Nathan Rott
Nathan Rott is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk, where he focuses on environment issues and the American West.
Based at NPR West in Culver City, California, Rott spends a lot of his time on the road, covering everything from breaking news stories like California's wildfires to in-depth issues like the management of endangered species and many points between.
Rott owes his start at NPR to two extraordinary young men he never met. As the first recipient of the Stone and Holt Weeks Fellowship in 2010, he aims to honor the memory of the two brothers by carrying on their legacy of making the world a better place.
A graduate of the University of Montana, Rott prefers to be outside at just about every hour of the day. Prior to working at NPR, he worked a variety of jobs including wildland firefighting, commercial fishing, children's theater teaching, and professional snow-shoveling for the United States Antarctic Program. Odds are, he's shoveled more snow than you.
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Human actions have caused "significant declines" in the amount of water stored in 53% of the planet's largest lakes and reservoirs. Climate change and overconsumption are the primary drivers. -
Warmer temperatures are melting the state's historic snowpack. Already flooded communities downstream are scrambling to prepare for the surge. -
California's year of endless storms has seeded superblooms of wildflowers and provided a boost to some of the state's endangered ecosystems. -
Another major storm has many Californians asking when will this stop? Dozens of towns and communities are still dealing with flooding from earlier storms.
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As climate change shifts resources and habitat, humans and wildlife are coming into conflict more often, new research finds. It underscores the need for interventions, the researchers say. -
The U.S. endured 18 separate billion-dollar disasters in 2022, highlighting the growing damages of human-caused climate change. -
Delegates from nearly 200 countries are gathering in Canada to try to fix humanity's relationship with nature. The convention comes during an emerging extinction crisis. -
Ukraine says Russia is using the cold as a weapon against Ukrainians, by targeting the country's ability to heat and power homes. Repair crews are struggling to restore power to damaged areas. -
Delegates reached a last-minute deal to pay vulnerable countries for damages caused by climate change. But the final agreement does not put humanity on track to avoid catastrophic warming. -
The coming winter may provide Ukraine with more opportunities to retake land from Russia, Western military analysts say. It will also bring a change in battlefield tactics.
