Across the western United States, wildfires are increasing in size and intensity. As the climate continues to warm, more extreme wildfires will reshape landscapes and pose a growing risk to human health and natural ecosystems throughout the West.
A potentially powerful El Niño could take shape later this year. While its effects are often felt dramatically across parts of the United States and around the globe, experts say the picture for Southern Appalachia is more nuanced.
Intensive agriculture poses a significant threat to global biodiversity. However, one aspect of biodiversity in farmland is little studied: algae. Most people have seen algae growing in streams, lakes or the sea. However, algae have also adapted to survive in drier, harsher conditions on land. In fact, soil algae are thought to be responsible for about 6% of the vegetation production on Earth.
Homes are being abandoned as climate change accelerates migration out of rural Bhutan, new research shows. The mountain kingdom is the world's first carbon-negative country—through exporting zero-carbon hydropower energy. But it is disproportionately affected by climate change, including rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns and glaciers retreating.
More than 900 million tonnes of materials, 4 million km2 of land, and 53 billion hours of labor. This is the scale of resources that the Global North net appropriated from Latin America through international trade in 2020 alone, according to a new study by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) which analyzes ecologically unequal exchange and economic dependency.
Playing a virtual reality game in which the player takes on the role of the zombie fungus Ophiocordyceps increases the players' understanding of how evolution works. Last summer, Utrecht University zombie ant researchers William Beckerson, Maite Goebbels and Charissa de Bekker invited visitors to the University Museum Utrecht to play the virtual reality game Zombie Ants VR: Definitive Edition. Comparisons between questionnaires completed before and after the game suggest that playing the game made the players more aware of how natural selection operates.
Mobile apps that allow people to share their location with others have become increasingly popular. But how and why do we use these apps, and what are the implications for interpersonal communication? That's the topic of a study appearing in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, led by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Can you imagine feeling good about your body being home to trillions of bacteria and viruses—as well as life-giving "invisible friend" microbes in the air, soil and water? Before you say yuck, this concept is a new way microbiologists are encouraging people to think about their place in the world—and the important ties between a healthy mind and body and the natural world.
Artificial intelligence (AI) companies influence policy and regulation using similar techniques to Big Tobacco, Big Pharma and Big Oil, according to a new study.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker has proposed a US$1 fee on all Uber, Lyft and other rideshare trips in the city to begin in 2027. The projected $48 million annual revenue would go entirely to support the chronically underfunded Philadelphia school district, which faces a $300 million budget deficit.
