Microforests in urban environments may help combat climate change

China's tree belt around the Taklamakan Desert has become a carbon sink

Decades of planting trees along the Taklamakan Desert in northwest China (the world's largest shifting-sand desert) have increased vegetation enough to create a measurable carbon sink, absorbing more carbon dioxide than the area emits. The effort demonstrates a key large-scale climate mitigation strategy, though it has raised concerns over water use and long-term sustainability.

Nonprofits strive to replant the Amazon and slow global warming

This article explores the efforts of nonprofit organizations like Rioterra in reforesting the Brazilian Amazon to mitigate climate change. Their goal is enormous: reforest an area twice the size of Germany, costing over 20 billion dollars. In order...

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

Biological terraforming studies have been conducted at Biosphere 2

The experiments involve populating barren hillslopes within the Landscape Evolution Observatory with microbes that react with air and rock to produce molecules needed by more complex organisms. Mosses and other simple plants can then grow in these spaces, gradually making them more hospitable to humans.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

City structures cause localized heat zones hotter than nearby rural areas

Urban materials like asphalt and concrete trap heat, while cities lack cooling features like trees and water. Due to hot runoff, urban streams can heat up by as much as 18°F more than forested streams.

Microbial research suggests shifts in diverse populations may help an invasive species establish itself

In 1958, English ecologist Charles Elton suggested that diverse ecosystems should be more resistant to invasive species because gaining a foothold would be more challenging when resources are more thinly spread. However, in lab-grown microbial ecosystems with greater biodiversity, population volatility opened more ecological roles that invasive species could easily fill.

What’s the best way to reduce climate impact of food?

Food is a big part of everyone’s carbon footprint, and it’s important to understand the impact of our personal food consumption. Individual food choices can emit as many greenhouse gases as personal electricity use. Plant-based diets generally...

Lightning may kill as many as 320 million trees each year

Ignoring the effects of tree loss resulting from lightning-induced wildfires, researchers at the Technical University of Munich developed a quantitative model to estimate the loss of these organisms due to cloud-to-ground strikes, based on global lightning data and forest structure. They expect the estimate to rise due to increased strikes resulting from climate change.

Scientists testing how climate change affected plants found in a years-long simulation study that poison ivy grew 70% faster than it did without extra carbon dioxide

The experiments in the 1990s were designed to simulate potential 2050 conditions, using carefully controlled circular forest plots with gas pumped into them.

In Amsterdam, planting organic flowers has increased native bee diversity by 45%

The citywide effort is an example of rethinking conventional agricultural methods, which rely on monocropping and heavy chemical use. Cover crops—plants grown to suppress weeds, prevent erosion, and attract pollinators rather than to be harvested—have also shown environmental benefits, despite not being sold for profit.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

A map of the world's changing tree cover

As many of the world's tree species are at risk of extinction, keep track of the growth and decline of trees on Earth with this interactive map. Witness the state of forests worldwide by analyzing tree cover change on GFW’s interactive global forest map using satellite data. Learn about deforestation rates and other land use practices, forest fires, forest communities, biodiversity, and much more.

Listen to forests around the world

Looking for something soothing to listen to? Tree.fm shares audio recordings of forests sent from people all over the world. Escape into the sounds of birds chirping, water flowing, or wind in the trees. This site offers a tool for those in need of meditative noises, and a bit of digital fresh air.

Even in nature reserves, climate change is driving rapid ecological collapse

Studies show a dramatic decline in insect populations, resulting in cascading global biodiversity losses across non-insect species. The balances in tropical ecosystems are the most affected by climate change.

How flooding the Dead Sea could help the climate

There are many dead zones in the world with low elevation and very little rainfall that provide little to no benefits to the ecosystem or climate. This digestible, thorough article explains how piping in nearby water to flood these areas could...

Airborne microplastics may influence cloud formation and climate

Microplastics are increasingly found in the atmosphere and may affect the climate by reflecting or absorbing sunlight based on their pigmentation. Like mineral dust, they may become cloud seeders and alter regional precipitation patterns as they become more abundant.

Many issues facing urban environments cannot be solved by smart technologies

Although connecting systems to the Internet of Things can provide improved efficiency in municipal systems, problems such as limited affordable housing are driven by larger socioeconomic factors. Some experts suggest that local governments should focus resources on practical solutions to these issues rather than investing in smart technologies.

Eliza Scidmore advocated for planting cherry trees in Washington, DC, in the early 1900s

The first female writer for National Geographic, Scidmore championed planting Japanese cherry trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. Her idea succeeded in 1912, after years of lobbying, creating one of the National Mall's most enduring traditions and tourist draws.

Search plants, butterflies, and moths native to your area

This tool from the National Wildlife Federation allows you to search by zip code for native plants, ranked by the number of butterfly and moth species that use them as host plants for their caterpillars, to help identify what you can grow to support local pollinators.

Woven City at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan

The Woven City at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan is a ‘living laboratory’ for new technologies. It is being developed by Toyota subsidiary, Woven Planet, and will be the world’s first programmable city.

Global climate models simulate Earth system interactions and how human activity impacts climate

By splitting the planet into tiny 3D grid cells, supercomputers can run thousands of equations for each cell to determine the movement of energy, moisture, and other elements across Earth. The equations can also incorporate greenhouse gases to determine how humans affect the climate.

There's some evidence that working from home has helped the environment

Those who work fully remote can have a 54% lower carbon footprint than on-site laborers, according to one 2023 study. For instance, the share of Americans driving to work alone decreased by about 7% between 2019 and 2022, significantly reducing vehicular emissions.

The fragility of the alpine tundra

This article takes readers into Rocky Mountain National Park's Alpine Tundra, an area above the tree line where only specially adapted plants can survive. One such plant is the cushion plant, which avoids strong winds by growing close to the ground...

Why decarbonizing the entire electric grid is impossible with its current infrastructure

Fossil fuel plants can be built anywhere and have thus typically been built near highly populated areas, such as coastal cities, where electricity demand is high. However, certain renewable resources operate most efficiently in specific regions, such as wind turbines in the Midwest, and therefore require substantial transmission infrastructure to be constructed to transport the generated electricity.

How the buildings you occupy may affect your brain health

Beautiful spaces filled with light and natural motifs aren't just aesthetic, but likely key to your health. Researchers had study participants view photographs of two distinct buildings, one designed with more natural elements while the other featured more abstract shapes and lines. Using electroencephalograph readings of each participant, they discovered participants had less brain inflammation while viewing the "biophilic," or natural, architecture. Learn more about the interdisciplinary framework of so-called neuroarchitecture here.

How one professor uses 'Walden' to study climate change

Richard Primack, a biology professor at Boston University, uses observations on Walden Pond's ecology from Henry David Thoreau's book to inform his study of climate change, noting that "Walden" is one of the oldest datasets available in the United States.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

Scientists have struggled to pin down Ebola's natural reservoir species for decades, but the available evidence suggests that it's very likely fruit and insect-eating bats found in Africa.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Shooting stars, or meteors, are fragments of asteroids and comets that burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating streaks in the sky called meteor showers.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.