Dan Charles

Researchers are worried that the lithium ion batteries powering our phones, and soon our cars, will turn into a big waste problem. They're trying to figure out how to recycle them.

New evidence from Japan's Lake Shinji suggests that the widely used family of pesticides called neonicotinoids, already controversial for harming pollinators, could pose risks to fish as well.

Brussels sprouts used to be scorned. Now they're trendy. And one reason for their renaissance sits tucked away in a basement storage room in the Netherlands.

The drive to make more milk has had an unsavory side effect: Cows have become more genetically similar and less fertile. Scientists are trying to recover valuable genetic variation that was lost.

Companies are trying to figure out the risks to their profits from a warming planet. Some of them are turning to high-tech tools of climate science.

Congressional investigators are demanding documents from the White House, Vice President Pence and the State Department. So far, they've had little success.

The university, which is as big as a city, has slashed its carbon emissions since 2004. That effort is now paying for itself in lower energy costs. Could actual cities do the same?

A new study shows many of the world's streams and rivers could dry up because people are draining underground aquifers that sustain streams through dry periods. Climate change won't help matters.

Under new federal rules, pork companies can hire workers to do some tasks currently reserved for federal inspectors in hog slaughterhouses. Critics say it's a move toward privatization.

A stowaway from China, the spotted lanternfly, is eating its way across Pennsylvania, killing trees and grapevines. Scientists are considering importing the bug's natural enemies from back home.

Deep inside the company that dominates the business of ketchup-making, there's a man who makes sure that every squeeze of this all-American condiment comes out just right. He's the Ketchup Master.

A fungus that has destroyed banana plantations in Asia is now in Latin America. The disease moves slowly, but there's no cure, and it could mean calamity for the continent's banana industry.

The number of pigs in China is falling rapidly due to an epidemic of African Swine Fever. It's affecting farmers and consumers across the world, because China produces half of the world's pork.

Some of the oldest companies in America are in the climate change debate. Utilities are supposed to deliver electricity cheaply and reliably. Now, regulators are trying to make them go green.

Some of the world's top experts on climate change issued a new warning on Wednesday about how we use land to grow food. They say it's contributing to global warming, but it doesn't have to.

Humans must drastically alter food production in order to prevent the most catastrophic effects of global warming, according to a U.N. report.

Studies are revealing new, unintended threats that neonicotinoid pesticides pose to insects. The chemicals, widely used by farmers, are difficult to control because they persist in the environment.

Dozens of food companies have promised to stop their suppliers from clearing forests in order to grow crops or graze cattle. Now the companies have a tool to monitor those farmers from space.

The Trump administration has released details of a $16 billion plan to compensate farmers who've lost money as a result of the trade dispute with China. Some economists say it's too generous.

That's good for farmers but bad for taxpayers, who subsidize government-backed crop insurance. The fate of research that forecasts these costs is in doubt as economists and scientists leave the USDA.