How can dried plant specimens protect a rainforest? In myriad ways. Kept in collections known as herbariums, they store critical data on the physical characteristics, or morphology, of plants, as…
When James Sheppard set out to deploy tiny backpacks fitted with satellite transmitters to track endangered thick-billed parrots in 2019, doubts abounded. His colleagues were concerned it wasn’t going to…
Across the globe, no other human activity currently affects the survival of wildlife species more than where we choose to grow our food. Alongside other impacts like hunting and climate…
Say you want to see how the world is faring when it comes to biodiversity and ecosystem protection. Is it progressing fast enough? Are we on track to meet the…
The Bangladeshi government’s forest department recently added surveillance drones to their arsenal of conservation tools. Wildlife inspectors started using this technology to prepare a dragnet around a poaching hotspot with…
Next-generation geothermal technologies are gaining steam as a source of clean, renewable energy and an alternative to fossil fuels. With demonstration projects across the globe now showing strong potential, enhanced…
Over the course of his career, Peter Houlihan has hauled light traps across dense jungles to study insects, even climbing up trees to string them up in the canopy. Earlier…
Satellite data have long told us where forests are and how they’re faring. Lidar, laser-based radar mounted on planes or satellites like the International Space Station, has helped us map…
Where are mangrove restoration projects taking place? How many of them are successful? If they’ve failed, what happened? Finding answers to these questions isn’t easy. But those answers are critical…
Imagine you purchased a swanky new chair. The paperwork claims the piece of furniture was made from legally sourced wood. But how can you be sure? After all, global supply…
The task at hand was nothing short of grueling. In the depths of the Amazon Rainforest earlier this year, it was a mad scramble as six teams deployed cutting-edge technology…
For many years, the North Atlantic Ocean warmed more slowly than other parts of the world. In 2023, that changed — dramatically. Over the last year and a half, North…
Zoe Jewell was working in Zimbabwe in the 1990s when a harsh reality dawned on her. The female black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) she was helping monitor were suffering from a…
It sounds like a simple solution: Spread some crushed silicate rock atop the world’s vast agricultural lands to absorb atmospheric carbon and thereby tackle climate change at a large scale.…
Marcos Terán has worked in and around the Matos River in Bolivia for years, collecting data and collaborating with local communities as part of his organization’s conservation initiatives. Designated a…
As Esri nears its 60th anniversary, Jack Dangermond exemplifies how geographic information systems (GIS) have grown from a specialized field into a critical tool for modern planning, environmental management, and…
Scientists have long surmised that birds migrate during winters to save energy. The reasoning has been pretty obvious: far away from the biting cold, birds would need to expend less…
It started as a simple spreadsheet that documented locations where researchers were recording sound to monitor biodiversity. Three years on, the Worldwide Soundscapes project is a global database on when,…
A controversial experiment to field-test a way to quickly sequester more carbon in the world’s oceans has been pushed back until 2025, according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).…
The Airbus Foundation and the Connected Conservation Foundation have announced the third edition of the Satellites for Biodiversity Award, which aims to encourage the use of cutting-edge satellite data to…
The first time Robin Naidoo mapped GPS data points to track elephant movement in Southern Africa, he was in for a surprise. Across the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA), one…
When Manuel Lopes-Lima set out to survey aquatic biodiversity on the Corubal River in 2022, he’d set his expectations very low. The river that straddles the West African nations of…
If long-term field research is like a marathon, then this was the 100-meter sprint. Over the course of 72 hours, participants scrambled to gather biodiversity data, analyze it, and generate…
In the 2020 science-fiction novel The Ministry for the Future, author Kim Stanley Robinson imagines a near-future climate catastrophe in which a deadly heat dome stalls over India, killing millions…
July is the peak of melt season in the Arctic. The sun is high and shines for almost 24 hours a day. Air and water temperatures rise above freezing. Rapid…
Can satellites and blockchain technology solve the woes of the beleaguered carbon market? Although challenges abound, there’s potential ahead, according to a new report. Published as a collaboration between Earth…
Regional deployment of marine cloud brightening off the U.S. West Coast would be far less effective in the warmer world of 2050, and if implemented, could unleash higher temperatures in…
When Anna Wåhlin and her colleagues deployed a submersible vehicle to go under the ice in Antarctica, they meant for it to serve as a proof of concept for the…
Ahead of hosting 2025’s COP30 climate summit, Belém is betting on the development of products such as honey-based spirits, digital glasses from local wood and jambu-infused medicine at a local tech park.
As climate change rapidly advances, with 2023 and 2024 vying for the hottest year on record, solar radiation modification (SRM) geoengineering strategies are gaining momentum as short-term climate fixes. These…
AMAZONAS, Brazil: Two researchers wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants to resist mosquitos, and high boots to block snake bites, gaze at a shattered tree. It lies on the ground garlanded…
This is Part Two of a two-part story. Find Part One here. In April, researchers from the University of Washington sprayed sea salt particles into the air off the California…
