Oceans heating up for over 100 years
Line plot of global mean land-ocean temperature index, 1880 to present, with the base period 1951-1980. The black line is the annual mean and the red line is the five-year…
Humans drove rainforest into savannah in ancient Africa
The Congo rainforest today in Gabon. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Three thousand years ago (around 1000 BCE) several large sections of the Congo rainforest in central Africa suddenly vanished…
Prehistoric Peruvians enjoyed popcorn
Researchers have uncovered corncobs dating back at least 3,000 years ago in two ancient mound sites in Peru according to a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of…
Will Taiwan save its last pristine coastline?
The Alangyi coastline. Photo by: Pierre Fidenci. Voters in the January 14 Taiwanese presidential election will decide the fate of the island’s last pristine wilderness known as the Alangyi Trail.…
Evidence mounts that Maya did themselves in through deforestation
The Maya city of Tulum. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Researchers have garnered further evidence for a smoking gun behind the fall of the great Maya civilization: deforestation. At the…
Scientists confirm ancient Egyptian knowledge: Nile crocodile is two species
Nile crocodile in Madagascar. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. DNA has shown that the Nile crocodile is in fact two very different species: a bigger, more aggressive crocodile and a…
Climate change may fuel increase in warfare, finds study
Nature study finds Wars twice as likely during hot, dry years Armed men on the island of New Guinea, which has seen its fair share of civil conflict. Photo by:…
Into Colombia’s Sierra Nevada
A birders' paradise with a violent past. A motmot in Colombia's Sierra Nevada. Photo by: Miguel Hernandez . The highest coastal mountain on the planet rises 18,942 feet (5,775-meters) above…
Selling the Forests that Saved Britain
Glenn Hurowitz is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC. You can join the campaign to protect England’s forests through the impressive Save Our Woods…
How Genghis Khan cooled the planet
In 1206 AD Genghis Khan began the Mongol invasion: a horse-crazed bow-wielding military force that swept through much of modern-day Asia into the Middle East and Eastern Europe. But aside…
History repeats itself: the path to extinction is still paved with greed and waste
As a child I read about the near-extinction of the American bison. Once the dominant species on America's Great Plains, I remember books illustrating how train-travelers would set their guns…
Well-known climate change denialist labels activists in Copenhagen ‘Hitler Youth’
Prominent climate change denialist and past advisor to Margaret Thatcher, Viscount Christopher Monckton, has persisted in labeling protestors in Copenhagen 'Hitler Youth' despite little historical connection. The initial exchange between…
Destructive farming practices of early civilization may have altered climate long before industrial era
Da Vinci’s lion comes back to life
In 1515 Leonardo Da Vinci, artist and engineer, invented a mechanical lion that was given as a gift to Francois I, then King of France. The original was lost, but…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- ‘Weird’ police probe rules Indonesian activist died in drink-driving crash
- Suspicions of murder in death of Indonesian environmental activist
- Oil palm, cattle and coca take a toll on Colombia’s indigenous Jiw
Indonesias forest guardians
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
Amazon infrastructure
- Yanomami Amazon reserve invaded by 20,000 miners; Bolsonaro fails to act
- Amazon infrastructure puts 68% of indigenous lands / protected areas at risk: report
- Amazon fish kill at Sinop spotlights risk from 80+ Tapajós basin dams
Asian rhinos
- Malaysian attempt at Sumatran rhino IVF fails on low quality of sperm
- At India’s Assam Zoo, decades of experience lead to rhino-breeding success
- For India’s flood-hit rhinos, refuge depends increasingly on humans
