Environment
410 articles-
Some Bacteria Have Evolved the Ability to Degrade Plastic
But can this make a dent in Earth’s plastic crisis? -
The Secret Lives of Tree Roots
A glimpse into the arboreal underworld tells us how trees will cope in a changing climate -
Are We Trashing Earth’s Loneliest Spot?
Point Nemo, the most remote location on the planet, is serving as humanity’s cosmic junkyard -
Nature’s Prescription for Our Future
Why caring for nature is caring for ourselves -
Here’s What Nuclear Testing Does to the Earth—and Us
With trials of atomic weapons set to resume, we recall the environmental and health damage wrought by such testing -
Hurricane Melissa Could Threaten Some Species with Extinction
As the super strong storm lashes the Caribbean, vulnerable species and habitats lie in its path -
How This Haunting Hurricane Illusion Forms
Powerful storms like Hurricane Melissa foment an odd phenomenon called the “stadium effect” at their centers -
How “Plant Math” Can Help Predict the Climate’s Future
Researchers are building equations for vegetation processes that might improve climate models -
New Life for Rotting Seaweed
Problematic piles of Sargassum could serve as useful raw material for a variety of products -
Modeling the Deep
An ambitious mission seeks to map the flow of crucial chemicals through marine food webs in far-flung oceanic gyres
-
The Deep Ocean Is a Global Public Good
This visionary new initiative would do more than save the ocean. It would regenerate it.
-
Gaia’s Got a Fever
An aging Earth, like an aging body, is increasingly vulnerable to heat’s fatal strikes
-
Rogue Wave Mystery Solved
Each leviathan of the deep has a signature that can be used to forecast it
-
Extreme Heat Will Change You
High temperatures can alter our bodies at the molecular level -
When Our World Was a Wasteland
During the Permian, Earth was without climate guardrails -
It’s a Plastic World, After All
This ride through plastic waste emerges with hope -
With Regard to the Invisible
The climates that run through us -
We’re All Connected
Welcome to the Climates Issue