extreme precipitation, heat waves and health problems, intensifying hurricanes, storm surges and the quickening pace of sea level rise in the region. These visual explainers bring audiences our journalism in a way that is easy to digest — whether the reader is an elementary school student or a retiree.

WBUR Managing Editor Elisabeth Harrison is now overseeing the Environment & Climate team, in addition to the health and science reporters. Harrison is one of WBUR's most talented editors and has a deep expertise in editing science stories across platforms. As noted above, the health and environment teams have all worked closely over the years and this new structure will foster even more collaboration across intersectional beats. The key characteristics of WBUR's environmental reporting remains: uncovering truths and conveying them in simple, direct terms so we can take action.

In late 2023, Barbara Moran wrote a piece for WBUR's ideas and opinion page, Cognoscenti, in the wake of a United Nations report that said time was running out to prevent the planet from reaching a temperature tipping point.

As Moran eloquently described, some climate scientists don't want to alarm people, fearing they could lose hope and motivation to act: "The facts of the climate crisis are truly terrifying. The reality of what we're facing keeps me up at night. But I don't think staving off the very warranted despair is helping anybody. … Yes, there are plenty of people who prefer denial. But I bet just as many want the truth, painful as it is.  We deserve a shot at rising to the occasion."

The environmental crisis can feel dire and depressing. At WBUR, we continue to help our community understand the facts and scope in order to make meaningful change.

Interested in doing more about climate change? Make your gift in direct support of WBUR's climate and environment reporting efforts on this page.