Environment

A worker rescues a severely oiled brown pelican along the Louisiana shore in June 2010.

The Gulf Oil Spill Isn't Really Over, Even Five Years Later

Two Louisiana scientists reflect on the event and how its lingering effects are continuing to change the Gulf Coast

Changes in California’s Roadkill Linked to State’s Drought

The California Roadkill Observation System studies wildlife by mapping out crowd-sourced roadkill sightings

The highest summit of the Jade Dragon (Yulong Xueshan) from what in 1985 was close to the center of the old town of Lijiang, China.

Why the World Needs to Go to Great Heights to Save Mountain Habitats

After 30 years working in mountain regions, Jack Ives argues that the world's elevated habitats are essential

Scientists Turn Packing Peanuts Into Battery Components

Chemical engineers at Purdue University have found a surprising way to repurpose the foam pieces

Electric vehicles, such as the ones sold by Tesla, could help to reduce city temperatures.

Electric Cars Can Make Cities Cooler

It's not just the flash and style, either—electric engines emit less heat than gas ones and could combat the urban heat island effect

Personal environmental monitors, such as TZOA (shown here), measure air quality and stream that information to users who may otherwise have no idea what they are breathing.

With Wearable Devices That Monitor Air Quality, Scientists Can Crowdsource Pollution Maps

Emerging technology means anyone with a smartphone can become a mobile environmental monitoring station

Now for Sale: Straw Houses

One new technique for green building—making houses out of straw—actually draws on century-old ideas

North America’s Trees Create Some of the World's Hottest Forest Fires

What makes certain forest fires especially destructive?

Faced with the only high-cost options, Smithsonian researcher Whitman Miller began building his own portable, inexpensive monitoring stations.

Saving Money is Great, but Saving the Chesapeake Bay Will Be Even Better

Whitman Miller's “off the shelf” technology may answer complicated questions about rising CO2 and ocean acidification

The World Hit "Peak Chicken" in 2006

The popular poultry is just one of many key food resources that hit peak production between 5 and 30 years ago

Small town travel, the Monuments Men, Chernobyl and Stonehenge were all among reader favorites in 2014

Our Top Stories of 2014

From weird red waterfalls to the pleasures of small-town America, these were the most read articles on Smithsonian.com this year

For years now, the U.S. Navy has been looking for a way to fuel fighter jets aboard aircraft carriers out in the open ocean without having to rely on refueling ships.

Fuel from Seawater? What's the Catch?

Scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory recently flew a model plane using a liquid hydrocarbon fuel they sourced from the ocean

Call it eco-friendly synergy: Scientists have found a cheaper, greener way to make biodegradable plastic from a common waste product of biodiesel production. (Photo: Bo Cheng / ETH Zurich)

Swiss Researchers Create Eco-Friendly Plastic From Biofuel Waste

A new method for making biodegradable plastic could mean more free farmland for food

A bleached coral reef

Listen to the Sounds of a Dying Coral Reef

Healthy coral reefs produce a medley of sounds that ocean creatures use as homing beacons

A new, zero-power screening method might make testing for lead and other pollutants easier than ever.

Drop This Capsule Into a Stream and It Will Screen For Pollution

Researchers have developed a sensor (no batteries required) that creates a barcode indicating the amount of pollutants and their whereabouts in water

Why Charging for Plastic Bags Makes People Give Them Up

It's all about setting up psychological tripping blocks

Living in Tough Environments Makes People More Prone to Belief in God

People living in harsh natural environments are more likely to believe in a tough, moralizing god

The nonprofit SkyTruth enlisted more than 200 volunteers to scan aerial imagery and pinpoint the locations of fracking wastewater ponds in Pennsylvania.

Tracking Frackers From the Sky

Citizen scientists eyeing Pennsylvania's natural gas drillers in aerial images may help determine if there is a link between fracking and certain illnesses

Located on the Rhode River of the Chesapeake bay, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center's new laboratory building emits 37 percent less CO2 and cuts energy costs by 42 percent.

A New Environmental Science Lab Now Walks the Walk, Cutting Its Overall Emissions by 37 Percent

With geothermal heating, on-site water reclamation and a host of other energy saving technologies, the Smithsonian's first LEED-Platinum building opens

Deforestation in Brazil

The Amazon Rainforest Disappeared Way More Quickly This Year

Widespread deforestation is even worse than you think

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