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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

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

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

Sustainability News From Smithsonian Magazine

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

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

Climate Change News

The Canopus, a pool at Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli, Italy

Smart News

How Has Roman Concrete Lasted for Millennia? A 1,900-Year-Old Latrine Offers New Clues About the Material’s Impressive Durability

A chemical process called carbonation, which helps seal cracks, could help explain why many ancient Roman structures are still standing today. Researchers hope that the insights will lead to better modern-day building materials

Earth is currently experiencing an occurrence of the El Niño climate pattern.

Smart News

Could We Mitigate Super El Niños by Artificially Changing the Climate? A New Study Indicates Yes

Researchers used computer models to see what would have happened had scientists caused marine cloud brightening in the face of strong past El Niños

Scientists analyzed about 25 years' worth of data from the Fram Strait, a passageway where the Arctic and Atlantic oceans meet.

Smart News

The Arctic Ocean May Have Passed a Crucial Tipping Point That Could Harm Food Webs and Worsen Climate Change

Sea ice loss seems to have triggered a decline in the nutrient nitrate, affecting the tiny organisms that form the foundations of marine food chains and absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study

A 187-foot-tall dipterocarp tree

Smart News

Tall Trees Were Thought to Be More Vulnerable to Drought. But These Towering Plants in Southeast Asia Have Adapted to Move Water Efficiently

A new study found that enormous dipterocarp trees have special adaptations to transport water up to their highest limbs, challenging the assumption that they would more easily succumb to dry conditions

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

Researchers came up with the new count by studying insect biodiversity in a conservation area in Costa Rica.

Smart News

Earth Might Be Home to 20 Million Insect Species—More Than Three Times as Many as Previously Thought, a Study Suggests

Recent estimates have come to the consensus that our planet hosts roughly six million species. But new research reveals that those counts may be drastically underestimated

The "cold blob," shown in blue near the top, is also called the Atlantic "warming hole."

Smart News

As the Ocean Warms, a ‘Cold Blob’ in the Atlantic Has Puzzled Scientists. It Might Be a Warning Sign About a Key Current System

A patch of water south of Greenland and Iceland has cooled by nearly 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900. A new study suggests that it shows a crucial system of ocean currents is weakening, which could alter Earth’s climate