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Special Report

Our Sustainable Future

A hub dedicated to the latest on how global change affects life on Earth today and on what solutions scientists, including those at the Smithsonian, are researching to build a more sustainable planet

Dairy farms like this one run by the Barstow family in Hadley, Massachusetts, make smart use of a substance cows produce in abundance.

Innovation

How Dairy Farmers Are Turning Manure Into Money

These New Englanders have found a way to help the planet and convert more than 9,000 tons of cow waste annually into electricity

Cacao growing on a tree at Zorzal Cacao, the first farm certified by Smithsonian's new Bird Friendly cocoa program.

At the Smithsonian

Why Buying ‘Bird Friendly Cocoa’ Is a Sweet Deal

The Smithsonian launches a new certification for chocolate lovers looking to help their feathery friends

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Watch

What Does It Mean to Live on a Sustainable Planet?

Sustainability at the Smithsonian

Making Bird Friendly cocoa

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Cerro La Vieja: Cocoa that Protects Nature, Chocolate that Feeds the Soul

Andre Rovai measures mangrove growth in forest

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Meet the Scientist Uncovering How Mangroves Can Help the U.S. Military

Jewels 2.jpg

National Museum of the American Indian

Meet Jewels Gilbert, the Native Artist Behind Beautiful Arctic Beadwork

Over a dozen blue crabs with red pincers piled in a wooden basket

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Cannibalism Takes Major Bite Out of Young Blue Crabs, but the Shallows Offer a Refuge

Close-up of a bright green patch of seagrass under bright blue water

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Eight Weird Facts About Seagrass (and Why It’s Essential)

Left: Black and white image of a young man sitting at a desk, examining bird bones and holding a bird skull. Right: A young woman in an orange safety vest bends over a stream, collecting a water sample in a bottle.

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Six Ways the Smithsonian Shaped Environmental Science in 60 Years

A young man and woman crouch on a wooden plank in a forest, with irrigation pipes across the ground. The man is pointing to a clear pipette in his hand.

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Scientists Flooded a Forest to Catch a Ghost Forest in the Making. Here’s What They Found

Sustainability News From Smithsonian Magazine

Hammarby Sjöstad was originally engineered to have a carbon footprint 50 percent lower than the rest of Stockholm.

Innovation

This Stockholm Neighborhood Was Built on Ambitious Sustainability Goals. When It Came Up Short, It Doubled Down and Became a Blueprint for Others

The original plan for Hammarby Sjöstad was for an eco-village aimed at attracting the Olympics. They never came, but the locals moved in and, with upgrades, hope to be carbon neutral by 2030

A digital rendering of new museum Dataland 

Smart News

The World’s First Museum of A.I. Art Will Open in Los Angeles as the Art World Ponders Questions of Ethics and Sustainability

Dataland’s immersive exhibitions, generated with artificial intelligence, will debut to the public on June 20, with an inaugural show about rainforests trained on millions of images of nature

Málaga’s famous espetos, or sardines, are cooked over an open flame in traditional blue fishing boats right on the beach.

Travel

Chiringuitos Offer the Quintessential Beach Bar Experience on Spain’s Costa del Sol

Steeped in history, the seafood joints are evolving to keep up with a global clientele and tightening environmental regulations

A young living root bridge, barely a decade old, is seen from the deck of a much older root bridge on the same riverbed. Five months after I shot this photograph, monsoon rains triggered a landslide that sent boulders crashing into the younger bridge. It absorbed the impact and shielded the older bridge downstream.

Travel

In One of the Wettest Places on the Planet, Indigenous People Build Bridges and Ladders Out of Living Tree Roots

For hundreds of years, Khasi and Jaintia people in Meghalaya, India, have woven the roots of Indian rubber trees into structures that help them navigate flooded areas

The mural was unveiled in a suburb of San Salvador last month.

Smart News

This Massive Mural Made From 100,000 Bottle Caps Is One Artist’s Reinterpretation of ‘The Mona Lisa’

Óscar Olivares, who is known for working with recycled materials, completed the 43-foot-tall artwork in Zacamil, El Salvador, in February

Climate Change News

The golden artifact, a sword scabbard fitting perhaps belonging to an elite warrior leader 

Smart News

A Hiker in Norway Found an Elite Warrior’s Golden Sword Ornament. It Was Likely a Sacrifice to the Gods Made During a Time of Turmoil

Volcanic eruptions, climate change, crop failures, famine and plague all may have swept through Norway in the sixth century C.E., putting pressure on leaders and their communities

Hammarby Sjöstad was originally engineered to have a carbon footprint 50 percent lower than the rest of Stockholm.

Innovation

This Stockholm Neighborhood Was Built on Ambitious Sustainability Goals. When It Came Up Short, It Doubled Down and Became a Blueprint for Others

The original plan for Hammarby Sjöstad was for an eco-village aimed at attracting the Olympics. They never came, but the locals moved in and, with upgrades, hope to be carbon neutral by 2030

Cattle are a major driver of methane emissions.

Smart News

Why Do Cows Burp Up So Much Planet-Warming Methane? A Newly Discovered Structure in Their Gut Microbes Could Be a Culprit

The “hydrogenobody” is an organelle inside certain microorganisms that live in a special stomach chamber in cattle, sheep and goats, according to a new study

What if, rather than coral reef rehabilitation remaining a tedious and difficult manual process, conservationists could harness robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles to transform it into an industrial-scale endeavor?

Innovation

Could Underwater Autonomous Robots Save Coral Reefs?

Reef restoration is a slow process, with divers planting coral fragments one at a time by hand. But roboticists are now developing automated planters that could change the game

Sea ice forms off the edge of the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea.

Smart News

Warm Waters Are Usually Trapped Deep Within the Southern Ocean. Now, They’re Encroaching on Antarctica, Threatening Its Ice

Two new studies that relied on data from a fleet of diving robots show how climate change is altering ocean movements in ways that jeopardize the stability of the polar ice cap

Western monarch butterflies bask in the sun on a eucalyptus branch at Lighthouse Field State Beach. In December 2025, researchers placed ultralight radio tags on some monarchs at this site, hoping to track their movements and identify areas to prioritize for the species’ conservation.

Science

Butterflies Are in Dramatic Decline Across North America. A Close Look at the Western Monarch Shows Why

Pesticides, habitat loss and climate change have taken their toll on the beloved insects. But the experts working with them still find hope for their future

The researchers studied a wetland shaped by Eurasian beavers in Switzerland.

Smart News

Beavers Are Ecosystem Engineers—and They Might Be Helpful Allies in the Fight Against Human-Caused Climate Change

New research suggests that wetlands created by the industrious rodents are carbon sinks, meaning they store a lot of heat-trapping carbon dioxide—the human-produced gas largely responsible for today’s global warming