Videos
There are reams of scientific studies on the rapid climate change we are now experiencing, all showing us why we need to act now if we want to avoid environmental disaster. Yet, it seems, we still fail to see the urgency.
Conservation
Which was the hottest month on record? Would it surprise you to know that—dating back to January 1880—it was July 2015? September 2015 was the warmest of all previous Septembers on record, and 2015 is likely to beat 2014 as the hottest year we’ve ever documented.
News & More
Warming ocean temperatures are diminishing the number of polar bears, causing a loss of Arctic sea ice and breaking up the East Antarctica ice sheet.
News & More
I think Britain’s Prince Charles may be on to something. A longtime environmentalist, the heir to the British throne stated on November 23, 2015—just a week before the climate change conference in Paris—that the world’s failure to tackle climate change is a root cause of Syria’s civil war.
News & More
Before the terrorist attacks that left more than 125 people dead and hundreds wounded in Paris on Friday, November 13, 2015, the city was set to host the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, starting on November 30, 2015.
Conservation
Ursus maritimus (the polar bear) is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species—one step away from the list’s official Endangered designation. Make no doubt about it, Frosty the Snowman is melting, and along with him, so is the sea ice that the King of the Arctic depends on.
Videos
I admit I may be what some would consider a little too woo-woo, “out there” when it comes to trees. I’ve always had a special affinity for them; I’ve even written whole books about them.
News & More
Witnessing any of nature’s great spectacles—such as the wildebeest migration of Africa, the wintering grounds of millions of monarch butterflies in Mexico or thousands of sea turtles coming ashore from the Pacific Ocean to lay eggs—is usually described by onlookers as nothing short of “awe-inspiring.”
News & More
Most of us see the benefits of the world’s Olympic Games: they are some of the very few times nations come together to showcase their most beautiful landscapes and best athletes. For the hosting cities and countries, the hope is that the events will result in economic gains through tourism, marketing and other means.
Travel Tips
According to Climate Central, an independent organization of scientists and journalists that researches and reports the facts about our changing climate, last year was the hottest in the past 135. Now, as we approach fall 2015, it’s looking like this year just might top that record.
News & More
Citizen science has become an important tool for scientific research. Now, as funds for federal agencies and state natural resources departments around the country shrink, using ordinary folks to gather and record wildlife and environmental observations stretch limited research dollars by getting reams of data for free. NASA relies on amateur astronomers for asteroid observations.
Travel Tales
Some have always been drawn to the mountains, while others are called to ocean shores. But I constantly feel the pull of forests (I’ve even written a book about them). My particular predilection causes me some mild embarrassment and social discomfort, because what could be more cliché for a baby boomer than being a “tree-hugger”?
