Floating wetlands along the Chicago River's Wild Mile.

Solutions

How Floating Wetlands Are Helping to Clean Up Urban Waters

As cities around the world look to rid their waterways of remaining pollution, researchers are installing artificial islands brimming with grasses and sedges. The islands’ surfaces attract wildlife, while the underwater plant roots absorb contaminants and support aquatic life.

By Susan Cosier

Energy

As Evidence Mounts, New Concerns About Fracking and Health

Two decades after the advent of fracking, a growing number of studies are pointing to a link between gas wells and health problems, particularly among children and the elderly. Researchers are now calling for new regulations restricting where wells can be located.

By Jon Hurdle
Biodiversity

Fenced In: How the Global Rise of Border Walls Is Stifling Wildlife

Amid a rising tide of nationalism, walls and fortified fences are proliferating around the world. These barriers pose a growing threat to wildlife — blocking animal migrations and threatening millions of species that will need to move to keep up with a changing climate.

By Fred Pearce
ANALYSIS

With Lula Back, Can Brazil Turn the Tide on Amazon Destruction?

With his return as Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is promising to reverse the alarming rate of deforestation in the Amazon. But as he heads to key UN climate talks, his ambitious plans to achieve “zero deforestation” will need to find international support.

By Jonathan Watts

Laurier University scientist William Quinton and a group of Indigenous Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ walk through a bog near the Scotty Creek Research Station in the Northwest Territories.

INDIGENOUS LANDS

Native Guardians: Canada’s First Nations Move to Protect Their Lands

Faced with mounting impacts from warming and a push for resource development, Indigenous communities in northern Canada are setting aside vast areas for protection. They are also partnering with scientists on research that can help conserve their lands and their way of life.

By Ed Struzik

E360 Digest

Digest Archive →

Lakes Growing Globally as Ice Melts and Reservoirs Expand

Over the last four decades, the area covered by lakes globally has grown by close to 18,000 square miles, an expanse nearly twice the size of Lake Erie. More about Lakes Growing Globally as Ice Melts and Reservoirs Expand →
Covid Lockdowns Helped Fuel a Methane Surge, Study Finds

When pandemic-related lockdowns grounded planes and brought car traffic to a near standstill in early 2020, transport emissions plummeted, leading to a drop in levels of a short-lived gas that scrubs methane from the atmosphere. The slump in travel helped fuel a spike in methane, a new study finds.
More about Covid Lockdowns Helped Fuel a Methane Surge, Study Finds →
Hawaii's Coral Reefs Get $2 Million Insurance Policy

U.S.-based conservation group the Nature Conservancy has taken out a $2 million insurance policy for Hawaii's coral reefs. It is the first policy to cover a natural structure in the U.S., according to the group. More about Hawaii's Coral Reefs Get $2 Million Insurance Policy →

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A critically endangered Guam rail. The species was relocated to boost its odds of survival.

Biodiversity

Last Resort: Moving Endangered Species in Order to Save Them

Scientists have long warned that climate change and other threats will require relocating some endangered species outside their historic ranges. Now, U.S. officials are proposing rules that would enable them to use this new — and potentially controversial — conservation tool.

By Zach St. George

INTERVIEW

How Digital Technology Is Helping Decode the Sounds of Nature

Digital technology is enabling scientists to detect and interpret the sounds of species as diverse as honey bees, peacocks, and elephants. In an e360 interview, geographer Karen Bakker discusses the surprising and complex ways that animals and plants use sound to communicate.

By Nicola Jones
INTERVIEW

Unraveling the Causes of the Pandemic, and Preparing for the Next

David Quammen was one of the first science writers to report on the spillover of viruses from wildlife to humans. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, he talks about what scientists now know – and don’t know – about what caused the Covid-19 pandemic and why it matters.

By Nicola Jones
Cities

The Clean Water Act at 50: Big Successes, More to Be Done

Sparked by the 1970s environmental movement, the Clean Water Act — which marks its 50^th anniversary this month — transformed America’s polluted rivers. The Delaware, once an industrial cesspool, is one of the success stories, but its urban stretches remain a work in progress.

By Andrew S. Lewis