Nature & Wildlife
Highly social and very vocal, African penguins are native to the waters of South Africa. But these endangered birds are now struggling to survive the human impacts and the unfolding climate crisis of the Anthropocene. However, their climate story goes back much further than our modern epoch.
Conservation
Our national parks aren’t only “America’s best idea,” as environmentalist and nature writer Wallace Stegner called them. These special places are the backbone of national conservation programs.
Conservation
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, don’t offer just a safer way for wildlife biologists to observe their subjects; they’re often less costly, more efficient and more precise than traditional approaches. While researchers are still navigating the challenges and complexities of mixing wildlife and drones, the technology holds incredible potential.
Conservation
On the last Friday in April, we will mark the annual National Arbor Day. This year, that date is April 28. Much like Earth Day, Arbor Day celebrates nature. Its main purpose is to encourage people to plant trees. Some communities also take this opportunity to organize litter-collecting events.
Conservation
I like to think that Earth Day and I have a personal relationship. I remember participating in the first one as a demonstrator on April 22, 1970. At that time, there was no Clean Air Act, no Clean Water Act and no Environmental Protection Agency.
Conservation
It was in 1999, I think, when I went to a writers’ convention and participated as a panelist for a discussion on environmental-and-nature writing. One of the questions from a member of the audience directed to all of us on the dais was: “What keeps you up at night?”
Conservation
Although you may never have heard of it, spirulina is among the world’s most popular alternative-protein foods. This nutrient-filled and antioxidant-rich blue-green alga is highly sustainable, risk resilient, and grows in both freshwater and saltwater.
Conservation
Teaching our children to care for the Earth and its many natural habitats is probably the best investment in the future that we could ever make.
Nature & Wildlife
Known for their long, black ear tufts and ability to hunt ghostlike across the surface of deep snow, Canada lynx are the elusive, midsize cats (hardly bigger than a large house cat) that feed almost exclusively on snowshoe hares.
Conservation
Although sometimes heart-wrenching to discover on our nature outings, the animal carcasses that we may come across play an important role in the functioning of healthy ecosystems. The animal remains not only provide food for many carrion-eating species, their nutrients also contribute to the significantly increased growth of surrounding plants.
Alaska
Travel is back. And it’s back in a big way. Following the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, flying is rebounding. But road trips remain one of the most popular forms of traveling in this postpandemic world.
African Safaris
Why zebras have stripes has been a matter for scientific debate for decades. A lot of theories have been put forth, such as they’ve evolved for camouflage, to confuse the vision of biting flies, to bewilder predators with “motion dazzle” or that they’re a means of identification among zebras themselves.
