Editors' Picks

Air Pollution Has Been a Problem Since the Days of Ancient Rome

By testing ice cores in Greenland, scientists can look back at environmental data from millennia past

Plants Flower Nearly a Month Earlier Than They Did A Century Ago

In 2012, many plants in the eastern U.S. flowered earlier than in any other year on record

Drill, Baby, Drill: Sponges Bore Into Shells Twice as Fast in Acidic Seawater

In acidic water, drilling sponges damage scallops twice as quickly, worsening the effects of ocean acidification.

Science Beats

Page 3 of 3

Geologist Elizabeth Cottrell discusses the effects of the Icelandic volcanic eruption and the work of the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program
April 22, 2010 | By Erica R. Hendry

From Mt. Etna to China to the Sahara, these striking satellite images of air pollution are from both natural and man-made causes
April 20, 2010 | By Sarah Zielinski

Paleontologists are looking to the fossil record to decipher what the earth's atmosphere was like hundreds of millions of years ago
April 19, 2010 | By Brian Switek

In 1970, the United States created the EPA and passed the Clean Air Act, marking the beginning of the struggle to curb pollution
April 19, 2010 | By Brian Vastag

More than 150 years after acid rain was first identified, scientists now see success in recovery from its damaging effects
April 19, 2010 | By Cassandra Willyard

Scientists converge on the northernmost city in the United States to study global warming's dramatic consequences
March 2010 | By Bob Reiss

Geologist Bernhard Edmaier has been photographing the majestic beauty of active and dormant volcanoes for over 15 years
December 02, 2009 | By Abby Callard

New species are born in the turbulence of the Congo River
November 03, 2009 | By Kyle Dickman

Can a remote, geologically weird island in the South Pacific forecast the fate of coral reefs?
September 17, 2009 | By Christopher Pala

How an unlikely mix of environmentalists and free-market conservatives hammered out the strategy known as cap-and-trade
August 2009 | By Richard Conniff

A select group of adventurers climb the world’s tallest trees to learn more about the wildlife that lives on the highest branches
March 31, 2009 | By Peter Beland

Braving storms with 20-foot seas, an elite group of ship pilots steers through one of the world's most treacherous waterways—the mouth of the Columbia River
February 2009 | By Matt Jenkins

Explosives and giant machines are destroying Appalachian peaks to obtain coal. In a tiny West Virginia town, residents and the industry fight over a mountain's fate
January 2009 | By John McQuaid

The signature tree of the Rockies is in trouble
December 2008 | By Michelle Nijhuis

Part of the sea glass hunting elite, Nancy and Richard LaMotte are finding the treasures they covet harder to come by
October 07, 2008 | By Abigail Tucker

For the Yup'ik people of Alaska, fall chum is the answer to a troubled fishing season and a link to the outside world
October 01, 2008 | By Kim O’Donnel

For the first time there's no fishing for chinook salmon on the California coast. The search is on for why the prize catch is so scarce.
October 2008 | By Abigail Tucker

September 01, 2008 | By Jesse Rhodes

The world's largest protected area, established this year in the remote Pacific, points the way to restoring marine ecosystems
September 2008 | By Christopher Pala

A Battle Against Noise Aims to Save Our Natural Soundscapes
August 06, 2008 | By Garret Keizer

Whatever the variety—commercial hybrid or precious heirloom—the plump juicy "vegetable" has a place in our hearts
August 2008 | By Arthur Allen

A food-poisoning scare spurs debate
August 2008 | By Amanda Bensen

How to stop global warming? CO2 "scrubbers," a new book says
June 2008 | By Kenneth R. Fletcher

The trouble with "videophilia"
April 2008 | By Megan Gambino

A look at man-made and natural causes that are threatening the Earth
September 24, 2007 | By Smithsonian.com

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