Coastal cities need billions of dollars to build defenses against sea level rise. Tensions are rising over where that funding will come from: taxpayers or private companies with waterfront property? Explore the project: https://apps.npr.org/sea-level-rise-silicon-valley/ Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Volunteers fight a wildfire in northeastern Siberia on July 17th. Heat waves in the Russian Arctic and boreal forests have fueled intense, widespread blazes that can damage trees and release enormous amounts of stored carbon dioxide from forests and permafrost.Ivan Nikiforov | AP More than 200 of the world's leading ...

People ride in the front of a wheel loader to cross a flooded street following heavy rains which caused flooding and claimed the lives of at least 63 people in the city of Zhengzhou in China's Henan province on July 23.Noel Celis | AFP via Getty Images XINXIANG, China — ...

Well water is pumped into an irrigation system at a vineyard in Madera, California. California is suffering from drought, and farmers in the state's Central Valley are pumping more groundwater from their well to make up for a shortfall in water from the state's reservoirs.Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Updated ...

A combination of dependency on tips and requirements to appear positive on the job — "service with a smile" — contributes to a culture of sexual harassment in the service industry, a new study says.Ringo H.W. Chiu | AP There is broad agreement that the restaurant industry is rife with ...

A sign at Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet, Mass., warns of sharks in 2019. Beachgoers on the other side of the world will be happy to learn they will not be attacked by sharks ... just bitten.Charles Krupa | AP Updated July 21, 2021 at 1:12 PM ET Shark Week ...

Life expectancy in the United States declined by a year and a half in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says the coronavirus is largely to blame. COVID-19 contributed to 74% of the decline in life expectancy from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77.3 years ...

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket launches on Tuesday morning, carrying passengers Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin; his brother, Mark Bezos; 82-year-old female aviation pioneer Wally Funk; and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen from its spaceport near Van Horn, Texas.Tony Gutierrez | AP On July 20, 1969, ...

Wind turbines in a field in Adair, Iowa. Democrats' budget deal would use financial carrots and sticks to encourage utilities to shift to clean energy.Charlie Neibergall | AP The $3.5 trillion budget blueprint Democrats agreed to this week includes a key part of President Biden's climate plan: a national "clean ...

Streets and homes flooded in Newport Beach, Calif., during a high tide in July 2020. So-called sunny day floods are getting more common in coastal cities and towns as sea levels rise due to climate change.Matt Hartman | AP Coastal neighborhoods around the U.S. are seeing a steady increase in ...