The Hidden Galapagos

The Archipelago’s Most Fascinating Spots Are the Ones Humans Can’t Visit

If you are fortunate enough to visit, the Galapagos is the sort of place that stays with you forever. In the 10 years since I first went there, I have written two books about these islands and hardly a day has gone by when I haven’t thought about them. I still visit them often in my imagination. But where do I go?

In the Galapagos, there are around 70 dedicated sites accessible to visitors, neat trails that weave through this extraordinary landscape. I have been to some of them, but the …

by Henry Nicholls | December 20, 2014

Humans May Be Just What the Earth Needs

We’re a Destructive Species, But We’re Also the Only Species with the Power to Reverse Climate Change

by David Waltham | November 23, 2014

After millions of years of gloriously successful life on Earth, a dangerous new organism arose and spread rapidly across the planet. With unprecedented efficiency this revolutionary life-form pumped noxious fumes …

The Lost Savannas of Arizona

Until about 100 Years Ago, Grasses Up to 2 Feet High Blanketed Swaths of the Sonoran Desert

by David E. Brown | November 15, 2014

In the Santa Cruz Flats in southern Arizona, the beige of sandy plains, dunes, and clay-filled basins alternate with green swaths of irrigated cotton fields. Save for a rare jackrabbit, …

Why Don’t Brazilians Care More About the Amazon?

If a Former Environmental Activist Is Elected President, Brazil Will Have to Remember Its Bloody Fight Over the Rainforest

by Stephen Kurczy | October 4, 2014

Entry into the Casa Chico Mendes Museum is free, but it’ll cost you $20,000 to visit the environmental activist’s assassin. He lives down the street–if you’re interested.

I was. I recently …

In L.A., Brown Is Beautiful Again

For 100 Years, Humans Made Southern California Green. Now, the Drought Is Returning Our Landscape to Its Rightful Color Palette.

by Stephanie Pincetl | October 3, 2014

Droughts in California are always seen as exceptional, even though they are common events, part of our natural climate pattern. So will our state really be changed by the current …

No, Carmaggedon Is Not Inevitable

From Peak Time Tolls to Smarter Parking Meters, Some Ideas That Could Get Angelenos Moving

September 27, 2014

It makes sense now that the first movie ever filmed in Los Angeles was of nothing but traffic. The 30 seconds of shaky film, shot downtown on Spring Street in …

How Hawai‘i Forces Us to Redefine the Meaning of ‘Native’

An Environmental Historian Argues That Being Indigenous Is More Alchemy Than Fact

To See the Fate of the Oceans, Look Back a Half-Billion Years

Too Much Carbon and Not Enough Oxygen Devastated Marine Life in Ancient Times

The Puerto Rican Trees That Can Stand Up to Hurricanes

In El Yunque, the Tropical Rainforest Has Evolved to Shed Its Limbs to the Wind—But Stay Upright

Can We All Become Conservationists?

The Conservation Movement Should Embrace Its Own Complexity—And Perspectives Left Out in the Past

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