Forests hold extraordinary potential to check climate change, if they’re kept standing and allowed to siphon off planet-warming carbon. But sorting out how big that role can be – and…
The 2015-16 El Niño had a record-breaking impact on the Amazon rainforest, with the region experiencing new extremes of heat and drought, a recent study found. Weather conditions such as…
Sometimes for a scientist, the disconnected pieces of years of research come together in a single, “really awesome” point in time. For ecologist Greg Asner, where it happened was about…
Once again, the planet set a record in 2016 for the warmest year yet since we started keeping track of global temperatures in 1880. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration…
Few places on Earth escape the reach of humankind, and those areas are dwindling, according to a new study. Between 2000 and 2013, the world lost a Venezuela-sized expanse of…
Scientists and conservationists worry about the cascade of detriment that results from slicing up blocks of forest, especially as the amount of intact forest dwindles globally. But recent research published…
New research has confirmed the results of a 2015 study led by scientists at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that showed there has been no “pause” in…
Water and air temperatures and shifts in wind patterns conspired to hold down sea ice extent, setting record lows for the month of November in both the Arctic and the…
Protecting one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet in the Congo Basin is no easy task. Nor is looking after the 25 billion tons of carbon, 10,000 plant and…
Bats have seemingly always had a troubled relationship with wind farms. Giant whirling turbines scuttle their sensitive hearing and sonar, bringing down huge numbers in a way that only a…
Most of the attention paid to oil palm in Southeast Asia centers on big plantations set up by big companies, and it’s almost uniformly bad for the environment. But less…
This is the final installment of an in-depth, four-part series exploring threats facing the Mekong Delta and how they might be addressed. Read the first, second and third installments. "I think…
On this episode of the Newscast, Mongabay’s Indonesia-based editor Phil Jacobson makes an in-studio appearance to talk about a new series launched this week focusing on the Mekong Delta. No…
This is the first article of an in-depth, four-part series exploring threats facing the Mekong Delta and how they might be addressed. Read the second, third and fourth installments. t's a sad…
According to data released on Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), July 2016 was the hottest July on record. It followed the hottest June on record and…
he Paris Agreement marked the biggest political milestone to combat climate change since scientists first introduced us in the late 1980s to perhaps humanity’s greatest existential crisis. Last December, 178…
Clear-cut rainforests and homeless orangutans make for powerful images, but it's what you don't see — hidden just below the surface — that may be the most sinister threat from…
Following record-breaking high global temperatures, both Arctic Ocean sea ice and Greenland’s massive ice sheet have responded with dramatic early seasonal melting. These conditions are likely to increase overall ice…
Sea level rise severely threatens small islands across the globe. But now, these islands have another cause for worry -- reduced freshwater access and increasing aridity due to climate change.…
The current global coral bleaching event began in the Pacific Ocean in the middle of 2014. By October 2015, as the current El Niño event was just beginning to gain…
