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Environment

The United Arab Emirates successfully built a palm tree-shaped artificial island called Palm Jumeirah off the coast of Dubai.

Can Artificial Islands Solve Overcrowding?

Some say yes, others say the increasingly popular projects are too expensive and harmful to the environment

Researchers fed microplastics to mosquito larvae in the lab.

New Research

Mosquitoes Are Passing Microplastics Up the Food Chain

These reviled insects are adding another charge to their rap sheet: ferrying harmful microplastics ingested from contaminated water

Rice University scientists have programmed drones to coordinate their tracking efforts with each other.

Teaching Drones to Sniff Out Toxic Air

Swarms of the flying devices, using sensors and AI, will learn to find and track harmful gases

Bloede Dam (ca. 2016) near Ilchester, Maryland

Drones Will Track One of the Largest Dam Removals on the East Coast

When a Maryland dam comes down this fall, a team of scientists will deploy drones to monitor the flow of more than two million cubic feet of sediment

A French Theme Park Taught Crows To Pick Up Trash

Park hopes that its avian garbage collectors will encourage humans to properly discard their rubbish

New Research

New Map Chronicles Three Decades of Surface Mining in Central Appalachia

The data shows about 1.5 million acres of forest have been affected by surface and mountaintop mining since the 1970s

The "dense garbage carpet" that is washing onto Montesinos Beach in Santo Domingo

Waves of Garbage Are Washing onto a Beach in the Dominican Republic

The trash was pushed onto Montesinos Beach by a recent storm, but environmentalists say the scene is becoming all the more common

New Research Suggests Dr. Seuss Modeled the Lorax on This Real-Life Monkey

Facial recognition software refreshes the classic book’s message on conservation

A clear day at Acadia National Park in Maine.

National Parks Can Be Just as Smoggy as Major Cities

And it’s scaring away visitors

‘Earthrise,’ which appeared on the cover of the second and third Whole Earth Catalog, was taken by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders during lunar orbit, Dec. 24, 1968.

50 Years Ago, the Whole Earth Catalog Launched and Reinvented the Environmental Movement

The publication gave rise to a new community of environmental thinkers, where hippies and technophiles found common ground

The link between sunscreen and skin protection is watertight. Unfortunately, many common sunscreens may be devastating for the health of coral reefs.

Can We Create Sunscreen That Protects Both Humans and Coral Reefs?

Sunscreen is vital for skin protection. But researchers are finding that even ‘reef-friendly’ versions may pose serious environmental threats

This image, taken in 2016 by NASA's Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite, shows an algal bloom covering 33 square miles, or about 4 percent, of Lake Okeechobee. This year's bloom is significantly bigger, covering 90 percent of the lake.

A Toxic Algal Bloom Is Spreading in Florida’s Waterways

The bloom started last month in Lake Okeechobee, but has quickly spread to waterways on both coasts

Recyclable lids will be used on all Starbucks cold drinks except the Frappuccino.

Starbucks Vows to Ditch Plastic Straws by 2020. How Will the Oceans Change?

Straws make up a small portion of ocean waste, but banning straws can be an important first step to cutting down on other plastics

New Research

China’s Plastic Ban Will Flood Us With Trash

New study reports China’s ban on importing foreign plastic could cripple global recycling programs and lead to 111 million tons of homeless plastic

A wildlife biologist checks a big brown bat for signs of white nose syndrome, which can cause tears or even dime-sized holes in their delicate wings.

Three Ways Bats Could Bounce Back From Devastating White Nose Syndrome

Scientists are testing light therapy, a fungus-killing fungus—and maybe, doing nothing

You'd expect to see a raccoon snuffling around at midnight. A sun bear, not so much.

New Research

Fear of Humans Is Forcing Daytime Animals Into Night Mode

The stress is pushing some animals to adjust their schedules—but not all will be quick enough to adapt

Marine heatwaves can kill off species and alter ecosystems.

Ocean Heatwaves Are Getting Longer and More Intense

If the past century is any indication, global warming may be contributing to less stable marine ecosystems

In the water, rockweed provides habitat for crustaceans, fish, and mollusks; out of the water, it’s food for people and animals, fertilizer, and a soil conditioner.

How Seaweed Connects Us All

An unlikely debate about rockweed brings together Rachel Carson, marine biology and Maine’s supreme court

A sinkhole from 2012 that swallowed the back of a home at Shoal Drive in Hudson. At the time the picture was taken, Pasco County Fire officials said the sinkhole is currently 40 feet wide and 20 feet deep.

The Science Behind Florida’s Sinkhole Epidemic

Reports of these ground-chasms have been swelling in the past few years. Geology helps explain why

An illustration of GRACE-FO in orbit.

Meet NASA’s New Dynamic Duo: A Pair of Climate Change-Tracking Satellites

The pair will measure changes in Earth’s gravitational field to monitor melting glaciers, rising seas, droughts and more

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