Prince of DarknessSpotlight 08.24.2022Helmet jellyfish have taken over a Norwegian fjord, demonstrating the species’ tenacity and offering clues about environmental factors that can upend an ecosystem.
Downward SpiralArticle 06.04.2022The nautilus’s lineage made it through all five of Earth’s previous mass extinctions. But can it survive the Anthropocene?
Love TrainSpotlight 06.03.2022The Kangaroo Island echidna may seem bizarre, but the spiky mammal’s quirks have helped it survive cataclysmic change.
Snuggle for SurvivalSpotlight 12.26.2021Teamwork helps the world’s largest penguin species thrive under the harshest conditions.
Letters Between TreesArticle 09.09.2021With a pandemic and record-breaking fire season raging, two individuals, seemingly worlds apart, find solace in their connections with one another and within the ecosystems they call home.
Antarctica’s Upside Down WorldArticle 05.12.2021Clinging to the underside of ice hundreds of meters thick, strange communities of sea life eke out a living in perpetual darkness. Now, researchers are racing to find and study these creatures before they—and their ice sheets—disappear.
Swamp SentinelsArticle 02.18.2021Buried in mud for millennia, some of New Zealand’s ancient kauri trees are revealing surprising clues about Earth’s climate—past, present, and future.
Mother LoadSpotlight 12.11.2020Multitasking bat moms carry their nursing pups underwing all while navigating a growing array of threats in the Australian forests they call home.
Records of ChangeVideo 01.17.2020Thanks to foresight and meticulous records collected nearly a century ago, scientists are reconstructing a picture of some of Mexico’s most important ecosystems before they were transformed.
A (Proposed) Pipeline Runs Through ItArticle 12.03.2019The Atlantic Coast Pipeline would divide mountains, farmland, and sacred Native American land along its 600-mile route, but it’s uniting a diverse community of activists determined to halt its progress.
Refilling the Carbon SinkPhoto Essay 11.12.2019Long seen as wastelands, Scotland’s bogs are now the scene of an intense restoration effort in which millions of exotic trees are being felled to fight climate change.
Spawning an InterventionImmersive 09.26.2018To help corals survive the myriad threats they currently face, an international team of scientists is mastering the art and science of raising coral babies.
Invisible Nature: Return of the Wood FrogVideo 06.27.2017A common frog species takes an unusual approach to winter—one that would kill most other vertebrates.
Greatest Shoal on EarthSpotlight 05.02.2017One of the planet’s most massive migrations, the KwaZulu-Natal sardine run triggers a dazzling feeding frenzy off the coast of South Africa.
How to Feed Africa SustainablyOpinion 03.14.2017Renowned sustainability expert shares ideas for addressing food shortages in Africa without compromising ecological health.
Ancient Crops Find New LifeArticle 03.07.2017Feeding the world sustainably—and nutritiously—may require crops that most people have never even heard of.
From Leaf to LandscapeInfographic 02.28.2017A tropical rainforest’s ability to take a deep breath depends in large part on a somewhat surprising factor—the age of its leaves.
Catching the Rainforest’s BreathVideo 02.28.2017Armed with a suite of high-tech tools, scientists are measuring the flow of gases into and out of the Amazon rainforest to understand how this iconic ecosystem responds to seasonal and climatic shifts.
American Leadership for a Sustainable FutureOpinion 11.08.2016How the next president responds to the world’s environmental challenges will determine the fate of our world for centuries to come.
Learning the Lessons of the PlanetOpinion 07.19.2016As we continue to recklessly degrade the global environment, and our society starts to feel the sobering consequences, we all need to step back and quickly learn—and live by—the lessons that our living world can teach us.
