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Science / Our Planet

Queen bumblebee, Bombus balteatus, foraging for nectar on the alpine wildflower Polemonium viscosum.

New Research

Bee Tongues Are Getting Shorter as Temperatures Warm

In Colorado, alpine bumblebee tongues are shrinking in response to shifting wildflower populations

What gives your local Chardonnay that je ne sais quoi? It just might be the regional microbes.

New Research

Wine Gets Some of Its Unique Flavors From Regional Microbes

Small genetic differences in a single species of yeast produce distinct mixes of chemicals that contribute to terroir

So far, nine states have tried to pass laws that encourage a "teach the controversy" approach to climate change.

Age of Humans

See Where Climate Science Conflict Has Invaded U.S. Classrooms

Conservative politicians are introducing bills that promote teaching climate science as controversial

Cities can be problems and solutions for environmental sustainability.

Age of Humans

Creating an Equation for Cities May Solve Ecological Conundrums

In this Generation Anthropocene podcast, scientists explore the ways urbanization might lead to a greener future

Reproduction of early English vessels at Jamestown, Virginia.

Age of Humans

Rising Seas Threaten to Swallow These Ten Global Wonders

Climate change-induced increases in sea level are forcing archaeologists and communities to get creative and make tough calls

Salgado has documented many indigenous tribes and their traditions. Here, men are decorated with feathers and paint for a reahu funerary ceremony.

Sebastião Salgado Has Seen the Forest, Now He’s Seeing the Trees

He documented human suffering around the world. But now, back in his native Brazil, the renowned photographer is healing the devastated landscape

How Powerful Is a Volcanic Eruption and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Twins Ida and Irene practice swimming in a learn-to-swim program on Eydhafushi, an island in the Maldives.

Age of Humans

Third-Graders in the Maldives Discover the Beauty Beneath Their Seas

Many tourists have experienced the Maldives’ beauty. Most Maldivians haven’t, because they don’t know how to swim

Children at the Free School Under the Bridge, an outdoor, donation-supported school under a highway overpass, learn about not just reading and math, but climate change and the ozone layer.

Age of Humans

How India Is Teaching 300 Million Kids to Be Environmentalists

In an enormous undertaking, schoolchildren nationwide are learning about climate change and the environment

The cello plays notes that correspond to changing temperatures in the equatorial zone.

Age of Humans

This Song Is Composed From 133 Years of Climate Change Data

Daniel Crawford, a senior at the University of Minnesota, has written music for a string quartet that traces rising temperatures since the 1880s

Turkey’s ‘Fairy Chimneys’ Were Millions of Years in the Making

Nature built them, but humans made them their own

Smog glows in the sunset in Shanghai, China.

Age of Humans

Air Pollution Kills More Than 3 Million People Every Year

Fine particulates and ozone have been linked to deaths from heart disease, stroke and lung cancer around the globe

A chance thunderstorm was the inspiration for Gordon Hempton's career as the Sound Tracker.

Age of Humans

Are There Any Places on Earth Left Untouched by Noise Pollution?

In this Generation Anthropocene podcast, an acoustic ecologist tours the planet in search of pristine soundscapes

Nuts, shredded meat and bee poop are just some of the odd things that have reportedly rained from on high.

Strange Rain: Why Fish, Frogs and Golf Balls Fall From the Skies

Unusual precipitation doesn’t just belong in myth and legend, and it’s more common than you might think

Dancing with the flames.

Age of Humans

What the Evolution of Fire Can Teach Us About Climate Change

This Generation Anthropocene podcast looks at the history of fire and the ways the world changed once humans harnessed its power

An autumn day at Denali.

Age of Humans

Seven Ways Alaska Is Seeing Climate Change In Action

From raging fires to migrating villages, the Frozen North offers some of the most compelling signs of rapid warming

Waves kicked up by Hurricane Dora pound a beachfront hotel in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1964.

Age of Humans

Tampa and Dubai May Be Due for Extreme “Grey Swan” Hurricanes

A new model combines historical data and physical modeling to find the risks of catastrophic storms in unexpected places

Ten years on, some of the scars that Katrina tore into coastal ecosystems persist, while others have healed. NASA's Landsat 8 satellite captured this image of the swamps and marshes that buffer New Orleans in August 2015.

Age of Humans

How Hurricane Katrina Redrew the Gulf Coast

While storms here are nothing new, human influence helped Katrina make Louisiana’s ecological problems worse

Early marine arthropods called trilobites disappeared—along with 90 percent of species in the ocean and 75 percent of those on land—at the end of the Permian period.

New Research

Massive Volcanic Eruptions Triggered Earth’s “Great Dying”

Geologists nailed down the timing of the ancient event and confirmed that it is a likely suspect in the Permian extinction

Could a New Nanomaterial Reduce Greenhouse Gases?

Berkeley researchers have developed a way to split carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbon monoxide using a nano-mesh

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