Stretching from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico, a massive bloom of sargassum seaweed is swamping beaches and killing coastal wildlife. But scientists have discovered the floating algae also shelters a vast array of ocean creatures, and some are now calling for its protection.
-
Oceans
A Surge of Marine Heat Waves Threatens to Scramble Ocean Life
Fueled by climate change and a strengthening El Niño, record-setting marine heat waves are gripping oceans worldwide and playing havoc with sea life. Mounting evidence from recent events suggests the damage could be severe and long-lasting, both onshore and off.
-
Policy
A Hard-Won Rule to Cut Chemical Plant Pollution Is Being Unraveled
In 2024, the Biden administration enacted wide-ranging regulations to protect communities near petrochemical plants from air toxics. The Trump administration has since granted exemptions to scores of polluting facilities and is working to rewrite the long-awaited rule.
-
E360 FILM CONTEST WINNER
Filipino Cacao Growers Learn to Live With a Hotter Climate
In “Chocolates Melting Away” — the First-Place Winner of the 2026 Yale Environment 360 Film Contest — Breech Asher Harani explores how cacao growers in the Philippines are developing new techniques to protect their crops from increasingly turbulent weather.
E360 FILM CONTEST
A Bicycle Journey Across Brazil to Find a Vanishing Savanna
In “Here There Was Cerrado” — the Second-Place Winner of the 2026 Yale Environment 360 Film Contest — Natascha Otoya shows how industrial farms are plowing up the Brazilian savanna, changing the flow of water, and skewing human memory of the landscape.
E360 Digest
-
Chinese Industry Is Starting to Wean Off Fossil Fuels
By several measures, Chinese industry is moving away from fossil fuels, according to a new analysis. More about Chinese Industry Is Starting to Wean Off Fossil Fuels →
-
Nearly Half of Farmers Globally Poisoned by Pesticides Each Year
Almost half of the world’s farmers are poisoned by pesticides every single year, a study has found. More about Nearly Half of Farmers Globally Poisoned by Pesticides Each Year →
-
Satellite Images of Penguin Droppings Reveal Impact of Antarctic Warming
Penguin colonies are so large that their masses of excrement can be seen from space, offering scientists a useful means of studying the Antarctic birds. An analysis of 30 years of satellite images of penguin guano shows how the birds' diets are shifting in response to warming. More about Satellite Images of Penguin Droppings Reveal Impact of Antarctic Warming →
Never miss an article. Subscribe to the E360 Newsletter for weekly updates delivered to your inbox. Sign Up.
OPINION
For America’s Rarest Wildlife, Survival May Hinge on a Single Word
For 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has defined "harm" as not just injury to individuals but to the habitat on which they depend. By narrowing that definition, the Trump administration is leaving hundreds of species at risk of extinction.
-
E360 Film Contest
Who Gets to Decide the Fate of a Pristine Alaskan Rainforest?
In "Land Less" — the Third-Place Winner of the 2026 Yale Environment 360 Film Contest — filmmaker Alexi Liotti follows the activists fighting a bill that would transfer thousands of acres of Alaskan rainforest to five Native corporations, opening the land to logging.
-
Biodiversity
‘Wastelands’ No More: India Charts a Future for Its Grasslands
Since the colonial era, India has regarded its native scrublands and savannas as little more than degraded forest. Now, amid a growing recognition of rangelands globally, officials are working to map the nation's ailing grasslands, with a view to restoring these vital ecosystems.
-
Climate
After Decades of Drought, Water Is Rising in the African Sahel
Warming has brought extreme rain to the parched Sahel, which is seeing aquifers refill as monsoons grow stronger. But heavier downpours alone cannot explain the groundwater revival, say hydrologists, who believe efforts to harvest rainfall may also be paying dividends.
