Environment
What Australia Can Teach the World about Surviving Drought
Melbourne holds lessons for the U.S. Southwest and other places struggling with a lack of precipitation
Conservation1229 articles archived since 1845
Mysterious Disease Threatens Australian Turtle with Immediate Extinction
Almost the entire population of Bellinger River snapping turtles has been wiped out since February
The Richest Reef: Deep Diving into the Twilight Zone
A team of deep divers plunges into the “twilight zone,” a little-explored region of depth between 200 and 500 feet below the surface, with two goals: "catch fish" and "stay alive"...
Environment
Memorializing the Wake Island Rail: An Extinction Caused by War
This tiny bird went extinct as a direct result of World War II
Genetic Secrets of Brazil's Rarest Tree Revealed
A critically endangered tree is suffering from a genetic bottleneck, but it hasn’t given up the fight
Environment
Dolphin Deaths Linked to 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
Unusual adrenal and lung conditions seen in dead dolphins in the months after the 2010 BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill point to the oil as the cause. Steve Mirsky reports
Evolution
A Multitude of Microscopic Wonders Discovered in the World's Oceans [Slide Show]
The four-year study took thousands of samples at hundreds of sites
Health
BP Oil Spill Responsible for Gulf of Mexico Dolphin Deaths
New autopsy results confirm mass dolphin strandings largely stemmed from BP's 2010 Macondo well blowout
Environment
Massive Humpback Fish at Risk of Extinction
One of the world’s largest freshwater fish is in need of sanctuary, not to mention protection
Environment
The Richest Reef: Life in Layers
Editor's Note: "The Richest Reef" follows members of a scientific dive team as they attempt to pinpoint the center of the most biologically diverse marine ecosystem in the world...
Environment
The Richest Reef: No Such Thing as Packing Light
Editor's Note: "The Richest Reef" follows members of a scientific dive team as they attempt to pinpoint the center of the most biologically diverse marine ecosystem in the world...
Environment
The Richest Reef: Exploring the Most Diverse Marine Ecoystem on Earth
Editor's Note: "The Richest Reef" follows members of a scientific dive team as they attempt to pinpoint the center of the most biologically diverse marine ecosystem in the world...
Conservation
China's Fish Farms Could Save the Oceans
How a small group of visionaries are trying to feed China—and save the world's oceans
Environment
When It Comes to Conservation, Tropical Grasslands Have an Identity Problem [Slide Show]
Although they cover a fifth of Earth’s landmass, tropical grassy ecosystems are routinely misidentified and mismanaged
Environment
25 Years after Exxon Valdez Spill, Sea Otters Recovered in Alaska's Prince William Sound
It took a quarter century, but the northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) living in Alaska’s Prince William Sound have finally recovered from the effects of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, according to a new report from the U.S...
Environment
Less Is More When Restoring Wetlands
Many wetland recovery programs have failed by trying to re-create the original ecosystems. Recent successes have focused on one or two limited goals and have let nature take it from there...
Environment
'Forest Giraffe' Now Endangered: Okapi Populations Drop 50 Percent in 18 Years
Better late than never? This week the International Union for Conservation of Natural Resources, which publishes the IUCN Red List of threatened species, listed the rare and iconic okapi (Okapia johnstoni) as endangered, something the organization acknowledges should have been done back in 2008...
Conservation
First Octopus Farms Get Growing
Fish farms now produce million tons of fish each year around the globe. But octopuses have largely escaped this kind of confined aquaculturing, despite a growing global demand and overfishing...
Conservation
World's Largest Owl Needs Equally Large Trees and Forests (But It's More Complex Than That)
With a body the size of a small child and a wingspan of up to two meters, the Blakiston’s fish owl (Bubo blakistoni) is the largest owl in the world.
Evolution
4 Extinct Species That People Still Hope to Rediscover
There's nothing like the scientific thrill of discovering something for the very first time—or, in rare cases, rediscovering something that most people had presumed forever lost.
