Climate Change

Indoor cannabis growing in California.

Growing an Ounce of Pot Indoors Can Emit as Much Carbon as Burning a Full Tank of Gas

In some parts of the United States, the growing cannabis industry is responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions

Sea beans, otherwise known as sea asparagus and pickleweed, belong to the genus Salicornia, marsh plants that thrive in salty soils.

How One Farmer Is Introducing Americans to Sea Beans

In Charleston, South Carolina, Heron Farms is attempting to grow a gangly, salt-tolerant plant in the face of sea level rise

The western monarch butterfly has declined by 99.9 percent since the 1980s, according to the latest population assessment.

Climate Change Lays Waste to Butterflies Across American West

Study documents declines across hundreds of species over recent decades, and finds years featuring warmer, drier autumns are particularly deadly

Wisdom, a 70-year-old Laysan albatross, and one of her chicks from years past.

Oldest Known Wild Bird Hatches Chick at Age 70

Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, was first banded by scientists on a remote North Pacific atoll in 1956

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

The study begins with fossilized kauri trees (pictured) that died over 41,000 years ago.

Did an Ancient Magnetic Field Reversal Cause Chaos for Life on Earth 42,000 Years Ago?

The study links new, detailed data about Earth’s atmosphere to a series of unfortunate events that occurred around the same time

Winter Storm Uri brought below-freezing temperatures and snow to 26 states this week, causing millions of people to lose electricity

How Winter Storm Uri Impacted the United States

The Arctic blast has swept across the Lower 48, bringing record cold temperatures and interruptions to electricity and water services

The museum plans to store some 250,000 of its 620,000 artifacts at a new facility in Liévin.

How the Louvre Is Protecting Its Cultural Treasures Against Extreme Weather

Spurred by flooding linked to climate change, the Paris museum is relocating a third of its collection to a new conservation center

Regenerative farming, which centers on building soil health, is one promising pathway for decreasing agriculture’s carbon footprint.

To Meet Ambitious Emissions Goals, Large Food Companies Are Looking to Lock Carbon in Soil

But the logistics of moving farmers in their supply chains to regenerative agriculture practices can be complicated

A polar bear, dependent on sea ice for its hunting grounds, pauses near Churchill, Manitoba.

Polar Bears Live on the Edge of the Climate Change Crisis

On Hudson Bay's frigid shores, scientists track the animals to better understand how the environment is shaping their chances of survival

A new study analyzes the downy feathers of 249 Himalayan songbird species, including this brown-throated fulvetta, using specimens from the National Museum of Natural History's vast collections.

Himalayan Songbirds Adapted to the Cold by Sporting Thicker Down 'Jackets'

High-elevation birds might use their downy feathers to keep from wasting energy shivering to stay warm

The phenomenon of increasing yearly pollen loads is accelerating.

Climate Change Is Making Allergy Season Worse

New research finds climate change is making allergy season arrive earlier and bring higher pollen loads in North America

A new study suggests cities across the United States may be underreporting their carbon emissions. The study suggests Los Angeles' self-reported emissions could be 50 percent below the metropolis' true carbon footprint.

U.S. Cities Are Underestimating Carbon Emissions, New Research Shows

Forty-eight cities across America have shorted their emissions by nearly 20 percent

A group of perovskite solar cells that have been treated with capsaicin.

Chili Pepper Compound Increases Solar Cell Efficiency

Adding capsaicin, the chemical responsible for making chili peppers spicy, improved the efficiency of solar cells in experiments

The study analyzes thousands of records to understand how many species of bees are spotted by scientists each year.

Thousands of Wild Bee Species Haven't Been Seen Since 1990

Between 2006 and 2015, researchers worldwide observed 25 percent fewer bee species than they had before 1990

This month's picks include The Ravine, Four Lost Cities and The Three Mothers.

Civil Rights Icons' Mothers, Lost Ancient Cities and Other New Books to Read

These February releases elevate overlooked stories and offer insights on oft-discussed topics

The tasty fungi are naturally found deep within the roots of various trees, like oaks, hazels, spruces, and pines, because of the two organisms share a symbiotic relationship.

In Central Europe, Climate Change Could Boost Truffle Cultivation by 2050

Fancy fungi grown in the Czech Republic may benefit from global warming

A stream of meltwater cuts through the Greenland ice sheet.

Earth Loses 1.2 Trillion Tons of Ice Per Year, a Nearly 60% Increase From 1994

A pair of studies paint a worrying picture of accelerating ice loss around the world, with serious consequences for projections of sea level rise

Three adult gray whales photographed via drone in 2017, 2018 and 2019 in Laguna San Ignacio off the coast of Mexico. The three shots show increasingly skinny whales, a bad sign for an animal that needs to make a 10,000-mile return trip to reach its feeding grounds.

Nearly 400 Gray Whales Have Died Off the West Coast Since 2019

Scientists say the die-off, which is entering its third year, is likely due to a scarcity of food in the animals’ cold water feeding grounds

These walrus ivory carvings were collected in the mid-1880s. They were featured in a catalogue for the exhibition "Looking Both Ways: Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People" at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in 2003.

How Arctic Anthropologists Are Expanding Narratives About the North

Studying past Arctic cultures and working with today's northern communities to address present-day socioeconomic and environmental challenges

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