Border Security and Public Lands

Some Republicans want to give the Department of Homeland Security blanket authority to waive environmental laws on all public lands within 100 miles of any US border.

Iceberg breaks off in Greenland

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A massive iceberg broke off Greenland this week. It’s the largest break in Greenland in 50 years, setting off alarm bells among climate watchers. Anchor Jeb Sharp speaks with Dr. Robert Bindschadler, one of NASA’s leading climate scientists, about the break. Download MP3

• Satellite images of glacier before and after
• BBC coverage
• Environment coverage on The World

Iron Curtain becomes green belt

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Twenty years ago today the Iron Curtain began to unravel. It was on March 11, 1990 that Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare its independence. The Soviet grip on Eastern Europe had begun to loosen with the fall of the Berlin Wall a few months earlier. Now, 20 years later, the fortified east-west border is also just a memory. But not all vestiges of the Iron Curtain have vanished from the landscape. Ashley Ahearn reports, in some places the former no-man’s land is being preserved… as a green belt. Download MP3(Photo: Ashley Ahearn)

• Downriver Productions

Dealing with CO2 emissions

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Human beings emit over 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year. It’s a global problem, connected with sea level rise and changing global temperatures. There have been many calls for reductions in CO2 emissions, but others look to technology to sequester or trap CO2 below the earth’s surface. Ashley Ahearn reports how some of the most promising research in this field is happening in Iceland. Download MP3

• CO2 fixation in basaltic rock in Iceland
• Fighting Global Warming by Turning CO2 into Stone
• BBC animated guide to climate change

Storing CO2 underground

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There are two ways to reduce carbon dioxide. Emit less or remove it from the atmosphere by sequestering it below the earth’s surface. As Ashley Ahearn reports, some of the most promising research in this field is happening in Iceland.