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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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What Does It Mean to Live on a Sustainable Planet?

Sustainability at the Smithsonian

Closeup of a handful of river herring underwater swimming toward the viewer, with silver bodies, yellow faces and beady black eyes.

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

American Icons: Reviving the River Herring

Toby Kiers

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Fungi Expert Is on a Mission to Protect Global Natural Underground Networks

Yellow fish swim in front of coral reef

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Too Many Coral Restorations Fail. Treating Them Like Experiments Could Help Them Succeed.

Glitter and Globug

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

How Camera Traps at the Smithsonian’s Research Institute in Panama Inspired a New Generation of Tropical Scientists

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

Sustainability News From Smithsonian Magazine

With Eco Purge, Arya Satheesh won the European category of the 2026 Earth Prize, the largest environmental competition in the world for young students. She was awarded $12,500 to continue to develop her prototype.

Innovation

This High Schooler Invented a Plant-Based Plastic That Removes Microplastics From the Environment as It Biodegrades

Eighteen-year-old Arya Satheesh created her award-winning Eco Purge to help address the global problem of plastic pollution

To turn shrimp shells into a feedstock for hydrogen gas production, the process begins with mashing the shells into a rust-colored shrimp slurry.

Innovation

How Shrimp Shells Are Being Turned Into ‘Carbon Negative’ Fuel, Food and Construction Materials

Engineers in Singapore have developed a new, multistep chemical process that transforms organic waste into useful, sustainable products

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

Climate Change News

The small blue, shown here, has lost about 40 percent of its habitat in the United Kingdom over the last 150 years.

Smart News

Butterflies Around the World Are Moving to New Habitats, Largely Because of Climate Change, a Study Suggests

Researchers examined data on 1,758 butterfly species—about ten percent of all those known—from 105 countries and estimated that about one in ten global species has shifted its distribution range

German warships dating to World War II are visible again in the Danube River, as they were in 2024 as pictured here.   

Smart News

The Danube River Has Fallen to Record-Low Water Levels, Revealing Nazi Warships, Bombs and Woolly Mammoth Bones In Its Channel

Residents and researchers are finding historic and prehistoric relics as Europe’s second-longest river dries

Concordia is situated atop a 10,800-foot-thick ice cap on the Antarctic Plateau more than 600 miles from the nearest coastline.

Smart News

Antarctic Interior Hits Minus 119.4 Degrees Fahrenheit, Earth’s Lowest Recorded Temperature in More Than a Decade

The record-setting cold at the Concordia research station comes just weeks after another part of the southernmost continent experienced the opposite extreme, with winter temperatures climbing to unprecedented highs

Beachgoers rested at Lake Lacanau's Moutchic Beach in southwestern France last week, as clouds of smoke rose into the sky from the Gironde wildfire.

Smart News

Dangerous ‘Fire Clouds’ Are Making France’s Wildfires Even More Destructive

It’s the first time the phenomenon, which is fairly common in North America, has been observed in France

The Solomon Siren by Jason deCaires Taylor honors Kale Island, which was submerged a decade ago due to rising sea levels. 

Smart News

This Pacific Island Disappeared Under Rising Seas. A New Sculpture Marking the Spot Will Morph Into a Home for Seabirds, Coral and Marine Life

“The Solomon Siren” remembers Kale Island, submerged a decade ago in the Solomon Islands

Koala conservation is a complex balancing act in Australia. In some regions, populations are in steep decline, but in others, the animals are overabundant.

Smart News

Koalas Are at Risk of Extinction in Some Parts of Australia. Can Freezing Their Sperm and Eggs Help Save the Iconic Marsupials?

Scientists are preserving the animals’ reproductive cells in liquid nitrogen in a bid to boost genetic diversity in future populations

Commercial whalers hunted southern right whales to the brink of extinction. Though the species has rebounded, its recovery has been uneven.

Smart News

Poop From Southern Right Whales Reveals That the Animals Might Be More Resilient to Climate Change Than We Thought

Scientists long believed that these whales, which swim throughout the Southern Hemisphere, mainly feasted on krill and small crustaceans called copepods, which are disappearing from the warming ocean. A new study suggests that the cetaceans have a more varied, flexible diet