How Agroforestry Could Help Revitalize America’s Corn Belt
Drive through rural Minnesota in high summer and you’ll take in a view that dominates nearly the entire U.S. Midwest: an emerald sea of ripening corn and soybeans. But on…
Climate
Greening Concrete: A Major Emitter Inches Toward Carbon Neutrality
Bernd Soboll’s favorite spot at his workplace — a cement plant 30 miles north of Hamburg — is an open-air platform almost 300 feet high. From here, the construction manager…
In North Macedonia, an Ancient Lake Faces Modern Threats
On a spring morning, the oldest freshwater lake in Europe lies flat and calm, its wide surface shining. Distant mountains rise in gauzy shades of rose and purple, while water…
The Race to Save Glacial Ice Records Before They Melt Away
When Margit Schwikowski helicoptered up to Switzerland’s Corbassière glacier in 2020, it was clear that things weren’t right. “It was very warm. I mean, we were at 4,100 meters and…
As World’s Springs Vanish, Ripple Effects Alter Ecosystems
Strong winds sweep over the Rhön, a vast region of rolling, forested hills and pastureland in central Germany. Undeterred, Stefan Zaenker, leading a group of four volunteers, runs through his…
In a Major Reversal, the World Bank Is Backing Mega Dams
After a decade of declining to finance large hydroelectric dams, the World Bank is getting back into the business in a big way. Throughout the last half of the 20th…
A Key Court Ruling Could Weaken U.S. Environmental Protections
ANALYSIS The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on whether to overturn the Chevron doctrine, a landmark precedent that has stood for 40 years. Scrapping the doctrine could…
With CO2 Levels Rising, World’s Drylands Are Turning Green
Southeast Australia has been getting hotter and drier. Droughts have lengthened, and temperatures regularly soar above 95 degrees F (35 degrees C). Bush fires abound. But somehow, its woodlands keep…
Researchers Parse the Future of Plankton in an Ever-Warmer World
Across the world’s oceans, an invisible army of tiny organisms has a supersized impact on the planet. Plankton are at the base of the ocean food chain, feeding fish that…
How an El Niño-Driven Drought Brought Hunger to Southern Africa
Esnart Chongani boils five small pumpkins over firewood outside her home in Makoka, a village in Zambia’s Chongwe District, not far from the capital, Lusaka. She tests to make sure…