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Environment

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A tree infested with the tell-tale white, fluffy egg sacs of the hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive species spreading through the Northeast U.S that can kill ecologically important hemlock trees. Credit: Nicholas A. Tonelli | CC BY 2.0

Spurred by climate change, invasive species threat looms over northeast U.S.

 Environment
• January 15, 2021

Global warming tips the scales in favor of invaders in the region

A heather blueberry plant takes up the whole frame. Small, dark blue berries dot a shrub with rounded leaves. Most leaves are bright green, some are orange and red.

The evolution of ethnobotany

 Environment
• January 13, 2021

To save the plants, one scientific field highlights the importance of protecting Indigenous knowledge

Small yellow and grey bird sits on branch, one of many birds that can be seen by people birding in New York City

Birding provides escape for the pandemic-fatigued

 Audio
• December 30, 2020

Watching for resident and migratory birds has provided people an outlet during the COVID-19 shutdowns

Smoke rises from trees on mountain ridges

Prescribed fires may mean safer smoke

 Environment
• December 16, 2020

Emerging research suggests that smoke from prescribed burns is less harmful than from wildfires

Two pictures of the same rocky, high desert view side-by-side. On the left, the sky is blue and clear. On the right the air is yellow with smoke, visibility is reduced, and the sky is grey.

A flawed number that saves lives

 Environment
• November 25, 2020

Millions of people rely on the Air Quality Index, but experts say it’s a rough measure at best

A large black bird, called a large-billed crow, perches on the back of an empty public park bench. Other benches and greenery are visible in the background. Japanese characters are visible on a post in the backgorund.

Birds might be listening to your conversations

 Life Science
• November 19, 2020

You’ve heard of the fly on the wall, but what about the crow in the city?

A firefighter lights a controlled burn in a forest. Low flames burn grass and scrub behind him, smoke rises around him.

Rethinking who should set prescribed fires

 Environment
• November 13, 2020

To manage wildfires, the United States needs a lot more prescribed burns. Tribes and community organizations are ready to step in

Two of Angela Gilmour’s etchings show how natural and man-made events damage landscapes. “Toxic Wednesday” (left) shows what happens when dust clouds from the Saharan desert collide with an Atlantic weather system and pollution. The result is a toxic smog with an orange to red hue that hangs over the United Kingdom. “Blood Rain Thursday” (right) shows the dust and smog released as blood red rain. [Credit: Angela Gimour]

Toxic landscapes: One artist’s life passion

 Environment
• September 2, 2020

In the midst of a pandemic, an artist and former physicist still works to represent endangered landscapes

Growing number of whales return to New York City shores

 Video
• August 13, 2020

Clean waters have attracted large marine mammals to feed on a rising source of plankton and fish

What kinds of experiences do plants and atoms have, if at all?

Are atoms, bacteria and plants conscious?

 Life Science
• August 5, 2020

Some philosophers argue that consciousness pervades the universe. But not everyone is convinced.

Photo of a man on a fishing boat along the Mekong River bank in Cái Bè, Vietnam

The covert industry that is destroying the world’s rivers

 Environment
• July 30, 2020

The global boom in sand mining threatens millions, a new study of the Mekong River suggests

Mitten Crab Image

The mystery of the mitten crabs

 Environment
• May 22, 2020

Wildlife-police raids and customs inspections are trying to halt this highly invasive species

Transportation accounts for around 6% of carbon emissions in the global food system, new analyses suggest. [Credit: CC0 | Pixabay]

Why eating local isn’t always best for the environment

 Environment
• May 8, 2020

 It’s what you eat, not where it comes from, that matters most, new analyses suggest

Female Ochlerotatus notoscriptus mosquito feeding on a human arm.

Catching the next pandemic early: the coronavirus is one example

 Health
• April 21, 2020

Machine learning may boost disease hunting, but not everyone’s convinced

Tiny ants crawl across a jungle vine as a helicopter flies overhead

Fighting for an island

 Environment
• April 8, 2020

Invasive Little Fire Ants have already taken over the Big Island, and now Maui is trying to save itself from a similar fate

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