Magazine

Patrick Gonzalez, University of California, Berkeley Human-caused climate change is disrupting ecosystems and people’s lives around the world. It is melting glaciers, increasing wildfires, and shifting vegetation across vast landscapes. These impacts have reached national parks around the world and in the United States. Until now, however, no analysis had examined climate change trends across […]

William Moomaw, Tufts University; Gillian Davies, Tufts University, and Max Finlayson, Charles Sturt University “Drain the swamp” has long meant getting rid of something distasteful. Actually, the world needs more swamps – and bogs, fens, marshes and other types of wetlands. These are some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. They also

Sarah Kurtz, University of California, Merced California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a new law mandating that the electricity the state consumes not cause carbon emissions by 2045. He also issued an executive order that goes even further: It commits California to “achieve carbon neutrality” across the board and not just for power generation by

Anthony F. Arrigo, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Los Angeles is looking into whether it should spend an estimated US$3 billion on a massive, 20-mile underground pumped hydropower storage system that would be connected to the iconic Hoover Dam on the Colorado River outside of Las Vegas. If it does get built, this system would essentially

Derek E. Lee, Pennsylvania State University Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is blaming this summer’s large-scale wildfires on environmentalists, who he contends oppose “active management” in forests. But the idea that wildfires should be suppressed by logging the forest is far too simplistic. Most scientists agree that large hot wildfires produce many benefits for North American

David R. Montgomery, University of Washington One of the biggest modern myths about agriculture is that organic farming is inherently sustainable. It can be, but it isn’t necessarily. After all, soil erosion from chemical-free tilled fields undermined the Roman Empire and other ancient societies around the world. Other agricultural myths hinder recognizing the potential to

Danny Ducat, Michigan State University With news that companies like Starbucks, Hyatt and Marriott have agreed to ban plastic straws, it’s a fitting time to consider the role of plastic in our daily lives. Plastics are an often overlooked modern wonder – cheap and multipurpose substances that can be fashioned into myriad products. Drinking straws

Kevin Trenberth, National Center for Atmospheric Research Once again, the summer of 2018 in the Northern Hemisphere has brought us an epidemic of major wildfires. These burn forests, houses and other structures, displace thousands of people and animals, and cause major disruptions in people’s lives. The huge burden of simply firefighting has become a year-round

Lucas Davis, University of California, Berkeley Americans have now purchased more than 800,000 electric vehicles, counting both plug-in hybrids and all-electric models. That may sound like a lot of EVs, and it is a big jump from the less than 5,000 that were on the road in 2010. But this is still less than 1

Cassandra Moseley, University of Oregon Just six months after the devastating Thomas Fire – the largest blaze in California’s history – was fully contained, the 2018 fire season is well under way. As of mid-July, large wildfires had already burned over 1 million acres in a dozen states. Through October, the National Interagency Fire Center