Environment
National Park Nature Walks: A New Pop-Up Podcast Series
Take an acoustic journey into some of the most unique places in the country
Environment11422 articles archived since 1845
Conservation
The Deepest Dive to Find the Secrets of the Whales
On Earth Day, Scientific American sits down with National Geographic underwater photographer Brian Skerry to talk about free diving with whales and filming the giant mammals within five meters or less...
Environment
Wildfire Recovery Aided with Planting Model
A new tool can help land managers focus their efforts to restore forests
Climate
X-Prize Winners Use CO2 Emissions to Make Concrete
But questions remain about how much greenhouse gases would actually be reduced
Climate
Therapists Are Reckoning with Eco-anxiety
With no training, counselors feel unequipped to handle the growing number of people anxious about the climate emergency
Environment
What’s Really in Your Water?
Rapid at-home tests for contaminants are on the way
Policy & Ethics
Big Businesses Say They Want a Price on Carbon
But environmental groups remain wary
Environment
Heat-Trapping Methane Surged in 2020
Aquatic ecosystems, many altered by human activities, played a surprisingly large role
Policy & Ethics
Nations Claim Large Overlapping Sections of Arctic Seafloor
The five coastal countries will have to rectify their science and their politics
Biology
Brood X Cicadas Could Cause a Bird Baby Boom
Billions of emerging insects will likely trigger predator population surges—but some species mysteriously opt out of such bounties
Environment
Nature Can Help Us Prepare for the Next Pandemic
In March 2020 Ruth DeFries finished a manuscript more than five years in the making. It turned out to be both prescient and prophetic. In this document, the Columbia University professor argued that global crises are now inevitable because of the complexity and interconnectedness of our modern civilization...
Environment
Data Show Shifting Colors of U.S. Rivers
Satellites reveal large-scale changes in rivers’ hues
Climate
Greenland’s Lakes Are Vanishing during Winter as Well as Summer
Special satellite radar reveals the unexpected drainage through the porous Greenland ice sheet
Conservation
National Park Nature Walks, Episode 3: Where Lewis and Clark Trod
Here is our next installment of a new pop-up podcast miniseries that takes your ears into the deep sound of nature. Host Jacob Job, an ecologist and audiophile, brings you inches away from a multitude of creatures, great and small, amid the sonic grandeur of nature...
Climate
Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Would Make Electricity Carbon-Free by 2035
A clean energy standard for power plants is the linchpin, although details are thin
Environment
National Carbon Tax Upheld by Canada’s Supreme Court
The tax, now equivalent to $24 in U.S. dollars, will rise to $135 by 2030
Climate
Solar Geoengineering Should be Investigated, Scientists Say
Recommendation from the National Academies stirs controversy over consequences
Environment
Lightning Rises Sharply in the Arctic
Warmer temperatures and higher humidity may be key factors
Environment
Hunger Strikers Seeking Environmental Justice Win Air-Pollution Delay
A hunger strike in Chicago and concerns raised by city and state politicians have slowed the planned move of a metal scrapper to a working-class, predominantly Latino community
Environment
Using Dragonflies as Contamination Detectors
By collecting the larvae of the fast flyers, researchers have turned the insects into “biosentinels” that can track mercury pollution across the country. Berly McCoy reports. ...
