Environment

North America’s Trees Create Some of the World's Hottest Forest Fires

What makes certain forest fires especially destructive?

Faced with the only high-cost options, Smithsonian researcher Whitman Miller began building his own portable, inexpensive monitoring stations.

Saving Money is Great, but Saving the Chesapeake Bay Will Be Even Better

Whitman Miller's “off the shelf” technology may answer complicated questions about rising CO2 and ocean acidification

The World Hit "Peak Chicken" in 2006

The popular poultry is just one of many key food resources that hit peak production between 5 and 30 years ago

Small town travel, the Monuments Men, Chernobyl and Stonehenge were all among reader favorites in 2014

Our Top Stories of 2014

From weird red waterfalls to the pleasures of small-town America, these were the most read articles on Smithsonian.com this year

For years now, the U.S. Navy has been looking for a way to fuel fighter jets aboard aircraft carriers out in the open ocean without having to rely on refueling ships.

Fuel from Seawater? What's the Catch?

Scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory recently flew a model plane using a liquid hydrocarbon fuel they sourced from the ocean

Call it eco-friendly synergy: Scientists have found a cheaper, greener way to make biodegradable plastic from a common waste product of biodiesel production. (Photo: Bo Cheng / ETH Zurich)

Swiss Researchers Create Eco-Friendly Plastic From Biofuel Waste

A new method for making biodegradable plastic could mean more free farmland for food

A bleached coral reef

Listen to the Sounds of a Dying Coral Reef

Healthy coral reefs produce a medley of sounds that ocean creatures use as homing beacons

A new, zero-power screening method might make testing for lead and other pollutants easier than ever.

Drop This Capsule Into a Stream and It Will Screen For Pollution

Researchers have developed a sensor (no batteries required) that creates a barcode indicating the amount of pollutants and their whereabouts in water

Why Charging for Plastic Bags Makes People Give Them Up

It's all about setting up psychological tripping blocks

Living in Tough Environments Makes People More Prone to Belief in God

People living in harsh natural environments are more likely to believe in a tough, moralizing god

The nonprofit SkyTruth enlisted more than 200 volunteers to scan aerial imagery and pinpoint the locations of fracking wastewater ponds in Pennsylvania.

Tracking Frackers From the Sky

Citizen scientists eyeing Pennsylvania's natural gas drillers in aerial images may help determine if there is a link between fracking and certain illnesses

Located on the Rhode River of the Chesapeake bay, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center's new laboratory building emits 37 percent less CO2 and cuts energy costs by 42 percent.

A New Environmental Science Lab Now Walks the Walk, Cutting Its Overall Emissions by 37 Percent

With geothermal heating, on-site water reclamation and a host of other energy saving technologies, the Smithsonian's first LEED-Platinum building opens

Deforestation in Brazil

The Amazon Rainforest Disappeared Way More Quickly This Year

Widespread deforestation is even worse than you think

Prozac Doesn't Make Birds Happy

Birds on Prozac lose their appetite and libido

Wind Power is Actually Cheaper Than Coal, Nuclear and Gas

Once you consider the downstream consequences, coal becomes a lot more expensive

For the time being, at least, the lands near the Grand Canyon will not be converted into something resembling this uranium mine in New Mexico.

The Grand Canyon Will Not Be Mined for Uranium

Uranium mining will be banned for the next 20 years on nearly 1 million acres of land near the Grand Canyon

Sealskin clothing, shown here on Aaju Peter, is waterproof, durable, and warm.

To Survive Climate Change, We Should Be More Like the Eskimos

Arctic Studies Center director Bill Fitzhugh says that studying northern cultures can help people adapt to climate change

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (L) with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (R) on June 9, 2014

Canada and Australia Don’t Want To Play Along With U.N. Climate Summit

Political leaders from Canada and Australia, along with a few others, are skipping the U.N. climate summit today

New Study: Blame Defective Wells for Fracking Leaks

Fixing shoddy wells could mean making fracking safer for the environment

People take pictures of water gushing from the reservoir of China’s Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydropower station in the world.

Seven Unexpected Ways We Can Get Energy From Water

It’s not all about giant dams—H2O is a surprisingly common and versatile tool for meeting the world’s energy needs

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