Nature & Wildlife
“This is the most magnificent mammal on our continent. Its story is so complicated and so interesting and moves into every aspect of almost every era of our lives and touches on so many subjects you wouldn’t think it would necessarily touch on,” says filmmaker Ken Burns of our national mammal, Bison bison.
Conservation
On December 28, 1973, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was signed into law. We’ll soon be celebrating the 50th anniversary of this landmark conservation legislation, which has saved hundreds of animals that once wavered on the brink of extinction.
Nature & Wildlife
Africa’s great wildebeest migration and Mexico’s “living mountain” of fluttering butterfly wings are just two of nature’s many amazing and fun phenomena. But, especially appropriate for this time of year, nature holds some scary wonders, as well. One of them is ants who become real-life zombies.
Nature & Wildlife
I’ve always been drawn to what we call “earth colors”—soft browns, olive greens, muted oranges, dusty pinks and corn-husk yellows. Colors have been on my mind because I recently moved to the Pacific Northwest into an older home that needs paint and some new carpeting.
Nature & Wildlife
Cities provide us with many benefits: better educational and employment opportunities, exposure to more diversity and multicultural influences, improved infrastructure and access to public transportation. On the other hand, urbanization and the consequent changes in land use often result in air, land and water pollution; economic inequalities; an increase in health issues; and overcrowding.
Canada & the North
Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—one of the world’s most breathtaking natural wonders and culturally significant areas—received some much-needed support recently. In early September 2023, President Biden canceled the last seven gas and oil leases there.
Conservation
When you walk through a forest, you surround yourself with carbon. Every branch, every leaf, every tendril of unseen root and every inch of trunk contains carbon pulled from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.
Nature & Wildlife
Our national parks protect some of our nation’s most cherished, iconic and native wildlife species, such as the brown bears of Katmai National Park and the bison—America’s national mammal—of Yellowstone National Park. But, according to some, there’s a dark side to that safety.
Conservation
Scenes of devastation from wildfires have almost become a staple of summer in the past decade. In addition to the physical destruction they cause, wildfires release carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases into the air that contribute to climate change.
Nature & Wildlife
Growing up, you probably learned some version of the following: in the animal kingdom, humans are exceptional and unique. Among the one-of-a-kind qualities that we possess are a higher intelligence than all the other creatures on the planet, the ability to use tools and empathy.
Nature & Wildlife
Feathers, hair and scales. While it might seem that there’s a lot of difference between these natural “coverings” on animals, they have more in common than you’d probably think. Despite their multitude of forms, all three of these vertebrate skin appendages share early developmental processes at the embryonic stage.
Nature & Wildlife
One of the best things about spending time in nature is spotting animals in their natural habitats, seemingly going about their lives as if we weren’t watching. It’s those brief glimpses into the wild that our souls seem to crave.
