
The aquarium industry is bigger than you think. And it could be harnessed to help save reefs.
New research shows saltwater aquariums are a multi-billion dollar industry with more than 6 million hobbyists. That could mean a lot of people interested in protecting reefs.

Bluebird feathers inspire battery and filter material
A microscopic network of channels in bluebird feathers gives it its characteristic hue; mimicking that structure could give better batteries and water filters

An ingenious ultrathin film keeps crops warm at night and slashes food waste. No energy required.
The almost invisibly thin film—many microns thinner than a human hair—might not only replace plastic sheeting and heaters in agriculture, but also protect telephone lines and electric cables.

Has Wind Power Blown It?
Financial headwinds could be a passing storm or a long-term headache for the carbon-free energy source.
This is absolutely the best time to donate to Anthropocene
NewsMatch—a national movement to support nonprofit journalism like ours—will double all donations up $1,000 between now and December 31st. Anthropocene is non-profit, reader funded journalism. We depend on the support of readers like you to keep our science-based, solution-focused reporting running strong.


It's time to upgrade not just our technology, but also our collective imagination.
Discover Anthropocene’s newest and most forward-looking project: Climate reporting from the future. Live story-telling events and online stories.


Resetting carbon offsets from the bottom up
Inside one quest to restore tarnished carbon markets, one family forest at a time

The World Is Our Battery
BatteryBatteries don’t have to be small or even portable. Here are five ambitious technologies that store energy in the rocks, water, and air all around us.
When planting a tree can actually fuel global warming
A new study disproves a widely accepted hypothesis about the climate benefits of growing forests in semi-arid places. The problem comes down to the color green.
In the gentle shade of solar panels, desert restoration gets an unexpected leg up
Delicate biocrusts are used to restore drylands; instead of cultivating them in high-tech greenhouses, researchers are growing them under solar farms.
Food-related emissions beyond the farm gate are now almost as large as those from farming itself
Researchers find that emissions resulting from transport, energy use, and food waste have increased swiftly over the last 40 years - and are almost equivalent to the emissions from farming, itself
Maps of the New World
How do we think about our future place in a geographically altered world? A map is a good place to start.
Massive turbine blades make for massive waste streams. Chemists have found a way to break them down for reuse.
Whereas previous recycling techniques have focused on material redesign, this new technique works on today’s turbine blade materials
Does energy security lie in being more connected or less connected?
Watching the prices of natural gas in Europe, and gasoline in the US, soar as the Ukraine conflict strangles supplies, you might think that energy self-sufficiency is the ultimate goal for any country. But trying to go it alone comes with its own risks.
Which disease that mosquito gives you depends on a landscape’s human footprint
The most common insect-borne diseases change dramatically as a landscape goes from lightly-inhabited forest to jam-packed city, scientists find.
David Quammen
What if evolution isn’t linear, as Charles Darwin proposed when he first sketched the tree of life?
Emily Anthes
Amphibious architecture responds to floods like ships to a rising tide, floating on the water’s surface.
Oliver Morton
The godlike powers of geoengineering irrevocably change the human’s relationship with Planet Earth.
Frances Cairncross
What is the optimal rollout of carbon taxes and research subsidies to speed up the transition to a low-carbon economy?
David Biello
Welcome to the brave new world of artificial intelligence for conservation.
Veronique Greenwood
The rise of fast fashion and the technology that needs to change to keep your clothes out of the garbage.
Fred Pearce
Some economies may be quietly, and surprisingly approaching a phenomenon economists call “peak stuff.
Akshat Rathi
What if we could transform cement from a climate wrecker into a carbon sponge?
Ted Nordhaus
The climate change apocalypse problem
Andrew Revkin
The word “anthropocene” has become the closest thing there is to common shorthand for this turbulent, momentous, unpredictable, hopeless, hopeful time—duration and scope still unknown
Vandana Singh
How might science fiction constructively contribute to the Human Age?
I have an article idea. How can I contribute? What’s the status of my membership? How can I get print copies of the magazine?
Find answers to these questions and more >>
What happened to Conservation Magazine—the precursor to Anthropocene?