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
On November 5, 2023, daylight saving time (DST) will end and standard time will once again reign. While recently there have been many attempts to do away with Americans’ “springing forward” and “falling back” each year, it looks like we’ll be continuing with the practice for some time to come.
Conservation
“Paper or plastic?” asks the grocery store clerk. For me, that question is never easy. I tend to choose paper when it comes to grocery bags or drinking cups and straws, but I’m finding out that my choices aren’t always the most eco-friendly.
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
Plastics are the most prevalent type of marine debris found in the Great Lakes and in the oceans. Plastic pollution pieces come in all shapes and sizes, but those that are less than 0.2 inches (or five millimeters) in length—about the size of a sesame seed—are called “microplastics.”
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.
News & More
Quiet, small-but-deep Crawford Lake in Canada’s Niagara Escarpment in Ontario may soon become the symbolic starting point for a radical new chapter in Earth’s official history: the Anthropocene, or the Age of Humans.
