Environment Archives

Environment

Researchers Uncover Just How Damaging Fires and Logging Are to Forest Soil

Forest soils recover from disturbances slowly over many years—up to 80 years following a wildfire and as many as 30 years after logging, much longer than previously thought.

Mike Gaworecki

Magloire-Desire Mounganga, an expert from Gabon's National Agency for National Parks, walks over mangroves in the Angondje Nton district of Libreville on May 17th, 2018.

Why Aren’t We Using Nature to Fight Climate Change?

Forests, mangroves, and wetlands are sometimes seen as the easy option—yet using nature to tackle climate change can be surprisingly controversial.

Sophie Yeo

Environment

Vatican Discussion About Amazon Conservation Raises Anger of Brazil’s Right-Wing Government

President Jair Bolsonaro appears to consider the topics to be discussed in the upcoming Synod, including climate change and indigenous peoples, to be part of a leftist agenda.

Jan Rocha

Jessie Byrd, manager for the Pima County Native Plant Nursery in Tucson, holds a Ariocarpus fissuratus, a rare plant that was confiscated from someone crossing the border.

Environment

Inside the Fight Against the Growing Cactus Black Market

The booming succulent market is creating wide-scale theft of cacti from national parks. Can microchip tracking solve the problem?

Annette McGivney

Environment

What Can a President Do During a National Emergency Over Climate Change?

Environmental law experts say the presidential powers unlocked by declaring a national emergency are the wrong tools for solving the climate crisis.

Kate Wheeling

Environment

Researchers Create First Evidence-Based Map of Asian Elephant Populations

A Sri Lankan research team used a series of interviews over a four-year period to create a country-wide distribution map of the endangered species.

Shreya Dasgupta

Environment

A Bat-Borne Virus Is Poised to Become a Pandemic in Bangladesh. Can We Stop It?

Nipah virus is one of eight diseases that the World Health Organization has identified as epidemic threats in need of prioritization, and ways to curb it are running thin.

Steven Bedard

Environment

The Key Questions the Senate Should Ask Trump’s Nominee to Head the Department of the Interior

David Bernhardt, a former oil and gas lobbyist, is a behind-the-scenes operator who has positioned himself as an ardent opponent of conservation advocates.

Jimmy Tobias