aria Josefa de Oliveira stands in the doorway of her home in the Imbiribeira neighborhood of Recife — a city of 3.7 million in northeast Brazil. The bars on the…
hen Rio de Janeiro won the bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games — set to begin on August 5th — the Brazilian government committed itself to cleaning up…
"The evolution of science [occurs] by means of questions that are made — not by the answers." So said Pedro Vasconcelos in an interview with Mongabay. He is director of…
What have we accomplished since the very first Earth Day? [National Geographic] This week people from all around the world celebrated the 46th Earth Day. An estimated 20 million people…
ver the last four decades, industrial agriculture has been a boon to Southeast Asia, but it also helped destroy more than 30 percent of Borneo’s rainforest — one of the…
Ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior) are the second most abundant trees in Europe. But these commonly-found trees could soon become extinct, a new study warns. Threats from an invasive and “potentially devastating”…
Conditions at wildlife markets in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) could lead to public health “catastrophes”, a new study warns. Poor biosafety standards and high volume of wild animals illegally…
The fatal white-nose syndrome (WNS) that has decimated bat populations across North America has now made its way to western United States. On March 11, a group of hikers discovered a…
The environment you live in could be killing you. Nearly one in every four deaths can be attributed to polluted air or water, climate change, chemical exposures, or other environmental…
For nearly five months now, Liana Azeredo avoids walking the streets of Rio de Janeiro during the day. Even under the intense heat of the city, she also prefers long…
Zika virus is transmitted by a mosquito, Aedes aegypti. Mosquitoes breed in stagnant ponds. One adult Aedes mosquito can lay up to 1,000 eggs during her adult life of less…
Sitting on his verandah in Laikipia, northern Kenya, Dr. Dino Martins, 38, a Kenyan entomologist with experience with malaria, tick fever, liverfluke and other vector-borne diseases, talks about the need…
adagascar is rich in amphibian species. It boasts 500 species of frog, almost all endemic, with more likely undiscovered. That diversity could be in immediate jeopardy due to the chytrid…
Deforestation could be increasing risk of “monkey malaria” in humans in Malaysia, suggests a new study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases. Caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium knowlesi, and transmitted…
In 1996, researchers discovered a deadly cancer in Australia’s Tasmanian Devils. The transmissible cancer jumps from one Tasmanian Devil to another, and is often fatal to the animals. Since its…
A recent study concludes that a new, overwintering population of the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) in the Southern U.S. is the direct result of ideal breeding conditions created by increased…
On September 26, scientists released 19 Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) — immunized against the deadly devil facial tumor disease — into the Narawntapu National Park in northern Tasmania. This is the…
Amphibian experts recommend an immediate ban on salamander imports to the U.S. to prevent the spread of a deadly salamander fungus that is wreaking havoc on European salamanders.
Coral reefs, teeming with life, are home to vibrant fish communities — which makes them extremely attractive places to go fishing. However, fishing in reefs may injure corals, which in…
Saiga perish by the thousands in the Betpak-Dala region of Kazakhstan. Photo by: Sergei Khomenko/FAO. The good news: conservationists believe that whatever killed off over a hundred thousand saiga in…
A male saiga. Photo by: Seilov/Creative Commons 3.0. No one knows what's killing them, but scientists estimate that almost half of the world's saiga (Saiga tatarica) have perished since May…
Frog species used in the study (clockwise from top-right): Scinax hayii, Proceratophrys boiei, Hylodes phyllodes, Brachycephalus pitanga, Hypsiboas bandeirantes. Photo credit: Gui Becker Biodiversity level changes can have consequences for…
Aztec drawing showing smallpox victims after first contact with Europeans in the 16th Century. Estimates vary but many scholar believe disease wiped out around 95 percent of the pre-Columbian population…
Straw-colored fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) at the Zoological Garden Berlin, Germany. This species, along with other fruit bats, is present in the Ebola impacted area and may have been a…
The most important environmental and wildlife stories from the last year Also see our Top 10 HAPPY Environmental Stories of 2014 1. The Year of Zero Deforestation Pledges: In 2014,…
Infant macaque in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Sixty-eight percent of malaria hospitalizations in Malaysia last year were caused by a once-rare strain of the disease traditionally limited…
New chytrid fungus may threaten hundreds of salamander species As if amphibians weren't facing enough—a killer fungal disease, habitat destruction, pollution, and global warming—now scientists say that a second fungal…
An interview with Robin Moore, author of the new book, In Search of Lost Frogs: The Quest to Find the World's Rarest Amphibians The Cuchumatan golden toad (Incilius aurarius) from…
West African country lost 4.4 percent of forests in 12 years, new incentives may help stymie future destruction Liberia is one of the last strongholds of intact forest in West…
This is the second part of series examining the impact of forest loss on Siberian tigers. Part I discussed overall forest loss in the region and its major drivers. The…