Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Environmental Preservation

Smoke lingers following fires in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest in August 2020.

New Research

Humans Have Altered 97 Percent of Earth’s Land Through Habitat and Species Loss

The study, which did not include Antarctica, also identified opportunities to restore up to 20 percent of land ecosystems

As many commercial operators and homeowners are shifting to LEDs, which tend to fall somewhere in the blue-white spectrum, the new results may have important implications beyond tropical rainforests.

Using Amber-Filtered Bulbs Instead of White Light Attracts Fewer Bugs

In a tropical rainforest study, 60 percent fewer insects visited traps illuminated in a golden glow. Researchers say the results may be widely applicable

Women broke the glass ceiling of fire lookout positions almost as soon as the job was established.

Women Who Shaped History

Female Fire Lookouts Have Been Saving the Wilderness for Over a Century

Spotting smoke from towers on high peaks could have been deemed ‘man’s work,’ but a few pioneers paved the way for generations of women to do the job

The biodiversity map predicted that amphibians and reptiles have the most undiscovered species to date. Pictured: blue poison dart frog (Dendrobates tinctorius "azureus")

This Map Shows You the Odds of Finding a New Species in Your Neighborhood

The ‘Map of Life’ predicts where undiscovered birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals could be found around the world

The marine sediments that bottom trawlers stir up like underwater rototillers are the largest storehouse of carbon on the planet.

New Research

Seafloor Trawl Fishing May Release as Much Carbon as Air Travel

A new study finds the carbon released when bottom trawlers stir up the seafloor is equal to the emissions of the entire aviation industry

Suffragist Rosalie Barrow Edge founded the world's first refuge for birds of prey.

Planet Positive

How Mrs. Edge Saved the Birds

Meet a forgotten hero of our natural world whose brave campaign to protect birds charted a new course for the environmental movement

The Oyapock river, between Brazil and French Guiana, is one of the few waterways that a new paper identifies as being relatively undamaged by humans.

New Research

One-Third of Freshwater Fish Species Are at Risk of Extinction

Humans have severely damaged more than half of the world’s rivers

Salt marsh fairy circles may bounce back from environmental stresses because of their ability to merge and form a lush ecosystem after oxygen and nutrient depletion.

How Forming ‘Fairy Circles’ May Help Salt Marshes Adapt to Climate Change

The transient rings’ secret to survival may be their ability to shape-shift based on nutrient availability

During fall migration, nearly 40 percent of Anna’s Hummingbirds (Calypte anna) migrate through California’s Central Valley

California’s Central Valley and the Colorado River Delta Are Epicenters for North America’s Migratory Birds

A database called eBird reveals as many as 65 million birds fly through these Western migration zones

To counter a lack of biodiversity in corpse flowers, horticulturalists took inspiration from “studbooks,” a method used by breeders and zoos to prevent inbreeding

To Save the Corpse Flower, Horticulturalists Are Playing the Role of Matchmakers

Genetic diversity is needed to produce viable plants. Scientists are using animal breeding methods to conserve the titan arum

Seen here, conservation canine Betty White sniffs the ground while she trains to search for bumble bee nests.

Meet Ernie and Betty White: Two Conservation Dogs Sniffing Out Invasive Species in Wisconsin

These aren’t the only Labradors using their powerful sense of smell to aid in wildlife preservation efforts

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to an abundance of wildlife such as polar bears and caribou, which the region's Indigenous communities rely on and hold sacred.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Will Not Face Mass Oil Drilling—for Now

Large oil companies skipped out on the auction, but environmentalists say a worrisome precedent has been set

Some 1,280 of these species will lose a quarter or more of their remaining habitat and 350 are projected to lose more than half of the areas they currently call home.

New Research

Agriculture’s Growing Footprint Could Threaten 17,000 Species With Habitat Loss

New research projects 1.3 million square miles of habitat will be converted to croplands by 2050

This year's top ten titles explore the cosmos, fear and cleanliness alongside narratives about owls, fish and eels.

The Ten Best Science Books of 2020

New titles explore the mysterious lives of eels, the science of fear and our connections to the stars

One of the oldest living organisms on Earth is a colony of Neptune grass in this vast meadow of the plant in the Mediterranean Sea.

Planet Positive

Why Seagrass Could Be the Ocean’s Secret Weapon Against Climate Change

A vast, mostly invisible ecosystem crucial to our life on Earth is in trouble, but efforts to save the ‘prairies of the sea’ are finally coming into focus

For "Overboard," artist Andy Yoder created more than 200 Nike Air Jordan sneakers using garbage.

Artist Fashions Nike Air Jordan 5s From Trash

Sculptor Andy Yoder’s latest exhibition is a nod to the Great Shoe Spill of 1990 and the advances in ocean science that came from it

A reintroduced swift fox outfitted with a GPS collar looks out across the shortgrass prairie of the Fort Belknap Reservation in northern Montana. The tribes on the reservation are bringing the species back to Fort Belknap after an absence of more than 50 years.

Tribes Reintroduce Swift Fox to Northern Montana’s Fort Belknap Reservation

After absence of more than 50 years, the pint-sized predator returns to the prairie

Climate change is causing trees, like black spruces, grow fast and die early, which in turn negates the trees' ability to absorb as much CO2 as scientists previously thought.

Trees Are Growing Fast and Dying Young Due to Climate Change

Rapid growth reduces the capacity of forests to absorb and store carbon dioxide

New research suggests painting eyes on cattle behinds can help protect them from predators.

New Research

Painting Eyes on Cow Butts Could Save Cattle and Lion Lives

The four-year study in Botswana found cattle with eye marks painted on their behinds were less likely to be killed by predators

Jenni Cena, pest biologist and trapping supervisor from the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA), checks a trap designed to catch Asian giant hornets on July 29, 2020.

Scientists Capture First Murder Hornet in Washington State

It’s a step in the direction of eliminating the invasive species, experts say

Page 5 of 17