American forests are at risk. Wildfires are becoming more frequent, fire season is lasting later into the year, and fires are burning for longer. And the costs of these fires continues to mount. The Forest Service spent $2 billion fighting forest fires last year. Wildfires in Northern California alone caused $65 …
Journalist and author Jeff Goodell opened his discussion with the National Climate Seminar (hear his complete talk here) by apologizing for the call quality. As he explained, the WiFi signal isn’t reliable in Viequis, a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico, where he is reporting on the region’s slow recovery from …
Tropical forests have a lot to offer: the richest concentration of biodiversity on the planet, a home for indigenous peoples, and the plants that are used to create many modern pharmaceuticals. In negotiations leading up to the UN Paris Climate Agreement, tropical forests were also formally recognized for their key …
Pollution kills over 9 million people every year, and every day billions more live without access to clean water. In less than a month, the world’s leading authority on environmental issues will meet to determine ways we might meet this challenge. The upcoming United Nations Environment Programme Assembly in Nairobi will …
By Vanessa Kichline This year’s hurricane season has been one of the worst on record. We’ve already seen two Category 5 hurricanes make landfall in the United States, wreaking havoc to the tune of some $200 billion in damages—and the season isn’t over yet. Dr. Michael Neuman, professor and award-winning researcher of …
By Vanessa Kichline The President’s announcement this June that the United States plans to withdraw from theParis Climate Accord was a disappointment—but not necessarily a surprise—to the international community. The response here at home was mixed, but many leaders in business and local governments spoke out against the decision. It’s …
“You could say this nation runs on two dark liquids — petroleum and coffee,” Professor Bob Thompson of Syracuse University once said. We’re constantly reminded of the social and environmental costs of our reliance on fossil fuels, but what about that other fuel? Conventional coffee: value without values Americans drink …
I’m hunched over my precious data notebook, trying desperately to scribble down the series of numbers being shouted to me in Spanish. Although my field assistant is less than ten feet away, I can barely hear him over the roar of rain beating against the trees and coffee plants around …
You know that weird feeling you get when you finally watch the movie version of your favorite book? You’ve read every page and spent hours imagining every character and every bit of scenery—you think you know exactly what to expect. Of course, when the lights go down it’s completely different. …
Maple syrup is more than a sweet treat: to the sugarmakers of the Northeast, it’s a way of life. The tradition of maple sugaring has roots in indigenous culture and the sweet sap continues as a multi-million dollar industry today. But this year’s warm winter and early spring made Vermont’s …
