Environmental Preservation

Researchers are concerned about what the presence of microplastics in protected landscapes will mean for local ecosystems.

The Forecast in National Parks Is Cloudy With a Chance of Plastic Rain

New research finds America’s western national parks and wilderness areas receive more than 1,000 tons of plastic rain every year

An aggregation of roughly 64,000 green sea turtles at Raine Island in Australia.

Drone Footage Shows Thousands of Nesting Sea Turtles

The roughly 64,000 green sea turtles were photographed off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia at Raine Island, the turtle's largest breeding ground

There are only around 80 Sumatran rhinos (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) left on Earth. In their native northern Sumatra, Indonesia, they are being pushed towards extinction by habitat loss and poaching.

Already Unprecedented Rate of Wildlife Extinctions Is Accelerating

New research suggests roughly 500 species are likely to go extinct in the next two decades

A young koala recovers at the wildlife park hospital.

The Great Koala Rescue Operation

Raging bushfires. Devastated wildlife. And the compassionate souls who went to the rescue

A new study has mapped green algae blooms, like the one pictured here, on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Algae Blooms Turn Antarctica’s Ice Green

Scientists predict that the organisms' presence will increase as global temperatures increase

The glass frog's translucent stomach skin offers a window into its internal organs. New research finds this odd seeming trait may help the frogs evade predators.

Scientists Discover the Reason Behind the Glass Frog's Translucent Skin

Glass-like skin helps break up the frog's outline and matches the frog's brightness to its leafy perch, making it harder for predators to spot

Delicate blossoms might get knocked down, but they get up again.

How Flowers Marvelously Evolved Resilience

Blossoms contort and twist back into optimal pollination position after getting bumped and battered

Archival image, July 9, 1973: (Original caption) A woman seems hesitant about buying fish at a shop in Tokyo recently (June 25) after the Japanese Health and Welfare Ministry's June 24th warning that no one should eat more than 567 grams (about one pound four ounces) of fish a week to avoid the possibility of dangerous mercury poisoning.

A Dead Cat's Brain Revives Discussion of 1960s Mercury Poisoning Disaster in Japan

The exact molecule behind the Minamata mercury disaster, caused by a chemical plant’s wastewater, remains a point of disagreement

The homemade flag carried by Lanphier High School students during their march to the Illinois State Capitol on the first Earth Day.

This Homemade Flag From the '70s Signals the Beginning of the Environmental Movement

The green-and-white banner from an Illinois high school recalls the first Earth Day 50 years ago

When Michigan Students Put the Car on Trial

In a famous 1970 teach-in demonstration, prosecutors hammered away at the nation’s most powerful defendant

So-called 'watermelon snow' sounds better than it looks and tastes; do not eat pink snow.

This 'Blood-Red' Snow Is Taking Over Parts of Antarctica

After a month of record-breaking temperatures, a kind of snow algae that turns ruby-hued in warm temperatures thrives

Asiatic cheetahs—like this one photographed in Iran—haven't had a stable population in India in decades. Now, the government has clearance to introduce African cheetahs into several wildlife ranges in the Indian subcontinent.

After Decades-Long Battle, Cheetahs Can Be Reintroduced in India

Officials will now move forward with an experimental—and controversial—plan

A researcher holds a platypus for a Melbourne Water study conducted in 2017.

Australia's Droughts and Fires Present New Dangers to the Platypus

Threats to the semi-aquatic, egg-laying mammals demand action, experts say

These are the only living Wollemi pines on the planet.

Australian Firefighters Have Saved the Last Groves of a Rare, Prehistoric Tree

Just 200 Wollemi pines exist in a remote gorge, prompting a critical operation to protect them from bushfires

Photosynthetic bacteria in the concrete make it bright green until it dries and turns brown.

Scientists Design Bacteria-Based Living Concrete

Its designers hope that it could help with construction in deserts or even on Mars

Española tortoises are reared for five years before being released on the Galápagos' Española Island.

Diego, the 100-Year-Old Tortoise Who Fathered 900 Babies, Returns to the Wild

The breeding program brought the Española tortoise population back from the brink

After seeing their numbers slashed due to overhunting in the 20th century, North Atlantic right whales still face plenty of threats, including ship strikes, habitat degradation and pollution. A mother and her calf are seen in this aerial image from 2005.

Can Scientists Protect North Atlantic Right Whales by Counting Them From Space?

A new collaboration between the New England Aquarium and the engineering firm Draper seeks to use satellite sonar and radar data to create a global watch

An infant mountain gorilla from the Katwe group in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda.

Endangered Mountain Gorilla Populations Are Growing

But the animals remain threatened with extinction

Dead mussels along the Clinch River.

Scientists Don't Know Why Freshwater Mussels Are Dying Across North America

Mussel species are dying en mass in rivers across the Pacific Northwest, Midwest and South—likely from unidentified pathogens

Ecologists fear that repaving the highway known as BR-319 will open new sections of the Amazon to catastrophic deforestation.

Is the Amazon on a Road to Ruin?

Brazil’s plan to develop a lonesome track in the heart of the rainforest poses a threat the whole world may someday have to overcome

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