*This is part of a series called ‘Thinking About Cities’ which are parts of a book I am working on about urban green space that I’ve decided to cut…
Category: Ecosystems
Electrical bacteria may help clean oil spills and curb methane emissions
The small motorboat anchors in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. Shrieks of wintering birds assault the vessel’s five crew members, all clad in bright orange flotation suits. One of…
Tardigrades could teach us how to handle the rigors of space travel
No beast on Earth is tougher than the tiny tardigrade. It can survive being frozen at -272° Celsius, being exposed to the vacuum of outer space and even being blasted…
Earth’s oldest known wildfires raged 430 million years ago
Bits of charcoal entombed in ancient rocks unearthed in Wales and Poland push back the earliest evidence for wildfires to around 430 million years ago. Besides breaking the previous record…
These tiny marsupials survived wildfires only to face extinction from feral cats
Few marsupials have gone from miraculous survival to the brink of extinction as quickly as the Kangaroo Island dunnart. In 2019 and 2020, devastating fires burned nearly 10 million hectares…
Some polar bears in Greenland survive on surprisingly little sea ice
“Pihoqahiak” means “ever-wandering one,” and is an Inuit name for the polar bear, a creature known to roam vast expanses of sea ice, sometimes plodding thousands of kilometers a year…
Just 3 ingredients can quickly destroy widely used PFAS ‘forever chemicals’
The undoing of toxic “forever chemicals” may be found in products in your pantry. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, can persist in the environment for centuries. While…
Biocrusts reduce global dust emissions by 60 percent
In the unceasing battle against dust, humans possess a deep arsenal of weaponry, from microfiber cloths to feather dusters to vacuum cleaners. But new research suggests that none of that…
Caribou gut parasites indirectly create a greener tundra
Gut parasites in large plant eaters like caribou thrive out of sight and somewhat out of mind. But these tiny tummy tenants can have big impacts on the landscape that…
Oat and soy milks are planet friendly, but not as nutritious as cow milk
If you’ve got milk, you’ve got options. You can lighten your coffee or soak a cookie, ferment a cheese or bestow yourself a mustache. You can float some cereal or…
