Generated by All in One SEO Pro v5.0.1.1, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # Anthropocene Innovation in the Human Age ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [How to save giant Sequoias: Burn the forest around it first](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/how-to-save-giant-sequoias-burn-the-forest-around-it-first/) - New research quantifies, for the first time, how much prescribed fire reduces mortality in the world's largest trees. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Do small climate habits help or hurt the bigger cause? What a 4-year study found.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/do-small-climate-habits-help-or-hurt-the-bigger-cause-what-a-4-year-study-found/) - Researchers tracked 2,800 people's habits, protests, and policy views to test whether small green acts help or hurt the bigger fight. Neither, it turns out. - [Rainforests are rain-making machines worth tens of billions of dollars to farmers.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/rainforests-are-rain-making-machines-worth-tens-of-billions-of-dollars-to-farmers/) - A new study puts a price tag on forest-generated rainfall, making the economic case for protecting tropical forests as deforestation rises. - [Conventional wisdom says more forests means less crops. What if that’s not always true? ](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/conventional-wisdom-says-more-forests-means-less-crops-what-if-thats-not-always-true/) - In a new case study in Rajasthan India, researchers showed that afforestation was linked to a 24% surge in crop production. - [Can “immigrant” corals save Florida’s dying reefs?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/can-immigrant-corals-save-floridas-dying-reefs/) - Scientists are testing hybrid elkhorn corals bred from Florida and Honduras parents in the wild for the first time—a bold experiment in conservation politics. - [How are corporations doing on emission pledges? First the good news. Then the bad.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/06/how-are-corporations-doing-on-emission-pledges-first-the-good-news-then-the-bad/) - A rare quantitative analysis gives corporate climate initiatives a mixed report card | Anthropocene Magazine from Future Earth - [Scientists see clearly that marine protected areas protect fish, and fishers, alike.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/06/scientists-see-clearly-that-marine-protected-areas-protect-fish-and-fishers-alike/) - Mexico’s industrial fishers claimed that banning them from a marine reserve would decrease their catch by 20%. Researchers tested that assumption. - [What Counts As A Carbon Credit?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/06/what-counts-as-a-carbon-credit/) - A new UN draft report threatens to sideline billions of tons of future carbon removal. No formal decision has been made, but the debate is in full swing. - [If all ride-hailing cars were electric, would there be a net environmental benefit?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/06/charging-trips-reduce-the-environmental-benefits-of-electric-rideshare-fleets/) - Researchers conducted life-cycle comparisons based on actual rideshare data to find out. The short answer: the benefit is pretty small. - [By century-end, farm numbers will halve and farm size will double. How will biodiversity fare?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/05/in-the-future-there-will-be-fewer-larger-farms-how-will-biodiversity-fare/) - This world in which fewer large farms replace numerous smaller ones carries rewards and risks for humans and the food systems that us," a new study says. - [A first detailed glimpse of the world without us. Wildlife during COVID lockdowns.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/06/a-first-detailed-glimpse-of-the-world-without-us-wildlife-during-covid-lockdowns/) - 170 scientists pooled tracking data for 2300 mammals—from ibex in France to wild dogs in Botswana to elk in Wyoming—demonstrating their remarkable adaptability. - [The government should pay people for driving electric cars, not for buying them](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/06/the-government-should-pay-people-for-driving-electric-cars-not-for-buying-them/) - A new study suggests that replacing broad subsidies with targeted ones offers a bigger carbon-savings bang for the public buck. - [An ambitious mapping project  identifies the overlap between crops and biodiversity threats](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/06/one-third-of-agriculture-competes-with-biodiversity-but-there-are-ways-to-escape-this-bind/) - One pattern that emerged: beef, rice, and soybeans are produced in conservation priority areas, while barley and wheat, are sourced from lower risk areas. - [Hot rocks could be the next big energy storage technology](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/06/hot-rocks-could-be-the-next-big-energy-storage-technology/) - Soapstone, widely used in cooking appliances and countertops, could be an ideal low-cost material to store the sun’s heat for electricity - [Air quality monitors could be accidental eDNA vacuums . . .and a goldmine for ecologists](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/06/air-quality-monitors-could-be-accidental-edna-vacuums-and-a-goldmine-for-ecologists/) - When the scientists combed through filters from just 2 stations, they found eDNA from newts, hedgehogs, songbirds, trees and more—over 180 species in all. - [Mushroom leather may finally be ready for mass production](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/09/plastic-free-fungus-based-leather-is-going-big/) - Plastic-free leather alternatives that perform like the real thing are hard to make. Researchers may have cracked the code to produce such materials at scale. - [Intensive farming may yield a bumper crop of drug-resistant pathogens](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/09/intensive-farming-may-yield-a-bumper-crop-of-drug-resistant-pathogens/) - Changing the use of tilling, fertilizers, and chemicals could reshape the microbiomes of farm soils—reducing the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens. - [Even the sound equivalent of a library can detract from the health benefits of listening to nature.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/09/even-the-sound-equivalent-of-a-library-can-detract-from-the-health-benefits-of-listening-to-nature/) - In a new study, people who listened to audio recordings of birds singing report getting less benefit when paired with even quiet traffic sounds. - [Politicians vastly overestimate opposition to climate action](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/09/politicians-vastly-overestimate-opposition-to-climate-action/) - A new study of British MPs finds a persistent gap between what lawmakers believe the public thinks about climate policy and what polls actually show. - [Solar panels could cool down farms—and farmworkers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/solar-panels-could-cool-down-farms-and-farmworkers/) - A new model of agrivoltaic farms shows shading crops with solar panels doesn't just protect tomatoes from a warming climate. It makes outdoor labor safer, too. - [To sort or not to sort your recyclables—which is the better climate bet?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/to-sort-or-not-to-sort-your-recyclables-which-is-the-better-climate-bet/) - Europe bet on sorting discipline, America bet on convenience, and the climate math is still being settled. | Fixing Carbon by Anthropocene Magazine - [To fight wildfires and climate change, scientists say: Don’t burn debris, bury it.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/bury-dont-burn-the-billion-dollar-wildfire-climate-fix/) - A new study finds that burying logging debris, instead of burning it, could store far more carbon and generate billions in revenue for forest-thinning projects. - [Can local food feed an urban world?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/10/can-local-food-feed-an-urban-world/) - Researchers dig into the efficacy of urban agriculture - [Urban heat's overlooked fix: Greening the land upwind of cities](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/urban-heat-overlooked-fix-greening-the-land-upwind-of-cities/) - A study published in Nature Cities suggests that forests placed strategically outside urban cores can lower temperatures across much of a city. - [The circular chemistry that could make cement carbon-negative](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/the-circular-chemistry-that-could-make-cement-carbon-negative/) - By closing the loop on the same reaction that makes cement, researchers say plants could capture more CO2 than they release. - [The Food Fighters](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/12/the-food-fighters/) - With their inheritance as stake, two brothers pit ultramechanization against traditional farming. Which does better for the family, the nation, and the climate. - [Researchers say sealing old oil wells with bio-oil from crop waste is a dual carbon-removal solution](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/researchers-say-sealing-old-oil-wells-with-bio-oil-from-crop-waste-is-a-dual-carbon-removal-solution/) - A new study shows that oil made from corn husks and wood chips could plug old greenhouse gas-belching oil wells while sequestering carbon for about $152 per ton - [Rewilding feral horses to reinvigorate grasslands](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/05/feral-horses-protect-grasslands/) - Wild horses are often viewed as alien, invasive creatures who don’t belong—but might they instead be seen as modern-day analogues of now-vanished species? - [A rural health clinic saves a rainforest . . . and 45 other win-wins for nature and human health](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/08/a-rural-health-clinic-saves-a-rainforest-and-45-other-win-wins-for-nature-and-human-health/) - Scientists searched for projects that simultaneously benefit nature and human health. They wound up with a Yelp-like rating system for 46 strategies. - [Resistance in the reeds: What scientists found in 17 city wetlands](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/resistance-in-the-reeds-what-scientists-found-in-17-city-wetlands/) - Antibiotic-resistance genes turned up at 9X the levels in natural lakes. Researchers say "sponge city” infrastructure requires smarter stormwater engineering. - [Recycling food waste has a huge climate upside and a surprising downside.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/recycling-food-waste-has-a-huge-climate-upside-and-a-surprising-downside/) - A study of American composting and biogas schemes finds a climate win is shadowed by a microplastics problem. The clue is what food is wrapped in. - [Huge new study exposes disparate climate emotions around the world—and their consequences](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/huge-new-study-exposes-disparate-climate-emotions-around-the-world-and-their-consequences/) - Europeans are the least hopeful. Greeks, Spaniards, and Italians are angry and sad. And, citizens of the Global South—and the US—are the most hopeful. - [Trashed solar panels will be a treasure worth up to $1 trillion](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/trashed-solar-panels-will-be-a-treasure-worth-up-to-1-trillion/) - A huge new study charted 1,708 recycling scenarios across 32 regions and found a way to turn a looming waste crisis into a circular-economy windfall. - [As the world warms, butterflies are relocating at an astonishing scale](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/as-the-world-warms-butterflies-are-relocating-at-an-astonishing-scale/) - A sweeping new study of 1,758 butterfly species across 105 countries found many tropical species expanding their ranges, while temperate ones are contracting. - [Ancient buffalo DNA lays out a roadmap to rehabilitating healthy herds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/ancient-buffalo-dna-lays-out-a-roadmap-to-rehabilitating-healthy-herds/) - Genetic analysis of bison dating back 20,000 years shows how the 19th-century slaughter reshaped the species—and how today's herds could recover. - [Scientists found the sweet spot for dumping iron into the ocean](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/scientists-found-the-sweet-spot-for-dumping-iron-into-the-ocean/) - A new model shows fertilizing the Southern Ocean instead of the equator could pull carbon from the air without wrecking the food chain. - [Scientists make a seaweed coating that beats the fridge for cutting food waste](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/scientists-make-a-seaweed-coating-that-beats-the-fridge-for-cutting-food-waste/) - Canadian researchers found a cheaper, lower-carbon way to keep strawberries fresh, cutting into a $58 billion waste problem. - [The cognitive bias behind bad climate math](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/the-cognitive-bias-behind-bad-climate-math/) - A new study finds two persistent mental shortcuts—not ignorance—are why people keep overrating recycling and underrating flying less. - [When should you scrap your gasoline car? The answer is almost certainly now.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/when-should-you-scrap-your-gasoline-car-the-answer-is-almost-certainly-now/) - Researchers calculated the carbon footprint of vehicle trade-ins across a wide variety of scenarios, and EVs emerged as the clear winner - [Researchers recycle rice husks into a wonder material that removes toxic dyes from water](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/researchers-recycle-rice-husks-into-a-wonder-material-that-removes-toxic-dyes-from-water/) - A biochar filter made from discarded husks hints at a shift: treating agricultural byproducts not as garbage, but as raw material for environmental repair. - [Which age group has the most climate-intensive diet?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/from-young-to-old-which-age-group-actually-has-the-most-climate-intensive-diet/) - A 20-year study finds that teenagers have the heaviest carbon footprints from food, even as aging populations drive an overall increase in emissions. - [Everyone's afraid of mountain lions. The data says be afraid of deer instead.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/everyones-afraid-of-mountain-lions-the-data-says-be-afraid-of-deer-instead/) - A five-year study finds the big cats you avoid on trails are quietly preventing the collisions that actually kill people. - [A majority of Americans don't actually fit either climate camp](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/08/a-majority-of-americans-dont-actually-fit-either-climate-camp/) - An analysis of 20 years of polling data shows how age, education and income—in addition to political affiliation—shape views on climate policy - [A spritz of nanoparticles could save tomatoes from salty soil](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/a-spritz-of-nanoparticles-could-save-tomatoes-from-salty-soil/) - Scientists sprayed stressed tomato plants with a combination of manganese and an ingredient from crustacean shells with striking effects for tomato survival. - [MIT researchers have designed a recyclable alternative to spandex](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/mit-researchers-have-designed-a-recyclable-alternative-to-spandex/) - This new polyethylene yarn matches spandex's stretch—and unlike spandex, it can be melted down and re-spun repeatedly. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Researchers use hemp, rock dust and biochar to scrub forever chemicals from farm soils](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/researchers-use-hemp-rock-dust-and-biochar-to-scrub-forever-chemicals-from-farm-soils/) - A Yale study finds the three-step method could bring contaminated soils below safety thresholds within a decade, at a fraction of conventional cleanup costs. - [A new entrant in the plant-protein race: The marigold](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/a-new-entrant-in-the-plant-protein-race-the-marigold/) - Millions of tons of marigolds are discarded annually. A new study discovers that they could rival soy and pea as a plant-based protein source. - [Battery-like device sucks carbon dioxide out of thin air](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/battery-like-device-sucks-carbon-dioxide-out-of-air/) - Using electricity and seawater chemistry would be more economical and efficient than today’s direct air capture technologies - [Obeying the speed limit would save 57,000 tons of carbon a day. It would cost you 54 seconds.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/obeying-the-speed-limit-would-save-57000-tons-of-carbon-a-day-it-would-cost-you-54-seconds/) - A study of more than 120 million trips finds that Americans' rush to save time on the road comes at an outsize environmental cost. - [Is plastic trash in the middle of the ocean becoming a new kind of island habitat?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/12/is-plastic-trash-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean-becoming-a-new-kind-of-island-habitat/) - Giant patches of plastic floating in the ocean have become home to an experiment in a new hybrid ecosystem, made up of stowaway species from coastal environments and organisms that dwell in the middle of the Pacific. Meet the "neopelagic" world. - [Scientists turned coffee grounds into biochar fuel in 90 seconds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/scientists-turned-coffee-grounds-into-fuel-in-90-seconds/) - A plasma pyrolysis breakthrough turns soggy spent grounds into coal-grade biochar without pre-drying—opening the door to distributed waste-to-energy systems - [This tiny bottle cap traveled 1,500 kilometers. It had 307 hitchhikers aboard.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/this-tiny-bottle-cap-traveled-1500-kilometers-it-had-307-hitchhikers-aboard/) - Scientists cracked the case of a single plastic cap using isotope chemistry and ocean current models, revealing how trash is turning invasive species rafts. - [The surprising upside of asking people to use less energy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/the-surprising-upside-of-asking-people-to-use-less-energy/) - New research complicates the long-held belief that climate policy is a trade-off between cost and carbon, adding a third factor: Quality of life. - [The climate fix isn't cutting all meat—It's targeting the people who eat the most.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/the-climate-fix-isnt-cutting-all-meat-its-targeting-the-people-who-eat-the-most/) - A Scottish study finds that shifting heavy meat eaters toward modest cuts, rather than trimming everyone's diet, could deliver outsized climate gains. - [Greener Steel Through Chemistry](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/greener-steel-through-chemistry/) - In a lab outside Boulder Colorado, engineers are reinventing one of the dirtiest industrial processes on Earth—by swapping fire for modern alchemy. - [To feed the world and protect nature, should we share agricultural land or spare wild habitat?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/10/to-feed-the-world-and-protect-nature-should-we-share-agricultural-land-or-spare-wild-habitat/) - A decade of research holds the answer to this longstanding farming conundrum. - [Recycling that rescues dolphins](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/recycling-that-rescues-dolphins/) - Tying plastic bottles to gillnets cut dolphin deaths by nearly 90% in a new study, without reducing the fish catch. | Anthropocene Magazine - [The overlooked wiring problem in the clean-energy transition](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/the-overlooked-wiring-problem-in-the-clean-energy-transition/) - As more households add solar panels, batteries and heat pumps, researchers found that running them on DC power—not AC—could cut energy use and emissions. - [This remarkable microbe could help farmers survive rising seas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/this-remarkable-microbe-could-help-farmers-survive-rising-seas/) - As rising seas push salt water inland, scientists have found a naturally occurring bacterium that helps crops grow despite it—no genetic modification needed. - [Scientists built a solar reactor that eats plastic bottles and burps out clean hydrogen . . .at scale.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/scientists-built-a-solar-reactor-that-eats-plastic-bottles-and-burps-out-clean-hydrogen-at-scale/) - A Cambridge University team made the device with simple materials using a paint sprayer—offering a dual fix for plastic pollution and dirty hydrogen production. - [When war came to Chornobyl, the animals didn't all run away.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/07/when-war-came-to-chornobyl-the-animals-didnt-all-run-away/) - A new study offers rare evidence of how armed conflict reshapes wildlife behavior, with a few species moving toward human settlements rather than fleeing them. - [Ironically, buying green can quietly erase its own efficiency gains, new study finds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/ironically-buying-green-can-quietly-erase-its-own-efficiency-gains-new-study-finds/) - Researchers show how consumer eco-consciousness can trigger discounts on inefficient products, canceling the gains shoppers thought they'd locked in. - [Swapping beef for salmon once a week could significantly cut emissions, study finds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/swapping-beef-for-salmon-once-a-week-could-significantly-cut-emissions-study-finds/) - A UK study comparing five dietary scenarios through 2050 found the simplest option delivered meaningful, realistic emissions reductions. - [Icy winters are no match for these floating solar panels](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/icy-winters-are-no-match-for-this-floating-solar-system/) - Using foam and aquarium pumps, engineers designed a floating photovoltaic system that keeps working efficiently through Canadian winter conditions - [Pumas are quietly tracking your hiking and biking habits better than you think](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/pumas-are-quietly-tracking-your-hiking-and-biking-habits-better-than-you-think/) - GPS collars and fitness-apps reveal that the Santa Cruz Mountains' pumas track human recreation with surprising precision and adjust their lives accordingly. - [What doesn't kill a soil microbe makes it stronger](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/what-doesnt-kill-a-soil-microbe-makes-it-stronger/) - Agricultural stress appears to have forged unusually heat-resistant soils. Researchers think cropland soils could be transplanted to restore fragile ecosystems. - [New AI agent tallies a gadget's emissions in the time it takes to brew tea](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/new-ai-agent-tallies-a-gadgets-emissions-in-the-time-it-takes-to-brew-tea/) - Researchers built a multimodal AI system that scours spec sheets, iFixit teardowns, and YouTube videos to do carbon math that used to take human experts months. - [Scientists brew energy-efficient espresso. It is made without heat and 75% less energy.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/scientists-brew-energy-efficient-espresso-it-is-made-without-heat-and-75%-less-energy/) - Utrasonic sound waves turn room temperature water and coffee grounds into a quality espresso shot. Testers couldn’t tell it apart from a conventional brew. - [This shape-shifting liquid stores solar energy, and releases it on demand](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/this-shape-shifting-liquid-soaks-up-sunlight-stores-energy-and-releases-it-on-demand/) - Engineers built a self-assembling liquid that morphs into an energy-storing gel and resets with nothing but air—no metal, plastic, or battery casing required. - [Researchers have turned CO2 into fuel using electricity and bacteria](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/researchers-have-turned-co2-into-fuel-using-electricity-and-bacteria/) - New route to turn carbon dioxide into fuel is 45 times more efficient and uses 45 times less land than making diesel from soybeans - [Gorillas scarred by poaching learn to trust again. And it might help save them.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/gorillas-scarred-by-poaching-learn-to-trust-again-and-it-might-help-save-them/) - A 12-year study in Cameroon found that habituating gorillas to researchers might help reduce poaching activity and offer a model for protecting endangered apes. - [The climate friendly city is a bullseye](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/the-climate-friendly-city-is-a-bullseye/) - Urban planners are asking the wrong question. It's not how dense a city is—it's how close. The sweet spot for shorter commutes and lower emissions forms a ring. - [Just because a forest is protected, doesn't mean it won't get logged](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/08/just-because-a-forest-is-protected-doesnt-mean-it-wont-get-logged/) - Scientists use satellites to track deforestation in forest reserves around the world, and to learn what factors make for stronger protections. - [A simple paint job can save birds from wind turbines](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/09/a-simple-paint-job-can-save-birds-from-wind-turbines/) - Saving hundreds of thousands of birds and bats from dying when they collide into wind turbines could be as simple as painting one blade. - [A strange new way to save lions and leopards—paint eyes on the butts of cows](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/08/a-strange-new-way-to-save-lions-and-leopards-paint-eyes-on-the-butts-of-cows/) - One solution to human-wildlife conflict involves painting eyes on cattle butts to deter predators from culling herds and farmers from killing lions and leopards - [Abandoned farms could be transformed into millions of hectares of conservation reserves](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/12/abandoned-farms-could-be-transformed-into-millions-of-hectares-of-conservation-reserves/) - What if we didn't just leave old farmland to lie fallow? - [Scientists have made jet fuel from plastic waste](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/scientists-have-made-jet-fuel-from-plastic-waste/) - A new process converts hard-to-recycle styrofoam waste into valuable jet fuel at a cost competitive with petroleum-based fuels. - [Europe's energy crisis has a silver lining: It just made going green a lot cheaper](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/europes-energy-crisis-has-a-silver-lining-it-just-made-going-green-a-lot-cheaper/) - High fossil fuel prices have flipped the math on renewable energy. New research shows that accelerating Europe's green transition by a decade could now pay for itself—and then some. - [Mangroves are making a comeback. It’s a rare climate success story.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/mangroves-are-making-a-comeback-its-a-rare-climate-success-story/) - A sweeping new study offers something rare in climate news: Evidence that one of the planet's most vital coastal ecosystems is actually winning. - [New US dietary guidelines would worsen carbon emissions and land use](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/new-us-dietary-guidelines-would-worsen-carbon-emissions-and-land-use/) - Updated federal dietary guidelines take on ultra-processed junk food—but the push for more animal protein erases every environmental gain, and then some. - [Solar-powered device extracts freshwater and lithium from the sea](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/scientists-devised-a-solar-powered-system-that-extracts-freshwater-and-lithium-from-the-sea/) - A physicist borrowed a trick from spilled coffee to build laser-etched solar panels that pull fresh water from the ocean without producing toxic brine - [To complete its green transition, Europe should mine its own trash](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/to-complete-its-green-transition-europe-should-mine-its-own-trash/) - Lithium in old batteries. Cobalt in discarded electronics. Study finds these buried materials could supply over half of what the clean energy economy will need. - [What if DEET could become mosquito perfume rather than repellent?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/06/what-if-deet-could-become-mosquito-perfume-rather-than-repellent/) - Scientists tap into Pavlov's experiment to show they can train mosquitoes to love the smell of DEET. It’s a cautionary lesson about nature’s adaptability. - [Does energy efficiency reduce carbon emissions?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/does-energy-efficiency-reduce-carbon-emissions/) - An argument from the 1860’s has profound consequences for modern climate policy. | A Fixing Carbon post from Anthropocene Magazine - [A shock to the system could slash cement’s emissions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/a-shock-to-the-system-could-slash-cements-emissions/) - Using electricity researchers made a cement that cuts energy use by 70% and carbon emissions by as much as 98% compared with traditional cement production. - [What happens to the small things when the big things disappear?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/what-happens-to-the-small-things-when-the-big-things-disappear/) - A new study reveals that dung beetles—and the ecosystem services they provide—collapse when elephants disappear, offering evidence of coextinction in the wild. - [A landmark MIT study debunks persistent myths about electric vehicles](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/a-landmark-mit-study-debunks-persistent-myths-about-electric-vehicles/) - Think EVs don't make sense in cold climates, or that a dirty power grid cancels out the benefits? Rigorous new research finds the opposite is true. - [Researchers chart a path to carbon-negative plastic](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/12/researchers-chart-a-path-to-carbon-negative-plastic/) - A new study shows this feat is possible, but will require more than recycling or a price on carbon - [Can you hear it? That’s the sound of a successful rainforest recovery program.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/can-you-hear-it-thats-the-sound-of-a-successful-rainforest-recovery-program/) - Nearly a million minutes of recorded sound suggest that paying people to protect forests can restore the complex acoustic signatures of biodiversity. - [The unlikely ingredient that cleans wastewater and turns it into fertilizer: Bubbles. ](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/the-unlikely-ingredient-that-cleans-wastewater-and-turns-it-into-fertilizer-bubbles/) - Scientists found that plasma bubbles strip contaminants from industrial wastewater while locking in nitrogen. Garlic that grew in it nearly doubled in size. - [Coal plants are dimming the world's solar panels](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/coal-plants-are-dimming-the-worlds-solar-panels/) - Pollution from coal plants is canceling out roughly a third of every year's new solar capacity. The fix is obvious. The phase-out isn't. - [An unexpected green roof benefit: purging urban rainfall of practically all microplastics](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/an-unexpected-green-roof-benefit-purging-urban-rainfall-of-practically-all-microplastics/) - In a laboratory-scale study, green roof mockups kept 97.5 percent of microplastic particles out of runoff | Anthropocene Magazine - [Your carbon footprint is only half the story](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/your-carbon-footprint-is-only-half-the-story/) - A new study introduces a parallel metric, the plastic particle footprint—and uses it to rerank bottles, crates, and shirts. The winners aren't who you'd expect. - [How a cave fungus became a municipal-finance problem…and a conservation solution.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/how-a-cave-fungus-became-a-municipal-finance-problemand-a-conservation-solution/) - New research links the spread of white-nose syndrome to higher municipal bond yields—and points to a novel way for investors to make money by saving wildlife. - [Offsets promise to make up for environmental damage in one place by repairing it elsewhere. But do they really work?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/03/offsets-promise-to-make-up-for-environmental-damage-in-one-place-by-repairing-it-elsewhere-but-do-they-really-work/) - In the most detailed study of its kind, scientists investigated biodiversity offsets purchased by owners of one of the world’s largest nickel mines. In this case, it looks like the mining company succeeded. - [Los alcaldes tienen más poder del que se imaginan en temas de clima](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/11/los-alcaldes-tienen-mas-poder-del-que-se-imaginan-en-temas-de-clima/) - Las ciudades están en una buena posición para refrenar las emisiones de carbón global – si pueden aprovechar su influencia. - [The Climate Mayors have more power than they might think](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/11/the-climate-mayors-have-more-power-than-they-might-think/) - Cities are in a surprisingly good position to rein in global carbon emissions – if they can take advantage of their leverage. - [Here's a wild circular solution. Wine waste could replace antibiotics on chicken farms. ](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/heres-a-wild-circular-solution-wine-waste-could-replace-antibiotics-on-chicken-farms/) - A new study finds that grape pomace—the slop left over after winemaking—keeps chickens healthy almost as well as conventional antibiotics. - [Scientists made algae glow on demand. No electricity required.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/scientists-made-algae-glow-on-demand-no-electricity-required/) - A chemical trick keeps bioluminescent sea organisms shining for 25+ minutes, opening the door to living light bulbs, glowing robots, and pollution-sensing gels. - [AI just cleared wildlife science's biggest camera-trap bottleneck](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/ai-just-cleared-wildlife-sciences-biggest-camera-trap-bottleneck/) - Ecologists drowning in 3.8 million photos teamed up with Google to test whether algorithms could replace a human eye. The animals didn't notice the difference. - [Renewables or carbon removal: which is the better climate bet right now?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/renewables-or-carbon-removal-which-is-the-better-climate-bet-right-now/) - In a rare head-to-head test of returns on investment, renewables bested carbon capture in almost all scenarios across the U.S. through 2050 - [Honey terroir points to a new way to protect an endangered forest](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/honey-terroir-points-to-a-new-way-to-protect-an-endangered-forest/) - Wine drinkers know that place shapes flavor. The same is true of honey—and that terroir could be a new tool to map biodiversity and replant vanishing forests. - [The case for co-locating offshore wind parks and nature reserves](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/01/the-case-for-co-locating-offshore-wind-parks-and-nature-reserves/) - Wind parks could benefit the natural world—in ways beyond the generation of zero-carbon energy. - [Sustainable aquaculture's climate fix is growing right next to the fish.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/sustainable-aquacultures-climate-fix-is-growing-right-next-to-the-fish/) - The world needs more protein and less pollution. A study on integrated multi-trophic aquaculture suggests seaweed and fish, grown together, can deliver both. - [Tree bark emerges as an unlikely contender in carbon capture](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/researchers-turn-forest-waste-into-climate-solution/) - A cheap, scalable synthesis method could unlock millions of tonnes of forestry waste as raw material for industrial CO₂ removal. - [Fin-tech: How sharks could sharpen ocean forecasts](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/fin-tech-how-sharks-could-sharpen-ocean-forecasts/) - Sensors strapped to 19 sharks off America's east coast cut errors in a leading climate model by as much as 43%. Fisheries managers could benefit. - [The climate case for cooperation between package delivery rivals](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/the-climate-case-for-cooperation-between-package-delivery-rivals/) - A sweeping study of Chinese e-commerce delivery suggests that the largest climate win isn't a new technology—it's an old idea: cooperation between competitors. - [Has crypto really solved its carbon problem?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/10/has-crypto-really-solved-its-carbon-problem/) - Cryptocurrencies have long been climate villains: using ever-increasing amounts of power to make a few people rich. Now the story has taken a new turn. - [The fiber optic cables delivering your Netflix might help monitor endangered species](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/the-fiber-optic-cables-delivering-your-netflix-might-help-monitor-endangered-species/) - Scientists in Washington state are testing whether these sensitive cables can be used to detect sounds of endangered orcas. - [How many wheels should your next EV have?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/08/how-many-wheels-should-your-next-ev-have/) - E-bikes are now preventing (a lot) more emissions than all the Teslas in the world | A Fixing Carbon article from Anthropocene Magazine - [The Upcycled Car](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/01/the-upcycled-car-2/) - Innovations in automaking are already incorporating carbon dioxide into new vehicles you can buy today, from the body to the tires, from the fittings to the fuel in the tank. - [Shipwrecks have a serendipitous second life as barriers to destructive fishing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/11/shipwrecks-have-a-serendipitous-second-life-as-barriers-to-destructive-fishing/) - Sunken ships creates obstacles for bottom-trawling, creating a refuge for marine creatures. | a post from Anthropocene Magazine - [How much land is needed to stop the biodiversity crisis?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/06/how-much-land-is-needed-to-stop-the-biodiversity-crisis/) - A new study estimates that the answer is a huge area—44%of Earth’s land, some 64 million square kilometers | Anthropocene Magazine - [The insect apocalypse is more nuanced than we thought](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/04/lessons-learned-from-freshwater-bugs-can-lead-us-out-of-the-insect-apocalypse/) - A huge new study shows that freshwater insect populations may actually be increasing — but their land cousins are in trouble. - [Biochar and ants. A goldilocks story in the dirt.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/biochar-and-ants-a-goldilocks-story-in-the-dirt/) - At the right concentration, biochar makes ants forage 2x as fast, build threefold more complex nests, and bond more tightly. At the wrong one, it poisons them. - [This modest machine has an outsized Idea: It captures CO2 and generates electricity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/this-modest-machine-has-an-outsized-idea-it-captures-co2-and-generates-electricity/) - A self-powered gas-capture prototype rethinks one of climate science's most stubborn trade-offs—that removing carbon must always cost more than it saves. - [Forget border walls. The new national defense could be a restored wetland](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/forget-border-walls-the-new-national-defense-could-be-a-restored-wetland/) - Researchers argue that "defensive rewilding" could stop invading armies more cheaply than concrete ever could—while doubling as a climate solution. - [New produce wash removes 93% of pesticides and keeps fruit fresh for 15 days](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/a-new-biodegradable-wash-almost-completely-eradicates-pesticides-from-fruit/) - A biodegradable nanoparticle rinse made of starch, iron, and tannic acid outperforms water at stripping residues and doubles as a preservative. - [A new liquid battery stores solar heat for weeks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/liquid-battery-bottles-the-suns-heat-for-days/) - Scientists have engineered a water-soluble pyrimidone molecule that captures solar heat and releases it days or weeks later—enough to boil water on demand. - [An Act of God. Payable Upon Impact.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/an-act-of-god-payable-upon-impact/) - Parametric insurance, once a niche tool for property owners, is now underwriting coral reefs. It’s efficient, innovative—and unsettling. - [The future of coral reefs lies in human intervention](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/the-future-of-coral-reefs-lies-in-human-intervention/) - Current efforts to help coral evolve heat tolerance are losing the race with global warming. Scientists propose a moon-shot program to engineer evolution. - [Has Wind Power Blown It?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/11/has-wind-power-blown-it/) - Financial headwinds could be a passing storm or a long-term headache for the carbon-free energy source. | Fixing Carbon by Anthropocene Magazine - [Wildlife is deeply embedded in sports culture. Therein lies a conservation opportunity.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/12/wildlife-is-deeply-embedded-in-sports-culture-therein-lies-a-conservation-opportunity/) - Researchers argue that the emotional pull of teams could become a force in endangered species conservation. - [If you name a slug Kardashian, will it help protect it?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/09/if-you-name-a-slug-after-a-kim-kardashian-will-it-help-to-protect-it/) - Scientists took a crack at the question of whether human celebrity translates to non-human celebrity. Their findings are intriguing. - [Starting from scratch, researchers have built a battery with proteins instead of lithium](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/05/a-green-recyclable-battery-built-with-protein-parts/) - It is metal-free, it degrades on demand for recycling—and does an end-run around the ethical and environmental problems that plague lithium-ion - [The immense potential of solar panels floating on dams](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/10/the-immense-potential-of-solar-panels-floating-on-dams/) - Putting solar panels on reservoirs behind dams solves PV problems. It cuts solar cost, connects with existing hydropower transmission lines, and powers more. - [An AI trained on 13,000 virtual worlds just projected our renewable energy future](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/an-ai-trained-on-13000-virtual-worlds-just-projected-our-renewable-energy-future/) - It beat the International Energy Agency's forecasts—and it says 2°C is still on the table | Anthropocene Magazine - [A bucket of NYC river water contains a world of information about the Anthropocene](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/a-bucket-of-nyc-river-water-contains-a-world-of-information-about-the-anthropocene/) - Scientists scooping eDNA from buckets of East River water discovered a powerful new tool for monitoring cities—one that costs far less than the alternatives. - [The world is sitting on $7 billion of wasted fertilizer](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/the-world-is-sitting-on-7-billion-of-wasted-fertilizer/) - Researchers mapped hotspots of human and animal waste and matched it against US crop nutrient demand. The numbers work. The logistics don't. Can we fix that? - [This is junk science, in the best possible sense](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/this-is-junk-science-in-the-best-possible-sense/) - Chemists discovered that two waste problems—spent lead-acid batteries and hard-to-recycle polymers—can solve each other, with sunlight doing most of the work. - [Tracking traffic pollution in real time could transform city climate policy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/tracking-traffic-pollution-in-real-time-could-transform-city-climate-policy/) - Using traffic cameras and phone data, researchers created a real-time emissions map—giving cities a powerful new tool to cut pollution faster and smarter. - [The Future of the Grid Could Be Parked in Your Driveway](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/the-future-of-the-grid-could-be-parked-in-your-driveway/) - A growing fleet of electric vehicles could unlock a cheaper, cleaner alternative to fossil-fuel power plants—without building new infrastructure. - [What if the future of mining looked like a farm?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/what-if-the-future-of-mining-looked-like-a-farm/) - Phytomining promises to extract metals for electric vehicles—not with drills and dynamite but with daisies, grasses, and biology. - [Fruit trees turn marginal farms into carbon sinks and cash machines](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/fruit-based-farming-turns-marginal-lands-into-carbon-sinks-and-cash-machines/) - Study finds fruit-based agroforestry can store vast carbon while boosting farmer incomes nearly 5X conventional cropping. - [Will high gas prices lower carbon emissions?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/will-high-gas-prices-lower-carbon-emissions/) - The answer has been ‘no’ in the past. It may finally be ‘yes.’ | A Fixing Carbon post from Anthropocene Magazine - [Hawaii pioneers turning plastic waste into pavement](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/hawaii-pioneers-turning-plastic-waste-into-pavement/) - Does pavement made with recycled plastic waste shed tiny microplastics? Study finds minimal risk, and it keeps plastic pollution out of the marine environment. - [A knock-on effect of the EV transition: cheaper gas prices. Yes, really.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/a-knock-on-effect-of-the-ev-transition-cheaper-gas-prices-yes-really/) - By slashing oil demand, EV policies trigger a cascade of benefits: lower gasoline prices, cheaper home energy, and a stronger domestic energy system. - [The quest for immortal rice just got a huge boost](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/the-quest-for-immortal-rice-just-got-a-huge-boost/) - A gene tweak lets rice regrow after harvest, opening the door to multi-year crops that could dramatically transform agriculture’s climate impact. - [Airplanes could cut emissions by being better wind-surfers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/02/airplanes-could-cut-emissions-by-wind-surfing-better/) - It’s a quick, safe and relatively simple way to save up to 16 percent of fuel burned on transoceanic flights while the industry waits for biofuels and electric craft - [Sustainable AC is possible, even with Covid ventilation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/10/passively-cooling-buildings-is-possible-even-with-covid-ventilation/) - Architects show that it is possible to cool a ventilated building with an uninsulated roof that sends heat to the sky, while changing indoor air for health - [Fake fur brings real conservation benefits for African leopards](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/04/fake-fur-brings-real-conservation-benefits-for-african-leopards/) - A campaign to substitute synthetic leopard skins during cultural ceremonies has won support in Zambia and boosted cat populations. - [Carbon-Negative Construction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/01/carbon-negative-construction/) - A new generation of building materials aims to actively pull carbon out of the air. - [This concrete could turn your house into a battery](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/this-concrete-could-turn-your-house-into-a-battery/) - The amount of concrete that goes into an average American home's basement wall could hold enough energy to meet the daily needs of the household. - [Wood, now turbocharged with carbon-capture powers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/02/novel-engineered-wood-is-turbocharged-with-carbon-capture-powers/) - Researchers created a novel wood composite that contains CO2-absorbing materials, paving the way for carbon-negative furniture and structures. - [These windows could harness power from both outdoor sunlight and indoor artificial light](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/03/colorful-windows-produce-power-from-sunlight-and-lightbulbs/) - By absorbing light in a rainbow of hues, the new windows can do double-duty, churning out electricity day and night - [These new building materials are alive, photosynthetic— and carbon hungry](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/3d-printed-building-material-captures-carbon-dioxide-and-grows/) - Scientists have engineered a living, carbon-capturing material that can be shaped by 3D printing and hardened over time through biological growth. - [This ‘living paint’ traps carbon dioxide and produces oxygen](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/11/this-living-paint-traps-carbon-dioxide-and-produces-oxygen/) - By encasing bacteria in a tough but porous coating, researchers have made paint that could be used to capture carbon and produce biofuels - [Bread waste could be repurposed for the food industry](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/03/heres-how-bread-waste-could-be-repurposed-for-the-food-industry/) - Old bread makes a better and more sustainable food substrate for microorganisms widely used to make wine, cheese and yogurt. And it reduces carbon emissions. - [Researchers dig deep into the huge potential value of industrial food waste](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/02/researchers-dig-deep-into-the-huge-potential-value-of-industrial-food-waste/) - Starchy foods such as popcorn and old pizza can be used to make bioplastics and high fiber wastes like tomato peels and eggshells are good fillers for tires. - [End of life planning . . . for foam furniture and insulation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/05/recycling-technique-gives-new-life-to-old-foam/) - Recycling polyurethane foam waste is hard. A new recycling technique converts old mattresses and furniture cushions into high-quality hard plastics and rubbers. - [From crop waste to clothing: new research takes a first step](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/from-crop-waste-to-clothing-new-research-takes-a-first-step/) - Testing wheat straw, oat husks, potatoes and sugar beet, scientists identify promising candidates to make future fibres from farm waste. - [Circular trash management is a powerful but overlooked climate solution](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/01/circular-trash-management-powerful-overlooked-climate-solution/) - Garbage accounts for 8% of human-caused emissions of methane. A recent analysis found that switching to circular waste management could reduce emissions from garbage by as much as 88% by 2050. - [The circular economy comes for chocolate. . . and honey](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/cocoa-honey-and-an-ultrasound-the-combination-that-could-become-an-agricultural-solution/) - Researchers used ultrasound to infuse stingless-bee honey with compounds from discarded cocoa shells, creating a sustainable sweetener with hints of chocolate. - [The emotional contradictions of climate messaging](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/the-emotional-contradictions-of-climate-messaging/) - 2 new analyses of media and social posts reveal some unexpected twists—climate advocates warn of crisis while offering optimism, and skeptics lean on “science” - [Can we keep producing more food in a warmer world?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/can-we-keep-producing-more-food-in-a-warmer-world/) - It’s a question of speed. Agriculture needs to outpace climate change, even while struggling with its carbon footprint. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Climate action could backfire on food—unless we use this fix](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/climate-policies-may-actually-worsen-world-hunger-but-one-overlooked-factor-could-reduce-the-risk/) - Scientists say cleaner air from reduced ozone pollution may be key to avoiding a global hunger spike. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Tennis courts serve up an unexpected climate solution](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/tennis-courts-serve-up-a-climate-solution/) - Researchers have found that green clay tennis courts are able to absorb massive amounts of carbon dioxide via enhanced rock weathering - [Five Fixes for Climate Despair](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/five-fixes-for-climate-despair/) - Climate action comes down to how people work together. Here's the latest science on us—the human factors that are helping or hindering decarbonization efforts. - [Five Fixes for The Renewable Grid](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/five-fixes-for-the-renewable-grid/) - The grid is front and center in the transition to a fully sustainable economy. Here are five new ideas for keeping the (zero carbon) lights on - [Five Fixes for a Biodiverse Planet](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/five-fixes-for-a-biodiverse-planet/) - Preserving biodiversity is the best insurance we have against an unknown future. Here are five ways to keep our fellow inhabitants of Planet Earth healthy. - [Five Fixes for Climate-Friendly Crops](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/five-fixes-for-climate-friendly-crops/) - Planet Earth is basically a farm. How and what we produce for consumption will shape our future. Here are five ways farmers are working to fix the climate. - [Five Fixes for Carbon Cleanup](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/five-fixes-for-carbon-cleanup/) - How are we going to suck carbon dioxide out of the air? And who's going to pay for it? Here are five routes forward - [These countries have reached ‘peak meat’](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/12/these-countries-have-reached-peak-meat/) - Above $40,000 GDP per capita, several countries seem to make a voluntary shift away from meat, a new analysis finds. - [Your carbon footprint may have more to do with your wealth than your location](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/02/the-unexpected-drivers-of-carbon-footprints/) - The rural-urban divide is the second most important driver of a Swiss person’s carbon footprint. The first is household income. - [There’s more cropland in protected areas than we might think](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/01/theres-more-cropland-in-protected-areas-than-we-might-think/) - A study finds that crops occur in every category of protected habitat on the planet, making up 6% of all conserved land - [For at least one species, cigarettes might actually be good for health.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/for-at-least-one-species-cigarettes-might-actually-be-good-for-health/) - The Eurasian blue tit has been seen lacing nests with cigarette butts. It might be acting as a weapon against parasites. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Is there a climate generation gap?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/is-there-a-climate-generation-gap/) - The age groups are aligned in mission, but not necessarily in tactics | A Fixing Carbon post by Anthropocene Magazine - [An understudied emotion packs a surprisingly large climate action punch](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/08/an-understudied-emotion-packs-a-surprisingly-large-climate-action-punch/) - Of five emotions (anger, sadness, guilt, fear, and hope), researchers found that climate anger has the strongest links to climate activism - [What seems most true: Information that confirms your beliefs...or information repeated over and over?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/what-seems-most-true-information-that-confirms-your-beliefs-or-information-repeated-over-and-over/) - Even one repetition of false claim about climate change is sufficient to make it seem a bit truer later on | Anthropocene Magazine - [The backlash paradox of radical climate protests](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/the-backlash-paradox-of-radical-climate-protests/) - Extreme actions turn people off the activists behind them—but may leave the broader climate movement stronger than before. - [The first megastudy of climate messages hints at what motivates different audiences](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/02/the-first-megastudy-of-climate-messages-hints-at-what-motivates-different-audiences/) - Nearly 250 researchers drew more than 59,000 participants from 63 countries to compare climate change messages in a head-to-head test. - [The ecology of fear in the Anthropocene has a new plot twist](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/the-ecology-of-fear-in-the-anthropocene-has-a-new-plot-twist/) - New research finds that wolves are afraid of the super predator in the woods (humans)—and that protecting them doesn't make them less fearful of us. - [A polar bear paradox is unfolding in the Arctic](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/a-polar-bear-paradox-is-unfolding-in-the-arctic/) - Against the backdrop of Arctic warming, polar bears in Norway’s far north are gaining fat and feeding on new prey—a testament to their adaptability. - [The Black Death holds a surprising lesson: Humans and biodiversity can go hand in hand](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/the-black-death-holds-a-surprising-lesson-humans-and-biodiversity-can-go-hand-in-hand/) - When the Black Death depopulated Europe, abandoned farmland reverted to forest—and plant diversity declined. The lesson may complicate modern conservation ideas - [Can ecological collapse be undone? China is making a bold move on the Yangtze River.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/can-ecological-collapse-be-undone-china-is-making-a-bold-move-on-the-yangtze-river/) - China’s unprecedented fishing ban is reversing years of biodiversity loss in the Yangtze, raising questions about the possibility—and cost—of restoration. - [The pelicans that brought peace to a troubled corner of Europe](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/the-pelicans-that-brought-peace-to-a-troubled-corner-of-europe/) - Environmental peacebuilding shows that restoring nature can also heal conflicts - [The remarkable restoration of a degraded coastline brought on by returning sea otters](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/02/the-remarkable-restoration-a-degraded-coastline-brought-on-by-returning-sea-otters/) - A new study demonstrating how otters slow coastal erosion underscores the far-reaching benefits of reintroducing top predators. - [America’s wind turbines are aging. Therein lies a massive opportunity to decarbonize the grid.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/americas-wind-turbines-are-aging-therein-lies-a-massive-opportunity-to-decarbonize-the-grid/) - Upgrading existing wind farms is a climate win hiding in plain sight, according to a new nationwide analysis | Anthropocene Magazine - [Researchers took the key weakness of renewable energy and made it a superpower](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/12/researchers-took-the-key-weakness-of-renewable-energy-and-made-it-a-superpower/) - When they analyzed renewable energy supply and power demand at a fine scale, researcher discovered new opportunities for a low-cost, reliable green grid. - [The future holds many, many more EV batteries. And therein lies a solution to grid storage.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/the-future-holds-many-many-more-ev-batteries-solution-to-grid-storage/) - A new study suggests vehicle-to-grid technology and reused old EV batteries could meet all of the EU’s need for battery storage—and then some. - [Forget energy independence. The secret to a renewable grid lies in transcontinental electricity trading.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/01/forget-energy-independence-the-secret-to-a-renewable-grid-lies-in-transcontinental-electricity-trading/) - In a first, researchers show how renewable energy can be 100% reliable and economically feasible through transcontinental power pools—no storage required. - [This elegant solution to expanding the grid costs half as much as building new power lines](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/this-elegant-solution-to-expanding-the-grid-costs-half-as-much-as-building-new-power-lines/) - Reconductoring has been mostly overlooked in the United States—until now. A new study finds the potential for billions of dollars in savings - [What happens to obsolete oil rigs in a green future? This study has a smart answer.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/what-happens-to-obsolete-oil-rigs-in-a-green-future-this-study-has-a-smart-answer/) - Recycling the copper and steel of old oil rigs into wind and solar infrastructure could cut billions of tons of emissions—and save $11 trillion. - [Chemists have made the best carbon capture material yet](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/235224/) - A little over 1.5 cups of a yellow powder made of tiny porous polymer particles can capture as much carbon dioxide in a year as a mature tree. - [Chemists turn plastic waste into carbon capture material](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/chemists-turn-plastic-waste-into-carbon-capture-material/) - Researchers have developed a new process that transforms discarded PET bottles into a carbon-capture sorbent—turning abundant waste into a climate technology. - [Researchers combine geothermal energy with CO2 capture to create a novel self-sustaining loop](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/02/researchers-combine-geothermal-energy-with-co2-capture-to-create-a-novel-self-sustaining-loop/) - In their strategy, CO2 pulled from the air is stored in deep, hot, saltwater aquifers; Heat brought to the surface is then used to power the DAC process. - [Engineers have found a way to capture carbon dioxide using light](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/01/using-light-to-capture-carbon-dioxide/) - CO2 takes different forms in acidic and alkaline solutions. This new carbon-removal method takes advantage of that by switching acidity on and off using light. - [Tiny device could aid large-scale carbon storage](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/08/tiny-device-could-aid-large-scale-carbon-storage/) - Lab-on-a-chip reveals how chemical reactions with the gas unfold in rocks at very high time and scale resolutions - [How to jumpstart a market for a product that doesn’t yet exist](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/how-to-jumpstart-a-market-for-a-product-that-doesnt-yet-exist/) - An economic tool that brought the world life-saving vaccines could now unlock billions for carbon removal. - [Underdogs no more. Small rodents emerge as the power-house of prairie ecosystems](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/underdogs-no-more-small-rodents-emerge-as-the-power-house-of-prairie-ecosystems/) - New research reveals that prairie dogs boost grassland soil and vegetation health even more than bison—making them key players in prairie restoration. - [Researchers pave the way for climate-ready crops with potatoes that thrive in heat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/researchers-pave-the-way-for-climate-ready-crops-with-potatoes-that-thrive-in-heat/) - First they cracked a problem that slows down plant photosynthesis—then they succeeded in super-charging potato growth by up to 30%. - [What’s the best way to make the tomato industry more carbon-efficient? Hint: It’s not local.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/whats-the-best-way-to-make-the-tomato-industry-more-carbon-efficient-hint-its-not-local/) - Tomatoes are the world's most-farmed vegetable. A new study quantifies the carbon footprint of this ballooning industry—and identifies ways to shrink it. - [If farmers play the long game, biochar will pay off for crops and climate](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/if-farmers-play-the-long-game-biochar-will-pay-off-for-crops-and-climate/) - Turning 70% of waste straw into biochar could lock away an amount of carbon equivalent to almost 5% of global emissions. - [Wheat on Repeat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/wheat-on-repeat/) - If all land now under annual grain crops were converted to perennial agriculture, the soil could accumulate almost twice the annual emissions of global aviation - [A new cooling technology freezes food without warming the climate](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/zero-emissions-cooling-technology-achieves-sub-zero/) - Researchers have built the first refrigerant-free system to reach sub-zero temperatures, a breakthrough that could reduce food waste and greenhouse emissions. - [Thanks for Signing Up](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/thanks-for-signing-up/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ theme_builder_area=”post_content” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Full-logo-FB-default.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” alt=”Anthropocene Magazine” title_text=”Full logo – FB default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ width=”33%” module_alignment=”center”][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” text_font=”–et_global_body_font|700|||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”43px” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ text_line_height=”1.3em”]Thanks for signing up!You’ll hear from us soon.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section] - [Higher yields and lower emissions can go hand in hand](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/why-more-food-could-mean-lower-emissions-worldwide/) - A 60-year dataset reveals that the biggest driver of declining agricultural emissions is in fact more productivity on farms. - [Heavy industry still runs on heat from fossil fuels. This discovery could finally change that.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/tiny-carbon-threads-could-decarbonize-industrial-heating/) - Wires made of carbon nanotube fibers could amp up the conversion of clean electricity to high-temperature heat, cutting the carbon footprint of manufacturing. - [Can evolution keep up with climate change? This flower offers hope.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/can-evolution-keep-up-with-climate-change-this-flower-offers-hope/) - The scarlet monkeyflower's ability to keep pace with a punishing drought signals some plants can adapt quickly to climate extremes. - [Could bioenergy crops be worse for biodiversity than climate change?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/03/bioenergy-vs-climate-biodiversity/) - Given that some climate mitigation scenarios predict that more than 4 percent of Earth’s land area could be used for bioenergy crops, this is not an academic concern. - [What’s more carbon-friendly, farmed or wild fish?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/whats-more-carbon-friendly-farmed-or-wild-fish/) - Some math for those suffering analysis paralysis in the seafood section | A Fixing Carbon Post from Anthropocene Magazine - [Conservationists propose a new goal: <20 extinctions per year](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/06/conservationists-propose-a-new-goal-fewer-than-twenty-extinctions-per-year/) - To bring down the annual death count, we have to acknowledge it. - [Solar farms could come with a pollinator bonus](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/01/solar-farms-could-come-with-a-pollinator-bonus/) - New research shows how habitat-friendly solar energy can safeguard insect populations—and improve pollination services on adjacent farms. - [The future of epoxy could be plant-based—and recyclable](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/240644/) - New resin derived from woody waste beats fossil resin strength by 76%, and could keep difficult-to-recycle composite materials out of landfill - [The strange and persistent psychological distance between us and climate disaster](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/the-strange-and-persistent-psychological-distance-between-us-and-climate-disaster/) - An analysis of dozens of previously published studies reveals people systematically underestimate their own vulnerability to climate threats. - [Streetlights are quietly rewriting the rules of birdsong](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/streetlights-are-quietly-rewriting-the-rules-of-birdsong/) - Light pollution is making many birds sing nearly an hour longer at dawn or dusk; whether that is helpful or harmful for the birds is an open question. - [Streetlights are artificially extending the growing season in cities.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/streetlights-are-artificially-extending-the-growing-season-in-cities/) - What’s more, researchers found that the phenomenon will increase further as street lighting is converted to energy efficient LEDs. - [Evolution by automotive selection](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/evolution-by-automotive-selection/) - Scientists in the Galápagos discover yellow warblers living near traffic exhibit the bird version of "road rage." | Anthropocene Magazine - [Not all AI prompts are equal. Some emit 50x more carbon than others. Here's why.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/not-all-ai-prompts-are-equal-some-emit-50x-more-carbon-than-others-heres-why/) - When researchers delved into the tradeoff between AI sustainability and accuracy, they uncovered strategies for greener chatbots. - [Large-scale recycling of modern textiles is now in sight](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/large-scale-recycling-of-modern-textiles-is-now-in-sight/) - Fast fashion creates mountains of polyester-cotton textile waste—a new recycling method that separates and recycles the two materials could be what the industry needs. - [AI shows stoplights are a big climate problem—with a deceptively simple fix.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/could-your-smartphone-be-the-secret-to-cutting-vehicle-emissions-without-compromising-traffic-speed-or-safety/) - By simulating a million traffic scenarios, study found that apps guiding vehicle speeds at intersections could cut emissions at a scale rivaling entire nations. - [Sponge made from food scraps produces clean water from thin air](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/researchers-use-food-scraps-to-produce-clean-water-from-thin-air/) - A hydrogel made from waste natural materials pulls over 14 liters of drinkable water from air per day, offering a sustainable way to alleviate water scarcity. - [From roadside litter to road strengthener, cigarette butts find a new life](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/from-roadside-litter-to-road-strengthener-cigarette-butts-find-a-new-life/) - Millions of toxic e-cig butts are tossed every day. A new study shows they can be recycled into asphalt pellets that boost road durability and cut carbon. - [By zapping seawater with electricity, scientists make a solid carbon-negative building material](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/by-zapping-seawater-with-electricity-scientists-make-a-solid-carbon-negative-building-material/) - In a double whammy, the new method sucks up carbon dioxide and upcycles it into a material that can be used to make concrete, cement, plaster, and paint. - [Here’s how fish farms could double as a climate solution](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/heres-how-fish-farms-could-double-as-a-climate-solution/) - A new study analyzes a potential win-win solution for fish health and carbon capture. The critical ingredient is something you might not expect. - [Is the AI juice worth the carbon squeeze?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/is-the-ai-juice-worth-the-carbon-squeeze/) - Data centers’ thirst for energy looms as the next big climate provocation | A Fixing Carbon post by Anthropocene Magazine - [Engineers turn fish biology into a breakthrough microplastic laundry filter](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/the-microfiber-vortex/) - Inspired by the filter feeding basking sharks and manta rays, a startup has developed a filter that traps over 90% of microplastics in each wash cycle. - [Nuclear power is in a hole. To get out, this start-up kept digging](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/nuclear-power-is-in-a-hole-to-get-out-this-start-up-kept-digging/) - They’re betting that they can take the cost out of nuclear power—and solve it’s waste problem — by putting small reactors a mile underground. - [Shipping solar power at the speed of a freight train](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/shipping-solar-power-at-the-speed-of-a-freight-train/) - By charging up battery cars where renewable energy is cheap and delivering the power to where it’s needed, this startup thinks railroads could break the clean energy transmission logjam. - [Do solar panels hurt crop yields? It depends on where you farm. ](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/how-beneficial-are-solar-panels-on-farms-it-depends/) - A new study shows agrivoltaics can cut maize yields in humid regions but boost soybean production in drier climates. - [EV batteries are getting better faster than the climate is getting worse](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/will-evs-withstand-climate-change/) - Concerns about EV performance in extreme heat waves might be a thing of the past, thanks to improvements in battery technology, researchers show. - [There’s no such thing as a free polymer. The tradeoff at the heart of bioplastics.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-free-polymer-the-tradeoff-at-the-heart-of-bioplastics/) - A new life-cycle analysis reveals that bio-based plastics are better for the climate but worse for biodiversity. The greenest option is reducing demand. - [Contrails are a climate puzzle written across the sky](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/03/contrails-are-a-climate-puzzle-written-across-the-sky/) - As airlines test new routes and researchers refine models, contrail avoidance is becoming a potential tool for cutting the carbon footprint of aviation. - [Sooner or later someone is going to flip the shades](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/03/is-solar-geoengineering-inevitable-or-can-we-still-fix-the-climate-without-it/) - Or can we still fix the climate without it? - [Scientists fed biochar to cows. Here’s what happened.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/scientists-fed-biochar-to-cows-heres-what-happened/) - Study shows biochar survives cow digestion intact, potentially turning cattle into a vehicle for spreading this carbon-stabilizing ingredient into the soil. - [Breadcrumbs (literally) lay path away from fossil fuels](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/breadcrumbs-lay-path-away-from-fossil-fuels/) - Bacteria munching on waste bread release hydrogen that could run chemical reactions, providing a carbon-negative way to produce drugs and food products. - [Less air pollution means more warming. Could marine cloud brightening offset the paradox?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/less-air-pollution-means-more-warming-could-marine-cloud-brightening-offset-the-paradox/) - Computer simulations reveal that spraying sea salt aerosols may keep global temperatures near 2020 levels as air pollution falls. - [Maps of the New World](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/08/maps-of-the-new-world/) - Cartographers of the Anthropocene are beginning to map the future. As climate change scrambles geographies, it's time to redraw Earth. - [Should we let AI take our jobs…if it generates less carbon?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/12/should-we-let-ai-take-our-jobsif-it-generates-less-carbon/) - Some researchers believe replacing human workers with AI has a climate upside. Others think the low-carbon solution is to hit the off switch. - [Engineered wood could cool down buildings without using energy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/06/engineered-wood-could-cool-down-buildings-without-using-energy/) - A novel modified wood that reflects sun rays and radiates heat into space could keep homes cooler and slash the energy use of air-conditioners. - [Firefly-inspired LEDs Shine Bright On Less Energy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/03/firefly-inspired-leds-shine-bright-on-less-energy/) - By mimicking the lopsided pyramidal structures found on firefly bellies, researchers have come up with a new light-emitting diode (LED) that could use less energy than today’s LED light bulbs. - [Is solar power a lifesaver? Yes, and this is why](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/05/solar-power-lifesaver/) - We could reap north of $400 billion in environmental and health benefits—and tens of thousands of avoided deaths—by 2050 from solar power - [Which type of chocolate has the lowest climate impact?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/which-type-of-chocolate-has-the-lowest-climate-impact/) - A lifecycle analysis compares dark, milk, white, and compound chocolate, and detects the surprising environmental burden of different ingredients. - [Are we jumping the net zero gun with EVs and heat pumps?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/are-we-jumping-the-net-zero-gun-with-evs-and-heat-pumps/) - The two big electrification tools are not delivering on emissions, researchers say. Countries need to prioritize renewables, grid capacity, and carbon capture. - [We’re not yet experts at guiding planes to avoid contrails. We should start doing it anyway.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/were-not-yet-experts-at-guiding-planes-to-avoid-contrails-we-should-start-doing-it-anyway/) - According to a comprehensive modeling study, the climate benefits of contrail avoidance depend on speed, not perfection | Anthropocene Magazine | - [Animals' "landscape of fear" gets weird when people enter the equation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/animals-landscape-of-fear-gets-weird-when-people-enter-the-equation/) - Despite the risk of becoming roadkill, squirrels act like it's safer closer to noisy roads. | from Anthropocene Magazine - [Root intelligence: How old trees learn to suck more CO2 from the air.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/root-intelligence-how-old-trees-learn-to-suck-more-co2-from-the-air/) - New research finds that oaks can dynamically rewire how they absorb nutrients—suggesting they may be more resilient to climate change than once believed. - [Move over trees. Engineers turn manure into high-grade cellulose.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/move-over-trees-engineers-turn-manure-into-high-grade-cellulose/) - The world produces billions of metric tons of animal waste. Imagine turning it into one of the world’s most used materials - [Teenage fish on drugs take more risks, too.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/teenage-fish-on-drugs-take-more-risks-too/) - New study offers some of the most compelling real-world evidence yet that pharmaceutical pollution is messing with wildlife behavior and habitat. - [It's not march of the penguins, but the great migration of flies is major force in ecosystems and economies](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/its-not-the-march-of-the-penguins-but-the-great-migration-of-flies-is-major-force-in-ecosystems-and-the-economy/) - In a new paper, scientists make a compelling case for preserving migration corridors for hundreds of species of tiny flies. - [A landmark study delivers a clear verdict for diversified farmlands](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/a-landmark-study-delivers-a-clear-verdict-for-diversified-farmlands/) - Almost across the board, researchers found that the more diversification strategies a farm employs, the more win-win outcomes they rack up. - [How a novel plant X-ray could help farmers lock up more soil carbon](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/how-a-novel-plant-x-ray-could-help-farmers-lock-up-more-soil-carbon/) - Matching chemical traces in crop leaves and soil can determine the extent of a plant's roots—with exciting consequences for plant breeding and climate change. - [Switching out grape breeds could save half the world’s winelands from climate change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/01/switching-out-grape-breeds-could-save-half-the-worlds-winelands-from-climate-change/) - The global wine industry has its diversity to fall back on under a changing climate - and that holds lessons for other crops too. - [Could rewilding help prevent big wildfires?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/11/fighting-fires-with-animals/) - When people look to nature for solutions to wildfires made bigger, hotter, and more dangerous by climate change, they tend to focus on vegetation—not animals. Yet evidence suggests that big plant-eaters may help prevent fire. - [Recomendações alimentares para um planeta em aquecimento](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/12/recomendacoes-alimentares-para-um-planeta-em-aquecimento/) - Além de melhorar a saúde, as diretrizes alimentares nacionais podem servir para um segundo objetivo: também poderiam ser usadas como uma ferramenta para proteger o meio ambiente. - [Dietary recommendations for a warming planet](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/12/dietary-recommendations-for-a-warming-planet/) - Aside from improving health, national dietary guidelines could serve a second purpose: they could be used as a tool to protect the environment, too. - [Can a vaccine help ward off extinction?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/can-a-vaccine-help-ward-off-extinction/) - Researchers spent a decade developing a chlamydia vaccine for wild koalas. Now, the first doses are ready—and the race to protect the species is on. - [If you listen closely in Kentucky, you can hear the rainforest in southern Mexico.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/if-you-listen-closely-in-kentucky-you-can-hear-the-rainforest-in-southern-mexico/) - A new analysis of billions of amateur bird sightings reveals the dependence of North America’s songbirds on a handful of Central American forests. - [Engineers close a circular economy loop by making stronger concrete with old coffee grounds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/09/engineers-close-a-circular-economy-loop-by-making-stronger-concrete-with-old-coffee-grounds/) - Their technique not only keep coffee grounds out of landfills, it also works as a replacement for dwindling sand resources. | Anthroocene Magazine - [A highly-sensitive ‘electronic nose’ measures methane where it matters most: On the cow](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/a-highly-sensitive-electronic-nose-measures-methane-where-it-matters-most-on-the-cow/) - Most existing sensors struggle to isolate methane in the very noisy chemical landscape of a cattle farm. This new invention may change that. - [Researchers have figured out how to make airplanes fly on landfill gas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/researchers-have-figured-out-how-to-make-airplanes-fly-on-landfill-gas/) - Specially designed efficient catalysts are at the heart of a reactor that makes sustainable aviation fuels from methane-rich gases created when waste decomposes - [There's now hard evidence guaranteeing a second life for old concrete](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/theres-now-hard-evidence-guaranteeing-a-second-life-for-old-concrete/) - Thousands of computer simulations show that concrete slabs and beams from demolished buildings can be reused rather than downcycled. - [Nighttime pollination is plummeting. Some clever sleuthing pinpointed a surprising culprit.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/02/nighttime-pollination-is-plummeting-clever-sleuthing-pinpointed-a-surprising-culprit/) - A big part of the problem, it turns out, is that nighttime air pollution (more so than daytime pollution) blinds pollinators to the smell of flowers. - [What’s the Carbon Catch?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/whats-the-carbon-catch/) - Most seafood is more climate-friendly than its terrestrial counterparts. But the latest controversies run deeper than simply wild-caught vs farmed. - [There’s a fatal flaw in the piecemeal approach to decarbonization](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/05/when-it-comes-to-decarbonization-no-one-can-go-it-alone/) - Emissions cuts in one country or region are likely to lead to increases elsewhere - [The remarkable climate case for turning farm waste into building materials](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/could-we-cool-the-planet-by-turning-crop-waste-into-building-materials/) - Wheat straw and rice husks already appear in niche construction products. A new study explores the global climate effects if they went mainstream. - [Trash of the week, tech of the future](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/researchers-turn-cigarette-butts-into-clean-energy-storing-materials/) - Researchers turn cigarette butts into clean energy-storing materials. #separator_saa new post from Anthropocene Magazine published by Future Earth - [Biodegradable plastics are not a climate solution on their own](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/biodegradable-plastics-are-not-a-climate-solution-on-their-own/) - A new global life-cycle analysis finds that if not properly disposed of, biodegradable plastics could increase methane emissions and plastic accumulation. - [Beaver-engineered habitats are outperforming ours](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/beaver-engineered-habitats-are-outperforming-ours/) - Beaver-engineered wetlands attract twice as many hoverflies, nearly 50% more butterflies, and a richer variety of bats compared to human-made ponds. - [How does the loss of vultures lead to 500,000+ people dying?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/how-does-the-loss-of-vultures-lead-to-500000-people-dying/) - Loss of vultures due to accidental poisoning resulted in more than 100,000 human deaths per year in India. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Biodiversity data is distorted by past inequities. Scientists are wrestling to get a clearer picture.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/01/biodiversity-data-is-distorted-by-past-inequities-scientists-are-wrestling-to-get-a-clearer-picture/) - The stakes are high. A new international agreement promises $30 billion a year to protect biodiversity. Can data-driven decisions avoid previous traps? - [German researchers press for unorthodox butterfly conservation: mining and grazing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/11/butterfly-friendly-mining-german-researchers-say-theyve-found-it/) - As grasslands vanish in parts of Europe, butterflies are finding refuge in unusual places, including industrial wastelands. - [Can We Stop Carbon at the Border? ](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/06/can-we-stop-carbon-at-the-border/) - Talk of carbon tariffs is getting serious. But so are complaints that they would be unfair, risky, and marginally effective. - [EVs will be green despite increasing power demand](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/09/evs-will-be-green-despite-increasing-power-demand/) - If 80 percent of the cars on the road across Europe were electric in 2050, they would slash carbon emissions by 255 million tonnes. That’s after taking into account increased emissions from the power sector. - [Just how effective would a European meat tax be for the environment?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/just-how-effective-would-a-european-meat-tax-be-for-the-environment/) - By removing meat subsidies or taxing carbon across all foods, researchers uncovered how small changes in price could unlock outsized environmental benefits. - [New battery recycling method comes with a side of CO2 capture](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/new-battery-recycling-method-comes-with-a-side-of-co2-capture/) - Three-in-one strategy uses only carbon dioxide and water to recover 95% of lithium and reuses leftover metals, capturing CO2 in the process. - [Rainforests can rebound—but not as quickly as the climate clock is ticking.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/rainforests-can-rebound-but-not-as-quickly-as-the-climate-clock-is-ticking/) - Left alone, tropical forests may recover—but experiments show that targeted nitrogen can dramatically accelerate regrowth and carbon storage. - [Can cities build their way out of both the housing and the climate crises?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/can-cities-build-their-way-out-of-both-the-housing-and-the-climate-crises/) - A global study finds cities can deliver millions of new homes without exhausting the carbon budget—if they abandon carbon-intensive construction norms. - [Protecting forests is not just about biodiversity—it is now about protecting rain.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/protecting-forests-is-not-just-about-biodiversityit-is-now-about-protecting-rain/) - New evidence suggests that conserving forests and wetlands is critical not just for biodiversity, but for sustaining the rainfall that agriculture depends on. - [Should the climate fight shift focus from curbing emissions to reducing human suffering?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/should-the-climate-fight-shift-focus-from-curbing-emissions-to-reducing-human-suffering/) - Should the climate fight shift focus from curbing emissions to reducing human suffering? | A Fixing Carbon post from Anthropocene Magazine - [Are zoos still arks—or are they becoming nursing homes?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/are-zoos-still-arks-or-are-they-becoming-nursing-homes/) - As reproduction slows and populations gray, scientists warn that many zoos are losing their capacity to function as effective conservation tools. - [People like the idea of being green. But they hate being told what to do even more.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/people-like-the-idea-of-being-green-but-they-hate-being-told-what-to-do-even-more/) - A new survey suggests climate mandates could trigger a backlash even worse than COVID policies. | new from Anthropocene Magazine - [How seaweed farms could change the arithmetic of ocean carbon capture...for the better.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/weve-overlooked-a-key-benefit-of-seaweed-farms-on-ocean-chemistry-for-the-first-time-scientists-quantify/) - New research suggests that seaweed farms boost seawater alkalinity, enabling millions—and potentially tens of millions—of tonnes of CO2 removal each year. - [Researchers turn avocado toast into biodegradable food packaging](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/researchers-turn-avocado-toast-into-biodegradable-food-packaging/) - A strong yet degradable bioplastic made from avocado peels and stale bread tackles two global challenges: food waste and plastic pollution - [Here are three climate wins airlines could unlock tomorrow. No new technology required.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/here-are-three-climate-wins-airlines-could-unlock-tomorrow-no-new-technology-required/) - A global analysis finds that existing aircraft, flown differently, could deliver dramatic emissions cuts without grounding travelers. - [A tree’s bark can take a staggeringly large bite out of climate change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/a-trees-bark-can-take-a-staggeringly-large-bite-out-of-climate-change/) - The trillions of microbes inhabiting tree bark can suck up planet-warming gases, scientists have discovered. - [A new kind of green revolution could start with self-fertilizing crops](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/new-research-takes-another-step-towards-self-sustaining-crops/) - Early experiments suggest that reprogramming plant immune receptors could one day slash the world’s dependence on nitrogen fertilizer. - [A radical carbon removal proposal in the Arctic](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/a-radical-carbon-removal-proposal-in-the-arctic/) - Scientists explore the potential of sinking timber to the cold, oxygen-free Arctic Ocean floor to lock away carbon dioxide for thousands of years. - [The economic impact of plant-based diets: fewer jobs, lower costs, and big climate benefits](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/a-greener-diet-a-leaner-workforce/) - The global move toward sustainable eating could save $100 billion annually in farm costs—but at a steep human cost in rural jobs. - [The perverse dilemma of reef recovery: Less fish now, more food later.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/the-perverse-dilemma-of-reef-recovery-less-fish-now-more-food-later/) - Scientists say coral fisheries could sustainably provide thousands more meals per sq. km. But it requires sacrifice from communities that have little to spare. - [The strange new economics of negative electricity pricing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/01/the-strange-new-economics-of-negative-electricity-pricing/) - As clean energy surges, utilities that once urged restraint may need to reward households for using electricity—reshaping how virtue and consumption collide. - [A new way to fight Lyme Disease: Prescribed fire](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/10/a-new-way-to-fight-lyme-disease-forest-fires/) - Setting fires in eastern U.S. forests could combat rising tick-borne diseases, while also making forests more healthy, say scientists. - [The climate case for cheap food](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/12/grocery-shopping-on-a-budget-may-be-the-surest-way-to-lower-your-emissions/) - An analysis of diets worldwide reveals that lower-cost diets are often substantially less carbon-intensive than the meals people eat most often. - [Researchers have turned beer waste into valuable carbon materials](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/12/simple-method-turns-beer-waste-into-valuable-carbon-materials/) - A simple, low-cost method converts the spent grains from beer brewing into renewable fuel and high-value carbon materials. - [Discovery of a new beaver benefit is a happy accident](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/11/discovery-of-a-new-beaver-benefit-is-a-happy-accident/) - A beaver dam built in the middle of a river research project illuminated how their presence counters stream pollution worsened by climate change. - [Climate change is making the ocean noisier](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/10/climate-change-is-making-the-ocean-noisier/) - Modeling the effects of warming, researchers predict shipping traffic in some parts of the ocean could be five times louder by the end of the century - [How much is a mangrove forest worth? In some places, $850,000 per hectare.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/07/how-much-is-a-mangrove-forest-worth-in-some-places-850000-per-hectare/) - Thousands of kilometers of shoreline are cost-effective candidates for mangrove forest and coral reef restoration, thanks to their ability to reduce flooding. - [Chasing the dream of transparent insulation, researchers hit on a solution: high-tech “bubble wrap”](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/12/chasing-the-dream-of-transparent-insulation-researchers-hit-on-a-solution-high-tech-bubble-wrap/) - Scientists have created a porous material that keeps windows almost 100 percent transparent while blocking 10X as much heat as regular glass windows. - [Italy’s bears are showing genetic signs of domestication](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/12/italys-bears-are-showing-genetic-signs-of-domestication/) - A new study shows how long-term coexistence with humans can reshape even the wildest predators—in this case, making bears less aggressive. - [Satellite ‘surveillance’ reveals which sustainable farming methods work—and which don't](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/11/satellite-surveillance-can-tell-us-if-sustainable-farming-methods-work/) - Until now, it has been difficult to measure how effective greener farming methods are across large swaths of land - [Will renewables break the power grid or save it?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/02/will-renewables-break-the-power-grid-or-save-it/) - The carbon-free promise of solar and wind teeters on high voltage wires. | A Fixing Carbon post from Anthropocene Magazine - [Which countries are best positioned to pivot toward sustainable development?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/02/which-countries-are-best-positioned-to-pivot-toward-sustainable-development/) - A research team created an "Industrial Modernity Index” that challenges conventional wisdom about country's ability to transform itself - [Here's a powerful way to recycle disposable face masks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/02/77835/) - Researchers have made batteries from face mask and drug blister packs, and they hold as much energy per weight as commercial lithium-ion batteries - [How climate change could change the way we die](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/01/how-climate-change-could-change-way-we-die/) - A new study predicts more deaths from injuries in a warmer world. - [EVs aren’t just cars anymore. They can power your home slashing emissions—and bills.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/12/evs-arent-just-cars-anymore-they-can-power-your-home-slashing-emissions-and-bills/) - A first-of-its-kind study finds that vehicle-to-home charging can turn electric cars into grid-smart assets, reducing energy costs and carbon emissions. - [Can wheat fertilize itself? A study inches closer to that goal.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/12/can-wheat-fertilize-itself-a-study-inches-closer-to-that-goal/) - By coaxing soil bacteria into fixing more nitrogen, gene-edited wheat shows how crops might one day sidestep synthetic fertilizers. - [Humble fish inspire self-cleaning microplastic filter](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/12/humble-fish-inspire-a-self-cleaning-microplastic-filter/) - Washing machines release 500 grams of plastic microfibers into waterways. Researchers have made a fish gill-inspired filter that traps 99% of those microfibers. - [One solution to U.S. grid expansion minimizes costs and emissions. The other maximizes reliability.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/12/one-solution-to-us-grid-expansion-minimizes-costs-and-emissions-the-other-maximizes-reliability/) - In a rare scientific analysis of pending energy legislation, researchers put two competing policy approaches to the test. - [Solastalgia Meets the Alps](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/12/solastalgia-meets-the-alps/) - My job takes me to faraway places. My daughter calls it witnessing the death of the Earth. She is wrong. I’m recording a fight to maintain hope. - [How does cutting off Russian gas affect Europe’s ability to meet climate targets?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/08/how-does-cutting-off-russian-gas-affect-europes-ability-to-meet-climate-targets/) - Study finds that after initial disruptions, Russian gas supplies become more or less irrelevant to the EU by 2030—freeing it to reach net-zero carbon emissions. - [Looks can be deceiving. This smart fungus could beat meat at its own game.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/12/looks-can-be-deceiving-this-smart-fungus-could-beat-meat-at-its-own-game/) - By stripping two metabolic enzymes, scientists created a mycoprotein that needs less energy, emits less carbon, and rivals the taste and texture of real meat. - [Coffee biochar makes for lower-carbon, stronger concrete](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/12/coffee-grounds-give-lower-carbon-stronger-concrete/) - New analysis shows that charred coffee grounds make increase concrete's strength by 30% and shrink its carbon footprint by nearly as much - [A pause in the Anthropocene led to an eagle baby boom](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/12/a-pause-in-the-anthropocene-led-to-an-eagle-baby-boom/) - Decades of monitoring failed to detect it, but the Covid lockdown showed that human activity has been quietly stifling Bonelli’s eagle reproduction. - [What escapes the lint trap? Dryers emerge as overlooked microfiber polluters…with a simple fix](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/12/what-escapes-the-lint-trap-dryers-emerge-as-overlooked-microfiber-polluters-with-a-simple-fix/) - Long seen as a waterborne problem, microfiber pollution is increasingly traced to dryer vents. Studies point to inexpensive filters as a practical stopgap. - [This 3-ingredient film made from food waste may actually beat regular plastic packaging?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/this-3-ingredient-film-made-from-food-waste-may-actually-beat-regular-plastic-packaging/) - The next-gen bioplastic invention surpassed the abilities of some conventional plastic packaging in repelling water and oxygen. - [Adding one elegantly simple device to charging stations could tame EV charging chaos](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/adding-one-elegantly-simple-device-to-charging-stations-could-tame-ev-charging-chaos/) - Electric-vehicle stations are straining the grid. A modest piece of hardware could ease the growing pains. | Anthropocene Magazine - [What's on the menu? For cats, just about everything.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/12/whats-on-the-menu-for-cats-just-about-everything/) - New research documents the vast and varied appetite domestic cats have for wildlife, including endangered species. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Does energy security lie in being more connected or less connected?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/03/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. - [Growing drought-resilient rice for a hotter future](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/04/growing-drought-resilient-rice-for-a-hotter-future/) - An unfortunate trade-off of drought-resistant crops is that they tend to be less productive. But now researchers have made productive rice strains that are also tougher, in preparation for a hotter future. - [Iron-enhanced biochar could redefine what soil Is capable of  ](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/iron-enriched-biochar-could-accelerate-sustainability-gains-on-farms/) - A review of dozens of studies hints that seeding biochar with iron fragments can mop up contaminants, stabilize nutrients, and lower farm emissions. - [MIT researchers invented a way to shake water out of thin air](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/to-pull-water-from-air-just-shake-it-off/) - Inspired by molecular motion, they used vibrations to jolt water loose from sorbents, capturing droplets 45x faster than today’s tech, with minimal power. - [How subtle word choices can undermine a scientific climate message](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/how-subtle-word-choices-can-undermine-a-scientific-climate-message/) - Researchers found that framing uncertain events in negative terms such as “unlikely” could sow confusion about climate science - [Can Trump (or anyone) stop the momentum of the EV revolution?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/can-trump-or-anyone-stop-the-momentum-of-the-ev-revolution/) - Are we at an EV tipping point? Is the world just going to pick up momentum and leave the US in the dust? Or can Trump still slam on the brakes? - [The rise of the Anthropocene can be tracked in hummingbirds' beaks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/the-rise-of-the-anthropocene-can-be-tracked-in-hummingbirds-beaks/) - The beaks of Anna's hummingbirds in California grew longer as people started hanging artificial feeders, according to new research - [Are organic apples better for the soil? Study challenges assumptions.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/organic-vs-conventional-soils-we-may-be-comparing-apples-with-apples/) - Researchers found little difference between organic and conventional soils, suggesting that specific farming techniques, not labels, drive ecological outcomes. - [Ocean microbes may be developing taste for plastic pollution](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/ocean-microbes-may-be-developing-taste-for-plastic-pollution/) - New research finds bacteria in more than 75% of global ocean samples equipped with enzymes that can break down PET—the plastic used in bottles. - [Your future airplane flight could be powered by everything you throw away](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/your-future-flight-could-be-powered-by-everything-you-throw-away/) - Fuel made from trash and food waste can't entirely replace conventional jet fuel—but it could take a big bite out of airlines’ carbon emissions - [Scientists develop energy-free cooling paint that produces potable water](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/scientists-develop-energy-free-cooling-paint-that-produces-potable-water/) - A nanoengineered roof coating reflects 97% of sunlight, condenses dew, and could help fight heat and drought in climate-stressed regions worldwide. - [Looks like science, lies like propaganda. Inside a new wave of climate misinformation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/11/looks-like-science-lies-like-propaganda-inside-a-new-wave-of-climate-misinformation/) - An AI analysis shows that climate deniers are using data visuals to appear trustworthy. Fact-checking can’t counter the power of these deceptive aesthetics. - [A 42-year experiment reveals the surprising persistence of carbon in retired farmland soils](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/a-42-year-long-experiment-reveals-the-surprising-persistence-of-carbon-in-retired-farmland-soils/) - New research turns an old assumption on its head. Retired farmlands, researchers discovered, were a carbon sink, not a source. - [Engineers turn dirty water into clean hydrogen](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/dirty-water-could-give-clean-hydrogen/) - New Princeton research shows that reclaimed wastewater can replace purified water in hydrogen production, cutting treatment costs by 47%. - [In terms of carbon, is this glass of milk half full or half empty?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/04/californian-dairy-farms-have-halved-their-emissions-since-1964/) - The dairy industry's overall ghg emissions have risen over time due to increased demand. But the footprint of one liter of milk is now lower than ever before. - [When architecture becomes carbon accounting](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/when-architecture-becomes-carbon-accounting/) - Researchers calculated how much carbon is locked up in city buildings—and then started thinking about how to keep it there - [What you eat matters as much as where you eat it.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/what-you-eat-matters-as-much-as-where-you-eat-it/) - A new analysis reveals that the carbon “hoofprint” of meat can vary more than threefold depending on where it’s produced—and where it’s eaten. - [This air filter could make your home (and everyone else’s) a carbon-capture plant](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/this-air-filter-could-make-your-home-and-everyone-elses-a-carbon-capture-plant/) - Engineers have made a nanofiber filter that fits in building ventilation systems and soaks up CO2 at lower cost than massive direct-air capture plants. - [Researchers discover a way to generate negative emissions from charging electric cars](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/researchers-discover-a-way-to-generate-negative-emissions-from-charging-electric-cars/) - The answer lies in strategic charging to encourage solar and wind power development | Anthropocene Magazine - [Is greenhushing the new greenwashing? Or something else entirely](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/is-greenhushing-the-new-greenwashing-or-something-else-entirely/) - Companies used to be accused of faking sustainability via greenwashing. Now some are hiding actual climate progress. | Fixing Carbon series from Anthropocene - [Could China grow all its vegetables indoors—without warming the planet?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/plant-factories-could-shield-the-worlds-vegetable-powerhouse-from-climate-change-but-theres-a-caveat/) - Short answer: Not yet. Scientists modeled renewable-powered “plant factories” and found they could meet China’s entire vegetable demand while freeing farmland. But the carbon cost of building the systems is still too high. - [Science plus local knowledge produce a fishing innovation grounded in reality.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/science-plus-local-knowledge-produce-a-fishing-innovation-grounded-in-reality/) - New self-charging lights co-designed by scientists and fishers slash turtle entanglements and could become a model for sustainable tech at sea. - [From poison to power. New method recycles arsenic for clean energy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/putting-toxic-arsenic-to-good-use/) - Researchers have found a way to recover toxic arsenic from groundwater and repurpose it for solar cells, closing the loop on a global pollution problem. - [Fossil fuel companies’ contributions to the green transition are largely hot air](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/fossil-fuel-companies-contributions-to-the-green-transition-are-largely-hot-air/) - The first quantitative global analysis of renewable energy development by fossil giants reveals an enormous gap between rhetoric and reality. - [What conditions make some green startups float and others sink?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/11/what-conditions-make-some-green-startups-float-others-sink/) - Challenging conventional wisdom, a new study finds that green businesses aren’t necessarily better off setting up shop in eco-conscious places - [Researchers land on an unusual solution to desert food insecurity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/researchers-land-on-an-unusual-solution-to-desert-food-insecurity/) - In sandy soils treated with pineapple waste, cherry tomatoes were more healthy, had more leaves, and were more likely to survive. - [Vulture nests serve as 600-Year archives of human and environmental change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/vulture-nests-serve-as-600-year-archives-of-human-and-environmental-change/) - Researchers catalogued 1000s of remains from ancient nests, showing how scavengers can provide new data for archaeology, toxicology, and ecosystem studies. - [Researchers build a compostable computer mouse—circuit board and all](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/researchers-build-a-compostable-computer-mouse-circuit-board-and-all/) - Using wood-derived materials, researchers showcase the potential of making eco-friendly yet high-functioning electronics - [When you charge your electric car matters—for both your wallet and the climate](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/when-you-charge-your-car-matters-for-both-your-wallet-and-the-climate/) - The cleanest charging times don’t always align with the lowest prices. Dynamic carbon pricing and smart meters could change that. - [Researchers compare the footprint of meat vs. plant-based dog foods. The differences were staggering.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/researchers-compare-the-footprint-of-meat-vs-plant-based-dog-foods-the-differences-were-staggering/) - A new UK study reveals that switching dogs to plant-based foods could slash emissions tenfold—without sacrificing nutrition. - [Tea compounds can revive dead batteries](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/10/tea-compounds-revive-dead-batteries/) - A new study shows that natural tea compounds help heal lithium-ion battery materials, paving the way for sustainable, low-cost battery reuse. - [Go big or go small . . . what’s the smart solar power play?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/go-big-or-go-smallwhats-the-smart-solar-power-play/) - Industrial solar farms have economies of scale, but millions of rooftop panels have an efficiency edge | Anthropocene Magazine - [What's the most sustainable drinking straw? Scientists say one surprising option beats the rest.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/whats-the-most-sustainable-drinking-straw-scientists-say-one-surprising-option-beats-the-rest/) - Researchers found that a straw ultimately derived from fossil fuels beats the rest—highlighting the complex tradeoffs involved in this humble, everyday object - [Are vertical farms really the answer? A new study reveals their surprisingly large footprint](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/are-vertical-farms-really-the-answer-a-recent-study-reveals-a-surprisingly-large-footprint/) - Most striking was the doubly high land-use of vertical farms compared to conventional ones, which came down to a little-known ingredient. - [Cardboard and soil: the next thing in sustainable construction?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/a-house-made-of-cardboard-and-soil/) - Compacted soil in cardboard cylinders is a low-tech building material strong enough for low-rise structures with a quarter of concrete’s carbon footprint - [How local villagers practice conservation for a fraction of the cost of outside efforts](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/how-local-villagers-practice-conservation-for-a-fraction-of-the-cost-of-outside-efforts/) - Guarding lakes and forests from poachers, local communities in Brazil deliver massive conservation benefits—at less than $1 per hectare. - [Electric vehicles don't just cut tailpipe emissions, they drive infrastructure change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/electric-cars-dont-just-cut-tailpipe-emissions-they-drive-infrastructure-change/) - New study shows that as more people switch to EVs, it spurs investment in renewable energy—making the grid greener regardless of policy shifts. - [Using supercomputers, scientists bring climate measurements down to eye-level for critters](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/10/bringing-climate-measurements-down-to-where-critters-really-live/) - With data from over 1,000 sensors across Europe—and running as much as half a quadrillion calculations per second—the team has created exquisitely detailed maps pinpointing cool habitat oases in a warming planet - [Heat waves aren’t just natural disasters. Study finds hidden fingerprints on our hottest days.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/heat-waves-arent-just-natural-disasters-study-finds-hidden-fingerprints-on-our-hottest-days/) - By connecting individual companies’ emissions to hundreds of heat waves, scientists show how a few producers bear outsized responsibility for climate extremes. - [Zapping food waste with a jolt of electricity could release its true potential](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/zapping-food-waste-with-a-jolt-of-electricity-could-release-its-true-potential/) - Electricity seems to supercharge the fermentation process, increasing the breakdown of food waste into commercially-useful chemicals. - [A groundbreaking study finds EVs are now the lowest carbon (car) ride on U.S. roads—everywhere, for everyone](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/a-groundbreaking-study-finds-evs-are-now-the-lowest-carbon-ride-on-us-roads-everywhere-for-everyone/) - EV benefits are getting a major charge from grid decarbonization and improved efficiency | Anthropocene Magazine - [It's not all about DNA. RNA could transform real-time environmental surveillance](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/its-not-all-about-dna-rna-could-transform-real-time-environmental-surveillance/) - By vanishing quickly, RNA avoids DNA’s problem of lingering too long, giving ecologists a sharper, more immediate picture of life in lakes, rivers, and beyond. - [The great debate over the best way to protect nature—land sparing or land sharing—may be a draw](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/the-great-debate-over-the-best-way-to-protect-nature-land-sparing-or-land-sharing-may-be-a-draw/) - A meta-analysis of 57 studies shows that balancing biodiversity and crop yields may require a mix of farming strategies—not just one or the other. - [Waste management hasn’t been thought of as a climate change solution. No longer.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/11/waste-management-hasnt-been-thought-of-as-a-climate-change-solution-no-longer/) - In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers calculated how shovel-ready waste-handling technologies could quickly hit the brakes on global warming. - [Could this fast-charging high-energy battery spark the EV era?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/10/could-this-fast-charging-energetic-battery-spark-the-ev-era/) - The new technology works with lithium-ion battery chemistries of today, making it easy to mass-produce| Anthropocene Magazine - [The new wildlife in town: Sharks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/06/the-new-wildlife-in-town-sharks/) - While wolves and other land predators avoid cities, the ocean’s top predators don’t - [Q: Why did gasoline cars come to dominate the road? A: Infrastructure](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/10/q-why-did-gasoline-cars-come-to-dominate-the-road-a-infrastructure/) - How understanding century-old automotive history could pave the way for wider adoption of electric cars today - [How to farm biofuels without harming food security](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/07/how-to-farm-biofuels-without-harming-food-security/) - Cellulosic biofuels could transform green energy--but at the potential cost of food security as they compete for land. A group of researchers propose a set of safeguards to steer us away from that fate. - [It’s not just noise that makes city birds sing a different tune](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/05/not-just-noise-makes-city-birds-sing-different-tune/) - Most previous studies of urban bird song have only looked at how the physical environment differs in cities, missing the social context of city life. - [Europe could power the world with onshore wind](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/08/europe-could-power-the-world-with-onshore-wind/) - Putting turbines on all suitable terrain in Europe could generate enough power to satiate the whole world up until 2050. - [Taking Off in Two Directions at Once](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/06/taking-off-in-two-directions-at-once/) - The quickest flight path to decarbonizing aviation could be less air travel—but it also might be a lot more of it - [Improving wild bat habitat could prevent a new deadly disease outbreak](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/11/improving-wild-bat-habitat-could-prevent-a-new-deadly-disease-outbreak/) - Researchers have meticulously traced how habitat loss and climate conspire to drive disease outbreaks; and how saving trees is a key part of the solution. - [What if carbon taxes were based on income linked to emissions—rather than consumption?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/08/what-if-carbon-taxes-were-based-on-income-linked-to-emissions-rather-than-consumption/) - A new study suggests that a shareholder-based carbon tax might be more effective than a consumer-based one. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Cracking the code of ice batteries: A high-tech spin on an old cooling method](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/cracking-the-code-of-ice-batteries-a-high-tech-spin-on-an-old-cooling-method/) - Freezing liquids at night and then using it to cool homes and buildings during the day could reduce the carbon burden of air-conditioning - [Yellowstone’s bison revival shows the power and complexity of rewilding](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/yellowstones-bison-revival-shows-the-power-and-complexity-of-rewilding/) - The comeback of America’s largest land mammal is boosting soil health, yet their numbers may be slowing aspen recovery sparked by wolf reintroduction. - [A sweeping survey of the Global South finds scientists are the most credible voices on climate](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/09/a-sweeping-survey-of-the-global-south-finds-scientists-are-the-most-credible-voices-on-climate/) - The findings challenge assumptions about climate awareness in the Global South, where public knowledge rivals that in wealthier nations. - [First, do no harm? Hospital food, bad for patients, worse for the Earth](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/first-do-no-harm-hospital-food-bad-for-patients-worse-for-the-earth/) - The first study of its kind reveals the large environmental footprint and nutritional inferiority of catering at care institutions. - [New cement will cool you down in full sun—without electricity.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/new-supercool-cement-brings-temperatures-down-by-over-5c/) - The strong building material could go in walls and coatings, and make buildings more bearable in sweltering heat without using AC - [After spending time around humans, animals lose their fear of predators](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/10/after-spending-time-around-humans-animals-lose-their-fear-of-predators/) - Contact with humans leads to "a rapid reduction" in antipredator behaviors, a new study finds. Looking urbanization, animals in captivity and domestication. - [Shhh! Chatty hikers cause wildlife to panic even more than the racket of off-road vehicles](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/shhh-chatty-hikers-causes-wildlife-to-panic-even-more-than-the-racket-of-offroad-vehicles/) - A Wyoming experiment reveals the way sounds of outdoor recreation affect wildlife, and the potential benefits of traveling quietly. - [First ever planet-wide analysis shows conservation work is making a measurable difference](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/first-ever-planet-wide-analysis-shows-conservation-work-is-making-a-measurable-difference/) - All the money and effort spent on biodiversity conservation is not just a little bit better than doing nothing at all, they found, but many times greater. - [New genetic tools mark another step on the road to industrial-scale coral farming](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/10/new-genetic-tools-mark-another-step-on-the-road-to-industrial-scale-coral-farming/) - Scientists uncover which genes make coral more resistant to a deadly disease, another step on the road to industrial-scale coral farming. - [To the air conditioned batcave!](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/07/to-the-air-conditioned-batcave/) - Colder, human-engineered caves might help bats survive deadly white-nose syndrome. - [Here’s what a more just green energy transition might look like](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/01/to-ensure-a-just-transition-pay-attention-to-the-details/) - Researchers identified policy tweaks to prevent decarbonization efforts from harming households and small businesses - [Cities don’t just need parks–they need big, wild ones](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/03/cities-dont-just-need-parks-they-need-big-wild-ones/) - Meaningful experiences of urban nature are linked to parks’ “wildness” - [Does an island lifestyle confer climate tolerance—if you're a plant?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/07/island-lifestyle-climate-tolerance-plant/) - Many island plant species exhibit broader climate tolerance than their current native ranges suggest; however, this expanded tolerance is still not enough to buffer many of them against projected future climate change. - [Which direction should we be looking for the next source of low-carbon energy?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/which-direction-should-we-be-looking-for-the-next-source-of-low-carbon-energy/) - From the highest highs to the lowest lows, the story of energy development is bookmarked with superlatives - [From flush to field. Biochar could turn human waste into a fertilizer goldmine](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/from-flush-to-field-biochar-could-turn-human-waste-into-a-fertilizer-goldmine/) - New research finds that global urine streams alone could provide 25% of potassium used in fertilizers today. | Anthropocene Magazine - [We have clean energy. If only we could get it to EVs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/we-have-clean-energy-if-only-we-could-get-it-to-evs/) - A congested power grid stands in the way of electric vehicles being truly green, but researchers say small, targeted upgrades could fix the problem - [Sea star killer unmasked. Next step recovery.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/sea-star-killer-unmasked-next-step-recovery/) - The culprit behind the largest known marine disease outbreak is now known, giving researchers new tools to protect and reintroduce these keystone predators. - [Your cheapest t-shirt might be the most sustainable](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/your-cheapest-t-shirt-might-be-the-most-sustainable/) - Lab tests on 47 t-shirts showed low-cost options often beat high-end ones for durability—suggesting affordable clothes can help cut waste and emissions. - [Biochar yields triple win for cotton: Healthier soil, less water, and 87% less nitrogen runoff](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/biochar-yields-triple-win-for-cotton-healthier-soil-less-water-and-87-less-nitrogen-runoff/) - New study finds that applying sugarcane-derived biochar to cotton fields could curb nitrogen pollution, conserve water, and support healthier soil. - [Artificial intelligence can track a coral reef's health by learning its "song"](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/06/artificial-intelligence-can-track-a-coral-reefs-health-by-learning-its-song/) - Researchers demonstrate how to tell damaged reefs from healthy ones using relatively cheap underwater recorders paired with new computer programs. - [Changing the way we do laundry could significantly reduce air pollution](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/04/changing-the-way-we-do-laundry-could-significantly-reduce-air-pollution/) - A new study finds that tumble dryers spew microfiber pollution. The near term fix: dryer sheets, fabric softeners, and better lint filters. The long term fix: condenser dryers - [A Hidden Savior Finds The Lyme Light](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/a-hidden-savior-finds-the-lyme-light/) - It’s 2070, and Super Lyme Disease is on a rampage. When a mother loses her child to the disease, she goes on a crusade, with help from a cold-blooded hero. - [Researchers yoke the sun to distill ammonia fertilizer from wastewater](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/researchers-yoke-the-sun-to-pull-ammonia-from-wastewater/) - Making ammonia fertilizer is energy and carbon-intensive. New solar-driven method is a low-cost way to recycle the ammonia in farm and industrial runoff. - [Maps show the ocean's getting a lot more protection. The satellite view is not so pretty.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/maps-show-the-oceans-getting-a-lot-more-protection-the-satellite-view-is-not-so-pretty/) - Satellite studies show that some marine reserves deter industrial fishing. But others are full of fishing boats, underscoring the need for smarter enforcement. - [Most forest carbon offset schemes fail. Here’s a four-step road map to fix them.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/most-forest-carbon-offset-schemes-fail-heres-a-four-step-road-map-to-fix-them/) - Carbon offsets that rely on forests have underdelivered. A new study outlines why—and how a shift from credits to contributions could finally make them work. - [New study connects the dots between eating less meat and safer drinking water](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/08/new-study-connects-the-dots-between-eating-less-meat-and-safer-drinking-water/) - Fertilizer runoff from livestock feed is contaminating U.S. groundwater. Replacing 10% of meat with alternative proteins could slash the pollution by up to 20%. - [Massive new underground atlas could alleviate our fungus blindness](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/massive-new-underground-atlas-could-alleviate-our-fungus-blindness/) - Using artificial intelligence, scientists created a map of the planet's mycorrhizal fungi. They hope it will lead to more protections for critical hotspots. - [From holes in the earth to powerhouses: The solar potential of abandoned pit mines is huge.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/from-holes-in-the-earth-to-powerhouses-the-solar-potential-of-abandoned-pit-mines/) - Turning abandoned open-pit mines into solar farms could resolve growing land-use tensions and unlock vast, underused infrastructure for renewable energy. - [Battery recycling gets cleaner and more efficient](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/battery-recycling-gets-cleaner-and-more-efficient/) - Researchers found a way to extract 92% of critical metals from old EV batteries—using less energy and generating fewer carbon emissions than current methods. - [Here’s a ten-minute potential solution to the huge problem of tropical fruit waste ](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/heres-a-ten-minute-potential-solution-to-the-huge-problem-of-tropical-fruit-waste/) - Dipping recently-harvested mangoes in ozonated water more than doubled the fruit's shelf life, a new study found. - [Insects are disappearing . . . from biology textbooks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/01/insect-decline-biology-textbooks/) - Insects are not only vanishing from ecosystems; they’re also becoming scarce in college biology textbooks. - [Migration know-how is passed from one generation to the next. What happens when that culture is lost?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/09/mammal-migration-culture/) - Animal migration is usually considered to be instinctive. What individual animals know and the lessons they pass to future generations isn’t much considered. Yet researchers are finding that protecting large mammal cultures may be critical to their future. - [A new tool for protecting wildlife from artificial light](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/06/leds-and-wildlife-impacts/) - Artificial lights have turned night into semi-day across vast swaths of the world. Now the advent of LED lights that mimic natural light threaten to cause a host of problems in wildlife—but a new tool might help prevent that. - [Is conservation too focused on rarity?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/10/common-plant-declines/) - The rarest, most endangered species get the most attention—but common species, including common plants, should not be overlooked. - [Protecting seabirds could help protect coral reefs from climate change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/07/seabirds-coral-reefs/) - Coral reefs near islands with thriving seabird colonies may recover more quickly from climate change-induced die-offs, making the protection of these imperiled birds a practical strategy for reef protection, too. - [Should elephants be considered refugees?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/02/elephants-as-refugees/) - A refugee is by definition a human—but should elephants and other animals qualify, too? - [Identifying and ending subsidies for extinction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/02/subsidy-accountability/) - A decade after promising to end biodiversity-destroying subsidies, governments have made little progress. - [How to avoid the insect apocalypse](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/02/how-to-avoid-the-insect-apocalypse/) - People already know how to stop the collapse of insect populations. We just need to do it. - [A very modern question: what to do with the bodies?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/02/what-to-do-with-herbivore-bodies/) - The bodies of dead animals play a valuable ecological role—but do people have the stomach for it? - [Bringing effective altruism to conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/01/conservation-and-effective-altruism/) - If conservationists can translate ecosystem-level efforts into metrics of affected animal lives, they might tap into a new philanthropic movement. - [In new bird extinction estimates, a dark picture—and a glimmer of hope](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/01/new-bird-extinction-rates/) - To prevent a wave of bird extinctions, nature-loving people need to protect common species, too. - [Colombia's hippo population is a fascinating ecological conundrum](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/01/hippos-in-colombia/) - Colombia's growing hippopotamus population is a fascinating ecological anomaly. - [To help forests adapt to climate change, consider small mammals](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/01/small-mammals-future-forests/) - Whether and how forests adapt to climate change may be as much about animals as trees. - [America’s views on wildlife are changing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/12/anthropomorphism-and-wildlife/) - More Americans than ever think of animals as sharing basic mental traits with people, and view wildlife as part of our larger community—but wildlife management does not reflect this shift. - [How would biodiversity look if we counted non-native animals?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/12/inclusive-biodiversity/) - When non-native animals are included in biodiversity counts, new possibilities for conservation may emerge. - [Not everything needs to be a forest](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/12/savannas-should-not-be-forests/) - Too often viewed as degraded forests rather than valuable grasslands, savannas are threatened by carbon-storing afforestation programs that might not even work. - [Why not to evict bats from buildings](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/11/buildings-help-bats/) - A new study shows just how important buildings can be for little brown bats, a once-common species ravaged by disease. - [When to let a dead tree lie](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/11/a-lesson-in-loving-dead-trees/) - It’s often argued that logging trees killed by insects or diseases is beneficial for forests—but evidence is mounting that it causes long-term ecological disruption. - [What pigeon feet say about the way we live](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/11/pigeon-feet-biomarkers/) - Pigeons are a symbol of urban life—so much so, in fact, that the condition of their bodies is a literal reflection of the environments they share with us. - [What does climate change sound like?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/11/climate-change-biophony/) - As Earth warms and weather patterns become more variable, climate change could alter the biosphere in a little-appreciated way: by changing how it sounds. - [Wilderness areas could reduce extinction risks by more than half](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/10/importance-of-wilderness/) - For all its philosophical troubles, wilderness—big, contiguous places with minimal human footprints—is still enormously important to prevent extinctions. - [Light pollution could cause problems for coral reefs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/10/light-pollution-coral-reefs/) - People know that coral reefs are threatened by rising temperatures and acidifying water. But might artificial lights be causing problems, too? - [Las sorprendentes formas en que los niños de la ciudad y el campo piensan sobre la vida silvestre](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/10/las-sorprendentes-formas-en-que-los-ninos-de-la-ciudad-y-el-campo-piensan-sobre-la-vida-silvestre/) - Se asume ampliamente que los niños rurales están más cerca de la naturaleza que sus contrapartes urbanas. ¿Pero es eso realmente cierto? - [The next frontier of ecosystem restoration: the deep sea](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/10/deep-sea-restoration/) - The deep seas are truly Earth’s last frontier, faraway worlds of alien beauty of which only an infinitesimal fraction have been explored—and it’s time to start thinking about how to restore them. - [Finding a balance between good and bad nature news on screen](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/10/good-news-vs-bad-news-about-nature/) - How much time should be devoted to celebrating nature’s marvels, and how much to confronting their destruction? - [The surprisingly social lives of manta rays](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/09/the-surprisingly-social-lives-of-manta-rays/) - Warm, fuzzy insights into the social lives of animals have tended to involve creatures other than fish. Might manta rays help flip this script? - [The surprising ways that city and country kids think about wildlife](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/09/country-kids-city-kids-wildlife/) - It's widely assumed that rural children are closer to nature than their urban counterparts. But is that really true? - [The unnoticed collapse of big freshwater animals](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/09/freshwater-megafauna-decline/) - People tend to care about big animals, but there's one group of megafauna whose decline has gone unremarked: those who live in freshwater. - [Sometimes we don’t even know what we’ve lost](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/09/to-bring-salmon-come-back-we-must-understand-what-was-lost/) - Sometimes we’ve lost so much that we don’t even know what we’ve lost. Such is the curse of the shifting baseline: coming to accept as normal what is in fact a diminished state of affairs. - [Plant blindness and the illegal wildlife trade](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/08/plant-blindness-illegal-wildlife-trade/) - What do you think of when you hear the word ‘wildlife’? Almost certainly an animal—and perhaps that’s a problem. - [Cómo evitar que el Amazonas se queme](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/08/como-evitar-que-el-amazonas-se-queme/) - El uso de la tierra puede tener mucha más influencia sobre si el Amazonas se quema que el cambio climático. - [A diversity of plants helps stabilize ecosystems](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/08/plant-diversity-stabilizes-ecosystems/) - As people search for ways to help Earth’s biosphere withstand the impacts of climate change, they might turn to a relatively little-appreciated phenomenon: how plant diversity stabilizes ecosystems in the face of stress. - [How to keep the Amazon from burning](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/08/amazon-land-use-climate-fire/) - How people use land may have far more influence on whether the Amazon burns than does climate change. - [Coexistence isn’t just about science and self-interest. It’s about stories, too.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/08/narratives-of-coexistence/) - In parts of northern India, leopards thrive—not because they're protected, but because people regard them as fellow persons, allowing a culture of coexistence to flourish. - [Even more evidence that big animals help fight the climate crisis](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/07/big-animals-help-fight-climate-change/) - As scientists learn more about the importance of animals to nature’s carbon-sequestering capabilities, they’ve come to understand that extinctions and extirpations are climate issues. - [Muchas personas no saben lo que significa biodiversidad](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/07/muchas-personas-no-saben-lo-que-significa-biodiversidad/) - La palabra "biodiversidad" es tan omnipresente que su comprensión por parte del público se da por sentado; sin embargo, muchas personas ni siquiera saben lo que significa. - [Many people don’t know what biodiversity means](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/07/people-dont-know-what-biodiversity-means/) - The word "biodiversity" is so ubiquitous that its comprehension by the public is taken for granted—yet a great many people don’t even know what it means. - [Raising monarch butterflies in captivity could hurt more than it helps](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/07/captive-monarch-migration/) - Across much of North America, nature-loving people are helping imperiled monarch butterflies by raising eggs harvested from captive-bred monarchs. New research suggests, however, that they and their progeny may have lost the ability to migrate. - [Insects, imperfect knowledge, and the imperative of action](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/07/start-saving-the-bugs/) - After more than a decade of scattered, ominous reports, the so-called insect apocalypse is finally front-page news. So now what? - [Cómo convertir una plaga perseguida en un ingeniero de ecosistemas.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/07/como-convertir-una-plaga-perseguida-en-un-ingeniero-de-ecosistemas/) - Los esfuerzos para restaurar las especies clave se han centrado en los depredadores y los grandes herbívoros, pero otra clase de especies clave tiene un gran potencial para promover la vida: roedores excavadores que son comunes pero perseguidos. - [As corals decline, a new kind of reef emerges](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/11/sponge-reefs/) - Conventional wisdom holds that as coral reefs die, they become underwater barrens dominated by algae. In some places that’s true — but elsewhere, they’re following a different trajectory. - [Preparing for life after peak oak](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/06/preparing-for-life-after-peak-oak/) - The precise causes of oak declines are often unknown, but the challenge is clear: to nourish these magnificent trees and the nonhumans who rely upon them through an uncertain future. - [Las tortugas desaparecidas del Antropoceno.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/06/las-tortugas-desaparecidas-del-antropoceno/) - Cuando uno piensa en lo significativo del Antropoceno, generalmente se trata de novedades materiales que vienen a la mente: concreto, plástico, residuos radiactivos, etc. Pero esta era también puede estar marcada por lo que falta. Por ejemplo: tortugas. - [Changing how we see a flock of birds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/06/flock-dynamics/) - Bird flocks appear to our eyes as collections of interchangeable individuals. That’s also how they’re treated in computational models of collective behavior—an oversight that’s due for a correction. - [Could Tasmanian devils return to Australia?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/06/tasmanian-devil-return/) - Until just a few thousand years ago, Tasmanian devils also lived in Australia—and they might yet return, helping to bring balance to a continent in ecological turmoil. - [Calming down conservation’s cat fight](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/05/conservation-cat-fight/) - Have some conservationists exaggerated the impacts of free-ranging cats on biodiversity? Or are cat advocates guilty of science denialism? - [How to turn a persecuted pest into an ecosystem engineer](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/05/restoring-keystone-rodents/) - Efforts to restore keystone species have focused on predators and large herbivores, but another class of keystone species holds great potential for promoting life: burrowing rodents that are common but persecuted. - [Building bridges between conservationists and cat people](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/05/building-bridges-between-conservationists-and-cat-people/) - Few conservation issues are more polarizing than the impact of free-ranging domestic cats on wild animals—but between the extremes is a common ground on which solutions can be built. - [Q: What’s missing from forest carbon accounting? A: Animals](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/05/animals-missing-from-redd/) - Animals and their vital, now-compromised role in nourishing carbon-storing forests are crucial to humanity’s plans to fight climate change. - [Are dingoes just feral dogs?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/04/dingoes-are-not-feral/) - Shoud dingoes be considered feral? That question is central to the fate of Australia's wild dogs—and perhaps the continent's biodiversity. - [Urban “wastelands” are a paradise for bees](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/04/urban-wastelands-bees/) - Pollinator gardens are a regular feature of neighborhoods and schools; urban parks and nature sanctuaries are managed with bees in mind. Yet one potentially bee-rich environ still receives relatively little attention: urban wastelands. - [Could driverless cars reduce light pollution?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/04/autonomous-vehicles-light-pollution/) - The coming transportation revolution could offer a chance to solve the little-appreciated but far-reaching problem of automotive light pollution. - [Could diversity protect forests from pests?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/04/tree-diversity-and-invasive-pests/) - According to a continent-spanning analysis of the relationships between forest tree diversity and pestilential invasion, having more species can help protect forests. - [Scary Drones keep peace between birds and farmers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/03/drones-protect-crops/) - As drones have become more common and affordable, many animal-loving people have worried about their tendency to scare wildlife. Yet that problem may have a silver lining: drones might be used to scare animals away from crops, resolving conflicts with fright rather than lethal force. - [Vanishing chimpanzee cultures and the need to save animal knowledge](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/03/vanishing-chimpanzee-cultures/) - Chimpanzee cultures are vanishing before our eyes. Saving them will require a new approach to conservation. - [Could conservation become locked in a cycle of violence?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/03/militarized-conservation/) - Confronted with the brutality of wildlife poaching, the urge to hurt the perpetrators is primal. It might even be an effective conservation strategy — but for how long? And at what cost? - [How many wild animals do people kill?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/02/how-many-animals-do-people-kill/) - According to the most comprehensive analysis yet conducted, humans are directly responsible for more than one-quarter of all vertebrate mortalities. - [Roadkill is a problem for monarch butterflies. Can it be solved?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/02/monarch-butterfly-roadkill-solutions/) - The demise of monarch butterflies is largely blamed on an agriculture-induced collapse of the milkweeds. Another, little-appreciated problem desperately needs attention: monarch butterfly roadkill. - [No Adult Left Inside](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/02/introducing-adults-to-nature-2/) - Won’t somebody think of the grown-ups? The unappreciated importance of introducing adults to nature. - [Dingoes could help solve Australia’s extinction crisis — if only people would let them](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/02/dingo-ecology/) - Australia has the world’s highest extinction rate. A primary culprit is predation by historically non-native cats and foxes, and killing those animals is central to conservation efforts—but there’s another solution: allowing dingoes, the continent’s apex predator, to fulfill their ecological role. - [Wildlife-friendly road infrastructure makes economic sense](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/01/wildlife-friendly-roads-save-money/) - Biologists installed a video system that analyzed real-time footage along a stretch of highway. When animals approached, sensors triggered warning signs alerting motorists—and it worked wonderfully. - [To help endangered animals, move them into cities](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/01/moving-endangered-species-to-cities/) - In a world disrupted by climate change and habitat loss, we should recognize that non-native biodiversity in cities could make sense as a strategy to avoid the loss of major evolutionary lineages. - [Should whale welfare be considered in sustainable fishing?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/01/cetacean-welfare-sustainable-fishing/) - Hundreds of thousands of whales and dolphins are killed each year as bycatch in commercial fishing. Yet unless their deaths pose a species-level threat, the welfare of bycaught cetaceans is rarely a factor in evaluating a fishery’s sustainability. - [Jellyfish are not an ecological dead end](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/12/unappreciated-jellyfish/) - Except when we’re marveling at their otherworldly beauty, jellyfish are either ignored or considered a symptom of ecological collapse. Yet they might play a valuable, unappreciated role in oceanic food webs. - [Camera traps, tool-using skunks, and a new frontier of discovery](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/12/camera-trap-tool-using-skunk/) - The first evidence of tool-using skunks was gathered not by biologists, but by a nature-loving citizen with a motion-activated camera. How much more might be discovered if scientists harnessed the richness of these amateur observations? - [In a democracy, should nature have a vote?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/12/representation-for-nature-and-youth/) - Where political power once belonged to a few people, it’s now shared by many. What would it mean to expand political representation even further? - [The scary future of nature with less nitrogen](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/11/the-scary-future-of-nature-with-less-nitrogen/) - Usually there’s too much of it—but there’s another, overlooked way that nitrogen has been disrupted in a human dominated world. Across many parts of the terrestrial world, plants may soon contain too little of it. - [¿Podría el retorno de la vida salvaje ayudar a prevenir grandes incendios forestales?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/11/podria-el-retorno-de-la-vida-salvaje-ayudar-a-prevenir-grandes-incendios-forestales/) - Cuando la gente mira a la naturaleza en busca de soluciones a los incendios forestales cada vez más grandes, más calientes y más peligrosos por el cambio climático, tienden a centrarse en la vegetación, no en los animales. Sin embargo, la evidencia sugiere que los grandes herbívoros pueden ayudar a prevenir el fuego. - [Restoring big plant-eating mammals could help fight climate change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/10/megafauna-fight-climate-change/) - Across the Arctic, climate change has encouraged the growth of shrubs that accelerate regional warming — a process that can be reversed by the browsing of reindeer. Where else can big herbivores help keep Earth from overheating? - [The suburbs may have more mammals than you think](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/10/suburban-mammals/) - According to a much-publicized estimate, it will take several million years for evolution to generate as many new mammal species as we’ve driven extinct. Yet if our legacy seems unredeemably bleak, consider that many developed areas, and in particular many suburbs, may be surprisingly hospitable to mammals. - [The missing turtles of the Anthropocene](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/10/anthropocene-missing-turtles/) - When one thinks of Anthropocene signifiers, it’s usually material novelties that come to mind: concrete, plastic, radioactive debris, etc. But the Age can also be marked by what is missing. Such as: turtles. - [Will smart machines be kind to animals?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/10/animal-friendly-ai/) - Within decades, autonomous machines will be found throughout Earth’s environments —everywhere, really, that humans are found, and perhaps even places we’re not. Much attention is given to how those machines will interact with people; far less is paid to their impacts on animals. - [Western forests could adapt to pine beetles, but people won't let them](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/10/pine-beetle-resilience/) - Forests decimated by pine beetles may contain the seeds of future forests adapted to warmer temperatures and pine beetle attacks. As of now, however, people are managing afflicted areas in ways that may prevent their recovery. - [As hunting dwindles, who will pay for wildlife conservation?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/09/do-birders-buy-duck-stamps/) - For more than a century, hunters have played an important part in conserving wildlife in the US and Canada. Government-based conservation in particular relies on revenues from hunting — but the number of hunters is fast declining. So where will funding come from? Will people who love wildlife, but don’t hunt, foot the bill? - [Some species shield others from climate change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/09/climate-rescuer-species/) - Refuges from climate change are not just geographic happenstance. With help from a few select species, people can create them. - [Can we hack our tribal brains to protect the planet?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/09/can-we-hack-our-tribal-brains-to-protect-the-planet/) - Our behavior flows only intermittently from knowledge, and our choices reflect not just personal calculations but a host of subtle, almost instinctive, social considerations. - [The conservation lesson of dolphins who walked on their tails](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/09/tail-walking-dolphin-culture/) - In the mid-1990s, people in Adelaide, Australia reported something strange: wild dolphins performing tricks they’d learned from a dolphin who briefly lived at a marine park. It was a lovely example of cultural knowledge transmission in animals — and, say researchers, a lesson in the importance of culture to conservation. - [A tool used to track serial criminals could reduce violent human-wildlife conflicts](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/preventing-tiger-conflict/) - For many animals, survival in a world of 8 billion humans hinges on avoiding conflict. Now, a new tool, originally developed to anticipate crime outbreaks, could reduce violent tiger encounters by half. - [Is New Zealand's war on invasive predators an expensive distraction?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/new-zealand-predator-free-critique/) - New Zealand’s plan to completely exterminate five non-native predators by 2050 is a pull-out-all-the-stops attempt to save the islands' biodiversity. But what if it’s a bad idea? - [With half the planet saved for nature, will we have enough to eat?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/half-earth-food-tradeoffs/) - The idea of devoting half of Earth’s terrestrial surface to rich, intact forms of nature is an inspiring vision. Yet, what would it mean for food production, which currently represents the single largest human land use? - [As people drive mammals into night, new problems appear](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/nocturnal-mammals-habitat-fragmentation/) - There’s a certain poetry to the idea of night as a refuge in a human-dominated world—but a new study describes some unfortunate implications of mammals becoming more nocturnal. - [¿Por qué las grandes aves que comen insectos están desapareciendo? Tal vez nos estamos quedando sin bichos.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/03/por-que-las-grandes-aves-que-comen-insectos-estan-desapareciendo-tal-vez-nos-estamos-quedando-sin-bichos/) - Al contrastar las muestras de los museos con chotacabras vivientes, los investigadores podrían extrapolar cómo las aves solían comer. Su hallazgo fue preocupante: parece que hay menos bichos de los que solía haber. - [Es sorprendentemente complicado calcular cuántos animales silvestres mueren por la agricultura](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/07/es-sorprendentemente-complicado-calcular-cuantos-animales-mueren-en-la-agricultura/) - Ya que cada vez más personas valoran las consideraciones éticas de lastimar a los animales al escoger sus dietas, el número de animales que mueren debido a la agricultura es una parte importante de información. Sin embargo, es sorprendentemente difícil de encontrar una cifra precisa. - [The incredible value of insect-eating birds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/the-incredible-value-of-insect-eating-birds/) - According to a new estimate, the number of insects that birds eat is truly breathtaking, roughly equivalent to the weight of meat and fish consumed each year by humans. - [Challenging the usual narrative of human-wildlife conflict](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/07/when-human-wildlife-conflict-is-about-so-much-more/) - On its face, t“human-wildlife conflict” seems like a straightforward thing. Yet a moment of conflict is merely the visible outcome of deep—and easily overlooked—social, political, and economic currents. - [The surprisingly complicated math of how many wild animals are killed in agriculture](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/07/how-many-animals-killed-in-agriculture/) - As ever more people make the ethics of harming animals central to their dietary choices, the number of wild animals killed by farming is an essential piece of information. A precise figure, however, is surprisingly difficult to find. - [¿Se afligen los delfines? Reconsiderando la conservación en el Antropoceno](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/07/se-afligen-los-delfines-reconsiderando-la-conservacion-en-el-antropoceno/) - A las ballenas y delfines siempre se les observa atendiendo a sus compañeros muertos con algo que se asemeja a la aflicción. ¿Qué significan esto para nosotros – y para la conservación en el siglo 21? - [Climate change will shuffle nature’s deck; And we might need to embrace it](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/06/climate-change-refuges/) - By this century’s end, new climate refugia should emerge where plants and animals will shelter from rising temperatures. For that to happen, though, nature-loving people will need to be open-minded to change. - [Los terrenos desocupados están llenos de naturaleza. ¿Cómo los mantenemos de esa forma?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/06/los-terrenos-desocupados-estan-llenos-de-naturaleza-como-los-mantenemos-de-esa-forma/) - Los terrenos desocupados son islas vitales de naturaleza en la jungla urbana. Son también considerados un adefesio y un problema. ¿Como se puede, entonces, cultivar la riqueza natural y satisfacer los deseos de los habitantes? - [When conservation steps out of the wild and into the Anthropocene](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/07/orangutans-in-an-age-of-humans/) - “Orangutans retain their status as symbols of fragile, untouched nature,” write researchers — a conception that actually hinders conservation. - [Las abejas no son los únicos polinizadores con problemas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/04/las-abejas-no-son-los-unicos-polinizadores-con-problemas/) - Piense en un polinizador y casi seguro que tendrá en mente a una abeja. Es poco probable que piense en un pájaro, y aún menos en un murciélago o una lagartija – y, sin embargo, ellos también transportan polen y están experimentando un decrecimiento preocupante e ignorado. - [Do dolphins grieve? Rethinking conservation in the Anthropocene](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/07/do-whales-dolphins-feel-grief/) - Whales and dolphins are often observed attending to dead companions with something that looks like bereavement. So what does that mean to us—and to conservation in the 21st century? - [The importance of ecology in controlling ticks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/06/ecological-tick-control/) - As ticks and the diseases they carry become more abundant, spring’s arrival has a certain foreboding; a walk in the woods comes with a risk of infection. There’s no easy solution—but the lessons of ecology might help. - [Vacant lots are full of nature. How do we keep them that way?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/06/vacant-lot-management/) - Vacant lots are vital islands of nature in the urban jungle. They’re also considered an eyesore and a problem. How, then, to cultivate that natural richness while also meeting the neighbors’ wishes? - [The tremendous benefits provided by just one beaver family](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/05/beaver-benefits/) - Beavers can “deliver significant geomorphic modifications that result in changes to nutrient and sediment fluxes,” write researchers, “limiting negative downstream impact” of agricultural pollution. To put it another way: beavers help clean up our messes. - [Guam's Forests Have an Unlikely Ally: Feral Pigs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/05/feral-pigs-regenerate-forests/) - Feral pigs on the island of Guam are usually regarded as destructive, alien invaders. Yet they may play a vital role in sustaining the island’s beleaguered forests. - [Los fantasmas de la naturaleza del pasado están regresando](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/05/los-fantasmas-de-la-naturaleza-del-pasado-estan-regresando/) - Las personas siguen encontrando a grandes depredadores en lugares en los que no se suponen deberían estar. Esto puede representar un desarrollo inesperado: grandes depredadores recolonizando sus hábitats ancestrales. En realidad, tan ancestrales, que las personas no comprenden que alguna vez ellos vivieron allí. - [The ghosts of nature’s past are making a comeback](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/05/predators-return-to-ancestral-homes/) - People keep finding large predators in places they’re not supposed to be. They might represent an unexpected development: large predators recolonizing their ancestral habitats. So ancestral, in fact, that people don’t even realize they once lived there. - [In today’s dung beetles, echoes of a lost world — and hints of a new one](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/05/dung-beetles-getting-smaller/) - Witness the humble dung beetle: slightly ridiculous, certainly uncelebrated, and also quite useful. In their fossils can be glimpsed a richness lost to human memory — and, perhaps, a guide for bringing that richness back, or at least not losing any more. - [An endangered animal thrives in a novel ecosystem](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/05/novel-ecosystems-bandicoots/) - On the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia are habitats unlike any found in that continent’s history. They’re thought to have minimal ecological value — yet for one endangered species, they provide very good homes indeed. - [Nature Without Biodiversity: Urban Climate Adaptation Has a Blind Spot](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/04/biodiversity-climate-adaptation/) - Making cities more resilient to weather extremes often involves using nature: wetlands to absorb heavy rainfall, trees to lower local temperatures, and so on. All this new nature ought to be a boon to biodiversity — yet this opportunity might be squandered. - [Bees aren’t the only pollinators with problems](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/04/vertebrate-pollinators/) - Think of a pollinator and you’ll almost certainly think of a bee. It’s quite unlikely that you’ll think of a bird, much less a bat or a lizard — yet they too transport pollen and are experiencing declines both troubling and overlooked. - [Nature, heal thyself: the lessons of restoration ecology](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/04/nature-heal-thyself-the-lessons-of-restoration-ecology/) - Letting ecosystems repair themselves in many cases may be the most effective restoration strategy. - [La sorprendentemente y sofisticada vida de las ratas.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/02/la-sorprendentemente-y-sofisticada-vida-de-las-ratas/) - Ninguna criatura es perseguida incesantemente como ratas noruegas. Sin embargo, para las personas que los estudian, las ratas son animales notables que poseen rasgos que durante mucho tiempo se pensaron únicos para los humanos, incluidos, según informan los investigadores, un sistema social fundado en la cooperación mediada por el comercio de productos básicos. - [The unappreciated economic value of environmental stewardship](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/04/economic-value-of-environmental-stewardship/) - Think about the ways that nature generates economic value. Environmental stewardship, however, the hard work of people restoring ecosystems, picking up litter, and helping animals, likely doesn’t enter the equation. Yet the value might be surprisingly high. - [The amazing coral reefs that can survive climate change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/03/red-sea-coral-reefs-climate-change/) - News about coral reefs seems almost unrelentingly bleak. Everywhere they’re bleaching and collapsing, unable to withstand the ravages of fast-heating waters — except, that is, the northern Red Sea. - [How leopards in Mumbai may save human lives](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/03/how-leopards-in-mumbai-may-save-human-lives/) - It’s often not easy to live beside big predators. People have an instinctive and very understandable wariness of large, meating-eating wild animals, and they’re perceived through a lens tinted by centuries of fear and persecution. Yet we might accept these animals as neighbors, or at least appreciate when their ecological effects coincide with our own goals — such as preventing rabies in the Indian city of Mumbai. - [Why are big, insect-eating birds disappearing? Maybe we’re running low on bugs.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/03/running-out-of-bugs/) - By contrasting the chemical composition of museum specimens with the composition of living whip-poor-wills, researchers could extrapolate how the birds used to eat. Their troubling finding: there seems to be a lot fewer big bugs than there used to be. - [Can humans be more like woolly mammoths?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/03/can-humans-be-like-megaherbivores/) - For most of the last 300 million years, Earth’s ecologies were shaped by enormous, plant-eating animals: first dinosaurs and later mammals, clearing vegetation and distributing nutrients and generally making habitats more resiliently abundant. Then along came humans, and we know how that story, so often told, turned out. But might another story yet be written — of how people can replicate the life-nourishing impacts of megaherbivores? - [Com invasores no cardápio, um pássaro em extinção prospera](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/01/com-invasores-no-cardapio-um-passaro-em-extincao-prospera/) - Quando os invasivos caramujos do tamanho de uma bola de beisebol apareceram nos pântanos da Flórida, muitas pessoas se preocuparam que os gaviões-caramujeiros ameaçados de extinção — adaptados para comerem pequenos caramujos nativos — morreriam de fome. No entanto, eles apreciaram. - [As biodiversity declines, so does public attention](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/02/biodiversity-ignored-by-press/) - There are two environmental crises right now: climate change and biodiversity loss. Why are people, particularly journalists, only paying attention to one of them? - [Seabird poop deserves some respect](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/02/seabird-nutrients-global-importance/) - It’s not uncommon to hear people frame human activity in the Anthropocene as having achieved significance on par with Earth’s basic biogeochemical processes. Seabirds have been doing this for a while. - [What racism, sexism and a belief in human superiority have in common](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/02/psychology-of-speciesism/) - Is speciesism — the tendency to treat other animals as intrinsically less valuable than ourselves — just a philosophical construct or an actual psychological phenomenon? It’s a real thing, say psychologists, and seems rooted in the same habits of mind as racism, sexism and homophobia. - [Alugando campos de arroz para criar substitutos para zonas úmidas perdidas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/01/alugando-campos-de-arroz-para-criar-substitutos-para-zonas-umidas-perdidas/) - Entre o final do século 18 e o final do século 20, as pessoas drenaram mais de 90% dessas zonas úmidas no Vale Central da Califórnia. Está agora entre as áreas agrícolas mais produtivas do mundo — mas para as aves limícolas, suas populações em declínio acentuado, é praticamente um deserto. Agora um programa inovador está ajudando os agricultores de arroz a transformar seus campos em zonas úmidas sazonais. - [The surprisingly sophisticated lives of rats](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/02/the-surprisingly-sophisticated-lives-of-rats/) - No creatures are so ceaselessly persecuted as Norway rats. To people who study them, though, rats are remarkable animals possessing traits long thought unique to humans— including, researchers report, a social system founded on cooperation mediated by commodity trade. - [The unforeseen consequences of killing ‘prize’ animals](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/01/the-unforeseen-consequences-of-harvesting-animals/) - In a human-dominated world where animals face many stresses, removing even a few creatures may have more far-reaching and complex consequences than expected. - [Rewilding Reptiles to Eco-Engineer the Anthropocene](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/01/the-unappreciated-importance-of-reptiles/) - Reptiles are rarely regarded as ecosystem engineers — an oversight that’s repeated often when it comes to reptiles, and limits our vision of just how ecologically important they’ve been and how important they might yet be again. - [¿Podemos acelerar la creación de bosques antiguos?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/01/podemos-acelerar-la-creacion-de-bosques-antiguos/) - La Tierra, en una época de dominación humana, está tristemente desprovista de bosques antiguos, y muchos siglos, si no milenios, deben pasar antes de que resuciten, a menos que, tal vez, se pueda diseñar la antigüedad. - [Cambiar el comportamiento versus cambiar los valores: Un argumento sobre como salvar a la naturaleza](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/12/cambiar-el-comportamiento-versus-cambiar-los-valores-un-argumento-sobre-como-salvar-a-la-naturaleza/) - ¿Para proteger a la naturaleza, deberíamos tratar de cambiar los valores de las personas – o debiéramos trabajar dentro de los sistemas de valores actuales, buscando transformaciones más prácticas que radicales? - [Can we speed up the creation of ancient forests?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/01/engineering-ancient-forests/) - Earth in an age of human domination is woefully short of ancient forests, and many centuries if not millennia must pass before they rise again — unless, perhaps, ancientness can be engineered. - [Renting rice fields to create surrogates for lost wetlands](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/01/turning-rice-fields-to-wetlands/) - Between the late 18th and late 20th century, people drained more than 90% of California’s Central Valley wetlands. It’s now among the world’s most productive agricultural areas — but for shorebirds, their populations in precipitous decline, it’s practically a desert. Now an innovative program is helping rice farmers turn their fields into seasonal wetlands. - [Como os veículos autônomos poderiam salvar vidas de milhões de animais](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/12/como-os-veiculos-autonomos-poderiam-salvar-vidas-de-milhoes-de-animais/) - Os veículos autônomos deverão estar amplamente disponíveis na próxima década. Para 2040, a maioria dos veículos nas estradas será provavelmente controlada por software - um desenvolvimento que é esperado para salvar um grande número de vidas humanas substituindo pontos cegos, motoristas facilmente distraídos com competência de alta tecnologia. Há um potencial para salvar vidas de animais, também. - [With invasives on the menu, an endangered bird thrives](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/01/snail-kites-adapt-to-invasive-snails/) - When invasive, baseball-sized snails appeared in the Florida Everglades, many people worried that endangered snail kites — adapted to eating smaller, native snails — would starve. Instead they’ve feasted. - [Cómo los vehículos automotores podrían salvar las vidas de millones de animales](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/12/como-los-vehiculos-automotores-podrian-salvar-las-vidas-de-millones-de-animales/) - Se espera que los vehículos automotores estén disponibles en la próxima década. Para 2040, la mayoría de vehículos en las vías serán probablemente controlados por un software – lo cual se espera que salve muchas vidas humanas al reemplazar a los conductores distraídos y afectados por puntos ciegos con competencia de alta tecnología. También existe el potencial de salvar vidas animales. - [A New Tool for Planning Biodiversity in Small Spaces](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/12/natural-history-museum-biodiversity-planning/) - Researchers say the London Natural History Museum’s controversial landscape redesign will actually increase the biodiversity on its grounds. While their findings likely won’t settle the debate, the methods — which applied landscape-scale tools to a very small setting — could be useful to urban designers everywhere. - [Changing Behaviors Vs. Changing Values: An Argument Over How to Save Nature](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/12/change-values-or-behaviors/) - To protect nature, should we try to change people’s values — or should we work within existing value systems, seeking pragmatic rather than radical transformations? - [How Automated Vehicles Could Save Millions of Animal Lives](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/12/automated-vehicles-and-animals/) - Automated vehicles are expected to be widely available within the next decade. By 2040, most cars on the road will likely be controlled by software — a development that’s expected to save a great many human lives by replacing blind-spotted, easily-distracted drivers with high-tech competence. There's a potential to save animal lives, too. - [A surprising group of greenwashing victims: corporate purchasing managers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/a-surprising-group-of-greenwashing-victims-corporate-purchasing-managers/) - Even people who buy things for a living struggle to identify sustainable products—underscoring how complex the sustainability certification landscape has become - [Audaz experimento en la India al tratar de hacer rentable la protección de los bosques](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/12/audaz-experimento-en-la-india-al-tratar-de-hacer-rentable-la-proteccion-de-los-bosques/) - Resumen Tratar de que la naturaleza no explotada sea rentable, o por lo menos económicamente valiosa, es una de las grandes esperanzas de la conservación moderna. Es también muy difícil lograrlo, al menos a gran escala — pero un nuevo sistema creado por el gobierno de la India para pagar a los estados por la conservación de sus bosques ofrece algunas posibilidades interesantes. - [India’s Bold Experiment in Making Forest Protection Profitable](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/12/india-forest-protection-program/) - Making unexploited nature profitable, or at least economically valuable, is one of the great hopes of modern conservation. It’s also proved difficult to accomplish, at least at large scales — but a new system devised by India’s government to pay states for preserving their forests offers some intriguing possibilities. - [This fish could help corals recover rather than collapse](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/11/farmerfish-protect-reefs/) - Farmerfish territories can become miniature sanctuaries for coral recovery - [The world should fast track green energy. But not because of climate change.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/10/the-world-should-fast-track-green-energy-but-not-because-of-climate-change/) - A new, evidence-based method for calculating the cost of the switch suggests decarbonization is wildly cheaper than the status quo. - [The human brain is wired to spot biodiversity. No expertise required.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/the-human-brain-is-wired-to-spot-biodiversity-no-expertise-required/) - Untrained participants in a new study could reliably rate levels of biodiversity through images and sound, aligning closely with ecological measures. - [Neither conventional nor GMO. What’s the place of ‘new genomic techniques’ in organic agriculture?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/neither-conventional-nor-gmo-whats-the-place-of-new-genomic-techniques-in-organic-agriculture/) - Methods that tweak genes without transferring new material into crops sit in regulatory limbo. Could legalizing their use could transform organic agriculture? - [Where does natural forest regrowth have the most carbon-removal potential?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/09/where-does-natural-forest-regrowth-have-the-most-carbon-removal-potential/) - How denuded forest land was used and its location is critical to forest regrowth strategies, which will help capture carbon and restore much-needed biodiversity - [What if we tracked a species recovery not just its extinction risk?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/08/what-if-we-tracked-a-species-recovery-not-just-its-extinction-risk/) - A team of 200+ scientists ran a first test to see whether the new IUCN green list, which focuses on recovery, actually helps conservation efforts. - [A new sensor could reduce food loss by detecting the moment food ripens](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/03/a-new-sensor-could-detect-the-moment-fruit-and-veg-starts-to-ripen/) - This could have huge practical benefits—in developing countries, up to 40% of food is lost before it even reaches the market. - [A newly-discovered plant trait instils roots with a super strength](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/02/a-newly-discovered-plant-trait-instils-roots-with-a-super-strength/) - Maize plants with this trait can punch through dry, hard, compacted soils, giving them a leg up in a climate changed world - [Investors were offered 4 climate messages. Only one made them bullish on green investing.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/02/investors-were-offered-4-climate-messages-only-one-made-them-bullish-on-green-investing/) - Researchers tried alternate ways of framing the need for climate-friendly investment to veteran financial professionals. Only optimism moved the needle. - [The surprising consensus on carbon fairness—and the self-deception undermining it.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/the-surprising-consensus-on-carbon-fairnessand-the-self-deception-undermining-it/) - A new study finds broad agreement that the wealthy should shrink their carbon footprints—but most people, especially the rich, underestimate their own impact. - [Saving scavengers is an under-appreciated public health win](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/saving-apex-scavengers-is-an-under-appreciated-public-health-win/) - New research finds that the global decline of scavengers like hyenas and vultures is putting ecosystems—and human health—at risk. - [Treating empty bottles like lottery tickets could transform recycling](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/treating-empty-bottles-like-lottery-tickets-could-transform-recycling/) - When offered a 1-in-10,000 chance of winning $1,000 instead of a guaranteed 10 cent refund, people recycled 47% more bottles. - [Solar farms help grasslands beat the heat—and significantly boost their biomass](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/solar-farms-help-grasslands-beat-the-heat-and-significantly-boost-their-biomass/) - A study found that solar panels boost grassland productivity—with potential benefits for grazers, and for biodiversity—by up to 90%. - [To future-proof crops, science is half the battle. The other half is getting existing solutions into the field.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/we-urgently-need-to-future-proof-our-crops-heres-whats-needed-to-get-us-there/) - A new paper offers a roadmap for integrating crop resilience and carbon mitigation into national and global climate strategies. - [Tiny invention, big solution. Nano fertilizers prove as effective as conventional ones](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/tiny-invention-big-solution-nanofertilizers-just-as-effective-as-conventional-ones-study-finds/) - Not only did nano fertilizers grow healthy crops, researchers found they also released nutrients more slowly and efficiently than conventional fertilizers. - [In the most comprehensive study to date, researchers found that greener farming methods don’t compromise yields](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/11/farming-that-embraces-nature-doesnt-lose-out-on-yields/) - In 63% of cases, they found that eco-friendly farming boosted biodiversity without any cost to yields. In several cases, yields actually increased - [Massive turbine blades make for massive waste streams. Chemists have found a way to break them down for reuse.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/05/new-recycling-method-might-keep-turbine-blades-out-of-landfills/) - Whereas previous recycling techniques have focused on material redesign, this new technique works on today’s turbine blade materials - [Instead of killing predators that eat endangered species, researchers feed them.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/instead-of-killing-predators-that-eat-endangered-species-researchers-feed-them/) - Conservationists in Scotland successfully fed predators—making them so fat and happy that they no longer bothered killing rare birds. - [Elegantly simple technology could cut shipping emissions in half](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/07/237684/elegantly-simple-technology-could-cut-shipping-emissions-in-half/) - Researchers propose a shipboard system combining limestone and seawater to convert CO2 from ship exhaust into highly stable bicarbonates. - [New solar cells produce electricity indoors](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/new-solar-cells-produce-electricity-indoors/) - The devices efficiently harvest artificial light, and could charge electronics and wearables. They can also generate electricity on cloudy days. - [Energy subsidies and the G20](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/07/energy-subsidies-and-the-g20/) - Energy subsidies and the G20: Do as I say, not as I do. - [The Carnery](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/07/the-carnery/) - Imagine a culinary future with in vitro meat . . .The real thing may not be as far away as you think - [Conservation and economic development go hand in hand, more often than expected](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/conservation-and-economic-development-go-hand-in-hand-more-often-than-expected/) - An analysis for more than 10,000 protected areas found simultaneous progress in both conservation and economic development in about half. - [Zero Emissions Natural Gas May Be Possible](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/06/zero-emissions-natural-gas-may-be-possible/) - But it’s still a fossil fuel. Can we get over that? | Fixing Carbon Newsletter from Anthropocene Magazine - [Inside Europe’s people-powered green transition](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/03/inside-europes-people-powered-green-transition/) - A quantitative analysis of citizen-led sustainable energy initiatives reveals surprising heft - [Est-ce le bon moment pour parler des changements climatiques ?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/09/est-ce-le-bon-moment-pour-parler-des-changements-climatiques/) - Une nouvelle étude révèle que les personnes qui ont récemment connu plus d'événements météorologiques extrêmes seraient plus susceptibles de soutenir l'adaptation aux changements climatiques en général, ainsi que de soutenir des mesures d'adaptation spécifiques. - [¿Es éste un buen momento para hablar sobre el cambio climático?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/09/es-este-un-buen-momento-para-hablar-sobre-el-cambio-climatico/) - Un nuevo estudio muestra que las personas que hayan experimentado recientemente eventos climáticos extremos, tienen más probabilidades de apoyar la adaptación al cambio climático en general, así como apoyar medidas de adaptación específicas. - [Is this a good time to talk about climate change?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/09/is-this-a-good-time-to-talk-about-climate-change/) - A new study finds that people who had recently experienced more extreme weather events were more likely to support climate change adaptation in general, as well as to support specific adaptation measures. - [This paint sweats to cool off buildings. No energy required.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/new-paint-sweats-to-cool-off-buildings/) - The paint replenishes its water supply by absorbing rain and water vapor. Its porous structure holds the water and then slowly releases it much like sweat. - [Relocating global croplands could produce the same food on half the land with 70% less emissions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/03/a-global-reconfiguration-of-croplands-could-produce-the-same-food-on-half-the-land-with-70-smaller-carbon-footprint/) - Acknowledging that a full-blown global crop reconfiguration is contrived, the researchers then tested more modest and realistic changes. Those were transformative too. - [Do solar farms make good neighbors? New study challenges NIMBY assumptions.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/do-solar-plants-make-good-neighbors-new-study-challenges-nimby-assumptions/) - Most neighbors of large solar farms support new projects, researchers found. But they also uncovered a twist: Familiarity can breed resistance. - [Where marine biodiversity thrives, less fish feeds more people ](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/where-marine-biodiversity-thrives-less-fish-feeds-more-people/) - In regions with a greater array of fish species, not only are fish are more nutritious, they're also more resilient to climate change. - [Affordable CO2 capture: How common clay could revolutionize the industry](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/common-clay-climate-change-champion/) - A tablespoon of clay has same surface area as a football field; With a little tweaking, it can soak up as much CO2 as more expensive sorbents, researchers show. - [Survival of the greenest: Older companies are surprisingly more sustainable than younger ones](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/survival-of-the-greenest-older-companies-are-surprisingly-more-sustainable-than-younger-ones/) - Overall and in every region of the globe, older companies have better environmental metrics than younger ones, a new study reveals. - [Scientists challenge the idea that we should leave forests untouched to maximize climate benefits](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/scientists-challenge-the-idea-that-we-should-leave-forests-untouched-to-maximize-climate-benefits/) - Humans living in and around forests have been supporting forest health for 1000s of years, they say—and we should protect those practices. - [AI just found the best ingredients for green concrete](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/ai-just-found-the-best-ingredients-for-green-concrete/) - After sorting through 1 million material samples, an AI tool has found 19 ideal materials to reduce concrete’s emissions and lower its environmental impact. - [Small underpasses offer amphibians an extraordinary escape from death](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/small-underpasses-give-migrating-amphibians-a-chance-to-escape-death/) - Residents of a Vermont town rallied for construction of wildlife tunnels to save amphibians from becoming road kill. The benefits startled scientists. - [Trump is slashing federal climate action. States could cost-effectively fill the gap](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/06/trump-is-slashing-federal-climate-action-states-could-cost-effectively-fill-the-gap/) - A new study finds that states can decarbonize on their own for the same price as a federal effort—but the world looks different from one with federal control. - [To Upcycle Fast Fashion Melt Down Clothes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/07/to-upcycle-fast-fashion-melt-down-clothes/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_post_title title=”off” meta=”off” admin_label=”Post Title” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_post_title][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row padding_mobile=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”30%” max_width=”30%” use_custom_width=”on” width_unit=”off” custom_width_percent=”30%” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Category and Date” _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”Roboto||||” text_font_size=”13″ text_letter_spacing=”3″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”center” - [Milk Without the Cow. Eggs Without the Chicken.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/milk-without-the-cow-eggs-without-the-chicken/) - Yeast-derived “animal products” may soon be part of an environmentally balanced diet | Anthropocene Magazine - [Minuscule silk needles loaded with melatonin tackle food waste at the source](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/minuscule-silk-needles-loaded-with-melatonin-tackle-food-waste-at-the-source/) - Melatonin, a sleep aid for humans, is known to keep foods fresh longer. Now scientists have come up with a clever, efficient, and natural delivery system. - [3D Printed Bricks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/09/3d-printed-bricks/) - 3D printed bricks could be the building blocks of modern, sustainable architecture - [Reality Is Too Confining](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2014/10/reality-is-too-confining/) - We know that nature experiences can change environmental behavior—but it turns out those experiences don’t have to be real. - [What's the Fastest Way to an Energy Miracle?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/10/whats-the-fastest-way-to-an-energy-miracle/) - First amp up R&D then fade in a carbon tax - [Ecology for Insiders](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/10/ecology-for-insiders/) - The indoor biome covers as much as six percent of the world’s landmass—and we know almost nothing about it. - [Carbon-Negative Furniture](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/10/carbon-negative-furniture/) - And other things made from greenhouse gases - [We should be measuring the footprint of supply chains](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/10/we-should-be-measuring-the-footprint-of-supply-chains/) - Attributing water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions to countries rather than industrial sectors is a leading example of how the supply chain world warps geography. - [The Global Financial Establishment Is Waking up to Climate Risk](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/11/the-global-financial-establishment-is-waking-up-to-climate-risk/) - Regulators are beginning to rewrite the economic rules - [Why citizen science may shine, even in Trump’s world](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/01/why-citizen-science-may-shine-even-in-trumps-world/) - As we brace for fresh environmental onslaughts to be leveled by the incoming administration, a sleeper cell in the federal government itself may just provide resistance—and even resilience—in the face of it. - [Nanosilver may cut down on odor, but does it make clothing "green"?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/01/nanosilver-may-cut-down-on-odor-but-does-it-make-clothing-green/) - Less frequent laundering may not offset the additional environmental impacts of using antimicrobial silver nanoparticles in textiles. - [On Wizardly Prophets and Prophetic Wizards](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/07/on-wizardly-prophets-and-prophetic-wizards/) - Ted Nordhaus reviews The Wizard and The Prophet by Charles Mann - [Greening the last mile of e-commerce](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/07/greening-the-last-mile-of-e-commerce/) - Rush online delivery increases shopping-related carbon emissions and traffic congestion. Could hubs, incentives, and electric vehicles green ecommerce? - [David and The Upcycled Garbage Truck](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/02/david-and-the-upcycled-garbage-truck/) - David Beckham’s $500,000 electric Jaguar conversion could unleash a carbon-free Goliath—the kind that picks up your trash - [In this case, a human touch helped revive a species—instead of endangering it.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/in-this-case-a-human-touch-helped-revive-a-species-instead-of-endangering-it/) - As rare butterfly populations dwindle, intensive efforts by people help some insects hold steady—or even increase population size—according to new research. - [We’ve reached a fork in the fertilizer road: Which path keeps food cheap and the world cool?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/05/weve-reached-a-fork-in-the-fertilizer-road-which-path-keeps-food-cheap-and-the-world-cool/) - We’ve reached a fork in the fertilizer road: More (but greener) fertilizer or less fertilizer (and less meat) | Fixing Carbon post by Anthropocene Magazine | - [AI-designed enzyme devours plastic trash in days](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/05/ai-designed-enzyme-devours-plastic-waste-in-hours/) - The new enzyme works at lower temperatures than previous ones, which would make it greener, faster, and cheaper - [A new AI-powered app scans banana crops for early signs of disease](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/08/a-new-ai-powered-app-scans-bananas-for-early-signs-of-disease/) - International researchers have developed a computer model that can detect visual signs of disease on banana crops - and warn farmers before it spreads out of control. - [Many people believe climate change is happening, but most don't act. Why?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/many-people-believe-climate-change-is-happening-but-most-dont-act-why/) - A new study looks systematically for what works—and what doesn’t—to overcome psychological barriers that keep people stuck in the carbon-emissions status quo. - [To protect rainforests, do people need to be kept out?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/to-protect-rainforests-do-people-need-to-be-kept-out/) - A new study in Panama found that entrusting forests to Indigenous inhabitants may be a more effective conservation strategy than creating protected refuges. - [Bread from seagrass? Cultivating grains in the ocean could be an elegant solution to rising seas.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/bread-from-seagrass-cultivating-grains-in-the-ocean-could-be-an-elegant-solution-to-rising-seas/) - Farmed at scale, seagrass meadows could produce grain in quantities equivalent to 7% of global rice production, a new study finds. - [The next big thing in sustainable construction: Iron-fortified wood?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/the-next-big-thing-in-sustainable-construction-iron-fortified-wood/) - Engineers have created steel-like wood by infusing it with iron, offering a climate-friendly alternative to concrete and steel. - [Algae "perfume" fused with high-tech materials holds promise for growing coral](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/algae-perfume-fused-with-high-tech-materials-holds-promise-for-growing-coral/) - In lab tests, areas painted in chemicals emitted by red algae draw 20 times more coral larvae. | By Anthropocene Magazine - [Virtual fashion is coming. Will it improve clothing sustainability? Or just increase consumption?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/virtual-fashion-is-coming-will-it-improve-clothing-sustainability-or-just-increase-consumption/) - A new study suggests that the growing market for digital clothing could have some surprising consumer dynamics | Anthropocene Magazine - [Oysters have a rare environmental distinction among foods. They are net positive.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/more-evidence-that-oysters-are-a-blue-food-win-for-climate-and-coastal-pollution/) - A new lifecycle analysis found that the bivalves bound tons of carbon in their shells and soaked up six-fold more nutrients than they produced. - [Here’s a cost effective way to make green hydrogen with an unusual ingredient.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/could-urine-be-the-next-source-of-green-hydrogen/) - Researchers have used electrolysis to directly make low-cost hydrogen from urine. The process uses 25% less electricity than splitting water. - [To coax a replanted rainforest to be more like old growth, consider a termite transplant.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/to-coax-a-replanted-rainforest-to-be-more-like-old-growth-consider-a-termite-transplant/) - New research reveals that a termite shortage might be at the root of slower decomposition of dead wood in second growth forests. - [First large-scale study of telemedicine's carbon impact uncovers big climate benefits](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/first-large-scale-study-of-telemedicines-carbon-impact-uncovers-big-climate-benefits/) - Researchers “were astonished by the magnitude of the impact” from switching to online health visits | Anthropocene Magazine - [How an explosion in urban beekeeping coincided with a decline in wild pollinators](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/05/how-an-explosion-in-urban-beekeeping-coincided-with-a-decline-in-wild-pollinators/) - "Just as we wouldn’t advocate keeping backyard chickens to save the birds, we shouldn’t look to beekeeping to save the bees,” say researchers. - [When Backyard Wind Is Cheaper than Fossil Fuels](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/08/small-urbansuburban-vertical-axis-wind-turbines-could-compete-with-fossil-fuels/) - New study shows that vertical-axis wind turbines, if designed well, could financially compete with fossil fuel electricity. - [In the quest for crops that can thrive in a warmer future, scientists just had a breakthrough.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/in-the-quest-for-crops-that-can-thrive-in-a-warmer-future-scientists-just-had-a-breakthrough/) - They discovered a gene variant that not only shields rice from heat stress, it also produces more and better grains. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Fixing Hydropower’s Deadly Spin Cycle](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/fixing-hydropowers-deadly-spin-cycle/) - Dams are great for the climate but fatal for some fish. Here’s how that could change. | published by Anthropocene Magazine - [What rhymes with "critically endangered"?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/what-rhymes-with-critically-endangered/) - In a creative fusion of science and literature, researchers trace the past range and decline of a rare Chinese porpoise through 700+ poems dating back to 618CE. - [Moss could provide a soft landing for tens of thousands of defunct oil wells](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/moss-could-provide-a-soft-landing-for-tens-of-thousands-of-defunct-oil-wells/) - In a milestone for ecological restoration, researchers have developed a method for restoring carbon-storing peatlands to old oil well sites across Canada. - [The first major finding of a new soil study: Intervene as little as possible.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/the-first-major-finding-of-a-new-soil-study-intervene-as-little-as-possible/) - The second unexpected finding was that whether a farm is organic or conventional is not necessarily a strong predictor of soil health. - [Does driving an electric car help decarbonize the economy?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/09/does-driving-an-electric-car-help-decarbonize-the-economy/) - You would need to drive an electric car more than 50,000 km in Quebec and 150,000 km in Germany to outcompete a conventional car in terms of greenhouse gas emissions - [Clever new technique turns falling rain into renewable energy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/05/clever-new-technique-turns-falling-rain-into-renewable-energy/) - Researchers created an elegantly simple device that uses the flow of water through tiny tubes to produce enough electricity to keep the lights on. - [Faced with punishing heatwaves, help for kelp may come from protecting marine predators.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/faced-with-punishing-heatwaves-help-for-kelp-may-come-from-protecting-marine-predators/) - At time when ocean reserve protections are threatened, new research shows bans on fishing made kelp ecosystems more resilient. - [New research on the surprising disconnect between green habits and green voting patterns](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/new-research-on-the-surprising-disconnect-between-green-habits-and-green-voting-patterns/) - The upshot: getting people to adopt eco-friendly habits won’t necessarily translate into support for environmental policies or political parties. - [New study compares growing corn for energy to solar production. It’s no contest.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/new-study-compares-growing-corn-for-energy-to-solar-production-its-no-contest/) - It would require about 31 hectares of corn ethanol to produce the same amount of energy generated by one ha of land covered in solar panels. - [When they created a reverse bounty for threatened species, scientists got the opposite outcome they wanted](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/when-they-created-a-reverse-bounty-for-threatened-species-scientists-got-the-opposite-outcome-they-wanted/) - A study of Indonesian fishers who were paid to release threatened fish species found the program actually caused more fish deaths. - [Which roof beats urban heat better, the white one or the green one?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/which-roof-beats-urban-heat-better-the-white-one-or-the-green-one/) - In a head-to-head comparison, researchers found that white or reflective roofs outperformed all other commonly employed cooling strategies on hot summer days. - [Who could replace US climate financing?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/who-could-replace-us-climate-financing/) - Decarbonization is a long game with a shifting line-up of players—and climate financing solutions | by Anthropocene Magazine - [Scientists get tantalizingly close to creating the flavor and texture of cheese—with peas.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/scientists-get-tantalizingly-close-to-creating-the-flavor-and-texture-of-cheese-with-peas/) - Researchers have struggled to make a plant-based cheese that resembles the real thing. So this team decided to try a plant-dairy hybrid. - [Device cools buildings without electricity by sending heat into space](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/08/device-could-cool-buildings-by-sending-heat-into-space/) - A new electricity-free cooling system that relies on inexpensive, easy-to-manufacture materials could help cool buildings in an urban setting. - [Clearly cool: A transparent paper-based material could replace single-use plastics](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/clearly-cool-a-transparent-paper-based-material-could-replace-single-use-plastics/) - The millimeter-thick paperboard is strong, transparent, shapeable—and can hold boiling water like plastic. But it degrades within a year on the ocean floor. - [For most countries, there’s a clear smart move to achieve energy security and reduce trade risks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/for-most-countries-theres-a-clear-smart-move-to-achieve-energy-security-and-reduce-trade-risks/) - In the trade-off between reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels and increasing dependence on minerals for clean energy, decarbonization is the big win. - [What if we turned the food waste problem on its head—and made it a climate solution?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/what-if-we-turned-the-food-waste-problem-on-its-head-and-made-it-a-climate-solution/) - A new study finds that each tonne of food waste recycled, with existing technologies, would reduce carbon emissions by roughly a corresponding tonne. - [Researchers tested the claim that grass-fed beef is better for the climate—and found it wanting](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/researchers-tested-the-claim-that-grass-fed-beef-is-better-for-the-climate-and-found-it-wanting/) - In a new study, researchers found that per kilogram of beef, pasture-raised cattle are generally more carbon-intensive than cows raised in industrial feedlots. - [The unusual inspiration for this energy-free cooling system is elephant skin](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/the-unusual-inspiration-for-this-energy-free-cooling-system-is-elephant-skin/) - Mimicking the heat-regulating ability of an elephant's skin, the bumpy fungus-based tiles improved cooling rates by as much as 70% compared to flat tiles. - [Adjusting when you charge your EV or do laundry could postpone the need for expensive infrastructure](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/adjusting-when-you-charge-your-ev-or-do-a-load-of-laundry-could-postpone-the-need-for-expensive-infrastructure/) - A new study demonstrates how flattening the curve of energy use over a 24-hour period could postpone the need for expensive infrastructure - [Is sustainable intensification an oxymoron? A 9-yr study says maybe not.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/is-sustainable-intensification-an-oxymoron-a-9-yr-study-says-maybe-not/) - A diverse cropping system in the US Corn Belt led to less nitrogen pollution—and an earthworm boom. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Tentacled biodegradable cleaners hunt microplastics in open water](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/tiny-tentacled-cleaners-hunt-microplastics-in-open-water/) - Soft, branched particles made from biodegradable chitosan can swim and capture microplastics in open water, bubbling to the surface for collection. - [What does family planning look like in a warming world?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/what-does-family-planning-look-like-in-a-warming-world/) - The answer will depend as much on climate anxiety as carbon emissions. - [The Biggest Carbon Sink of All](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/05/the-biggest-carbon-sink-of-all/) - Can we bury our CO2 problem at the bottom of the ocean? - [Paying people a guaranteed income could protect biodiversity. For a very high price.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/05/paying-people-a-guaranteed-income-could-protect-biodiversity-for-a-very-high-price/) - New research suggests that a conservation basic income could be fair and effective. It could also cost as much as $6 trillion per year. - [Science Fiction in the Anthropocene](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/10/science-fiction-in-the-anthropocene/) - The ultimate literature of the imagination calls upon us to do more than merely invent or imitate the apocalypse - [How much carbon does a wildebeest store?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/01/how-much-carbon-does-a-wildebeest-store/) - The science linking wildlife conservation to carbon sequestration is open for debate | A Fixing Carbon post from Anthropocene Magazine - [For the best forest restoration ROI, focus on the least and most logged places](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/for-the-best-forest-restoration-roi-focus-on-the-least-and-most-logged-places/) - Researchers working in an experimental forest in Borneo showed that forest ecosystems undergo sudden shifts when logging reaches certain thresholds. - [A trillion trees could cool the planet. But where to get them? There’s a massive disconnect.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/08/a-trillion-trees-could-cool-the-planet-but-where-to-get-them-theres-a-massive-disconnect/) - Scientists audited the capacity of U.S. nurseries to grow enough seedlings for ecologically-minded tree planting campaigns. The results were not pretty. - [Orchestrating chatter between appliances could save a surprising amount of energy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/11/orchestrating-chatter-between-appliances-could-save-a-surprising-amount-of-energy/) - Researchers developed a clever algorithm to coordinate whole neighborhoods of air conditioners, water heaters, and heat pumps—without comprising individual use. - [Does the world need a non-proliferation treaty for fossil fuels?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/11/does-the-world-need-a-non-proliferation-treaty-for-fossil-fuels/) - At COP27, the EU is pushing a vote to make oil and gas as repugnant as nuclear weapons | Fixing Carbon Newsletter from Anthropocene Magazine - [Can charging frequent flyers for their carbon solve aviation’s climate problem?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/10/can-charging-frequent-flyers-for-their-carbon-solve-aviations-climate-problem/) - A frequent flyer carbon tax could raise enough to fully fund aviation's transition to sustainable fuels. But can such an audacious plan get off the ground? - [Can An Economy Grow Its Way Out of The Carbon Crisis?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/09/can-an-economy-can-grow-its-way-out-of-the-carbon-crisis/) - We take a look at the evidence behind the Inflation Reduction Act's big economic bet | Anthropocene Magazine - [Net zero requires massive tracts of land. Habitat conservation lies in the details.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/02/net-zero-requires-a-massive-tracts-of-land-the-environmental-footprint-however-lies-in-the-details/) - Researchers found that turning the western U.S. into a net zero hub is technically feasible—and perhaps even environmentally sustainable. - [Scientists glimpse into the Internet-fueled global trade in insects, spiders, and scorpions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/05/scientists-glimpse-into-the-internet-fueled-global-trade-in-insects-spiders-and-scorpions/) - The mail order insect pet trade has flourished beneath the regulatory radar. Tackling the problem requires novel approaches to wildlife trade. - [The debate over fracking is spilling over into renewable energy technologies](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/01/debate-over-fracking-is-spilling-over-into-renewable-energy-technologies/) - Social scientists surveying public perceptions of energy and climate uncovered some surprising connections—both negative and positive - [Linking wastewater and coal plants could slash carbon emissions and save freshwater](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/10/symbiosis-between-coal-and-wastewater-plants-would-be-a-win-win/) - Drawing on a strategy called "infrastructure symbiosis," a new study estimates that using sewage sludge and treated water as fuel and water source at coal plants could bring big environmental benefits. - [A three-decade study shows how reviving bison herds revives prairies . . even better than cattle](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/08/bringing-back-bison-can-help-bring-back-the-prairies-too/) - In one of the last remnants of tallgrass prairie, scientists found that native species richness nearly doubled on land grazed by bison. - [More than half of rare species need intensive, hands-on help to ward off extinction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/07/more-than-half-of-rare-species-need-intensive-hands-on-help-to-ward-off-extinction/) - As world leaders discuss committing to protect 30% of the world's habitat, scientists warn that won't be enough for many endangered species. - [Fairer access to credit could speed net zero in Africa by a decade](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/08/fairer-access-to-credit-could-speed-net-zero-in-africa/) - Previous studies have ignored regional differences in capital costs and painted a too-rosy picture of green energy development in Africa and elsewhere - [Researchers connect the dots between aquatic biodiversity and human nutrition](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/04/underwater-biodiversity-boosts-nutritional-value-of-our-diets/) - That more diverse an aquatic area, the more nutrients make it to our plates - [The Direct-Air Capture Debate](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/03/the-direct-air-capture-debate/) - Is now the moment for wartime-level investment in technologies that suck carbon out of thin air? - [Footsteps could light up homes with power-generating wooden floors](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/03/footsteps-could-light-up-homes-with-power-generating-wooden-floors/) - Researchers have found a way to convert the renewable construction material into a renewable energy producer. - [Climate change compels us to reconsider protected area borders](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/02/should-we-reconsider-how-we-draw-borders-around-protected-lands/) - New research suggests that governments should designate protected areas based on land qualities—not current species’ locations. - [A drastic revolution in the way we eat and farm could limit habitat lost to agriculture to a mere 1%](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/01/if-we-drastically-revolutionize-the-way-we-eat-and-farm-habitat-lost-to-agriculture-would-drop-to-a-mere-1/) - Alternatively, researchers found, if we don’t change our food systems, habitat losses will affect tens of thousands of species by 2050 - [Researchers have hit on a widely available solution for decarbonizing fertilizer production](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/12/researchers-have-identified-a-1-solution-for-decarbonizing-fertilizer-production/) - Phosphorous is a key ingredient in plant fertilizer as well as urine. Researchers have found a way to tackle its big carbon footprint - with "peecycling." - [How many fish are in the sea?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/12/studying-the-genetic-soup-in-seawater-could-help-conserve-fish-stocks/) - The ocean is awash in biological DNA. And now researchers are mining microscopic environmental DNA to measure the density and diversity of fish stocks. - [Q. Are vertebrate populations declining? A. Depends on how you look at the data](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/11/q-is-vertebrate-biodiversity-declining-a-depends-on-how-you-look-at-the-data/) - A new analysis complicates a popular metric of biodiversity decline. - [As glaciers vanish, what should we do with the land that’s revealed?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/08/as-glaciers-vanish-what-should-we-do-with-the-land-thats-revealed/) - Enough untouched terrain to cover all of Finland could be uncovered as glaciers retreat, scientists found. Much of it is unprotected. - [What’s the carbon fallout of Russia’s war on Ukraine?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/03/whats-the-carbon-fallout-of-russias-war-on-ukraine/) - While death, destruction and war crimes dominate the headlines, some striking climate implications are now also coming into focus - [Topsoils could last less than 200 years or more than 5,000—depending on management](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/09/global-soils-are-in-decline-but-simple-conservation-measures-could-preserve-them-for-thousands-of-years/) - Sustainable farming practices will preserve topsoil health and increase soil lifespans. They include no-till agriculture, cover-cropping and contour cultivation - [Could an ecological handprint make a positive impression?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/07/want-to-reduce-your-ecological-footprint-try-a-handprint-analysis/) - And, can the emerging concept be as rigorous as a footprint? - [Picturing a Way Forward](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/06/picturing-a-way-forward/) - Kim Stanley Robinson discusses climate fiction and the failure of our collective failure of imagination | Anthropocene Magazine | Anthropocene Magazine - [Climate research needs a better understanding of power](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/01/what-climate-research-needs-now-a-better-understanding-of-power/) - There’s lots of research on how to convince people that climate change is real, and lots more about how to motivate people to take action once they are convinced. But much less is known about how to translate climate concern and activism into real political power. - [Armados con información, los consumidores hacen mejores elecciones para el planeta.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/12/armados-con-informacion-los-consumidores-hacen-mejores-elecciones-para-el-planeta/) - Un estudio reciente encuentra que una etiqueta visual simple sobre los alimentos permite a los consumidores tomar decisiones dietéticas más ecológicas. - [Armed with information, consumers do make better choices for the planet](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/12/armed-with-information-consumers-do-make-better-choices-for-the-planet/) - A simple, visual label on food empowers consumers to make greener dietary choices, a new study finds. - [Trailblazing research uncovers urban gardens as a hidden powerhouse for pollinators](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/03/urban-gardeners-have-a-big-role-to-play-in-protecting-pollinators/) - Researchers quantified nectar supply in rural and urban areas and found the scale of production in city gardens overwhelming - [75 technological innovations for our future farming toolbox](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/05/to-transform-our-food-systems-we-need-to-tap-into-the-agricultural-innovation-thats-at-our-fingertips/) - New agricultural technologies are swiftly being developed. But, they will need the right social, economic, and political conditions to truly take off. - [Vincular o clima extremo às mudanças climáticas poderia ajudar na redução das emissões de carbono](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/01/vincular-o-clima-extremo-as-mudancas-climaticas-poderia-ajudar-na-reducao-das-emissoes-de-carbono/) - Há evidências que condições meteorológicas extremas e mudanças de longo prazo no clima local podem aumentar a preocupação das pessoas sobre mudanças climáticas. A cobertura de mídia sobre eventos distantes de condições climáticas extremas, também pode aumentar a conscientização e preocupação. - [Attribuer les conditions météorologiques extrêmes aux changements climatiques pourrait aider à limiter les émissions de carbone](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/01/attribuer-les-conditions-meteorologiques-extremes-aux-changements-climatiques-pourrait-aider-a-limiter-les-emissions-de-carbone/) - Des preuves démontrent que les conditions météorologiques extrêmes et les changements à long terme du climat local peuvent accroître les préoccupations des gens à l'égard des changements climatiques. La couverture médiatique d'événements météorologiques extrêmes éloignés pourrait également sensibiliser et susciter des préoccupations. - [Linking extreme weather to climate change could help curb carbon emissions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/01/linking-extreme-weather-to-climate-change-could-help-curb-carbon-emissions/) - There’s evidence that extreme weather and long-term changes in the local climate can increase people’s concerns about climate change. Media coverage of distant extreme weather events can also raise awareness and concern. - [Scientists issue a manifesto for reducing drug use on farms](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/10/scientists-issue-a-manifesto-for-reducing-drug-use-on-farms/) - Researchers have mapped out how three global interventions--from regulation, to user fees, and reducing global meat intake--could reduce the ballooning problem of antimicrobial resistance on farms. - [Hay poco terreno intermedio en las discusiones sobre el cambio climático en Internet. ¿Esto importa?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/12/hay-poco-terreno-intermedio-en-las-discusiones-sobre-el-cambio-climatico-en-internet-esto-importa/) - Los blogs de negación hacia el cambio climático pretenden estar basados en la ciencia, pero en realidad su contenido tiene poca superposición con las declaraciones en la literatura revisada por expertos, informa un equipo internacional de investigadores en la revista BioScience - [There’s little middle ground in Internet discussions of climate change—Does it matter?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/12/science-in-climate-denial-blogs-melts-down-under-scrutiny/) - Climate-denial blogs purport to be based on science, but in reality their content has little overlap with statements in the peer-reviewed literature, an international team of researchers reports in the journal BioScience. - [Surprisingly, leaving predators in peace boosts livestock on Australian farms](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/03/boost-livestock-on-farms-leave-predators-in-peace/) - Predator culling is a controversial way of protecting livestock. But does it actually work? Researchers find that in the case of the dingo, protecting the population actually does more to safeguard livestock on Australian farms. - [Increased access to medications may be a public health good—but it's a big climate challenge](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/04/increased-access-to-medications-may-be-a-public-health-good-but-its-a-big-climate-challenge/) - A massive global analysis reveals pharmaceuticals as the most carbon-intensive portion of the global health care system - [If you want a fast-growing forest to suck up more carbon, pick slow-growing trees](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/if-you-want-a-fast-growing-forest-to-suck-up-more-carbon-pick-slow-growing-trees/) - Trees that have "fast growing" traits turn out to grow more slowly in the wild than their conservative relatives, scientists find. - [Government climate pledges and citizen climate support are pulling in opposite directions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/what-shapes-countries-emissions-reduction-pledges-under-the-paris-agreement-not-citizen-support/) - Governments of rich countries tend to make ambitious emissions reduction pledges—but their citizens are the least willing to pay for climate action. - [Engineers turn sewage sludge into fuel and feed](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/engineers-turn-sewage-sludge-into-fuel-and-feed/) - Scientists have developed a solar-powered method to convert solid waste into valuable green hydrogen and animal feed. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Why does climate denial still receive more news coverage than climate action?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/07/climate-denial-still-makes-headlines/) - It's not always clear who and what drives the public discourse about climate change - [How to catch pandemics before they happen?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/07/can-we-catch-pandemics-before-they-happen/) - A network of small, flexible testing sites could make potential spillover hotspots, like wildlife markets, much less dangerous. - [Conventional wisdom holds that rising living standards are fueled by oil. What if that’s wrong?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/03/yes-we-can-live-well-without-fossil-fuels/) - Researchers found that recent improvements in life expectancy are only weakly coupled to increases in carbon emissions - [Decreasing air pollution increases agricultural yields](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/03/tighter-air-pollution-regulations-in-california-could-mean-more-wine/) - Grapes, nectarines, peaches and almonds are just some of the California crops that have been boosted by cleaner air in recent decades. That means bigger earnings for farmers, too. - [Picking "all-star teams" for habitat conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/03/conservation-surrogate-group-all-star-team/) - Basing conservation decisions on a suite of species, rather than just one, might be more effective — and it definitely sets up more cheerleading opportunities. - [Contrary to popular belief, fish stocks are not declining in all parts of the ocean](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/01/the-verdict-managing-fisheries-really-does-work/) - The difference between declining and recovering regions is intensive fishery management. - [What’s driving the remarkable decline of urban sprawl in the US?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/02/whats-driving-remarkable-decline-urban-sprawl-in-us/) - A new study finds that a primary culprit has been rising gas prices—spurring denser development in communities across the country. - [Tiny, needle-like sensors inserted into plants are the latest addition to precision agriculture](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/07/tiny-needle-like-sensors-inserted-into-plants-are-the-latest-addition-to-precision-agriculture/) - Using microneedles, a technology borrowed from medicine, researchers mine real-time data to make farming hyper-efficient—and more sustainable - [Surprisingly small tweaks to carbon pricing could balance cost with fairness](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/12/small-tweaks-to-carbon-pricing-can-balance-fairness-and-cost/) - Some small tweaks to carbon pricing scenarios could factor in fairness for all nations, setting a carbon price, allowing transfers, and being equitable too - [Here's how sea level rise will wash away wealth from even the largest economies](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/02/sea-level-rise-will-wash-away-wealth-from-even-the-largest-economies/) - Preparing for rising seas will be expensive. Not preparing—even more so. - [Not all weather disasters trigger climate conversations](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/12/why-extreme-weather-triggers-climate-change-discussions-or-doesnt/) - Experiencing a weather disaster doesn’t necessarily focus a community’s attention on the climate crisis. The reasons include a lack of bandwidth in the aftermath of a disaster, and politics. - [Climate denial is inflating local real estate prices](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/11/climate-denial-is-inflating-local-real-estate-prices/) - Homes likely to be inundated by future sea level rise currently sell for about 7% more in neighborhoods with a high percentage of climate deniers than similar homes in climate believer neighborhoods. - [A simple tweak of electricity market rules could encourage decarbonization](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/11/to-spark-a-green-energy-transition-power-markets-need-a-tweak/) - The structure of electricity markets in many wealthy economies is likely to make it more difficult to decarbonize. But the solution could be as simple as adding a new feature to these markets to juice the adoption of renewable energy technologies like solar and wind. - [What if the standard way of planning climate mitigation is part of the problem?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/09/standard-way-of-planning-climate-mitigation-part-of-problem/) - In order to do right by the younger generation, scientists and policy makers need to change the way they study climate change and plan mitigation strategies. - [Bacterial discovery could help crops withstand salty soils](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/08/inoculating-plants-with-bacteria-could-help-them-grow-in-salty-soils/) - Transferring salt-loving bacteria onto crops could help them thrive in toxic soils. - [What if crops could be coaxed into making their own fertilizer?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/08/what-if-crops-could-make-their-own-fertilizer/) - Researchers harness a microbe to create crops that—with a little more tweaking—might one day use less synthetic fertilizer. - [This is how climate change takes a toll on the heart](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/03/climate-change-takes-toll-on-heart/) - Heat-induced heart attacks are increasing, suggesting that climate change poses a risk to cardiovascular health. The German study also shows that the health impacts of climate change aren’t limited to urban areas. - [How to plan for a post-parking future](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/02/penny-pinching-zombie-robots-could-take-over-city-streets/) - Currently, many cities charge high prices for parking in the downtown core. This is an effective strategy to discourage people from driving in to the center city and keeps traffic congestion in check. But self-driving cars could totally upend this system. - [As cars get cleaner, air pollution sources shift indoors](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/02/as-cars-get-cleaner-air-pollution-sources-shift-indoors/) - Half of fossil fuel-based volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air of industrialized cities now come from industrial and household products, reflecting the success of efforts to address motor vehicle emissions and the need to take a closer look at everyday products. - [What’s best for the climate: Reshoring solar panel production or just buying cheap from China?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/04/whats-best-for-the-climate-reshoring-solar-panel-production-or-just-buying-cheap-from-china/) - Balancing national interests and carbon emissions is tricky business | The Fixing Carbon Newsletter from Anthropocene Magazine - [Los desechos humanos son una cosa terrible de desperdiciar.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/los-desechos-humanos-son-una-cosa-terrible-de-desperdiciar/) - Un nuevo estudio examina si los desechos humanos producidos en 56 ciudades del mundo podrían reciclarse para convertirse en fertilizantes para las tierras agrícolas circundantes. - [How our climate future might unfold in 5 stories](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/03/this-is-what-it-will-take-to-limit-global-warming-to-1-5-c/) - A new study provides a much clearer picture than we've had before of what needs to happen and when in order to secure a 1.5 °C world. - [Human waste is a terrible thing to waste](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/human-waste-is-a-terrible-thing-to-waste/) - A new study examines whether human waste produced in 56 global cities could be recycled into fertilizer for surrounding agricultural lands. - [Cómo nuestro futuro climático podría desarrollarse en 5 historias.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/03/como-nuestro-futuro-climatico-podria-desarrollarse-en-5-historias/) - Un nuevo estudio proporciona una imagen mucho más clara de lo que debe suceder antes y cuándo para asegurar un mundo de 1,5 ° C. - [Graphene Can Green Up Concrete's Act](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/04/graphene-can-green-up-concretes-act/) - Mixing graphene into concrete makes it two times as strong and four times as water-resistant, and also lowers its carbon emissions. - [To cut emissions, eating vegetables—not eating local—is the key](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/10/to-cut-emissions-eating-vegetables-not-eating-local-is-the-key/) - A detailed study of food consumption in Europe reveals that 75% of the region's dietary emissions come from dairy and meat. - [How a carbon tax could fight poverty and climate change at the same time](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/07/how-a-carbon-tax-could-fight-poverty-and-climate-change-at-the-same-time/) - The money governments currently pour into fossil fuel subsidies could instead be directed to improve health, education, and infrastructure. Taxing carbon would yield more funds on top of that. - [In a century or two, the vegetation of this planet may look completely different than it does today](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/09/climate-change-could-completely-transform-ecosystems-and-its-already-starting/) - Climate warming at the end of the last Ice Age triggered sweeping changes in to the planet's ecosystems that could fortell the future if carbon emissions remain unchecked. - [The hype behind carbon farming comes down to earth](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/06/the-hype-behind-carbon-farming-comes-down-to-earth/) - How realistic is it to bury excess carbon in agricultural soil? | Anthropocene Magazine - [Trading beef for insects—or even chicken—would save a third of arable land](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/05/alternative-proteins-save-arable-land/) - Boosting our consumption of insects and soy products would save vast areas of land from conversion to livestock pasture. And surprisingly, consuming more chicken, milk, and eggs in place of beef would result in similar land savings. - [Climate stories don’t have to be depressing to be effective](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/03/climate-stories-dont-have-to-be-depressing-to-be-effective/) - A new study shows how positive stories about characters whose actions match their intentions change the minds of readers - [Astro-Ecology](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/09/astro-ecology/) - When stargazers look for animals - [Pine Cones Inspire Energy-Saving Shades](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/pine-cones-inspire-energy-saving-shades/) - Pine cones have inspired a new way to reduce the energy used by buildings. By mimicking the way these woody fruits open in response to humidity, Swiss engineers have made shades that can open and close without using any electricity. - [How to grow rice while saving endangered salmon](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/06/how-to-grow-rice-while-saving-endangered-salmon/) - Researchers find that if rice farms are managed right, they could provide vital surrogate habitat for young and endangered Chinook salmon in California's agricultural Central Valley. - [In Brazil, signs that a soy moratorium is slowing down deforestation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/05/soy-moratorium-slows-brazil-deforestation/) - In 2006, the soy industry introduced a moratorium on certain types of soy farming in the Brazilian Amazon. Now, say a group of researchers, there are solid signs that it has succeeded in dramatically slowing regional deforestation. - [As agriculture advances on African forests, an opportunity to stop it](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/04/as-agriculture-advances-on-african-forests-an-opportunity-to-stop-it/) - Commercial agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa is expanding into tropical forests, and foreign investment in oil palm is expected to increase pressure on forests. But lessons from other parts of the world point to ways to avert intensive deforestation. - [Pressed, not baked: A green recipe for making tiles and bricks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/03/making-ceramics-without-heat/) - Inspired by geological rock formation, Swiss researchers have developed a way to manufacture ceramics that skips the heating altogether. Instead, they add water to the raw material and compress it at room temperature. - [The surprising reasons why no one trophy hunts for pandas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/04/the-surprising-reasons-why-no-one-trophy-hunts-for-pandas/) - "If you walked into someone's trophy room and you saw a panda, you'd look at the person who did it and be like, 'Are you kidding me?'" - [Stop assuming that only affluent white people care about the environment](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/10/everyone-has-got-to-stop-assuming-that-only-white-people-care-about-the-environment/) - People of all ethnic groups underestimate how concerned people of color are about the environment, and overestimate how concerned white people are. Both poor and wealthy people underestimate the level of environmental concern among the poor. - [Scientists count elephants from space with impressive accuracy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/01/scientists-use-satellite-images-to-automatically-count-elephants-from-space/) - Elephants inhabit complicated and changing landscapes—and they have a knack for covering themselves with mud. Machine learning solves the problem. - [Sustainable paper batteries. Just add bacteria...and water.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/paper-bacteria-eco-friendly-battery/) - A new low-cost, biodegradable battery is made of paper and fueled by bacteria. It could be the ultimate sustainable solution for powering small electronic devices. - [Climate change is emptying the desert of birds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/climate-change-is-emptying-the-desert-of-birds/) - For birds living in the Mojave Desert of southern California and Nevada, climate change has already been here for decades, and has cut bird diversity at many local spots by nearly half. - [We need a quantum leap in farm technology...stat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/05/meeting-climate-targets-will-need-agricultural-innovations/) - In order to limit global warming to 2°C in 2100, non-carbon dioxide agricultural emissions will have to be cut by one billion tons every year by 2030. - [New paper resolves a half-century old debate about how to conserve biodiversity in natural areas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/new-paper-resolves-a-half-century-old-debate-about-how-to-conserve-biodiversity-in-natural-areas/) - For biodiversity, it’s better to have one large contiguous forest than many smaller fragments | from Anthropocene Magazine - [Parks provide islands of cool in urban areas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/05/parks-provide-islands-cool-urban-areas/) - Researchers have documented a "park cool island" effect that partly offsets the "urban heat island" effect and could be a boon for urban wildlife. - [Could biodiversity protect against wildfires?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/03/biodiversity-protect-against-wildfires/) - One factor leading to increased wildfire susceptibility might be surprising: biodiversity loss. In particular, the extinction of small, ground-dwelling mammals may prime Australia's bush to burn. - [New way to make plastic from carbon dioxide and plants](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/03/new-way-make-plastic-carbon-dioxide-plants/) - This could represent a low-carbon alternative to the petroleum-derived PET plastics commonly used to make bottles. - [A molecular tweak could enable wheat—and other crops—to thrive in higher temperatures](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/05/a-new-way-to-make-heat-tolerant-wheat/) - Researchers find a way to control the on-off switch for photosynthesis - and keep plants productive, even under high heat. - [Crops relocation could feed millions more--and save vast amounts of water](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/11/crops-relocation-could-feed-millions-more-and-save-vast-amounts-of-water/) - We’re producing less food--and using more water--than we should be. But researchers show that relocating crops across the globe could help us get closer to our full agricultural potential. - [This deceptively simple design tweak could make people choose vegetables over meat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/this-strikingly-simple-design-tweak-could-make-people-choose-vegetables-over-meat/) - “Sustainable choices aren’t just about what people want to do, they’re about what’s easy to do,” according to researchers on a new study. - [The secret to better batteries could be in your closet](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/the-secret-to-better-batteries-could-be-in-your-closet/) - Adding nylon to batteries makes them more efficient, safer, and longer-lasting, researchers have found | Anthropocene Magazine - [When planting trees to slow climate change, don’t plant the same tree all the time](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/when-planting-trees-to-slow-climate-change-dont-plant-the-same-tree-all-the-time/) - An experiment spanning 16 years found that places reforested with five kinds of trees stored 36% more carbon than monocultures. - [Is climate persuasion a fool’s errand?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/is-climate-persuasion-a-fools-errand/) - Climate psychology has come a long way. And it has a long way to go. | Part of the Fixing Carbon series from Anthropocene Magazine - [The idea that economic equality is good for the climate is appealing. But is it true?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/the-idea-that-economic-equality-is-good-for-the-climate-is-appealing-but-is-it-true/) - A study tackles the question and upends tidy narratives with a subtler reality: more equal countries tend to be richer, and wealth is a big driver of emissions. - [Innovative device converts car exhaust to electricity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/innovative-device-converts-car-exhaust-to-electricity/) - Wrapped around a car's tailpipe, the device could harness waste heat to produce enough electricity to at least charge a phone - [The space station is the ultimate industrial environment—cut off from the natural world. And that’s not healthy.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/the-space-station-is-the-ultimate-industrial-environment-cut-off-from-the-natural-world-and-thats-not-healthy/) - Astronauts swabbed more than 800 spots on the International Space Station; their samples contained just 6% of the spectrum of microbial life. - [Anesthesia has a greenhouse gas problem. A few tweaks could give the climate some breathing room](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/03/anesthesia-has-a-greenhouse-gas-problem-a-few-tweaks-could-give-the-climate-some-breathing-room/) - Good news from a new study: New protocols could cut emissions associated with surgical anesthesia in half—with no adverse effects on patient outcomes - [Can the world farm more seafood with less impact?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/can-the-world-farm-more-seafood-with-less-impact/) - A new study says the answer is yes. But the best-case scenario sits on a knife-edge of three factors: Location, location, location. - [Natural rock weathering captures carbon over millennia. Chemists just reduced it to weeks.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/natural-rock-weathering-captures-carbon-over-millennia-chemists-just-reduced-to-it-to-weeks/) - By firing rock dust in standard cement kilns, they altered the mineral's chemistry so that it quickly react with carbon dioxide in the air. - [First global study of the extraordinary role of animals as architects of Earth](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/first-global-study-of-the-extraordinary-role-of-animals-as-architects-of-earth/) - Researchers calculated that creatures large and small rival the landscape reshaping power of half a million major floods each year. - [A packaging quandary: Plastic may have less environmental impact than alternatives](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/the-plastic-packaging-quandary-it-may-have-less-environmental-impact-than-alternatives/) - Plastic is lightweight and uses relatively little material, so in the big picture it crushes the competition - [Researchers engineer crops to pluck more CO2 from the air and amp up photosynthesis](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/researchers-engineer-crops-to-pluck-more-co2-from-the-air-and-amp-up-photosynthesis/) - Tinkering with the enzyme Rubisco, researchers created plants that respond to rising levels of atmospheric CO2 with increased photosynthesize—and higher yields. - [On an overheating planet, which comes first: the chicken or the egg?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/on-an-overheating-planet-which-comes-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg/) - A fresh look at the paradox from a carbon perspective - [Conserving land in wealthy countries may be making things worse somewhere else.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/conserving-land-in-wealthy-countries-may-be-making-things-worse-somewhere-else/) - Researchers provide a detailed account of how “biodiversity leakage” happens—and how to tackle the often overlooked problem. - [A surprising predictor of low household carbon footprints: Communities that value purity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/a-surprising-predictor-of-low-household-carbon-footprints-communities-that-value-purity/) - A new study finds that a community’s collective moral compass is an even stronger determinant of carbon emissions than politics. - [Study paints a future picture of climate-resilient UK crops: chickpeas, oranges, and even okra](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/study-paints-a-future-picture-of-climate-resilient-uk-crops-chickpeas-oranges-and-even-okra/) - While the portrait that emerges from the unprecedented mapping exercise seems positive at first, on closer inspection it is far more nuanced. - [This Is How Blockchain Could Upend the Grid](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/06/this-is-how-blockchain-could-upend-the-grid/) - by allowing people to buy and sell energy in small increments from, and to, their neighbors - [New study finds that people listen to—and follow—expert climate advice](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/new-study-finds-that-people-listen-to-and-follow-expert-climate-advice/) - Even when climate advice gets complicated and counterintuitive, people seem to pay attention. - [That sustainable Valentines chocolate might not be as sweet for biodiversity as you think.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/that-sustainable-valentines-chocolate-might-not-be-as-sweet-for-biodiversity-as-you-think/) - A new study finds that cocoa farms certified as sustainable did not harbor more species than plantations. But they did earn more money. - [Decades of agricultural innovation has delivered a triple win: more food, more land, more biodiversity ](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/decades-of-agricultural-innovation-has-delivered-a-triple-win-more-food-more-land-more-biodiversity/) - Higher-yielding crops designed to boost food security have had striking co-benefits for nature, which stem from the preservation of land, a new study reveals. - [How AI narrows our vision of climate solutions. . .and reinforces the status quo](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/how-ai-narrows-our-vision-of-climate-solutions-and-reinforces-the-status-quo/) - A new study demonstrates how chatbots bias public discourse in favor of modest, incremental tweaks to climate policy and environmental behavior - [Predators are running out of prey. Cracking down on poaching is an effective counteroffensive](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/02/predators-are-running-out-of-prey-cracking-down-on-poaching-is-an-effective-counteroffensive/) - Policing against bushmeat poachers in Zambia could double lion numbers in a decade, scientists find. | Anthropocene Magazine - [How long can fossil fuel dominance last?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/how-long-can-fossil-fuel-dominance-last/) - Can politicians breathe new life into fossil fuels, or will the tide of the energy transition prove unstoppable? | Anthropocene Magazine - [Are seaweed farms ready to issue carbon credits? ](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/are-seaweed-farms-ready-to-issue-carbon-credits/) - Perhaps soon. When researchers directly measured carbon beneath commercial seaweed farms, they found it comparable to carbon captured by seagrass and mangroves. - [Engineers propose turning Earth into a low-carbon ammonia factory](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/engineers-propose-turning-earth-into-a-low-carbon-ammonia-factory/) - Brewing ammonia using the natural rocks, heat, and pressure found below our feet would slash the emissions of fertilizer production - [Does vulnerability to natural disasters make people more open to sustainable consumption?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/does-vulnerability-to-natural-disasters-make-people-more-open-to-sustainable-consumption/) - Analysis of a massive trove of survey data suggests that the answer is yes, but not everywhere in the world. - [Does growing more trees and plants to mitigate climate help or hurt the biodiversity crisis?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/does-growing-more-trees-and-plants-to-mitigate-climate-help-or-hurt-the-biodiversity-crisis/) - It depends on what you grow and where you do it, new research finds. | Anthropocene Magazine - [A new desalination device with a dash of green](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/07/affordable-environmentally-friendly-desalination-process/) - By reimagining brine as a resource rather than a waste, this technology could make desalination affordable and environmentally benign. - [Researchers strike the “Achilles Heel” of desalination](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/researchers-have-overcome-the-achilles-heel-of-desalination/) - New technology cuts chemical and energy use of removing salt from seawater. It could save millions of dollars, making desalination far more accessible. - [To unlock disaster funding for reef restoration, it has to make financial sense. Researchers just did the math.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/to-unlock-disaster-funding-for-reef-restoration-it-has-to-make-financial-sense-researchers-just-did-the-math/) - New study shows that restoring coral reefs as an alternative to building artificial breakwaters and bulkheads could be highly cost effective - [What is the cheapest route to climate-neutral aviation: carbon capture or new fuels?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/what-is-the-cheapest-route-to-climate-neutral-aviation-carbon-capture-or-new-fuels/) - A new study lays out the conditions needed for expensive but environmentally promising synthetic fuels to provide the best flight path - [What might sports look like in a warming world?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/what-might-sports-look-like-in-a-warming-world/) - When playing against the climate clock, make a new game plan. | The Fixing Carbon Series by Anthropocene Magazine - [What would happen if climate fees for food moved from political conversation to policy?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/what-would-happen-if-a-climate-fee-for-food-moved-from-political-conversation-to-policy/) - Taking Germany as their test case, researchers calculated that it would not only slash emissions but also generate an €8.2 billion bounty. - [A new fungal battery can be tossed in the compost to biodegrade](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/a-new-fungal-battery-can-be-tossed-in-the-compost-to-biodegrade/) - Using fungi, cellulose, and carbon, researchers 3D printed small batteries, that can be stored dry and later activated with water and simple sugars. - [Old trees “remember” plentiful water. Youth with less memory might survive a drier world.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/old-trees-remember-plentiful-water-youth-with-less-memory-might-survive-a-drier-world/) - An unusual experiment in a Swiss research forest found trees that received lots of water had a more drastic reaction to drought. - [Building materials designed to store CO2 could be the key to meeting global climate targets](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/building-materials-designed-to-store-co2-could-be-the-key-to-meeting-global-climate-targets/) - Instead of costly strategies for carbon storage, researchers wondered just how much storage potential the built environment could provide. Answer: a lot. - [Researchers ask: Could we feed the world with the world’s waste?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/a-bid-to-feed-the-world-with-the-worlds-waste/) - A new study finds that underutilized human and livestock waste could substitute 27% of current fertilizer use in China, 26% in the US, and 47% in India. - [How to make low-carbon fertilizer from thin air](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/how-to-make-low-carbon-fertilizer-from-thin-air/) - Portable device extracts water vapor and nitrogen from air to make ammonia, slashing the carbon footprint of fertilizer production - [Does it work when private groups manage national parks in some of the world's poorest countries?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/does-it-work-when-private-groups-manage-national-parks-in-some-of-the-worlds-poorest-countries/) - New research suggests the answer is yes. Logging rates are dramatically lower where governments in Sub-Saharan Africa partner with NGOs to run protected areas. - [Planting the wrong trees in the wrong places can diminish their cooling benefits](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/01/planting-the-wrong-trees-in-the-wrong-places-can-diminish-their-cooling-benefits/) - In the first global study of city trees cooling effects, a team discovered that in hot, compact cities, narrow species and sparse planting strategies work best - [Can insurance as we know it survive climate change?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/12/can-insurance-as-we-know-it-survive-climate-change/) - Let’s hope so. Shrinking coverage and rising temperatures are a risky combination. - [What's a unit of nature? And can it be sold in a biodiversity credit market?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/12/whats-a-unit-of-nature-and-can-it-be-sold-in-a-biodiversity-credit-market/) - Scientists question whether these credits can deliver lasting conservation. | a new post from Anthropocene Magazine - [The climate impact of driving may depend less on what car you drive than how you drive it](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/12/the-climate-impact-of-driving-may-depend-less-on-what-car-you-drive-than-how-you-drive-it/) - A new climate assessment takes into account how fast a person drives and how hard they brake or accelerate—offering a fairer approach to sustainable mobility. - [No, the world isn’t producing less food](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/12/no-the-world-isnt-producing-less-food/) - It’s a common misconception. But we actually now produce almost four times the calories at a global level than we did 60 years ago. - [Circuit boards made from leaves could green up electronics’ act](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/12/circuit-boards-made-from-leaves-could-green-up-electronics-act/) - Millions of tons of hard-to-recycle electronic circuit boards are burned or end up in landfills—a replacement based on leaf skeletons could stem that waste. - [Increasing ship traffic kills whales. Scientists now know where speed limits and stop signs can help.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/12/increasing-ship-traffic-kills-whales-scientists-now-know-where-speed-limits-and-stop-signs-can-help/) - The most dangerous areas cover less than 3% of the ocean, raising hopes that ship traffic regulations could save whales. - [Should the polluter always pay?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/12/should-the-polluter-always-pay/) - The answer isn’t as obvious as you might think. It depends on whether your priority is climate justice or cutting carbon. - [Scientists just took one step closer to a climate-friendly cow](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/12/scientists-just-took-one-step-closer-to-a-climate-friendly-cow/) - Grazing cows are the most gaseous of all. In a first, researchers have shown that seaweed can reduce their methane emissions by more than a third. - [These four policies could end plastic pollution by 2050](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/12/these-four-policies-could-end-plastic-pollution-by-2050/) - Using machine learning to forecast the future of plastics, researchers demonstrated that four policies could eliminate 91% of the world's plastic waste by 2050. - [This could be the posterfrog for what ails the world’s amphibians. But it’s staging a comeback.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/12/this-could-be-the-posterfrog-for-what-ails-the-worlds-amphibians-but-its-staging-a-comeback/) - Some individuals of the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog survived the fungal plague. Now, scientists have shown they can recolonize habitat. - [Pulling CO2 out of the air won’t stop climate change...unless it is stored for at least 1,000 years.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/12/pulling-co2-out-of-the-air-wont-stop-climate-changeunless-it-is-stored-for-at-least-1000-years/) - Researchers pinpoint an unexpected threat to climate action: ambiguous carbon accounting | Anthropocene Magazine - [Are robotic weeders a cost effective part of sustainable farming?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/are-robotic-weeders-a-cost-effective-part-of-a-sustainable-farming-future/) - New study finds that automation may be one of the best tools we have against the spread of herbicide-resistant weeds. - [This drone just won a $10 million race to survey 100 hectares of rainforest in a single day](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/this-drone-just-won-a-10-million-race-to-survey-100-hectares-of-rainforest-in-a-single-day/) - The top prize went to a team whose drone-delivered tree-top labs identified 700 different animals and plants, including 250 distinct species over a 24-hours. - [A few strategic green flight paths could help sustainable aviation fuels get off the ground](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/a-few-strategic-green-flight-paths-could-help-sustainable-aviation-fuels-get-off-the-ground/) - If specific aviation routes commit to using sustainable aviation fuels, it would reduce risks for producers and spur them scale up production, researchers say. - [Is there enough land on Earth to feed the world and store carbon?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/food-biodiversity-climate-mitigation-do-we-have-enough-land-on-earth-to-achieve-it-all/) - The surprising answer from a new modeling study is yes—if we line up all the pieces | Anthropocene Magazine - [A remarkable new method turns old cooking oil into biodiesel using less energy.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/a-remarkable-new-method-turns-old-cooking-oil-into-biodiesel-using-less-energy/) - Diesel made from used cooking oil produces fewer carbon emissions than new vegetable oils—and it keeps the grease out of sewage systems. - [Trading cows for forests in a few wealthy countries could deliver huge climate benefits](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/trading-cows-for-forests-in-a-few-wealthy-countries-could-deliver-huge-climate-benefits/) - New study finds that reducing cattle production by a mere 13% and rewinding pastures could lock away the equivalent to 3 years' worth of global carbon emissions - [Scientists uncover new textbook case of human-driven evolution](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/scientists-uncover-new-textbook-case-of-human-driven-evolution/) - They show that pace of evolutionary change can be fast—and in some cases it can even be a sign of the resilience of nature. - [Search the web for climate change, and the image you get depends on the country you’re in](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/search-the-web-for-climate-change-and-the-image-you-get-depends-on-the-country-youre-in/) - And that’s a problem, say researchers who suggest that more accurate depictions of climate change could help drive changes in public sentiment. - [Does the road to clean energy run through dirty mines?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/does-the-road-to-clean-energy-run-through-dirty-mines/) - You can’t scale green power without scaling gray industry. | Fixing Carbon series by Anthropocene Magazine - [Designer biochar could bring fertilizer pollution full-circle](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/designer-biochar-could-bring-fertilizer-pollution-full-circle/) - Researchers created a new kind of biochar that is not only made from waste, it also absorbs waste nutrients and recycles them back into the soil as fertilizer. - [People fear renewable power grids are more prone to blackouts. The data say otherwise.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/people-fear-renewable-power-grids-are-more-prone-to-blackouts-the-data-say-otherwise/) - In the big picture—across a 20-year data set—more renewables actually appear to make electric grids more resilient. | Anthropocene Magazine | - [Maybe coral reefs aren't doomed after all, new research finds.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/maybe-coral-reefs-arent-doomed-after-all-new-research-finds/) - A two-year experiment found that coral reefs could endure in heated water better than expected—with one huge caveat. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Researchers devise a unique upcycling use for old tires: Producing drinking water.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/researchers-devise-a-unique-upcycling-use-for-old-tires-producing-drinking-water/) - Researchers converted old tires into a material that not only purifies water using solar energy—but also generates a small amount of electricity - [Giant rats might be the next hot tool for catching wildlife poachers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/giant-rats-might-be-the-next-hot-tool-for-catching-wildlife-poachers/) - Giant African rats, already used to sniff out land mines, can do the same for smuggled rhino horns, elephant tusks and other contraband, researchers report. - [Can the economy go up even as carbon emissions go down?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/can-the-economy-go-up-even-as-carbon-emissions-go-down/) - A new comprehensive study of “decoupling” finds that for 30% of the regions studied, the answer is yes. But the remaining regions are lagging behind. - [The future looks dim. . .for agricultural sustainability, that could actually be a good thing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/11/the-future-looks-dim-for-agricultural-sustainability-that-could-actually-be-a-good-thing/) - Researchers explore 'electro-agriculture' (i.e., growing crops in the dark); early research shows promising results in lettuce, rice, canola, and tomatoes - [A bold new experiment suggests humans could help butterflies outrun global warming](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/a-bold-new-experiment-suggests-humans-could-help-butterflies-outrun-global-warming/) - Scientists want to grow novel higher-elevation forest for the butterflies. But it will take a half a century—and that creates a tricky balancing act. - [How many more (or less) days will you spend outside in a climate changed world?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/how-many-less-or-more-days-will-you-spend-outside-in-a-climate-changed-world/) - A new study projects large drops in 'outdoor days' in the southeastern US and an increase in the Northwest toward the end of the century. - [The average Internet user spends 3,230 hours online every year. Here's the carbon footprint of that.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/the-average-internet-user-spends-3230-hours-online-every-year-heres-the-carbon-footprint-of-that/) - A new analysis suggests that decarbonizing the electric grid and keeping electronic devices longer could cut the environmental impact of digital activities - [Can we unlock the vast potential of drought-tolerant chickpeas to feed a warmer world?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/can-we-unlock-the-vast-potential-of-drought-tolerant-chickpeas-to-feed-a-warmer-world/) - Chickpea plants excel under pressure. esearchers have identified the genetic machinery behind their resilience, which might be transferable to other crops. - [Could this bioplastic be the environmental cure for our Styrofoam woes?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/could-this-bioplastic-be-the-environmental-cure-for-our-styrofoam-woes/) - Researchers at the Oceanographic Institution have created a bioplastic that degrades even faster than paper in seawater. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Are tariffs holding us back from our carbon targets, or could they actually help?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/are-tariffs-holding-us-back-from-our-carbon-targets-or-could-they-actually-help/) - Tariffs are certainly making EVs more expensive. Here we ask: is the carbon for jobs trade-off worth it? | Anthropocene Magazine - [A novel solution to penguin homelessness looks a bit like the Sydney Opera House](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/a-novel-solution-to-penguin-homelessness-looks-a-bit-like-the-sydney-opera-house/) - Conservationists have been erecting penguin huts with increasing technological ingenuity. They’ve found that different designs are better in different places. - [Should countries sign on to costly international climate agreements? The market says yes.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/should-countries-sign-on-to-costly-international-climate-agreements-the-market-says-yes/) - A new study charts the financial benefits of global climate cooperation - [Stress relief for plants is on the way. . .in the form of a novel anti-stress molecule](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/stress-relief-for-plants-is-on-the-way-in-the-form-of-a-novel-anti-stress-molecule/) - Researchers identified the genes in a novel anti-stress molecule in wild plants; then they transfered its benefits to crops stressed from drought and salinity? - [The idea of burying wood to store carbon is so simple it almost sounds absurd. But is it?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/the-idea-of-a-burying-wood-to-store-carbon-is-so-simple-it-almost-sounds-absurd-but-is-it/) - Researchers made an ancient find that suggests with the right conditions the potential impact of "wood vaults" could be significant. - [This tiny frog has become a test case for applying the calculus of capitalism to conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/this-tiny-frog-has-become-a-test-case-for-applying-the-calculus-of-capitalism-to-conservation/) - When scientists used modern portfolio theory to buffer the rare coquí llanero frog from an unpredictable climate, the results were illuminating. - [Circular construction could be a huge boon for climate—and jobs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/circular-construction-could-be-a-huge-boon-for-climate-and-jobs/) - Researchers tallied up the substantial economic and ecological benefits of taking buildings apart piece by piece rather than bulldozing them. - [Proof from tomatoes that biofertilizers increase yields—minus the environmental costs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/proof-from-tomatoes-that-biofertilizers-increase-yieldsminus-the-environmental-costs/) - New study adds evidence to a body of research that biofertilizers could replace synthetic ones and make regenerative farming systems a reality. - [If renewable power becomes too cheap to meter, is that a climate win?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/if-renewable-power-becomes-too-cheap-to-meter-is-that-a-climate-win/) - Perhaps (almost) free renewable power leads to climate utopia. Then again, should we be careful what we wish for? | Anthropocene magazine - [An overlooked solution for climate-friendly buildings: Better floor plans](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/an-overlooked-solution-for-climate-friendly-buildings-better-floor-plans/) - When researchers generated floor plans to make them efficient, they found they could often reduce carbon emissions more than by changing the building exterior - [Artificial plant guzzles carbon and produces electricity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/artificial-plant-produces-electricity-while-guzzling-carbon-dioxide/) - Made of tiny bacteria, the new fake plant soaks up more carbon than its natural cousins, and produces electricity to boot - [Can animals develop a tolerance for living close to humans—even being caught and tagged?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/can-animals-develop-a-tolerance-for-living-close-to-humanseven-being-caught-and-tagged/) - Animal tagging in the name of science can be rough. A team of researchers wondered what factors enabled animals to bounce back quickly from such encounters. - [Researchers find a new use for biochar: filtering microplastics from farm soils](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/researchers-find-a-new-use-for-biochar-filtering-microplastics-from-farm-soils/) - In initial experiments, they found that the biochar was able to remove a striking 86% to 92% of the plastic particles from soil samples. - [The air contains 6x more water than all the world's rivers. Here’s how to harvest it.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/pullithe-air-contains-6x-more-water-than-all-the-worlds-rivers-heres-how-to-harvest-it/) - Researchers designed a cooling technology that extracts water from the air using only gravity and no electricity. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Wild birds living close to humans harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/wild-birds-living-close-to-humans-harbor-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria/) - A new survey of bacteria in bird feces reveals how humans are infecting animals, and how the problem could boomerang back to us. - [What should we do with the world’s rooftops...produce food or energy?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/10/what-should-we-do-with-the-worlds-rooftops-produce-food-or-energy/) - A new study finds that rooftop agriculture yields greater economic benefits, whereas rooftop solar wins on greenhouse gas emissions. - [Can AI help indoor agriculture escape the crush of huge energy loads?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/can-ai-help-indoor-agriculture-escape-the-crush-of-huge-energy-loads/) - Researchers trained AI to find the sweet spot for indoor lighting and ventilation—cutting energy use by 33% without altering crop growth. - [Novel materials trap sunlight to turn seawater to freshwater](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/novel-materials-plus-a-dash-of-sunlight-turn-saltwater-to-fresh/) - Engineers made the new device by mimicking two natural processes: simple evaporation and condensation and the transport of water from plant roots to the leaves. - [Do wild fish belong to the public? Or are they there for private profit?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/do-wild-fish-belong-to-the-public-or-are-they-there-for-private-profit/) - A group of prominent ocean scientists are calling on fishery managers to flip the status quo on its head. | Anthropocene Magazine - [The Anthropocene already exists in our heads](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/the-anthropocene-already-exists-in-our-heads/) - Even if it’s now officially not a geological epoch | In moving away from geology, perhaps we should shift from “golden spike” to “golden thread” - [Why is it so hard to change our clothes?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/why-is-it-so-hard-to-change-our-clothes/) - You really are never going to feel the same way about your plastic disposable water bottle as you do about your clothes. - [Geothermal Power Anywhere](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/geothermal-power-anywhere/) - Heat percolates upward from the Earth’s core everywhere in the world. So why can’t it be tapped everywhere, too? - [See-through solar cells that soak up the sun](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/see-through-solar-cells-soak-up-the-sun/) - The new design offers a glimpse of a future in which phones, laptop screens, or even car windows could harness sunlight for electricity. - [What does the decline of insect-eating bats have to do with infant mortality? More than you think.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/what-does-the-decline-of-insect-eating-bats-have-to-do-with-infant-mortality-more-than-you-think/) - New research finds strong links between the arrival of white-nose syndrome, increased insecticide use, and higher infant mortality. - [People underestimate scientific consensus on climate. Correcting the record goes a long way.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/people-underestimate-scientific-agreement-on-climate-correcting-the-record-goes-a-long-way/) - A massive multi-country study suggests that simply closing the gap between the actual and the perceived consensus moves the needle on climate beliefs. - [Who’s getting hired and fired in the rush to decarbonize?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/whos-getting-hired-and-fired-in-the-rush-to-decarbonize/) - It’s not always who you think. | A Fixing Carbon Post from Anthropocene Magazine - [Personal cooling device overcomes AC’s flaws](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/personal-cooling-device-overcomes-acs-flaws/) - Low-cost gadget that absorbs heat radiating from skin could be an energy-efficient, quiet way to keep cool with windows open for fresh air - [Which term carries a bigger punch: climate emergency or climate change?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/which-term-carries-a-bigger-punch-climate-emergency-or-climate-change/) - A new study found that when presented with unfamiliar climate terms, people were less likely to express concern, urgency, or policy support - [A team of chemists and chefs use fungus to transform food waste into palatable food](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/a-team-of-chemists-and-chefs-use-fungus-to-transform-food-waste-into-palatable-food/) - Chemists and chefs have developed oncom-inspired foods such as a fermented patty made from oat milk waste and a cheese-like delicacy made from old rice bread - [In a first, researchers scale up cultured chicken—and dramatically curb its cost](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/in-a-first-researchers-scale-up-cultured-chicken-and-dramatically-curb-its-cost/) - Researchers grew chicken meat cells at four times the density they are grown in regular bioreactor systems—bringing it down to the price of organic meat. - [Mix. Remove Nanoplastics. Repeat.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/mix-remove-nanoplastics-repeat/) - Chemists have found a secret sauce to quickly and easily remove 98 percent of tiny invisible plastic pieces from water | Anthropocene Magazine - [What are the environmental trade-offs of GM crops?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/what-are-the-environmental-trade-offs-of-gm-crops/) - When they delved into the body of literature on GMO crops, a team found an interesting push and pull between the benefits and impacts of GM crops - [Is the biggest obstacle to climate action all in your head?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/07/is-the-biggest-obstacle-to-climate-action-all-in-your-head/) - With the reality of global warming now widely accepted, another obstacle to action is looming larger than climate denial—climate despair. - [Most climate policies flop, but a handful of winners could actually close the emissions gap](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/09/most-climate-policies-flop-but-a-handful-of-winners-could-actually-close-the-emissions-gap/) - A new analysis leverages a fantastically comprehensive database of 1,500 climate policies that have been tried worldwide | Anthropocene Magazine - [A tiny tomato may harbor the secret to salt-tolerance in a climate-changed world](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/a-tiny-tomato-may-harbor-the-secret-to-salt-tolerance-in-a-climate-changed-world/) - The closest living wild relative of the common tomato holds untapped genetic secrets thanks to its large diversity. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Can Brazilian sugarcane ethanol take on carbon emissions without destroying sensitive forests?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/10/brazilian-sugarcane-ethanol-could-take-on-global-carbon-emissions/) - Expanding Brazilian sugarcane production to make ethanol could replace as much as 13.7 percent of crude oil use by 2045, reducing global carbon dioxide emissions by 5.6 percent. - [O etanol de cana-de-açúcar brasileiro pode lidar com as emissões de carbono sem destruir florestas sensíveis?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/10/o-etanol-de-cana-de-acucar-brasileiro-pode-lidar-com-as-emissoes-de-carbono-sem-destruir-florestas-sensiveis/) - A expansão da produção de cana-de-açúcar brasileira para fazer etanol poderia substituir 13,7 % do uso de petróleo bruto até 2045, reduzindo as emissões globais de dióxido de carbono em 5,6%. - [Blurring Life's Boundaries](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/06/blurring-lifes-boundaries/) - Darwinian theory is based on the idea that heredity flows vertically, parent to offspring, and that life’s history has branched like a tree. Now we know otherwise: that the ‘tree' of life isn’t that simple. - [Here’s how precision agriculture could help farmers reduce fertilizer use](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/04/heres-how-precision-agriculture-could-help-farmers-reduce-fertilizer-use/) - A creative use of satellite data reveals that there are areas of farmland in America's cornbelt that consistently produce low yields. Pinpointing these plots could help farmers streamline their fertilizer application, by limiting the amount that's showered over unproductive lands. - [Extracting lithium just got cheaper and more sustainable](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/extracting-lithium-just-got-cheaper-and-more-sustainable/) - New electricity-driven chemical process filters out lithium from brines efficiently and for less than half the cost of current techniques - [The world's fisheries are in more trouble than we think.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/the-worlds-fisheries-are-in-more-trouble-than-we-think/) - New research finds the danger of overfishing is being understated by scientists advising policymakers. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Green Hydrogen Is Bubbling with Hype—Again](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/04/green-hydrogen-is-bubbling-with-hype-again/) - Is this time for real? - [Regenerating soil can double corn farmers’ incomes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/03/regenerating-soil-can-double-corn-farmers-incomes/) - By replacing insecticides and fertilizers with better soil management, regenerative farmers not only protect the environment, but also boost their bottom lines. - [Changing how the rich eat would free up 2X the emissions required for the diets of the poor to grow](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/changing-how-wealthy-people-eat-would-free-up-twice-the-emissions-needed-for-the-diets-of-poor-populations-to-grow/) - Buying power is a powerful lever to bring down global greenhouse gas emissions linked to diet. | Anthropocene Magazine - [The chameleon’s guide to making buildings green](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/09/the-chameleons-guide-to-green-buildings/) - Researchers devised a new coating that keeps buildings cool in summer and warm in winter without using energy by changing color based on ambient temperature. - [Nearly a quarter of Europe has the potential to be a wildlife haven](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/nearly-a-quarter-of-europe-has-the-potential-to-be-a-wildlife-haven/) - Much of the continent could be "rewilded," but a lot of that land isn't protected, scientists find. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Instead of Trump’s Wall, Let’s Build a Border of Solar Panels](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/08/instead-of-trumps-wall-lets-build-a-border-of-solar-panels/) - A solar border would alleviate a range of binational problems. For one, it would have a civilizing effect. - [Are climate change policies a liability or a political asset?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/06/are-climate-change-policies-a-liability-or-a-political-asset/) - New research reveals more (and less) palatable ways for politicians to decarbonize | A Fixing Carbon Post from Anthropocene Magazine - [Is there an antidote to shifting baseline syndrome?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/09/is-there-an-antidote-to-shifting-baseline-syndrome/) - New generations have trouble tracking changing population and composition of species over time in what conservationists call changing baseline syndrome - [One Man’s Trash . . .](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/09/one-mans-trash/) - Mining landfills for metals and energy - [Engineers have made solar cells produce electricity at night](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/04/engineers-have-made-solar-cells-produce-electricity-at-night/) - It's enough power to keep LED lightbulbs on or charge phones at night, and could offset the need for expensive batteries - [What’s that buzz? Flies as future biofactories](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/whats-that-buzz-flies-as-biofactories/) - Scientists are genetically engineering flies to make high-value industrial products from organic waste, which would otherwise end up in landfills, producing methane. - [With half-measures against climate change, millions of people could feel the bite](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/04/with-half-measures-against-climate-change-millions-of-people-could-feel-the-bite/) - Climate change will expand the range of mosquito-borne diseases, as higher temperatures make it possible for mosquitoes to survive in more places for more of the year. But exactly who is at risk, where, and when is more complicated. - [New Year’s fireworks can give migratory birds a surprisingly long hangover](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/12/new-years-fireworks-can-give-migratory-birds-a-bad-hangover/) - The link between fireworks and wildlife disturbance is well-established. This study of migratory geese is the first to look at long-term effects - [Coffee is threatened by climate change. But there may be a 'robust' solution](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/coffee-is-threatened-by-climate-change-the-solution-may-be-closer-at-hand-than-we-thought/) - Coffea arabica dominates global coffee production, but its cousin Coffea robusta may be the better bet against climate change.. - [A surprising moral belief determines whether or not people approve of cultured meat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/moral-priorities-shape-how-people-feel-about-lab-grown-meat-and-thats-not-always-favorable/) - A new study shows that concerns around harm and animal welfare are less important to potential consumers than might be expected. - [Ancient building material could cut modern industry emissions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/ancient-building-material-could-cut-modern-industry-emissions/) - Generating heat for industrial processes emits 17% of global carbon. Firebricks could store renewable electricity for one-tenth the cost of batteries. - [Looking for stability in a volatile stock market? Try green energy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/looking-for-stability-in-a-volatile-stock-market-try-green-energy/) - A novel statistical technique used to track global financial markets reveals the potential of clean energy investments to buffer against losses - [How sustainable are aviation biofuels really?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/how-sustainable-are-aviation-biofuels-really/) - Biofuels are not necessarily less carbon intensive than fossil fuels, say researchers. In a side-by-side comparison , they found some grasses performed best. - [In the hunt for somewhere to put an ark of Earth's biodiversity, scientists look to the Moon.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/in-the-hunt-for-somewhere-to-put-an-ark-of-earths-biodiversity-scientists-look-to-the-moon/) - Frigid corners of the Moon could provide an ideal place to store cells from virtually every species on Earth. | Anthropocene Magazine - [The Almond Pirates](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/09/the-almond-pirates/) - In a future underground metropolis, a search for a lost cat uncovers an intricate waste recycling system and a band of almond pirates stealing precious water. - [Do feeders get birds hooked on human handouts?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/07/do-feeders-get-birds-hooked-on-human-handouts/) - Each year, more than 50 million Americans try to lure a bit of feathered wildness into their yards. Bird feeders loaded with everything from seeds to sugar water offer people a way to get up close to colorful wildlife. What’s less clear is whether the easy food harms the birds by getting them accustomed toScientists in Oregon devised an experiment on black-capped chickadees to find out. The negative results surprised them. - [Making fast shipping cheaper and more fuel efficient could ironically backfire for climate](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/making-fast-shipping-cheaper-and-more-fuel-efficient-could-ironically-backfire-for-climate/) - “Policies that focus on particular technological solutions rather than an end goal can lead to unintended consequences,” say researchers. - [The fastest route to a climate turnaround is also less expensive](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/07/the-fastest-route-to-a-climate-turnaround-is-also-less-expensive/) - When researchers used a supercomputer to run 4,000 scenarios with 72,000 variables and 18 uncertainty factors for our climate future, the result was clear - [A ‘tree editing’ breakthrough could take sustainable forestry to a whole new level](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/07/a-tree-editing-breakthrough-could-take-sustainable-forestry-to-a-whole-new-level/) - With machine learning, researchers mapped ~70,000 ways they could edit poplar tree genes to produce more fiber for clothes with less chemicals and less energy. - [Done right, the common practice of rock-crushing could slash construction emissions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/03/rock-crushing-could-be-a-step-to-cutting-construction-emissions/) - Engineers show that grinding rocks in the presence of pure carbon dioxide could trap as much carbon as a forest the size of Germany - [Artificial sweeteners don’t degrade in the human body . . . or in nature.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/08/artificial-sweeteners-dont-degrade-in-the-human-body-or-in-nature/) - Now researchers have found that they affect populations of microbes that form the base of aquatic food webs. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Simple desalination tech needs just a dash of heat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/simple-desalination-tech-needs-just-a-dash-of-heat/) - New way to get fresh water from the oceans doesn’t rely on electricity, high temperatures or costly materials. Just some sunlight will do. - [Much of the urban forest is scattered in back yards and that’s a climate challenge](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/much-of-the-urban-forest-is-scattered-in-back-yards-and-thats-a-climate-challenge/) - A new analysis suggests that the trees people are planting in their yards may not be sustainable in a hotter, drier world. - [Dwindling biodiversity might make you sick.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/dwindling-biodiversity-might-make-you-sick/) - In a sweeping global analysis, scientists set out to find which environmental factors most increased or decreased infections. A clear answer: biodiversity loss - [For some birds, a "taxi" helps recalibrate out-of-sync migrations](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/09/for-some-birds-a-taxi-helps-recalibrate-out-of-sync-migrations/) - Pied flycatchers in the Netherlands were arriving late as climate change pushed spring earlier. Scientists drove them north to Sweden, and then they thrived. - [Chemists use bacteria to convert CO2 in the air into bioplastic](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/03/chemists-use-bacteria-to-convert-co2-in-the-air-into-bioplastic/) - A new simple hybrid setup allows bacteria to capture CO2 and produce biodegradable plastic for days, boosting output by 100x previous efforts. - [Colorful paints could slash heating and cooling energy use](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/08/colorful-paints-could-slash-heating-and-cooling-energy-use/) - By reflecting infrared heat, these new paints could could keep buildings cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter without using energy. - [In a comparison of life-cycle emissions, EVs crushed combustion cars](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/01/evs-crush-combustion-cars-even-when-weighing-emissions-from-battery-and-electricity-production/) - “The elephant in the room is the supply chain of fossil fuel-powered vehicles, not that of electric vehicles,” says lead researcher. - [Stronger paper bags could be the answer to throwaway plastic](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/05/could-stronger-paper-bags-be-the-answer-to-throwaway-plastic-bags/) - A simple technique to make paper bags stronger, even when wet, would make them more reusable—and they can still be used for biofuel at the end - [Engineers create dissolving circuit boards that can be recycled over and over again](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/104460/engineers-create-dissolving-circuit-boards-that-can-be-recycled-over-and-over-again/) - Electronic waste is the world's fastest growing waste problem. Instead of burning it to recover metals, this new method separates the components for reuse. - [Curbside recycling turns out to be a surprisingly good climate investment](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/05/curbside-recycling-turns-out-to-be-a-surprisingly-good-climate-investment/) - A comprehensive review of municipal waste management systems found that recycling is on par with investing in electric vehicles and green power - [Scientists add a new twist to the many afterlives of coffee grounds: Toxic cleanup](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/scientists-add-a-new-twist-to-the-many-afterlives-of-coffee-grounds-toxic-cleanup/) - In a new study, coffee grounds soaked up 70% of bentazone, an agricultural herbicide that pollutes global waterways. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Researchers hit on an unexpected tool to extract 80% of protein from beer waste: microwaves](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/researchers-hit-on-an-unexpected-tool-to-extract-80%-of-protein-from-beer-waste-microwaves/) - Spent barley, which amounts to 36.4 million tons of landfill waste each year, could provide an alternative to meat protein—and simultaneously tackle food waste. - [We’re over-freezing our food. Turning up the temperature slightly could avoid 17 Mt of CO2](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/01/were-over-freezing-our-food-turning-up-the-temperature-slightly-could-avoid-17-mt-of-co2/) - The international freezing standard for food is -18 °C, a temperature that carries a huge emissions cost. What if we increased that to -15 °C? - [Growing rooftop spinach in CO2 recycled from building ventilation quadruples growth](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/11/co2-emissions-from-human-respiration-in-buildings-is-surprisingly-high-a-research-team-wondered-if-hvac-could-be-unlikely-companion-to-food-production/) - CO2 emissions from human respiration in buildings is surprisingly high; a research team wondered if HVAC could be unlikely companion to food production. - [Melatonin, a sleep aid, is a surprising treatment for food waste ](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/08/melatonin-a-sleep-aid-is-a-surprising-treatment-for-food-waste/) - By increasing produce’s tolerance to cold, melatonin staves off the damage done by the long, chilly journey from farm to fork. - [Waterhouse Down](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/waterhouse-down/) - A reporter visits the first subsea condominiums off the Great Barrier Reef in 2083. But what happens when the environment turns less pacific? - [What do you get when you cross ecology, acoustics, and artificial intelligence?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/09/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-ecology-acoustics-and-artificial-intelligence/) - Answer: A wholesale revolution in wildlife science - [This counterintuitive technology fights climate change by making more carbon dioxide](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/01/this-counterintuitive-technology-fights-climate-change-by-making-more-carbon-dioxide/) - Scientists are trying to pull methane from thin air to make CO2. It’s a surprisingly good idea. | Published by Anthropocene Magazine - [The World Is Our Battery](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/11/the-world-is-our-battery/) - Batteries 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. - [AI is making an adventurous and sustainable plant diet possible](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/ai-is-making-an-adventurous-and-sustainable-plant-diet-possible/) - It looks like milk. It tastes like milk. But the ingredients include pineapple and cabbage—brought to you by a team of biochemists and computer scientists. - [A scientific leap towards smart, self-watering, self-fertilizing soils](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/a-scientific-leap-towards-smart-self-watering-self-fertilizing-soils/) - Hydrogels can capture vapor from the air to water plants. Now scientists have infused them with slow-release fertilizers as well. - [A nature-inspired membrane driven by humidity grabs CO2 out of air without electricity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/ha-nature-inspired-membrane-driven-by-humidity-grabs-co2-out-of-air-without-electricity/) - The new invention is part of a larger effort to solve two key shortcomings of direct air capture: Slow reaction speeds and high energy use. - [Buy High, Sell Low](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/08/buy-high-sell-low/) - Like it or not, retreat from the coasts has begun thanks to climate change, flooding, and sea level rise. The only question left: Will it be managed or chaotic? - [Enhanced Rock Weathering](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/01/enhanced-rock-weathering/) - Spreading rock dust on farms (aka enhanced rock weathering) might boost crop yields and could lock up as much carbon as planting a trillion trees. - [Designer bacteria clean wastewater and generate power—at the same time](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/designer-bacteria-clean-wastewater-and-generate-power-at-the-same-time/) - Building on similar past work, researchers created a new bacterial strain that gobbles up sewage even faster and generates a more powerful electric current. - [Three genetic tweaks produce higher-yielding, water-conserving crops for the future](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/08/genetic-tweaks-produce-higher-yielding-water-conserving-crops-for-the-future/) - This breakthrough brings us a significant step closer to crops that can withstand drought and boost food security in threatened regions. - [Engineered microbes can take a bite out of plastic waste](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/10/engineered-microbes-can-take-a-bite-out-of-plastic-waste/) - Pairing a genetically engineered-microbe with a chemical bath can turn plastic waste into valuable materials, scientists find. - [Beef is carbon-intensive. But by how much is surprisingly unclear.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/beef-is-carbon-intensive-but-by-how-much-is-surprisingly-unclear/) - Across 32 life cycle assessments of beef production, researchers discovered that carbon footprints varied almost fourfold. - [Cloud tracks from ships could be temporarily bringing down global temperatures](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/04/cloud-tracks-from-ships-can-have-a-climate-impact/) - Research results may inform a geoengineering strategy known as marine cloud brightening - [Scientists take on food waste and fashion pollution—fabricating faux cotton and leather with fungi.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/03/fungus-takes-on-food-waste-and-fashion-pollution/) - Bread-eating fungus spores produce natural fibers that can be treated to mimic cotton and leather, using far less water and energy than conventional materials. - [Is it OK to profit from climate change?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/is-it-ok-to-profit-from-climate-change/) - The answer depends on what you think is the fastest way to cut carbon. | A Fixing Carbon article from Anthropocene Magazine - [The next chapter in plastic recycling could be laser focused](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/to-recycle-plastics-blast-them-with-laser-pulses/) - Engineers have combinated lasers and two-dimensional materials to break down plastic into its building blocks for reuse. - [What’s better for bees? More habitat or less pesticides?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/whats-better-for-bees-more-habitat-or-less-pesticides/) - A new study focused on protecting pollinator diversity found that semi-natural habitats play a more important role than pesticide use in rice fields. - [Scientists pinpoint a protein that protects corals from heat death](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/01/crispr-sheds-light-on-how-corals-handle-heat-stress/) - Since the first of five mass bleaching events hit the Great Barrier Reef in 1998, scientists have been trying to figure out how to protect corals from the increasing ocean temperatures caused by climate change. But the key to coral survival may already be inside of them. Until recently, teasing out a coral’s response to The work may guide selective breeding and other conservation efforts in the face of rapidly warming oceans - [For sustainable food production on land, we might soon be looking to the sea](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/for-sustainable-food-production-on-land-we-might-soon-be-looking-to-the-sea/) - Some ocean microbes capture nutrients from thin air. Researchers demonstrated how these tiny powerhouses could replace synthetic fertilizer on land - [Can Southern Africa grow without fossil fuels?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/08/can-southern-africa-grow-without-fossil-fuels/) - A detailed new study demonstrates how the region’s energy future could be so much greener than current plans assume—with only a modest additional cost - [Scientists may have found a way to make recycling modern fabrics a reality](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/did-scientists-find-a-solution-to-our-textile-waste-problem/) - Modern blended fabrics are nearly impossible to recycle. Chemists now report a way to separate fabric blends into reusable components in just 15 minutes. - [Zinc could be the surprise solution to excess fertilizer on farms](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/zinc-could-be-the-surprise-solution-to-excess-fertilizer-on-farms/) - Zinc triggers a domino-like effect in the genetic machinery of some crops, prompting them to take up more nitrogen from the soil. - [Here are a half-dozen nudges that could bring about rapid decarbonization](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/01/here-are-half-dozen-nudges-rapid-decarbonization/) - A team of researchers identified relatively small changes that could be activated within 15 years to bring about systemic changes within 30. - [A rare detailed analysis of travel reveals the jumbo-sized emissions impact of longer trips](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/a-rare-detailed-analysis-of-travel-reveals-the-jumbo-sized-emissions-impact-of-longer-trips/) - Researchers also devised a new metric to assess which travel shifts offer the biggest climate gain for the behavioral-change pain - [What’s the economic value of intact ecosystems compared to human-dominated ones?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/03/putting-a-price-on-nature/) - The answer, researchers contend, depends on many factors—key among them, the price of carbon - [Mangrove forests are climate champions . . .even the ones planted by people](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/mangrove-forests-are-climate-champions-even-the-ones-planted-by-people/) - New research finds that planted mangrove forests can capture 75% as much carbon as natural forests. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Self-healing solar cells pave the way to a reliable solar future](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/self-healing-solar-cells-pave-the-way-to-reliable-solar-future/) - Heat and humidity are the nemeses of efficient, cheap perovskite-based solar cells. Not any more, with new material that patches up flaws in the material - [How biodiversity buffers fisheries against climate change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/05/biodiversity-buffers-fisheries-against-climate-change/) - After water temperature, species diversity is the second strongest predictor of biomass. Human impacts follow closely after that. - [Can medical advances in nanotechnology make agriculture more sustainable?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/can-emerging-innovations-in-medicine-make-agriculture-more-sustainable/) - Researchers explore medical nanotech that could help crops use fertilizer more efficiently, fight disease, and adapt to climate change. - [Researchers designed a test of “carbon competence.” Pretty much everyone failed.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/07/researchers-designed-a-test-of-carbon-competence-pretty-much-everyone-failed/) - The findings suggest people don’t have the background knowledge to accurately judge the effectiveness of climate actions. - [Those lights aren’t just messing with your sleep. They're bothering the trees.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/07/those-lights-arent-just-messing-with-your-sleep-theyre-bothering-the-trees/) - Like humans trees have circadian clocks. A new study finds urban light pollution changes those clocks, causing trees to leaf out earlier and change color later. - [Volar es aún peor para la calidad del aire que para el clima](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/12/volar-es-aun-peor-para-la-calidad-del-aire-que-para-el-clima/) - Los investigadores sugieren las mejores formas de reducir el impacto social de las emisiones climáticas y de contaminación de la aviación. - [Flying is even worse for air quality than for climate](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/11/flying-is-worse-for-air-quality-than-for-climate/) - Researchers suggest the best ways to reduce the societal impact of aviation's climate and pollution emissions - [Sieving lithium out of salty waters get a boost from a nature-inspired membrane](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/ssieving-lithium-out-of-salty-waters-get-a-boost-from-a-nature-inspired-membrane/) - The innovative new material separates lithium from other metals in salt-lake brines with remarkable efficiency and less waste. - [Projections aren't predictions. But climate media doesn't always capture the difference.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/projections-arent-predictions-but-climate-media-doesnt-always-capture-the-difference/) - The IPCC—and climate scientists in general—need to do a lot more work explaining the concept of scenarios | Anthropocene Magazine - [The war on island invaders is more successful than you might think](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/08/the-war-on-island-invaders-is-more-successful-than-you-might-think/) - Scientists examined more than a century of campaigns to eradicate invasive critters from islands. Most of the time, they were a success. - [City species are evolving — and conservation plans should evolve with them](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/06/city-species-are-evolving-and-conservation-plans-should-evolve-with-them/) - Some species "are fundamentally changing while they're in the city," researchers say. - [Mixing steel and wood to cut construction emissions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/12/mixing-steel-and-wood-to-cut-construction-emissions/) - MIT team's new tool could let builders design timber–steel trusses that cut the material-related emissions of structures by over 10% - [New fabric cools people in sweltering cities](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/this-cooling-fabric-keeps-people-cool-in-sweltering-cities/) - The thin, three-layer material not only reflects heat from the sun, but also heat radiating from buildings and pavements | Anthropocene Magazine - [This AI tool predicts a crop’s future growth, health, and yield based on a single image](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/this-ai-tool-predicts-a-crops-future-growth-health-and-yield-based-on-a-single-image/) - It could enable precision agriculture and sustainable farming practices, ranging from minimizing fertilizers and pesticides to reducing food waste. - [No es la temperatura, es la humedad en realidad](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/01/no-es-la-temperatura-es-la-humedad-en-realidad/) - Investigadores descubrieron que mientras el planeta se calienta, el índice de calor aumenta más que la temperatura del aire. En otras palabras, cuan caliente se siente aumenta más rápido que la subida del mercurio en los termómetros. - [It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity -- really](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/01/its-not-the-heat-its-the-humidity-really/) - Researchers found that as the world gets warmer, the heat index increases more than the air temperature. In other words, how hot it feels increases faster than the mercury in the thermometer rises. - [Não é a temperatura, é a umidade na verdade](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/01/nao-e-a-temperatura-e-a-umidade-na-verdade/) - Os pesquisadores descobriram que, à medida que o mundo aquece, o índice de calor aumenta mais do que a temperatura do ar. Em outras palavras, a sensação de calor aumenta mais rápido que o aumento do mercúrio nos termômetros. - [The psychology of laundry habits suggests a new spin on sustainability campaigns](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/the-psychology-of-laundry-habits-suggests-a-new-spin-on-sustainability-campaigns/) - Efforts to get people to wash clothes in a more environmentally friendly manner have had little effect. A new study suggests the problem is in our heads. - [City life offers surprising opportunities for some endangered species](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/city-life-offers-surprising-opportunities-for-some-endangered-species/) - Two new studies in widely varying environments—southern England and southern California—argue against writing off urban areas as arks of biodiversity - [Confirmed. Most robust evidence yet that plant-based diets protect both human and planetary health  ](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/confirmed-most-robust-evidence-yet-that-plant-based-diets-protect-both-human-and-planetary-health/) - Largest study of its kind leaves little doubt that people who eat a diet rich in plants reduce their mortality risk—and their environmental footprint - [Could market forces be harnessed to rescue habitat worldwide? Some scientists think so.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/could-market-forces-be-harnessed-to-rescue-habitat-worldwide-some-scientists-think-so/) - "Allowing one country to pay another to protect ocean refuges on its behalf made sense once we realized just how inefficient uniform conservation mandates are." - [Electrified charcoal sponge soaks up CO2 from the air](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/electrified-charcoal-sponge-soaks-up-co2-directly-from-the-air/) - When researchers ran a charge through charcoal sponges used in home water filters, they discovered a low-cost, low-energy route to remove CO2 from the air - [Cold War spy satellites built to track nukes now help monitor trees](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/11/cold-war-spy-satellites-built-to-track-nukes-now-help-monitor-trees/) - CIA spy satellite photos from the 1960s are now a treasure trove for scientists tracking ecological change, including finding valuable forests hidden in Romania's Carpathian Mountains. - [Upgrading cold storage comes with global climate benefits—and nuanced local tradeoffs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/upgrading-cold-storage-comes-with-global-climate-benefits-and-nuanced-local-tradeoffs/) - A new study found, for example, that in some places, hyperlocal food systems could actually trump cold chains in reducing food waste. - [Researchers are reinventing glass for a warmer world](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/this-window-coating-provides-privacy-and-cooling-and-does-not-require-cleaning/) - Scientists devised a window coating that looks like frosted glass but is brighter, provides cooling to reduce reliance on air-conditioning, and cleans itself. - [Q. Which is the greener building material, fungus or concrete?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/q-which-is-the-greener-building-material-fungus-or-concrete/) - A. It depends on the electricity source. There’s always more to a new material than meets the eye. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Coming to grips with a climate paradox: Less air pollution spurs more wildfires](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/coming-to-grips-with-a-climate-paradox-less-air-pollution-spurs-more-wildfires/) - Getting rid of aerosols, such as sulfur dioxide, could let more sunlight reach boreal forests, helping turn them into tinderboxes. - [The ultimate path to zero-emission cement may be recycled cement](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/06/the-ultimate-path-to-zero-emission-cement-may-be-recycled-cement/) - By linking the recycling of two carbon-intensive materials—cement and steel—researchers hit on a breakthrough that dramatically cuts the climate impact of both. - [What drives consumers to more sustainable meat? Ironically, it isn’t telling them it's sustainable.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/what-drives-consumers-to-more-sustainable-meat-ironically-it-isnt-telling-them-its-sustainable/) - A new large scale European survey found that animal welfare credentials were consistently more persuasive to consumers than environmental credentials. - [Turning scrap wood into innovative products could be a huge win for curbing carbon and wildfire](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/01/turning-scrap-wood-into-innovative-products-could-be-a-huge-win-for-curbing-carbon-and-wildfire/) - Looking for ways to pay for forest restoration, scientists hit on a a creative strategy: support new markets for fuels and construction materials made from small trees and branches. - [Could this be the world's first waste-free chocolate?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/could-this-be-the-worlds-first-waste-free-chocolate/) - Scientists have produced chocolate made solely with ingredients from a cocoa pod—using every component of the fruit, cutting not only waste, but also carbon. - [Extreme weather is coming for your house. Passive energy retrofits can save lives.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/extreme-weather-is-coming-for-your-house-passive-energy-retrofits-can-save-lives/) - A new study finds that simple retrofits can increase the time a building stays safe from 2 to 42 hours in a winter storm and from 12 to 37 in a heat wave - [New research shows how more trees could cut ER visits in heatwaves](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/new-research-shows-how-more-trees-could-cut-er-visits-in-heatwaves/) - A team of heat experts calculated exactly how much of a difference low-tech solutions like trees and white paint could make during heatwaves. - [Would capping the number of years a car can be on the road reduce emissions? Not so much.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/would-capping-the-number-of-years-a-car-can-be-on-the-road-reduce-emissions-not-so-much/) - It’s an appealing idea, but a comprehensive new modeling study shows that the strategy only delivers for the climate in limited circumstances. - [What if a car frame, boat hull, or phone case could store energy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/10/what-if-a-car-frame-boat-hull-or-phone-case-could-store-energy/) - Using a clever combination of materials and design, engineers have made a battery-like device that is strong enough to provide mechanical support. - [Insect outbreaks help forests survive wildfires](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2016/06/insect-outbreaks-help-forests-survive-wildfires/) - It's thought that insect outbreaks lead to more severe wildfires, but new research suggests that the opposite is true. - [Can climate change break the partisan logjam?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/can-climate-change-break-the-partisan-logjam-2/) - Don’t underestimate the power of a common enemy to splinter cynicism and rearrange alliances - [Hungry bacteria could rid us of our antibiotic waste](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/05/hungry-bacteria-could-rid-us-of-our-antibiotic-waste/) - If we manipulate the antibiotic-munching tendencies of some bacteria, they could become our strongest weapon in the fight against antibiotic resistance. - [Methane capture technology is way behind its CO2 counterpart. That needs to change, fast.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/09/now-is-the-time-to-invest-in-pulling-methane-out-of-air-researchers-say/) - On dairy farms, methane concentrations can be 1000x the average atmospheric concentration, so that’s one place to start - [Can AI make crop production more sustainable?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/can-ai-make-crop-production-more-sustainable/) - The leap from novelty to farmland reality requires a concerted research effort. A new paper lays out a plan. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Trees improve the environment—and bottom line—on small African farms](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2017/01/income-from-trees-subsaharan-african-farms/) - On thousands of rural farms spread across sub-Saharan Africa, farmers have been cashing in on a secret source of income, that’s hiding in plain sight: trees. - [Rocks beneath our feet could be the key to carbon-neutral cement](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/a-concrete-idea-for-reducing-carbon-emissions/) - Engineers show how simple processing turns olivine, the most abundant mineral in Earth’s mantle, into a greener formula for cement and other building materials - [Cloudy with a chance of warblers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/01/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-warblers/) - Strides in computer power and AI have enabled scientists to gauge the almost unimaginable scale of nighttime bird migrations. - [Pyrodiversity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/01/pyrodiversity/) - A range of fire types and intensities creates a healthy variety of plants and animals that, in turn, help prevent huge wildfires. - [The human population curve is on the move](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/07/the-human-population-curve-is-on-the-move/) - Population peaked 50 years ago and since then the growth rate has fallen steeply. Changing demography points to having fewer children and an older population. - [The race is on to build an AC unit that doesn't cook the planet](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/07/the-race-is-on-to-build-an-ac-unit-that-doesnt-cook-the-planet/) - There's a $1 million prize to design an air conditioner that costs no more than twice what a standard unit costs and produces five times less greenhouse gas. - [Fly farming is a mini-livestock industry poised to get big](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/07/fly-farming-is-a-mini-livestock-industry-poised-to-get-big/) - Industrial-scale insect farms are on the rise, with big feed and pet-food players such as Cargill, Skretting, Bühler, and Purina getting into the game. - [Sperm whales are saying far more than we thought. But, what exactly are they talking about?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/sperm-whales-are-saying-far-more-than-we-thoughtbut-what-exactly-are-they-talking-about/) - Like seasoned musicians, the whales appear to be spinning 21 basic phrases into hundreds of different variations, a new study found. - [A memo from the year 2050](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/08/a-memo-from-the-year-2050/) - A hypothetical look back from the future, examining how the global population tamed zoonotic diseases after COVID-19 and bird flu forced society to prepare. - [First continental scale study weighs floating solar panels against new dam construction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/first-continental-scale-study-weighs-floating-solar-panels-against-new-dam-construction/) - The conclusion: floating solar could negate the need for many—if not all—planned dams in Africa, and add climate change resilience at the same time. - [Parking garages are a huge wasted heat source](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/11/underground-parking-lots-are-a-wasted-heat-source/) - Waste heat from underground parking lots in Berlin could meet the demand of thousands of households,, while helping improve groundwater quality and biodiversity - [A surprise find: Soybean waste could be the future of fish feed](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/a-surprise-find-soybean-waste-could-be-the-future-of-fish-feed/) - Researchers discovered that the wastewater from soybean processing can be converted into a nourishing, protein-rich food for farmed Asian sea bass - [We can feed the world—if we reclaim our crops from livestock](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/07/we-can-feed-the-world-if-we-reclaim-our-crops-from-livestock/) - Livestock guzzle up a huge chunk of our global crop production. In a new study, researchers consider how much more food we would have on our planet if we saved those crops--by eating less dairy and meat. - [Carbon markets could finance green wastewater infrastructure for a huge win-win-win](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/carbon-markets-could-finance-green-wastewater-infrastructure-for-a-huge-win-win-win/) - Study found that green wastewater infrastructure could achieve water quality standards, sequester 4.2 million tons of carbon—and save $679 million per year. - [Water-Harvesting and Arid-Adapted Agrobiodiversity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/11/water-harvesting-and-arid-adapted-agrobiodiversity/) - A revival of rainwater harvesting is occurring around the world, as desert communities restore traditional systems known as rain gardens, ak-chin agriculture, floodwater farming, gavias, karez, qanats and fogarras. - [Is hydropower aging out of the clean energy race?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/is-hydropower-aging-out-of-the-clean-energy-race/) - The original carbon-free power source is the only renewable whose share is shrinking | Fixing Carbon post from Anthropocene Magazine - [Imagine powering your phone with carbon dioxide](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/co2-in-electricity-out-with-this-new-generator/) - Researchers have made a proof-of-concept device that absorbs the greenhouse gas to produce electricity. - [When humans pit the fate of one native species against another, things get violent.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/when-humans-pit-the-fate-of-one-native-species-against-another-things-get-violent/) - New research shows that killing wolves helps caribou. Others ask, are wolves paying the price for people’s unwillingness to tackle the real problem—logging. - [Companies that ignore climate change risks lose market value](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/companies-that-ignore-climate-change-risks-lose-market-value/) - A first-of-its-kind study showed that companies that proactively respond to climate risk are rewarded by the market; those that don’t, are punished. - [For microbial foods, technical innovation might not be greatest hurdle](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/for-microbial-foods-technical-innovation-might-not-be-greatest-hurdle/) - A new study catalogs foods made from bacteria, algae, and fungi—and considers their potential for industrial production in a climate-resilient future. - [A technology in road markers could cool cities by up to 20°C](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/how-the-technology-in-reflective-signs-can-help-cool-cities/) - Engineers are using retroreflector technology—based on prisms and reflective materialsto direct sunlight back into the sky and out of the urban canyon. - [Fences, roads, and other human blockades take a genetic toll on wildlife](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/fences-roads-and-other-human-blockades-take-a-genetic-toll-on-wildlife/) - New research reveals that wildebeests cut off from their traditional migrations are more inbred than ones that still have room to roam. - [Global warming is coming for your shopping cart](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/global-warming-is-coming-for-your-shopping-cart/) - A team of economists dig into a relatively under-studied area: Climate inflation - [Designing a More Climate-Friendly Cow](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/designing-a-more-climate-friendly-cow/) - The world has spent a century pumping up cows to produce more milk and meat. Can we now reinvent them to produce less damaging methane? - [Esto es a lo que podría parecer la geo-ingeniería localizada.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/02/esto-es-a-lo-que-podria-parecer-la-geo-ingenieria-localizada/) - Un estudio reciente encontró que la geoingeniería para reflejar más el calor del sol en las tierras de cultivo y en las ciudades, podría reducir los extremos de las altas temperaturas en varios grados. - [Here’s what localized geoengineering might look like](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/02/heres-what-localized-geoengineering-might-look-like/) - Engineering farmland and cities to make them reflect more of the sun's heat could reduce high temperature extremes by several degrees, a new study finds. - [Understanding partisanship nuances may be the key to climate action](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/01/theres-more-than-one-kind-of-democrat-or-republican-heres-how-that-affects-climate-action-in-the-u-s/) - A new study finds that resistance to climate policy among Republicans is driven far more by negative partisanship than expressive partisanship - [Tylenol, now from palm trees instead of petroleum](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/tylenol-now-from-palm-trees-instead-of-petroleum/) - The ubiquitous medicine’s active ingredient is made today from crude oil-derived chemicals, but a greener route to relieving aches and pain is possible - [Here's how we can repurpose food waste to grow healthier crops](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/02/heres-how-we-can-repurpose-food-waste-to-grow-healthier-crops/) - A liquid made from food waste and drip-fed into soil could protect crops from pathogens - [Does that FSC label on forest products actually buy better wildlife protection in the jungles of Central Africa?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/does-that-fsc-label-on-forest-products-actually-buy-better-wildlife-protection-in-the-jungles-of-central-africa/) - Sometimes maligned as greenwashing, new research found FSC-certified forestry effectively protects wildlife in tropical forests. - [Climate scientists experiment with connecting people in the present with people in the future](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/climate-scientists-experiment-with-connecting-people-in-the-present-with-people-in-the-future/) - A new study describes the shape of intergenerational altruism, and suggests a simple way to activate it—at least among half the population. - [Are We Approaching Peak Stuff?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/09/are-we-approaching-peak-stuff/) - Almost imperceptibly, we are stepping off the consumption treadmill - [A global shift to flexitarian diets would buy critical time to meet climate targets](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/a-global-shift-to-flexitarian-diets-would-buy-much-needed-time-to-meet-key-climate-targets/) - A new study demonstrates how dietary shifts could build wiggle room into a fast shrinking global carbon budget. - [To slash building emissions, biomaterials are our friends](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/for-slashing-building-emissions-biomaterials-are-our-friends/) - wapping conventional insulation with straw or hemp, and firing up wood pellets or a heat pump for warmth could slash Swiss building emissions by almost 90% - [Do Carbon Prizes Work?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/do-carbon-prizes-work/) - Are prizes really an efficient way to move the carbon needle? Or just a sideshow from the tough business of reinventing economies to be more sustainable? - [Computers translate jungle cacophony into a biodiversity barometer](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/10/computers-translate-jungle-cacophony-into-a-biodiversity-barometer/) - Scientists in an Ecuadorian forest used audio recorders and AI to gauge biodiversity. Such tools could revolutionize monitoring for ecosystem health. - [From rubble to reef in just four years: How a metal sculpture revived Indonesian coral](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/from-rubble-to-reef-in-just-four-years-how-a-metal-sculpture-revived-indonesian-cora/) - Interconnected metal stars provide a foundation for an entire new reef to grow on the remains of dynamited coral. - [When it comes to climate action, beware the policy bundle](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/04/when-it-comes-to-climate-action-beware-the-policy-bundle/) - Researchers tried linking climate policy appealing to liberals with other policies popular with conservatives. The combination only lost support. - [Protected areas benefit people nearby—but people nearby can put the squeeze on wildlife](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/04/protected-areas-benefit-people-nearby-but-people-nearby-can-put-the-squeeze-on-wildlife/) - National parks, nature reserves, and wilderness areas improve the well-being of people living nearby. Yet too many people living along the edges can alter ecosystems at the core of the protected area, putting biodiversity at risk. - [Does organic farming ironically lead to more pesticide use overall?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/does-organic-farming-ironically-lead-to-more-pesticide-use-overall/) - Anew study found that organic farms can actually boost insecticide use on nearby conventional farms. The fix: a shift from dispersed to clustered fields. - [Con la mitad del planeta reservado para la naturaleza, ¿tendremos suficiente para comer?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/con-la-mitad-del-planeta-reservado-para-la-naturaleza-tendremos-suficiente-para-comer/) - La idea de dedicar la mitad de la superficie terrestre de la Tierra a formas ricas e intactas de la naturaleza es una visión inspiradora. Sin embargo, ¿qué significaría para la producción de alimentos, que actualmente representa el mayor uso de la tierra humana? - [Which is better for climate: creating a new forest or a new solar farm?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/11/which-is-better-for-climate-creating-a-new-forest-or-a-new-solar-farm/) - In a side-by-side comparison, researchers found that it makes more sense to cover the drier parts of the world with solar panels than new forests. - [To generate clean energy from evaporating water, researchers played with a classic toy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/to-generate-clean-energy-from-evaporating-water-researchers-played-with-a-classic-toy/) - Their device produces enough electricity to power to small electronics and can operate for several days using only 100 milliliters of water as fuel. - [Scientists devise a new, relatable measure of climate change: "outdoor days”](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/scientists-devise-a-new-relatable-measure-of-climate-change-outdoor-days/) - The climate forecast: The Global North will gain outdoor days, while the the Global South will lose them. | Anthropocene Magazine - [Huge wildlife study probes the nuances of the ‘anthropause' created by the COVID pandemic](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/huge-wildlife-study-probes-the-nuances-of-the-anthropause-created-by-the-covid-pandemic/) - Over 200 scientists from around the world found that during pandemic lockdowns not all animals acted the same when people became scarce. - [Resetting carbon offsets from the bottom up](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/10/resetting-carbon-offsets-from-the-bottom-up/) - Inside one quest to restore tarnished carbon markets, one family forest at a time | A new article from Anthropocene Magazine - [La fusión entre granjas de cacao con bosques podría reducir el impacto climático del chocolate.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/06/la-fusion-entre-granjas-de-cacao-con-bosques-podria-reducir-el-impacto-climatico-del-chocolate/) - Según hallazgos de un nuevo estudio, el cultivo de árboles autóctonos en las granjas de cacao podría reducir las emisiones de carbono e impulsar la biodiversidad. - [Fusing cocoa farms with forests could reduce chocolate's climate impact](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/06/fusing-cocoa-farms-with-forests-could-reduce-chocolates-climate-impact/) - Growing indigenous trees on cocoa farms could reduce carbon emissions and boost biodiversity, a new study finds. - [Will geoengineering buy us time to cut carbon emissions or just prolong the pain?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/will-geoengineering-buy-us-time-to-cut-carbon-emissions-or-just-prolong-the-pain/) - Will big geoengineering and direct air capture projects buy us time to cut carbon emissions—or just prolong the pain? | Anthropocene magazine - [Are EV range limitations a technological problem…or a psychological one?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/05/are-ev-range-limitations-a-technological-problem-or-a-psychological-one/) - Researchers conducted a study to figure out how to change the way people think about electric car range | Anthropocene Magazine - [Researchers transform wood waste into wood ink for 3D printing. . . more wood](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/researchers-transform-wood-waste-into-wood-ink-for-3d-printing-more-wood/) - Ink made from waste wood gives solid materials that could be a sustainable alternative to plastic…and that look, smell and behave like the real thing - [Social inequities and citizen science can skew our view of the natural world](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/social-inequities-and-citizen-science-can-skew-our-view-of-the-natural-world/) - Maps of St. Louis squirrels reveals how citizen-gathered data can be biased by race and poverty. A group of scientists have thoughts on how to counteract that. - [Is the torrent of climate disinformation still more powerful than available remedies?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/12/is-the-torrent-of-climate-disinformation-still-more-powerful-than-available-remedies/) - Researchers tested the effectiveness of 6 psychological messages across 12 countries to combat climate denial. Spoiler: They were all disappointingly weak. - [To reach climate skeptics, tap into self-interested values](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/to-reach-climate-skeptics-tap-into-self-interested-values/) - Researchers designed four different versions of a pro-environmental poster to demonstrate the need to move beyond one-size-fits-all messages - [Beef rice: a new hybrid food for a more sustainable future?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/beef-rice-a-new-hybrid-food-for-a-more-sustainable-future/) - The new invention has a footprint almost eight times lower than an equivalent amount of field-reared beef. | Anthropocene Magazine - [The more climate vulnerable a country is, the more complex and nuanced its climate journalism](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/the-more-climate-vulnerable-a-country-is-the-more-complex-and-nuanced-its-climate-journalism/) - Researchers combed through 100,000 articles, and found the media in high-emitting countries could learn a lot from journalists in climate-vulnerable areas. - [The environmental and health benefits of forgoing red meat are strong. For dairy? Not so much.  ](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/the-environmental-and-health-benefits-of-forgoing-red-meat-are-strong-for-dairy-not-so-much/) - Most research treats dairy and meat substitutions as a single unit. When a new study disentangled them, they arrived at some striking results. - [Using dogs to create a “landscape of fear” could help livestock and wild predators coexist](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/using-dogs-to-create-a-landscape-of-fear-could-help-livestock-and-wild-predators-coexist/) - A study of Maremma sheepdogs in Australia found they kept predatory foxes on the move, but still able to use habitat. | Anthropocene Magazine - [AC Has Been A Climate Scourge. Could It Become A Climate Solution?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/08/ac-has-been-a-climate-scourge-could-it-become-a-climate-solution/) - The world needs more air conditioning. If we do it right, it could even reduce emissions | Anthropocene Magazine - [Scientists use cheese-making waste to recover gold from electronic waste](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/103349/scientists-use-cheese-making-waste-to-recover-gold-from-electronic-waste/) - From 20 old computer motherboards, a research team retrieved a 22-​carat gold nugget weighing 450 milligrams | Anthropocene Magazine - [Flower farms could clean up polluted waterways, scientists show](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/flower-farms-could-clean-up-polluted-waterways-scientists-show/) - Experiments showed that floating flower farms work like natural wetland plants soaking up excess phosphorous and nitrogen—perhaps even while turning a profit. - [To stop the climate clock, fund technologies to pull carbon dioxide from air, researchers say](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/01/to-reverse-the-climate-clock-fund-technologies-to-pull-carbon-dioxide-from-air-researchers-say/) - Investments of war and pandemic proportions in direct air capture could reverse the rise in atmospheric CO2 and global temperature before 2100 - [Researchers coax people to envision greener cities using AI images of familiar streets](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/researchers-coax-people-to-envision-greener-cities-using-ai-images-of-familiar-streets/) - By cleverly combining advertising techniques with AI, researchers increased support for a sustainable transportation bill—particularly among republicans - [We've built enough fences to stretch to the sun—but still don’t understand their effects here on Earth](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2020/10/weve-built-enough-fences-to-stretch-to-the-sun-but-still-dont-understand-their-effects-here-on-earth/) - It's time to see fences used for conservation as an ecological feature, not a management tool. The unintended consequences of fences needs to be revisited. - [Experts unlock the vast potential of seafood waste...without the toxic after-effects](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/03/experts-unlock-the-vast-potential-of-seafood-waste-without-the-toxic-after-effects/) - The discovery of a greener way to extract chitin from shells paves the way for biodegradable packaging, greener pharmaceuticals, and even fertilizers. - [Pyrolysis tech could turn biowaste into a solution for three problems at once](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/02/pyrolysis-tech-could-turn-biowaste-into-a-solution-for-three-problems-at-once/) - A new approach to waste management could help rural areas decrease air pollution, increase soil health, and generate clean power, researchers say. - [When biodiversity and human cuisine collide, even lentils and rice take a toll](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/02/when-biodiversity-and-human-cuisine-collide-even-lentils-and-rice-take-a-toll/) - Researchers painstakingly analyzed the biodiversity footprint of 151 dishes. They found that even the vegetarian ones can exact a high price. - [We can’t depend on extreme weather to increase support for climate action](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/08/we-cant-depend-on-extreme-local-weather-to-increase-support-for-climate-action/) - German researchers document another case in which even novel experiences won’t budge people from entrenched attitudes - [Engineering plants with deeper roots could be a huge climate boon. Scientists just made a big find.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/02/engineering-plants-with-deeper-roots-could-be-a-huge-climate-boon-scientists-just-made-a-big-find/) - By tweaking a key plant hormone, researchers believe we can grow crops that burrow deeper into the soil, lock up carbon, clean up pollution, and more. - [Human waste is a terrible thing to waste](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/01/human-waste-is-a-terrible-thing-to-waste-2/) - Off-grid energy production is becoming affordable for smallholders, restaurants, and even families—thanks to a startup’s innovative biodigesters that turn food and feces into carbon-neutral cooking gas, fertilizer, and hot water. ## Pages - [3 column home page June 2019](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/) - The world's top writers, designers, scientists, and entrepreneurs explore how we can create a sustainable Human Age we actually want to live in. - [About Us](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/about-us/) - The world’s most creative writers, designers, scientists, and entrepreneurs explore how we can create a sustainable human age we actually want to live in. - [Classroom Resources: Cementing Our Future](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/cementing-our-future/) - Winter 2011 / Vol. 11 No. 4 Read the article Discussion Questions Where does the energy used in your house come from? What about for your school? What is a carbon footprint? What is your carbon footprint? What are the benefits of the plan discussed in this article for making cement? What are some - [Classroom Resources: The Problem of What to Eat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/the-problem-of-what-to-eat-2/) - By Natasha Loder, Elizabeth Finkel, Craig Meisner, and Pamela Ronald July-September 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 3 Read the article >> Discussion Questions What are some of society’s typical conceptions about the local food movement, organic agriculture, nitrogen fertilizers, and genetically modified organisms? How does this article challenge these assumptions? Loder argues that buying locally - [Team](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/staff-and-board/) - Kathryn Kohm, Mark Harris, Wayt Gibbs, Frances Cairncross, Oliver Morton, David Biello, Andrew Revkin, Joshua Tewksbury, and more - [Issue #8 TOC](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/issue-8-toc/) - Optimism, it has been said, can act as the antidote to cynicism. I think that’s true—but only when it is specific | Discover Anthropocene Magazine Issue #8: - [Issue #8](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/issue-8-2/) - [Issue #8](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/issue-8/) - [https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/issue-8-toc/](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/https-www-anthropocenemagazine-org-issue-8-toc/) - [In Print](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/in-print-3/) - The world’s most creative writers, designers, scientists, and entrepreneurs explore how we can create a sustainable Human Age we actually want to live in. - [Classroom Resources: Troubled Teens](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/troubled-teens-2/) - Article by Dawn Stover Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. If Robert Wielgus’ theory about the cause of “problem cougars” is correct, how might hunting regulations for cougars be changed to address the issue? 2. What are the implications of the finding that cougars spend a large amount of time cruising the edges of suburban - [Classroom Resources: Virginity Lost](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/virginity-lost-2/) - By Fred Pearce January-March 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 1) Read the article >> Discussion Questions What is "the myth of the pristine environment"? The article portrays disagreement, based on recent findings, over the degree of wildness in places like the Amazon. Could this be, in part, due to different views of what wild means? What - [Frequently Asked Questions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/faqs/) - How can I contribute? What’s the status of my membership? Find answers to these questions and more. - [Classroom Resources: The Sterile Banana](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/the-sterile-banana-2/) - By Fred Pearce October-December 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 4 Read the article >> Discussion Questions The author suggests a link between sexual reproduction and maintainance of genetic diversity, both naturally and culturally, to fight off pests and diseases. What is that link? If the lack of genetic diversity puts the banana and other crop - [Classroom Resources: Connecting Flights](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/connecting-flights-2/) - By Frances Cairncross January-March 2006 (Vol. 7, No. 1) Read the article >> Discussion Questions The biologist Yossi Leshem is described as a "connector." Why is this an important role in conservation today? Why is Israel such an important hotspot for conflict between bird migration and human activity? What geophysical, biological, and historical factors combine - [Classroom Resources: Do No Harm](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/do-no-harm-2/) - By Mark Jerome Walters October-December 2006 (Vol. 7, No. 4) Read the article >> Discussion Questions What are critical pieces of information biologists must collect in the field prior to initiating a recovery program? If a recovery program involves captive breeding and reintroduction, under what conditions should biologists remove viable adults from the wild? Why - [Classroom Resources: A Witness to Violence](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/a-witness-to-violence-2/) - By J. Michael Fay April-June 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 2 Read the article >> Discussion Questions What is the connection between war and biodiversity? Does this article show that the Darfur genocide was foreshadowed by the elephant massacres in the northern Central African Republic decades earlier? On a broader level, does how humans treat - [Classroom Resources: The (Un)Natural Order of Things](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/the-unnatural-order-of-things-2/) - Article by Carol Kaesuk Yoon Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. On page 26 the author states “whatever language we speak, we have nearly lost the language of life.” What does she mean by “the language of life,” and how does this relate to conservation? 2. 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What are some of the potential consequences of the loss of crop biodiversity, on both large and small scales? Watch the animation of the shifting orbits graphic - [Classroom Resources: Aliens Among Us](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/aliens-among-us-2/) - A round table with James H. Brown and Dov F. Sax, Daniel Simberloff, and Mark Sagoff April-June 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 2) Read the article >> Discussion Questions Are native invasive species fundamentally different from exotic/alien invasive species? What separates invasive from non-invasive species? What do you think about Brown and Sax's assertion that "there - [Climate Parables](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/the-climate-parables/) - It's time to upgrade not just our technology, but also our collective imagination | A new fiction series from Anthropocene Magazine and Future Earth - [Classroom Resources: Be Fruitful and Multiply?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/the-new-math-of-population-2/) - Article by David Malakoff Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. How is it possible that decreasing birthrates could contribute to eventual environmental degradation? 2. What is the demographic transition? Does this transition follow automatically from increased economic development, or are there factors that can arrest or derail the transition? 3. 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What might be some ways for conservationists to respond to this? In what ways does economic - [Classroom Resources: Building on the Fly](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/building-teaching-tools/) - Building on the Fly By Philip Ball April-June 2010 (Vol. 11, No. 2) Read the article>> Discussion Questions What are some of the “habitation” needs of termites that are the same as humans, and therefore suggest that termite mounds might be a good source for architectural ideas and inspiration? Conversely, how are the - [Classroom Resources: Natural History Upgrade](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/natural-history-upgrade-teach/) - Natural History Upgrade By Richard Conniff Fall 2011 / Vol. 12 No. 3 Read the article Discussion Questions What is natural history? Do descriptions of natural history offered in the article match your own preconceptions of the term, or extend it in new ways? According to the workshop participants described in the article, what are - [Order Failed](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/order-failed/) - Your transaction failed, please try again or contact support. - [Order Confirmation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/order-confirmation/) - Thank you for your order! - [Checkout](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/checkout/) - [Member Directory](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/member-directory/) - [My Profile](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/my-profile/) - [My Account](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/account/) - [Reset Password](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/reset-password/) - [Sign Up](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/sign-up/) - [Log In](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/log-in/) - [Classroom Resources: The Efficiency Catch-22](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/the-efficiency-catch-22-teach/) - The Efficiency Catch-22 By John Carey Fall 2011 / Vol. 12 No. 3 Read the article Discussion Questions What is the “rebound effect"? Can you think of any examples in your own life in which you used more of something when it became cheaper and more available? Can you think of examples when this did - [Classroom Resources: Democratizing Taxonomy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/democratizing-taxonomy-2/) - By Marguerite Holloway April-June 2006 (Vol. 7, No. 2) Read the article >> Discussion Questions There are several different applications of DNA barcoding. In "Democratizing Taxonomy," biologists Dan Janzen and Winnie Hallwachs describe the use of DNA barcoding as a tool to promote "bioliteracy" in the general public and elevate concern for the biodiversity crisis. - [Team](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/launch-team-2/) - The team behind Anthropocene magazine includes: Kathryn Kohm, Oliver Morton, Andrew Revkin, Frances Cairncross, David Biello, Wayt Gibbs, and many more. - [Opt Out of EOY Fundraising Page](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/opt-out-of-eoy-fundraising-page/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.2″ custom_padding=”44px||25px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” sticky_enabled=”0″ custom_padding_phone=”140px||||false|false” custom_padding_tablet=”44px||25px|||”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||10px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” header_font_size=”60px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ header_font_size_tablet=”60px” header_font_size_phone=”45px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_padding=”|90px||90px|false|true” custom_padding_tablet=”|20px||20px|false|true” custom_padding_phone=”|1px||1px|false|true”] You have opted out of our 2024 NewsMatch fundraising drive You will not receive end-of-year membership emails from us, however you may - [contact](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/contact/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”||0px|” custom_padding_tablet=”||0px|” transparent_background=”off” padding_mobile=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row padding_mobile=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”|1%” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Contact Us” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” global_colors_info=”{}”]Contact Us[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”0px|||” custom_padding_tablet=”0px|||” transparent_background=”off” padding_mobile=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_contact_form email=”contact@anthropocenemagazine.org” admin_label=”Contact - [Issue #7 TOC](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/issue-7-toc/) - A deluge of machine learning advances in sustainability is headed our way. - [Classroom Resources: Not So Silent Spring](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/not-so-silent-spring-2/) - Not So Silent Spring By Dawn Stover January-March 2009 / Vol. 10 No. 1 Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. Define the term soundscape. What is the soundscape of your classroom? Your home? The "ecosystem" in which you live? 2. What background noise do you hear when people are not talking or otherwise making noise - [Classroom Resources: The Last Gladiators](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/the-last-gladiators-2/) - By Scott Weidensaul July-September 2007 / Vol. 8 No. 3 Read the article >> Discussion Questions What is the basic dilemma that Weidensaul is posing? Should we bring back the Barbary lion? Why or why not? Captive breeding and reintroduction of a huge, nearly extinct carnivore may seem to be tilting at windmills, but is - [Newsletters](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/newsletters/) - Join thousands of researchers, policymakers, and educators who rely on Anthropocene to keep up to date on the latest sustainability science and innovations. - [Classroom Resources: One Big Fix](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/one-big-fix-2-2/) - By Elizabeth Kolbert October-December 2006 (Vol. 7, No. 4) Read the article >> Discussion Questions What is meant by the term Anthropocene? What do you think of this term? Is it scientifically accurate? Is it useful sociopolitically? The author asserts that this term has entered common usage. Can you find evidence of this on the - [Classroom Resources: On the Fence](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/on-the-fence-2/) - Article by Douglas Fox Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. Are fenced landscapes fragmented habitats? How do they differ from other anthropogenic features that fragment habitat (e.g., roads, agriculture)? Are fences uniformly resistant to wildlife, or are they more permeable for some species than others? Which species in the article may be more affected by - [Classroom Resources: Garbage In Garbage Out](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/garbage-in-garbage-out-3/) - Article By Susan Casey Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. Why is plastic so abundant in the ocean? Why would cleaning up all the plastic in the ocean not be a long-term solution to the problem? What would be a long-term solution to the problem? 2. How would a “cradle to cradle” standard, as proposed - [Classroom Resources: Us or Them](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/us-or-them-2/) - By William Stolzenburg October-December 2006 (Vol. 7, No. 4) Read the article >> Discussion Questions The author states: "...to the conservation biologist, it is an embarrassing contradiction between science and practice." What, exactly, is the contradiction he refers to? 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How does it relate to Los Angeles as described in this article? What is Jenny Price's basic beef with nature writing as a genre? Does she feel that it has ignored cities? Focused too much on - [Classroom Resources: The Vision Thing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/the-vision-thing-2/) - By Ted Nordhaus & Michael Shellenberger October-December 2007 / Vol. 8 No. 4 Read the article >> Discussion Questions The authors describe the politics of global warming as “timid”. What do they mean with this choice of words? What is the nature of the authors’ objection to the approach taken by Blair in his 2005 - [Classroom Resources: Saint Ursus maritimus](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/saint-ursus-maritimus-2/) - By Jim Robbins October-December 2007 / Vol. 8 No. 4 Read the article >> Discussion Questions With respect to the decline of polar bears and the proposal to list them as a threatened species, create a table that identifies all of the parties that are involved in the issue, their role in creating the problem, - [Classroom Resources: Green Giants](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/green-giants-2/) - By George Monbiot April-June (Vol. 8, No. 2) Read the article >> Discussion Questions What do you think it should mean for a company to be "green'? How might this be the same or different than what the company itself might think it means? Corporate "greening" suggests that environmental protection can be achieved through making - [Classroom Resources: Can Cities Feed Us?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/can-cities-feed-us/) - Can Cities Feed Us? By Sarah Deweerdt July - September 2010 / Vol. 11 No. 3 Read the article Discussion Questions What are the environmental implications – both pro and con – of urban vs. rural/suburban living? What are the pros and cons of vertical farming? Can you think of any challenges to vertical farming - [Classroom Resources: Finding Genes That Fit](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/finding-genes-that-fit-teach/) - Finding Genes That Fit By Joe Roman Fall 2011 / Vol. 12 No. 3 Read the article Discussion Questions 1. What are some of the biological and conservation consequences of inbreeding, as exemplified by the Florida Panther? 2. What are the biological and conservation trade-offs associated with “genetic rescue” as a conservation tool? 3. What - [Food & Agriculture Archive](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/food-agriculture-stories/) - A compendium of the latest sustainability science and innovations - [Climate Change Archive](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/climate-change/) - A compendium of the latest sustainability science and innovations - [Awards](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/awards/) - Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award, Eddie & Ozzie Awards, CASE Circle of Excellence Awards, RNRF Excellence in Journalism Award - [Classroom Resources: Impostor Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/impostor-fish-2/) - By Douglas Fox October-December 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 4 Read the article >> Discussion Questions Is genetics relevant to conservation? How is this article an example of an application to conservation? Why is accurate species naming important when tracking wildlife consumption? What will likely happen to global fish stocks if we can’t track the - [Classroom Resources: Confronting Corruption](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/confronting-corruption-2/) - Confronting Corruption By Tom Clynes Winter 2011/ Vol. 11 No. 4 Read the article Discussion Questions Despite international and country laws, much rare and endangered wildlife continues to be killed, captured, and sold. What country do you live in? Do you believe your laws are enforced? How does it make you feel to read this - [Classroom Resources: Are We Putting Tigers in Our Tanks?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/are-we-putting-tigers-in-our-tanks-2/) - By Staff January-March 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 1) Read the article >> Discussion Questions How might biofuel production (biodiesel, ethanol and the like)—even though it replaces dependence on fossil fuels—end up as a negatively influencing biodiversity? What is meant by "humanity's footprint"? Have you ever assessed your own ecological footprint? How many square feet is - [Classroom Resources: Aux Barricades!](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/aux-barricades-2/) - By Jon Christensen Read the article >> Discussion Questions What is the central difference of opinion on nature reserve design that this article highlights? What does the author mean by "fortress conservation"? Do you think this is a fair portrayal? What information do you feel you need to formulate your own opinion? The author uses - [Classroom Resources: Taming the Blue Frontier](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/taming-the-blue-frontier-2/) - Taming the Blue Frontier by Sarah Simpson Volume 10, number 2 Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. What are the crucial issues that must be addressed in order to make aquaculture more sustainable? How do the new approaches described here address these challenges? What issues remain to be solved? 2. Will dilution solve the issue - [Classroom Resources: Identity Crisis](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/identity-crisis-2/) - By Douglas Fox April-June 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 2 Read the article >> Discussion Questions The term “hybrid vigor” is often used in relation to domesticated plants and animals. What does this term mean? Does this phenomenon have a role to play in conservation as well? How does the U.S. Endangered Species Act treat - [Classroom Resources: Up Up and Away](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/up-up-and-away-teaching-tools/) - Up Up and Away By J. Madeleine Nash April-June 2010 (Vol. 11, No. 2) Read the article>> Discussion Questions How might mountains differ from other habitats in terms of serving as a refuge during major changes in climate? How might body size or ability to migrate affect an animal or plant’s ability to adapt - [Classroom Resources: Operation Sex Change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/operation-sex-change-2/) - Article by Cynthia Mills Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. What are some of the strategies that have been employed to control exotic species? What makes the use of intersex individuals different? 2. Why would a population whose sex ratio was skewed by pollution become dependent on the pollution to avid extinction? 3. 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How does the romantic ideal of the “noble savage” play into discussions about poverty and the goals of - [Classroom Resources: That Sinking Feeling](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/that-sinking-feeling-2/) - By Nick Atkinson April-June 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 2) Read the article >> Discussion Questions If we can't know for sure whether carbon sequestration is worth doing as a strategy to mitigate against climate change, is it worth doing? What are the consequences, pro and con, of announcing controversial findings in a newspaper like the - [Classroom Resources: Wildlife Contraception](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/wildlife-contraception-2/) - By Douglas Fox October-December 2007 / Vol. 8 No. 4 Read the article >> Discussion Questions Why do we need wildlife contraception? What land use realities and human perceptions force this issue? Understand the technical aspects of this article. 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Why have the development and performance of batteries - [Classroom Resources: Greener Pastures](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/greener-pastures-teaching/) - Greener Pastures By Judith D. Schwartz Summer 2011 / Vol. 12 No. 2 Read the article Discussion Questions Review the global carbon cycle. Refer to the article, and discuss why it is important that agriculture has transferred carbon out of the soil to locations aboveground. In terms of agriculture and soil-building, what is a positive - [Classroom Resources: To Build a (Better) Fire](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/to-build-a-fire-teaching/) - To Build a (Better) Fire By Burkhard Bilger Summer 2011 / Vol. 12 No. 2 Read the article Discussion Questions One quoted source claimed, “Kill a million and a half people, and nobody gives a damn. But become part of this big climate thing, and everyone comes knocking at your door.” What does this person - [Classroom Resources: Shrink to Fit](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/shrink-to-fit-teaching/) - Shrink to Fit By David Malakoff Spring 2011 / Vol. 12 No. 1 Read the article Discussion Questions In what ways does large body size put a species at risk of extinction? How did the spread of humans place both direct and indirect ecological pressure on megafauna species? What might the ecological consequences - [Classroom Resources: Bringing the Green Back](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/bringing-the-green-back/) - Bringing the Green Back By John Carey Winter 2011 / Vol. 11 No. 4 Read the article Discussion Questions In what ways does the presence of a footprint by indigenous peoples negate the idea that there can be a natural forest that serves as a conservation goal? In what ways is the idea that an - [Classroom Resources: Genetically Modified Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/genetically-modified-conservation-2/) - Genetically Modified Conservation By Erik Vance July - September 2010 / Vol. 11 No. 3 Read the article Discussion Questions What was the Green Revolution created by Norman Borlaug, and why did he launch it? What are its characteristics? What is Pam Ronald’s vision of a new Green Revolution? How does it differ from the - [Classroom Resources: Wounds That Can Heal](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/wounds-that-can-heal-3/) - by Marguerite Holloway Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. What search criteria did Jones and Schmitz use for their study? To what extent might those criteria have affected the outcome, and how might you have modified the search for a more general result on restoration success? 2. Have you ever heard of the field of conservation - [Classroom Resources: Is a Warmer World a Sicker World?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/is-a-warmer-world-a-sicker-world-2/) - Article by Roberta Kwok Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. What are the competing hypotheses regarding the effect of climate change on the range where a disease can be transmitted? What assumptions underlie the predictions about the effect of warming on the spread of malaria? 2. Could climate change decrease or eliminate some diseases? How? - [Classroom Resources: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/between-the-devil-and-the-deep-blue-sea-2/) - Between the Devil and Deep Blue Sea by Jim Robbins Volume 10, number 2 Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. What is the conservation dilemma at the heart of this article? What is the “devil” referred to in the article’s title? 2. Trace connections between Antarctic ice shelves, Everglades National Park, and the conservation of - [Classroom Resources: The Nature of the Fiscal World](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/the-nature-of-the-fiscal-world-2/) - The Nature of the Fiscal World By Tali Woodward January-March 2009 / Vol. 10 No. 1 Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. According to Oliver Pergams, how might economic growth have been miscast as a panacea? What might be misleading about simply characterizing economic growth as “good” or “bad”? What are some of the possible - [Classroom Resources: The Most Popular Lifestyle on Earth](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/the-most-popular-lifestyle-on-earth/) - By Carl Zimmer October-December 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 4 Read the Article>> Discussion Questions The traditional view of parasites is as pests that decrease the health of ecosystems. What does recent work by ecologists tell us about this interpretation? What are the implications for conservation? Regardless of the effect on ecosystems, in some cases - [Classroom Resources: Confessions of a Hit Man](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/confessions-of-a-hit-man-2/) - By Jeffrey A. Lockwood & Alexandre V. Lachininsky July-September 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 3 Read the article >> Discussion Questions What ecological arguments do the authors give for removing the gray bird grasshopper from Nihoa? What ecological arguments do they give for not removing it? Ultimately, they were unable to remove this insect because - [Classroom Resources: Do Trees Grow on Money?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/do-trees-grow-on-money-2/) - By Fred Pearce April-June 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 2 Read the article >> Discussion Questions What are the goals of “extractive reserves”? How do they differ from rainforest that is not protected from logging? What is the primary assumption behind the idea that extractive reserves are a good conservation solution? What evidence does the - [Classroom Resources: 10 Solutions to Save the Oceans](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/10-solutions-to-save-the-oceans/) - Edited by Sarah Simpson July-September 2007 / Vol. 8 No. 3 Read the article >> Discussion Questions Each of the ten short essays puts forth a single idea (“solution”) to promote conservation of marine ecosystems. In your own words, summarize the central idea of each essay in a single sentence. Do you find yourself - [Sustainable Consumption Archive](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/anthropocene-2/) - A compendium of the latest science and innovations on sustainable consumption - [Classroom Resources: The New Normal](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/the-new-normal-teaching-tools/) - The New Normal By Emma Marris April-June 2010 (Vol. 11, No. 2) Read the article>> Discussion Questions The article posits that “The New Normal” is a world dominated by ecosystems that are a mixture of invasive and those native species that are able to persist, and that this is a new reality that conservation biologists - [Classroom Resources: Urban Myths](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/urban-myths-2/) - By Jonah Lehrer January-March 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 1 Read the article >> Discussion Questions What are our typical conceptions of the environmental impact and resource consumption of cities? How does this article challenge these assumptions? In order to understand the technical aspects of this article, go through it and identify all the terms - [Summer 2014](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/summer-2014/) - Volume 15, Number 2 Features Spies Like Us Armed with low-cost surveillance technologies, nonprofits aided by “citizen spies” are tracking fracking in Pennsylvania, flaring in North Dakota, and rogue fishing around Easter Island. By W. Wayt Gibbs What to Do with Leftovers Cities are recycling old and outdated infrastructure in creative new ways. Photo - [July-September, 2004](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v5n3/) - Volume 5, Number 3 Features THE FATHER OF ALL MASS EXTINCTIONS There is a good possibility that losses in diversity in the present will surpass anything in the geological past. Facing that specter could shake the very tenets of conservation. by Peter Ward NO EASY WAY OUT Cover Story Human health, wildlife disease, and conservation - [Summer 2013](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/summer-2013/) - Volume 14, Number 2 Features [columns] [/columns] Background Check [columns] Bar Soap vs. Liquid Soap Which Is Greener? By David Tyler [/columns] __________ Solutions [columns] Energy Storage Wars Compressed air technology is an underdog to watch By Dave Levitan [/columns] [columns] iTree Calculate the value of the urban forest By Sarah DeWeerdt [/columns] [columns] Point, Shoot, - [Spring 2013](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/spring-2013/) - Volume 14, Number 1 Features Zoo Futures Caught between circuses, theme parks, museums, and menageries, zoos are struggling to be leaders in the conservation world. Getting there may mean letting some animals go. By Jon Cohen Restorative Art The world is but a canvas to those who are turning ecological restoration into works of art. - [Winter 2013](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/winter-2013/) - Volume 13, Number 4 Features The Oiliest Catch Menhaden is a modest little fish so rich in oil that it’s sometimes called the soybean of the sea. But scooping them up to fuel the Omega-3 fish oil craze could pull the rug out from under the entire Atlantic coastal food chain. By Richard Conniff Change Your - [Winter 2011: October-February](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/winter-2011-october-february/) - Volume 11, Number 4 Features Bringing the Green Back Central Americans working abroad and sending money home are not only fueling their native economies—they’re also helping to bring the trees back. By John Carey Cementing the Future An entrepreneurial marine geologist from Stanford believes that by mimicking the way marine organisms create shells, he can - [October-December, 2006](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v7n4/) - Volume 7, Number 4 Features US OR THEM Killing predators stands as one of the most age-old and enduring forms of wildlife management. Even now, myth and politics trump ecology. Is there a way out? by William Stolzenburg SECOND CHANCE Cloning could be the Holy Grail of conservation or the ultimate folly. Either way, the - [July-September 2006](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v7n3/) - Features EVOLUTIONARY TINKERING Cover Story A small group of latter-day Noahs is beginning to explore radical new ways to help species ride out the currrent wave of extinctions. by Scott Norris DIG DEEPER When context is lost, what kind of tales can biological relics tell? Paleoecologists are forcing us again and again to rethink what - [July-September, 2010](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/july-september-2010/) - Volume 11, Number 3 Features Black Is the New Green In a deft act of ecological jujitsu, Johannes Lehmann wants to borrow an 8,000-year-old technology to interrupt the natural carbon cycle and return some of the infamous black stuff to the soil. By Carl Zimmer Can Cities Feed Us? For every acre of land cultivated - [Classroom Resources: Get Real](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/get-real-2/) - By Katherine Ellison April-June 2006 (Vol. 7, No. 2) Read the article >> Discussion Questions What arguments are there for enacting a policy that achieves less than we think we need to achieve to avert a crisis? What arguments are there against enacting such policies? What kinds of things can be meant by the term - [Spring 2014](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/spring-2014/) - Volume 15, Number 1 Features [columns] [/columns] Background Check [columns] The Footprint of Butter vs. Margarine By David Tyler [/columns] __________ Solutions [columns] Striking a Deal with the Weed from Hell By Garry Hamilton [/columns] [columns] No-Crossing Zones New technology keeps bears out of harm's way By Ben Goldfarb [/columns] [columns] New Rules An Anti-Monopoly - [Winter 2014](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/winter-2014/) - Volume 14, Number 4 Features [columns] [/columns] Background Check [columns] The Footprint of Restroom Hand Dryers By David Tyler [/columns] __________ Solutions [columns] How Beer Money Can Help Save a Nation’s Water Supply By Fred Pearce [/columns] [columns] Synthetic Cactus Needles Draw Oil out of the Ocean By Jennifer Wong [/columns] [columns] Concrete's Cleaner Afterlife - [Fall 2013](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/fall-2013/) - Volume 14, Number 3 Features [columns] [/columns] Background Check [columns] How Green Is Grocery Delivery? By David Tyler [/columns] __________ Solutions [columns] How desperation, iPads, and real-time data revived a fishery By Megan Molteni [/columns] [columns] Solar Power to the People Where crowdfunding meets Wall Street, a new model for financing solar By Dave Levitan - [Fall 2012](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/fall-2012/) - Volume 13, Number 3 Features Letting Biodiversity Get under Our Skin Some aspects of dirty living can be healthy. A new study posits that the decline of plant and animal diversity in cities may be linked to the recent surge of allergies and other chronic inflammatory diseases. By Rob Dunn The Mighty Leaf As scientists - [Summer 2012](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/summer-2012/) - Volume 13, Number 2 Features Making Land Southern Louisiana is one of the world’s fastest-disappearing landmasses. Cutting the losses may mean letting in the floods. By Hal Herring Repacking the Future A new generation of packaging engineers is breaking out of the plastic clamshell. They’re not only using less material—they’re growing biodegradable containers out of - [Spring 2012](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/spring-2012/) - Volume 13, Number 1 Features A Bitter Pill The modern medicine chest is packed with stories of lifesaving drugs ingeniously drawn from unlikely species. So why haven’t drug companies—or conservationists— been able to cash in on nature’s pharmacy? By Richard Conniff Testing the Weather The nascent science of - [Winter 2012](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/winter-2012/) - Volume 12, Number 4 Features Chasing Rainbows Lured by a utopian vision of nature, government agencies for decades carpet-bombed thousands of remote mountain lakes with billions of trout. Now, they’re determined to undo the damage they caused. By Anders Halverson Top This The next generation of green roofs is downright cool—to look at and to - [Fall 2011](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/fall-2011/) - Volume 12, Number 3 Features Natural History Upgrade Struggling to survive in the twenty-first century, naturalists might take a page from their own playbook: evolve, adapt—and use technology to woo people back to nature. By Richard Conniff Design Genius Nature’s most elegant designs may hold the key to super-efficient, ecofriendly technology The Efficiency Catch-22 Some - [Summer 2011](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/summer-2011/) - Volume 12, Number 2 Features Closed-Source Crops A handful of giant corporations are laying claim to the germ plasm of the world’s major food crops. And when yield is the grail of profit, biodiversity isn’t a priority. By Paul Salopek Ultra Zoom An ordinary camera and an extraordinary technology create billion-pixel images that allow viewers to - [Spring 2011](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/spring-2011/) - Volume 12, Number 1 Features Shrink to Fit Humanity appears to be ushering in a new age of minifauna-- a new kind of Lilliputian world full of runts and dwarves. By David Malakoff Material World An unusual library in New York City connects designers, architects, and manufacturers to a new generation of green materials-- everything - [April-June 2010](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/april-june-2010/) - Volume 11, Number 2 Features The New Normal As though working through the five stages of grief, more and more ecologists are reluctantly accepting that we live in a human-dominated world. And some are discovering that patchwork ecosystems might even rival their pristine counterparts. By Emma Marris Building on the Fly Could the bizarre, decentralized - [January-March, 2010](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/table-of-contents-winter-2010/) - Volume 11, Number 1 Features Garbage In, Garbage Out When a single swath of ocean contains more plastic than plankton, the simple act of taking out the trash becomes a grueling scientific challenge. By Susan Casey Stung From Behind Researchers may be overlooking an insidious pollinator crisis—one that has little to do with bees and - [October-December, 2009](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/table-of-contents-fall-2009/) - Volume 10, Number 4 Features Troubled Teens A new generation of unruly adolescent wildlife has some experts wondering whether what we’re missing isn't so much habitat as adult supervision. By Dawn Stover The (Un)Natural Order of Things Have we unwittingly exchanged the language of the living world—the names of real plants and animals—for a vocabulary - [July-September, 2009](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/table-of-contents-summer-2009/) - Volume 10, Number 3 Features Is a Warmer World a Sicker World? As scientists piece together how climate impacts disease, strange patterns are emerging: mosquito outbreaks can follow drought, shorter migrations can make butterflies sick, and more birds (not fewer) can ward off West Nile virus. By Roberta Kwok Operation Sex Change Imagine waking up - [April-June, 2009](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/table-of-contents-april-june-2009/) - Volume 10, Number 1 Features Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea If, as researchers are predicting, carbon dioxide increases will lock in rising seas for a thousand years, then it’s time to consider some radical proposals that run headlong into conventional environmental wisdom By Jim Robbins Biofuels Déjà Vu Lured by dreams of - [January-March, 2009](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/january-march-2009/) - Volume 10, Number 1 Features The Mushroom Messiah Faced with bioterrorism, fuel shortages, and a warming planet, where should we turn for solutions: a) religion, b) technology, or c) fungus? By John Weier The Nature of the Fiscal World Will the environment gain or lose from the financial meltdown and its economic aftermath? By Tali Woodward - [October-December, 2008](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/october-december-2008/) - Volume 9, Number 4 Features Impostor Fish Cover Story Misnaming seafood isn’t just a ripoff. It’s a global phenomenon that’s wreaking havoc on ocean conservation. By Douglas Fox The Most Popular Lifestyle on Earth Forget lions, tigers, and sharks. The billions of tiny parasites that make a living castrating and brainwashing their hosts may be the new kings - [July-September 2008](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v9n3/) - Features CONFESSIONS OF A HIT MAN Our mark was an invasive pest that had made a remote tropical island its home. But good and evil are not so easily discerned in ecological systems, even when a place looks like Eden. by Jeffrey A. Lockwood and Alexandre V. Latchininsky ECOLOGICAL FREAKONOMICS How does tourism drive deforestation? - [April-June, 2008](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v9n2/) - Volume 9, Number 2 Features DO TREES GROW ON MONEY? Cover Story After years of failed attempts to merge market economics with rainforest conservation, the US$60 billion carbon market might finally be the ticket. That is, if money is all it’s going to take. by Fred Pearce IDENTITY CRISIS Hybridization can be both a creative - [January-March, 2008](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v9n1/) - Volume 9, Number 1 Features URBAN MYTHS When most of us think about environmentally friendly places, we imagine a terrain untouched by concrete. Cities seem like ecological nightmares. But perhaps the conventional wisdom is exactly backward. by Jonah Lehrer ECOSYSTEMS UNRAVELING Pull predators out of the mix, and a once lush green world turns into - [October-December, 2007](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v8n4/) - FEATURES Volume 8, Number 4 Features SAINT URSUS MARITIMUS Icons are about simplicity and clarity. No gray areas. But what happens when the real polar bear clashes with the symbol it has become? by Jim Robbins WILDLIFE CONTRACEPTION Charged with downsizing wildlife populations to fit the geography of the modern world, a small group of - [July-September, 2007](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v8n3/) - FEATURES Features ARRESTING EVIDENCE State-of-the-art forensic technology is forcing us to face the reality that even our most applauded trade bans and moratoriums aren't working. From ivory cell phones to shark fin soup, it's all available-at a price. by Natasha Loder THE LAST GLADIATORS How joyful, really, is the resurrection of a species if the - [April-June, 2007](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v8n2/) - Features ALIENS AMONG US Invasive species stand accused of ecological insubordination, mass murder, and other crimes against nature. But the case is far from closed. A Round Table with James H. Brown and Dov F. Sax, Daniel Simberloff, and Mark Sagoff THAT SINKING FEELING We dig fossil fuel out of the ground, burn it and - [January-March, 2007](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v8n1/) - Volume 8, Number 1 Features FORWARD THINKERS A biologist in Hollywood, an insect tracker, a pair of ecological architects, and the new leader of the world's largest conservation network. Here are a few people worth watching in 2007. by Charles Alexander, Frances Cairncross, Eric Sorensen, and John Nielsen VIRGINITY LOST Pristine forests of the Amazon - [April-June 2006](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v7n2/) - Volume 7, Number 2 Features DEMOCRATIZING TAXONOMY Cover Story Imagine a portable DNA barcode scanner that could transform people’s relationship with nature. Could such futuristic technology be to biodiversity what the printing press was to literacy? by Marguerite Holloway ENVIRONMENTAL HERESIES Over the next ten years, the mainstream environmental movement will reverse its opinion and - [January-March, 2006](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v7n1/) - Volume 7, Number 1 Features CONNECTING FLIGHTS Cover Story Never mind the road map for peace. An unlikely marriage between bird conservation and military aviation is thriving on one of the most divisive pieces of real estate on Earth. By Frances Cairncross BON APPÉTIT Print Only Ecologists are devising invasive species control strategies that would - [October-December 2005](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v6n4/) - Features OIL CHANGE The interests of big businesses, environmentalists, and society coincide more often than you might guess from all the mutual blaming. So who needs to change? By Jared Diamond FOUR FUTURES The seeds of the future are to be found in the extremes of the present. So our wildest ideas are the - [July-September 2005](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v6n3/) - Feature CODE BLUE FOR CONSERVATION Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus say environmentalism’s heart has stopped. But making the movement more “progressive” may finish off the patient. Are there better prescriptions? By Charles Alexander THE PROTEIN GAP John Fa is the first researcher to frame the bushmeat crisis as a protein crisis. And his analysis suggests - [April-June 2005](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v6n2/) - Volume 6, Number 2 Features ARE WE CONSUMING TOO MUCH Cover Story The answer seems obvious. But it's not. Paul Ehrlich, Kenneth Arrow and nine other brilliant minds argue that we're worrying too much about how much we consume and too little about how to invest. by Jon Christensen LIQUID ASSETS The Sierra Gorda Biosphere - [January-March 2005](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v6n1/) - Volume 6, Number 1 Features BORN AGAIN William McDonough, a radical architect, dismisses traditional recycling as tired and inadequate. Instead, he's invented "industrial ecoystems" in which substances and machines are infinitely recycled. by Jim Robbins PIPE DREAMS Cover Story If the twentieth century was the era of the megadam and the ecological destruction of the - [October-December, 2004](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v5n4/) - Volume 5, Number 4 Features BURNED Fire is the embodiment of uncertainty, and playing with it is just what Mama said. by William deBuys GHOST STORY A frozen graveyard of Rocky Mountain locusts, historical research, and ecological sleuthing reveal a remarkable story that causes us to pause and question, What makes a species real? by - [April-June, 2004](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v5n2/) - Volume 5, Number 2 Features WHAT MAKES ENVIRONMENTAL TREATIES WORK? Given the way the environment ignores national boundaries, good global treaties are essential to saving it. Yet, it has become ever harder to create treaties that work. Instead of learning from history, we seem doggedly determined to repeat past failures. by Frances Cairncross DEGRADED DARKNESS - [January-March, 2004](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v5n1/) - Volume 5, Number 1 Features REFLECTIONS ON THE POND The pond is the universal icon for wetlands. But to Joy Zedler, ponds are the ecological equivalent of fast-food chains, an emblem of the homogenization of the landscape by Sarah DeWeerdt WIN-WIN ILLUSIONS Cover Story Over the past two decades, efforts to heal the rift between - [October-December, 2003](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v4n4/) - Features VIRTUAL ECOSYSTEMS Cover Story Animated by a few simple yet baffling rules, virtual ecosystems growing in supercomputers bear an uncanny resemblance to real ones. The simulations challenge conventional wisdom about extinctions and invasions. It is time to start thinking about how these models could be used—or misused—to inform conservation decisions. by W. Wayt Gibbs - [July-September, 2003](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v4n3/) - Volume 4, Number 3 Features AUDITING CONSERVATION IN AN AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY Cover Story Instead of seeing conservation as just a good cause, people are starting to ask, "What are your results?" By Jon Christensen MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: BEHAVIOR AND CONSERVATION For years, behavioral ecologists have meticulously studied the subtleties of wildlife - [April-June, 2003](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v4n2/) - Volume 4, Number 2 Features MAKING CONSERVATION PROFITABLE Cover Story Philanthropy and government regulations alone simply aren't up to the task of rescuing nature, and it's time for some well designed appeals to people's self-interest. by Katherine Ellison and Gretchen C. Daily THE CONUNDRUM OF BIOLOGICAL CONTROL Weighing Urgency Against Uncertainty by Jason Van Driesche - [January-March, 2003](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v4n1/) - Volume 4, Number 1 Features CONSERVATION AND CONFLICT Print Only Until recently, we have thought of war as a humanitarian issue and addressed environmental damage only as part of post-conflict clean up. But, it is clear that this approach will no longer suffice. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT FOR CONSERVATION Cover Story Lessons from the Democratic Republic - [October-December, 2002](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v3n4/) - Volume 3, Number 4 Features THINKING LIKE AN OCEAN Cover Story Ecological Lessons from Marine Bycatch by Scott Norris with Martín Hall, Edward Melvin, and Julia Parish GROUND TRUTHING CONSERVATION Why Biological Exploration Isn't History by Alan Rabinowitz Tools & Techniques THE BIODIVERSITY KNOWLEDGE COMMONS by Jonathan Adams, Frank Biasi, Colin Bibby, and Martin Sneary - [July-September, 2002](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v3n3/) - Volume 3, Number 3 CONTEXT MATTERS Cover Story Considerations for Large-Scale Conservation by Reed F. Noss OLD SCIENCE, NEW SCIENCE Incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge into Contemporary Management by Chuck Striplen and Sarah DeWeerdt Tools & Techniques ECOREEFS A New Tool for Coral Reef Restoration by Michael Moore and Mark Erdmann Numbers In Context HOW BIASED - [April-June, 2002](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v3n2/) - Volume 3, Number 2 Features INFORMED DECISIONS Cover Story Conservation Corridors and the Spread of Infectious Disease by Leslie Bienen AGRICULTURE VERSUS BIODIVERSITY Will Market Solutions Suffice? by Richard Manning Tools & Techniques CURBING ROADSIDE EROSION Soil Bioengineering as an Alternative to Concrete and Steel by Lisa Lewis Numbers In Context WHY IS EATING BUSHMEAT - [January-March, 2002](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v3n1/) - Volume 3, Number 1 Features WHAT REALLY IS AN EVOLUTIONARY SIGNIFICANT UNIT Cover Story The debate over integrating genetics and ecology in conservation biology by Sarah DeWeerdt THE FALLACY OF PASSIVE MANAGEMENT Managing for Firesafe Forest Reserves by James K. Agee Tools & Techniques VIRTUAL TOURISM If the real economic value of virtual tourism can - [October-December, 2001](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v2n4/) - Features RETHINKING INSECTS What would an ecosystem approach look like? by Timothy D. Schowalter with Jay Withgott TURNING THE SHIP AROUND Changing the policies and culture of a government agency to make ecosystem management work by Jennifer M. Belcher Tools & Techniques ECOLOGICAL MODELING A guide for the nonmodeler by Steven L. Peck Numbers in - [April-June, 2001](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v2n2/) - Volume 2, Number 2 Features SAFE HARBOR AGREEMENTS Carving Out A New Role for NGOs by Michael J. Bean, J. Peter Jenny, and Brian van Eerden SELECTING EFFECTIVE UMBRELLA SPECIES by Erica Fleishman, Dennis D. Murphy, and Robert B. Blair Tools and Techniques SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE OF REMOTE SENSING How to Use Change Detection Techniques - [January-March, 2001](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v2n1/) - Volume 2, Number 1 Features GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT Preventing Nonnative Species Invasions by Jason Van Driesche and Roy Van Driesche NECTAR TRAILS OF MIGRATORY POLLINATORS Restoring Corridors on Private Lands by Gary Paul Nabhan Tools & Techniques PRIORITIZING WEEDS The Alien Plant Ranking System by Ron Hiebert Numbers in Context WHAT ARE WE PROTECTING? - [July-September, 2001](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v2n3/) - Features DESIGNING MARINE RESERVE NETWORKS Why Small, Isolated Protected Areas Are Not Enough by Callum M. Roberts, Benjamin Halpern, Stephen R. Palumbi, and Robert R. Warner STONE-AGE MINDS AT WORK IN 21st CENTURY SCIENCE How Cognitive Psychology Can Inform Conservation Biology by Judith L. Anderson Numbers in Context DOES THE PUBLIC CARE ABOUT SPECIES LOSS? - [January-March, 2000](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/v1n1/) - Volume 1, Number 1 Features THREADS OF CONTINUITY Ecosystem disturbance, recovery, and the theory of biological legacies by Jerry F. Franklin and others MAKING COLLABORATION WORK Lessons from a comprehensive assessment of over 200 wide-ranging cases of collaboration in environmental management by Steven L. Yaffee and Julia M. Wondolleck Tools & Techniques STREAM TEMPERATURE ASSESSMENT - [Classroom Resources: Chasing Rainbows](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/chasing-rainbows-teach/) - Chasing RainbowsBy Anders Halverson Winter 2012 / Vol. 12 No. 4 Read the article Discussion Questions What were the unforeseen consequences of the management decision to introduce rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, into lakes in the Sierra Nevada range, where those fish – in some lakes any predatory fish – did not previously exist? What is - [Classroom Resources: Black is the New Green](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/black-is-the-new-green-2/) - Black is the New Green By Carl Zimmer July-September 2010/ Vol. 11 No. 3 Read the article Discussion Questions 1. This article has to do with global warming and solutions for interrupting the carbon cycle to store more in the soil. To better understand the article one needs to answer these questions: a. What causes - [Classroom Resources: Dig Deeper](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/dig-deeper-2/) - By Douglas Fox July-September 2006 (Vol. 7, No. 3) Read the article >> Discussion Questions How can paleoecological information be used to understand the causes of ecological problems and their possible solutions? From a practical perspective, why might it be useful to understand pre-human conditions for an ecosystem that includes information on natural patterns of - [Classroom Resources: Raising the Bar on Kyoto](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/raising-the-bar-on-kyoto-2/) - By Adelheid Fischer January-March 2006 (Vol. 7, No. 1) Read the article >> Discussion Questions (Note to teachers: if students do not already have previous knowledge of carbon emissions, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and its Kyoto protocol, you may want to have the students review the Protocol and/or sections of the - [Classroom Resources: Arresting Evidence](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/arresting-evidence-2/) - By Natasha Loder July-September 2007 / Vol. 8 No. 3 Read the article >> Discussion Questions Under current conditions, what do you predict would be the implications for elephant populations of a complete removal of the ban on the ivory trade? Do you think legal harvesting of elephant ivory should be allowed in areas where - [Green Business Archive](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/green-business/) - A compendium of the latest sustainability science and innovations - [Oceans Archive](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/oceans/) - A compendium of the latest sustainability science and innovations - [Health Archive](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/health/) - A compendium of the latest sustainability science and innovations - [Cities Archive](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/cities/) - A compendium of the latest sustainability science and innovations - [Biodiversity Archive](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/biodiversity/) - A compendium of the latest sustainability science and innovations - [Anthropocene Archive](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/anthropocene/) - Creating a Human Age we actually want to live in | A publication of Future Earth - [Conservation Magazine Archive](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation-archive-page/) - Conservation magazine was published by the University of Washington from 2001-2014. Browse the full article archive here. - [Issue #6 TOC](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/issue-6toc/) - The race is on to capture and monetize carbon emissions, the upcycled car, enhanced rock weathering, shrinking the carbon footprint of health care, and more - [Issue #5 TOC](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/issue5-toc/) - Managed coastal retreat, planting the forests of the future, new maps of the Anthropocene, Air conditioners that don't cook the planet, fly farming, and more - [Issue #4 TOC](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/49539-2-3-2/) - The problem of making nature pay for itself, how blockchain could upend the grid, the climate change apocalypse problem, energy-positive architecture, and more - [Issue #3 TOC](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/49539-2-3/) - Keeping clothes out of the garbage, the race to reinvent cement, edible packaging, biodegradable drugs, amphibious architecture, green bond markets, and more - [Issue #2 TOC](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/49539-2/) - Artificial intelligence and carbon emissions, geoengineering demands a new way of looking at the world, wooden skyscrapers, rewritable paper, and more... - [Issue #2 TOC](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/49539-2-2/) - Artificial intelligence and carbon emissions, geoengineering demands a new way of looking at the world, wooden skyscrapers, a coal retirement plan, and more - [Issue #1 TOC](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/49539-2-2-2/) - Andy Revkin's Anthropocene journey, rethinking E-waste, driverless cars, carbon-negative furniture, habitecture, science fiction in the Anthropocene, and more - [Spanish Daily Science](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/spanish-daily-science/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”75px||0||false|false” transparent_background=”off”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.5.0″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_margin=”50px||||false|false”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.5.0″ text_font=”|on|||” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin=”-4px||9px|||” custom_padding=”40px|||||” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]Ciencia Diaria en Español[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.5.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||80px|||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.5.0″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_blog_extras posts_number=”9″ include_categories=”195″ blog_layout=”block_extended” featured_image_size=”medium” show_more=”off” show_author=”off” show_categories=”off” show_comments=”off” show_load_more=”on” load_more_text=”Carga más” show_less_text=”Cargar menos” _builder_version=”4.5.0″ _module_preset=”default” header_text_align=”center” header_font_size=”16px” header_line_height=”1.2em” body_font=”Roboto||||||||” body_text_align=”center” - [Slim Newsletter Signup form](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/slim-newsletter-signup-form/) - [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.19.18″ background_color=”#ededed” custom_padding=”0px||0px||true”][et_pb_row use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ custom_padding=”15px||5px||false” custom_padding_tablet=”25px||0px|” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” _builder_version=”3.19.18″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_signup admin_label=”Slim Email Optin #1″ mailchimp_list=”Divi Builder MailChimp|ececcea89a” ip_address=”off” first_name_field=”off” last_name_field=”off” title=”Welcome to the Anthropocene” button_text=”Sign Up” description=” Join Thousands of researchers, policymakers and educators who rely on our Weekly Science Dispatch to keep up to date on the latest sustainability science. ” footer_content=” - [Slim Membership Form](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/slim-optin-form/) - [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.13.1″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”|||75px” custom_padding_phone=”|30px||30px” custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” padding_left_1=”0px” _builder_version=”3.13.1″ background_color=”#e2e2e2″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ padding_left=”0px” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text module_class=”slim-optin-text” _builder_version=”3.13.1″ custom_padding=”0px||0px|”]Become a Supporting Member. 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Here’s to great nonprofit journalism and a more sustainable future.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.95″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.95″ parallax=”off” - [Portuguese-Brazil Daily Science](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/portuguese-brazil-daily-science/) - [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Daily Science in Portuguese” _builder_version=”3.0.90″ background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”off” background_layout=”light”]Ciência diária em português[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_dp_oc admin_label=”Portuguese-Brazil Daily Science” _builder_version=”3.0.90″ number_post=”100″ cpt_name=”post” include_tags=”Portuguese-Brazil” show_post_title=”on” show_post_date=”on” background_layout=”light” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section] - [Portuguese Daily Science](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/portuguese-daily-science/) - [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” custom_padding=”75px||75px|” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” custom_padding=”65px|||” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” text_font=”|on|||” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]Ciência diária em português[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_dp_oc admin_label=”Portuguese Daily Science” cpt_name=”post” include_tags=”Portuguese” show_post_title=”on” show_post_date=”on” slide_auto=”off” background_layout=”light” - [French Daily Science](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/french-daily-science/) - [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” custom_padding=”75px||75px|” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” custom_padding=”65px|||” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” text_font=”|on|||” module_alignment=”left” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]Science quotidienne en français[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_dp_oc admin_label=”French Daily Science” cpt_name=”post” include_tags=”French” show_post_title=”on” show_post_date=”on” slide_auto=”off” - [Classroom Resouces: Vanishing Point](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/vanishing-point-teaching/) - Vanishing Point By Bucky McMahon Spring 2011 / Vol. 12 No. 1 Read the article Discussion Questions What effects could 7-24” of sea level rise have on an island nation (e.g., the Maldives) or gently-sloping coastal zones (e.g., the Florida Everglades)? What have island nations been doing to cope with the 8” of rising sea - [Classroom Resources: Sea Sick](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/sea-sick-2/) - Sea Sick By Rebecca Kessler July-September 2010/ Vol. 11 No. 3 Read the article Discussion Questions 1. This article reviews scientific literature to suggest that the ocean, and particularly marine mammals may be a new source of zoonotic diseases. To really understand this, you need to first be able to answer the following questions: a. - [Classroom Resources: Stung From Behind](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/stung-from-behind-3/) - Article from Nathanael Johnson Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. Prior to reading this article, had you heard that populations of crop pollinators were in decline? Where did you hear this? How did you react? Did you question whether the conservation science was objective? Now that you have read this article, do you have faith - [Classroom Resources: Biofuels Déjà Vu](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/biofuels-deja-vu-2/) - Biofuels Déjà Vu by David Malakoff Volume 10, number 2 Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. What fundamental conflict of ideals within the environmental community does this article address? After reading the article, do you feel that human energy sustainability will be achieved only at a further cost to biodiversity, or do you feel that - [Classroom Resources: The Mushroom Messiah](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/the-mushroom-messiah-2/) - Mushroom Messiah By John Weier January-March 2009 / Vol. 10 No. 1 Read the article>> Discussion Questions 1. Why are old growth forests so important for understanding the services provided by fungi? Why does Paul Stamets say “We can make the argument that we should save old growth forests as a matter of national defense”? - [Classroom Resources: Ecological Freakonomics](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/ecological-freakonomics-2/) - By Jonah Lehrer July-September 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 3 Read the article >> Discussion Questions The author describes Lui’s research on the Wolong Nature Reserve as focusing on the influence of social factors on conservation, and named “income of the local villagers” and “demographic changes in the labor force” as examples. Can you think - [Classroom Resources: When Worlds Collide](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/when-worlds-collide-2/) - By Douglas Fox January-March 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 1) Read the article >> Discussion Questions The article reports that many species have shifted their range in response to a "miniscule" temperature rise of just 0.6 degrees Celsius over the last century. How can a seemingly miniscule amount of change have resulted in major range shifts? - [Classroom Resources: Second Chance](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/second-chance-2/) - By Cynthia Mills October-December 2006 (Vol. 7, No. 4) Read the article >> Discussion Questions The author contrasts the views for and against cloning as being associated with technophile and technophobe philosophies, but then goes on to say that "Even restoration ecologists admit we can no longer reasonably hope to separate human impact from nature." - [Classroom Resources: Fish Futures](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/fish-futures-2/) - By Rex Dalton July-September 2006 (Vol. 7, No. 3) Note: see print edition for article Discussion Questions Sugihara believes that conservation of fish populations can occur by "providing people with the means to make moneyÖfor the worldwide catch and sale of fish." What is the basis for this belief? What are the possible objections to - [Classroom Resources: Evolutionary Tinkering](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/evolutionary-tinkering-2/) - By Scott Norris July-September 2006 (Vol. 7, No. 3) Read the article >> Discussion Questions What are the potential benefits to conservation planning of explicitly considering the short-term evolutionary potential of a species? What are the potential pitfalls? The author, citing Stockwell et al. (2003), suggests that conservationists should view endangerment as a function of - [Classroom Resources: Where the Wild Things Were](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/where-the-wild-things-were-2/) - By William Stolzenburg January-March 2006 (Vol. 7, No. 1) Read the article >> Discussion Questions What were the key premises agreed upon by the 12 co-authors of the "Rewilding" paper? Do you agree with these premises? Is there any other information that would be helpful to you in considering this? Why do the co-authors of - [Classroom Resources: Ecosystems Unraveling](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/ecosystems-unraveling-2/) - By William Stolzenburg January-March 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 1 Read the article >> Discussion Questions In your own words, describe what is meant by “top-down” and “bottom-up” ecosystem dynamics. Why is the former referred to as “trophic cascades”? Are these two apparently contrasting views mutually exclusive? Why did Lago Guri provide an especially useful - [Classroom Resources: Cancer on a Whole Species](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/cancer-on-a-whole-species-2/) - By Cynthia Mills January-March 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 1 Read the article >> Discussion Questions What has been the role of Nick Mooney in conservation of the Tasmanian devil? Is his work a role model for informed action on behalf of biodiversity? Is he like the “physician” mentioned in the last paragraph? What is ## Conservation Magazine Articles - [If a Tree Falls in the Forest, How Many People Get Sick?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest-how-many-people-get-sick/) - Over the past couple of years, Conservation has published several stories reinforcing our human propensity for embracing trees. As Roberta Kwok reported in “Cause of Death” (Journal Watch, Conservation, Spring 2013), researchers linked the emerald ash borer’s mass tree killing in the Midwest to a rise in cardiovascular and lower- respiratory disease. And in “iTree” - [Forward Thinkers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/forward-thinkers/) - People to Watch in 2007 Illustration by ©Michael Gibbs Conservation is a social act. Yes, it deals with the vast spheres of biology and geology outside the human realm, but people are its driving force, with a long roster of notable names from Leopold to Carson to Soulé. The following pages feature several people who - [Snakes on Planes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/numbers-in-context-2/) - Record air traffic In July 2007, aviation growth hit an all-time high. Airlines offered over 300 million seats worldwide for this month alone—equivalent to an airline seat for the entire population of the U.S. Flights to and from China are up 17 percent since this time last year. Flights to and from India have doubled - [High-Altitude Wind Power](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/high-altitude-wind-power/) - Move over, Ben Franklin. Electricity from kites is back. Hood River, Oregon, is a small town in the Columbia River Gorge that bills itself as the windsurfing capital of the world. As a teenager, Corwin Hardham was a Hood River regular. Zipping back and forth across the river, blown by the winds funneled through the - [An Ecological Whodunit](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/an-ecological-whodunit/) - By Jeffrey A. Lockwood The title and cover of David Quammen’s newest book would lead one to guess that this consistently brilliant writer has crafted a terrifying tale about how we’re all going to be infected by a microbe that originates in a crazed monkey and makes us hemorrhage to death unless we pour money - [There Will Be Blood](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/killing-for-conservation/) - The pressure to reach for a gun to help save one animal from another is stronger than ever. And it has triggered a conservation problem from hell. By Warren Cornwall We usually think conservation means saving animals. But its history is tinged with blood. John Audubon, a patron saint of the American conservation movement, killed - [The Oiliest Catch](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/the-oiliest-catch/) - Menhaden are modest little fish so rich in oil that they're sometimes called the soybean of the sea. But scooping them up to fuel the omega-3 fish oil craze could pull the rug out from under the entire Atlantic coastal food chain. By Richard Conniff The small town of Reedville, Virginia, on the western shore - [The EcoPerception Gap](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/the-ecoperception-gap/) - Why do we worry too much about some environmental risks and not enough about others? By David Ropeik For a PDF of this article click here Michael, a 55-year-old friend of mine, has cut way back on eating certain species of seafood because the government says those species may carry high levels of mercury. But - [A Quiet Desert Storm](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/a-quiet-desert-storm/) - A home-grown strategy to hold onto water, battle climate change, and cope with scorching heat is turning vast tracts of sub-Saharan Africa green. By Mark Hertsgaard Stories that sound too good to be true usually are; an honest journalist learns that pretty early in his or her career. But every so often there is an - [The Mighty Leaf](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/the-mighty-leaf/) - As scientists begin to hack the code for the humble leaf, they are peering into the past and engineering a greener future. Climate Change Researchers from UCLA have discovered a strong mathematical relationship between leaf size and leaf-vein patterns that gives them a more detailed picture of past climates. Smaller leaves are more common in - [300 Years of Light](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/300-years-of-light/) - Ever since our ancestors first harnessed fire hundreds of thousands of years ago, humans have tapped various forms of artificial light to extend our days past sunset and brighten up the indoors. “Indeed, artificial light is so integrated into the human lifestyle as to be barely noticeable,” a team led by Sandia National Laboratories light - [The Best Ideas Money Can Buy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/06/the-best-ideas-money-can-buy/) - The prize pool for environmental innovation challenges increased twelvefold in the past ten years—and shows no sign of easing up. But does crowd-sourcing solutions pay off for the world as well as for the winners? By Marc Gunther The ceremony had all the pomp of the Oscars, minus the gowns. Musical fanfares greeted each presenter. - [The Rise of the Prize](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2022/06/the-rise-of-the-prize/) - Smart Gear Competition: World Wildlife Fund A competition held five times since 2005, the prize rewards technology that “will allow fishers to fish smarter—better targeting their intended catch while safeguarding other ocean creatures.” Judges evaluate practical, cost-effective, and innovative designs that reduce the incidental catch and mortality of marine turtles, whales, dolphins, porpoises, and other - [Making Land](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/06/making-land/) - Southern Louisiana is one of the world's fastest-disappearing landmasses. Cutting the losses may mean letting in the floods. By Hal Herring In the Wax Lake Delta near Morgan City, Louisiana. The land here is low and verdant, threaded with the wide arterial channels of the mighty Atchafalaya River. The river water is the color of - [Paying Up](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2022/06/paying-up/) - In “Making Land" (Summer 2012), Hal Herring reported that the RESTORE Act, which would dedicate 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the Gulf oil spill to restoration efforts on the Gulf coast, was still pending in Congress. Now the restoration boon is much closer to becoming reality. Congress approved the RESTORE Act on June 30, and - [Cat Fight](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/cat-fight/) - The strange case of the wildlife biologist turned cat poisoner is the latest round in a bitter battle over tens of millions of free-roaming feline hunters. By John Carey Small and slight, dressed in a slim gray suit, accused cat poisoner and wildlife biologist Dr. Nico Dauphiné stood in a Washington, D.C., courtroom in mid-December - [The Uncertain Legal Status of Cats](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2022/06/the-uncertain-legal-status-of-cats/) - It’s not clear who, if anyone, owns free-roaming cats or whether people should be held responsible when the outdoor cats they feed cause damage or break laws (for example, the Endangered Species Act or the Migratory Bird Treaty Act) by killing piping plovers or endangered woodrats. There are also conflicting positions on whether cats should - [A Bitter Pill](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/a-bitter-pill/) - The modern medicine chest is packed with stories of lifesaving drugs ingeniously drawn from unlikely species. So why haven't drug companies—or conservationists— been able to cash in on nature's pharmacy? By Richard Conniff Twenty years ago this past October, environmentalists around the world celebrated a landmark deal between a major drug company, Merck, and Costa - [Changing the Battery](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/11/changing-the-battery/) - By Michael Abrams Have you seen flamingos on the moon? In marshes, swamps, and zoos, the tall birds are already striking enough—fire-feathered, boomerang-beaked, and perched on a single, knobby-kneed stick of a leg. But put them on an endless bleached and flat landscape, and they become otherworldly. Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni is just such a - [Bus Stop Recharge](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2022/06/bus-stop-recharge/) - In “Changing the Battery” (Winter 2012), Michael Abrams explored how some innovators are getting around slow, incremental improvements in battery technology by rethinking how we use batteries. He described the work of researchers at Utah State University to develop wireless charging technology for electric cars. This wireless power transfer via magnetic-resonance coupling is now taking - [Letting Biodiversity Get under Our Skin](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/biodiversity-under-our-skin-2/) - Some aspects of dirty living can be healthy. A new study posits that the decline of plant and animal diversity in cities may be linked to the recent surge of allergies and other chronic inflammatory diseases. By Rob Dunn We live at the crossroads of three global megatrends, three barreling and intertwined juggernauts of modernity. - [Armpit Science](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2022/06/armpit-science/) - In a recent cover story (“Letting Biodiversity Get under Our Skin,” Fall 2012), biologist and author Rob Dunn described how declining biodiversity might be linked to the growing prevalence of allergies and autoimmune diseases—and the critical role of microbes in the equation. The study of the human microbiome is taking off, and Dunn wants citizen - [Logging by Number](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/logging-by-number/) - A technology borrowed from supermarket checkouts is poised to revolutionize rainforest conservation from Africa to Indonesia to Latin America. By Fred Pearce The road north of Buchanan port in Liberia is one of the worst in a country of dreadful roads. Past Compound 3, a town serving a giant, French-owned rubber plantation and so ramshackle - [Guitars, Hardwood Floors, and Deck Chairs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2022/06/guitars-hardwood-floors-and-deck-chairs/) - The Lacey Act, passed in 1900, is the oldest federal wildlife-protection law in the U.S. The act’s original intent was to conserve wild bird and game species by regulating interstate trafficking. Over the past century, the scope of the act has expanded. Most recently, amendments passed in 2008 prevent the import of a broad range - [Ditto](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/ditto/) - Forget woolly mammoths. The business of copying cats is quietly making headway. First, scientists reprogrammed eggs from everyday house cats to contain instructions for building wild ones. Then they started churning out small endangered cats. Next up: Lions and Canadian lynx. By Emily Anthes On the surface, the idea is simple: Animal numbers dwindling? Let’s - [What to Look for in a Surrogate](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2022/06/what-to-look-for-in-a-surrogate/) - There are many cat species—such as the Siberian tiger, Asiatic cheetah, and Amur leopard—that are both more critically endangered and more charismatic than African wildcats. So why did ACRES start with a small, relatively unknown, sandy-colored feline? The decision hinged on a crucial but easily overlooked factor: the surrogates. When cloning an endangered species, scientists - [Imperfect Copies](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2022/06/imperfect-copies/) - Animals created through nuclear transfer aren’t quite perfect replicas of their rare or endangered donors, because they also contain the mitochondrial DNA from their egg donors. And so using interspecies nuclear transfer to duplicate an endangered species raises an interesting philosophical question. As David Ehrenfeld, a biologist at Rutgers University, put it in a 2006 - [Stand Up for the Little Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2022/06/stand-up-for-the-little-fish/) - Right after Richard Conniff’s story on the Atlantic menhaden fishery ran in our Winter 2013 issue (“The Oiliest Catch”), the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted to reduce the total allowable catch for menhaden by 20 percent of the average landings from 2009 to 2011. “The Board has made a conscious decision to address the - [You Pay or We Drill](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/how-do-we-not-drill/) - It's hard to charge people for not doing something. When Ecuador asked the world for $3.6 billion to not drill for oil, the world balked. But in terms of reining in carbon, Ecuador may be on to something. By Dawn Stover [read_later_buttons] President Rafael Correa of Ecuador leans back against his seat in a wooden - [Quadruple-rich in Biodiversity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2022/06/quadruple-rich-in-biodiversity/) - Species-rich clusters of four major taxonomic groups—amphibians, birds, mammals, and plants—overlap in Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park, according to a 2010 paper on the park’s global conservation significance published in the journal PLoS One by an international team of biologists. Thanks to its proximity to both the Equator and the Andes mountain range, which together keep - [Send in the Invasivores](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/6-invasive-species-recipes/) - Recipes for Ecosystem Recovery By Sarah DeWeerdt “We’re trying to be unsustainable,” says University of Vermont conservation biologist Joe Roman. And he says it with glee. Roman runs www.eattheinvaders.org, a compendium of invasive species recipes. He is one of a growing number of people who advocate controlling invasives by eating them. Instead of relying on - [The Problem of What to Eat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/the-problem-of-what-to-eat/) - By Natasha Loder, Elizabeth Finkel, Craig Meisner, and Pamela Ronald Illustration by JayMontgomery.com For a PDF of this article click here At first glance, it doesn’t seem that tough a question. Organic farming and eating locally make intuitive sense. Yet does conventional wisdom about eating sustainably hold up to the science? It turns out that - [The Nature of the Fiscal World](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/the-nature-of-the-fiscal-world/) - By Tali Woodward Illustration By Daniel Horowitz For a PDF version of this article click here As economic prospects turn grim, conservationists are locked in a familiar, highly polarized debate over the downturn’s potential costs. On one side are those who believe the recession may trigger dramatic environmental setbacks because only wealthy, growing nations are - [Stung From Behind](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/stung-from-behind/) - Researchers may be overlooking an insidious pollinator crisis—one that has little to do with bees and everything to do with booming markets for raspberries, pears, and chocolate. By Nathanael Johnson Beekeeper Eric Olson has lost so many bees in the past few years, he’s had to consider closing shop. But nothing prepared him for what - [To Build a (Better) Fire](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/to-build-a-better-fire/) - A kind of hippie Manhattan Project in rural Oregon tackles climate change, air pollution, and deforestation by bringing together the best minds in the field to invent cheap, durable, clean-burning stoves for 3 billion people. By Burkhard Bilger Two men walked into a bar called the Axe and Fiddle. It was a Thursday night in - [Watching Water Boil](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/watching-water-boil/) - After boiling and simmering water for 30 minutes on five different stoves, researchers measured total greenhouse-gas emissions (normalized here to grams CO2 equivalent). Source: MacCarty, N. et al. 2008. A laboratory comparison of the global warming impact of five major types of biomass cooking stoves. Energy and Sustainable Development doi:10.1016/S0973-0826(08)60429-9. Photos by Nordica MacCarty - [Confronting Corruption](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/confronting-corruption/) - When a fast-talking Israeli journalist became both father and sole enforcer of Cameroon's wildlife-trafficking laws, he lifted the veil from the taboo subject of corruption in conservation. By Tom Clynes Seven years ago, a fast-talking Israeli journalist arrived in Cameroon to investigate the plight of primates in the Congo Basin. Intrigued by Jane Goodall’s warning - [Cementing the Future](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/cementing-the-future/) - An entrepreneurial marine geologist from Stanford believes that by mimicking the way marine organisms create shells, he can transform concrete manufacturing from one of the most carbon-intensive processes on Earth to one that is carbon-negative. By Eli Kintisch Humanity emits 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year, and over his thirty-five-year career Sam Bose - [The Energy Efficiency Catch-22](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/the-efficiency-catch-22/) - Some experts say that energy efficiency can slash carbon emissions at bargain prices. Others say: not so fast. The more we save, the more we use. By John Carey As a scientist working on breakthrough lighting technologies, Jeff Tsao is a firm believer in the magic of energy efficiency. After all, the numbers are compelling. - [Design Genius](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/design-genius/) - Nature’s most elegant designs may hold the key to super-efficient, ecofriendly technology Text by Lindsey Doermann ––––––––––––––––––– Bionic Handling The elephant’s trunk re-imagined as a graceful machine The Bionic Handling Assistant is a lightweight, fluidly moving, robotic arm inspired by the strong but flexible trunk of an elephant. Made of the polymer polyamide and containing - [Repacking the Future](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/06/repacking-the-future/) - Is there a way out from under the mountains of packaging that sit in landfills for centuries? A new generation of designers and engineers is breaking out of the plastic clamshell. They’re not only using less material—they’re growing biodegradable containers out of mushrooms, bacteria, and even sewage. Molded Mushroom Packing Ecovative Design LLC has found - [Genetically Modified Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/genetically-modified-conservation/) - It sounds like an oxymoron, but genetic engineering is already ushering in a new brand of agriculture that slashes pesticide use and thrives in a warmer, wetter world. By Erik Vance In the mid-1940s, Norman Borlaug started the Green Revolution on a small farm in southern Mexico. His idea was simple. As the human population - [Vanishing Point](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/vanishing-point/) - Drop anchor or drift away? The threat of sea-level rise is forcing the island nation of the Maldives to confront an obliterated future—and all options for survival are on the table By Bucky McMahon IT’S 5 A.M., THE TREMULOUS HOUR, and I’m reading by lamplight at the tiny hotel-room desk when the predawn adhan, the - [Conservation and Poverty Reduction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/conservation-and-poverty/) - In protected areas across the planet, locals are waiting for the benefits of conservation to improve their lives. And waiting and waiting... By Fred Pearce The Batwa “pygmies” of central Africa lost many of their hunting lands with the creation of national parks in Uganda, Rwanda, and the Congo. Washed up at the side of - [Shrink to Fit](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/shrink-to-fit/) - Humanity appears to be ushering in a new age of minifauna—a kind of Lilliputian world full of runts and dwarves By David Malakoff At about the size of a dime, Kugelann’s green clock beetle would never be mistaken for a giant. But in the world of European ground beetles, Poecilus kugelanni is no runt. Indeed, - [Greener Pastures](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/greener-pastures/) - What goes on in the stomachs and under the hooves of cows might be the key to turning deserts back into grasslands—and even cooling the planet. By Judith D. Schwartz In reports of rising CO2 levels, it’s easy to get the impression that the carbon-and-oxygen molecule is a kind of toxin, some alien vapor coughed - [Closed-Source Crops](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/closed-source-crops/) - *Outstanding Feature Story, Third Place, SEJ Awards for Reporting on the Environment* A handful of giant corporations are laying claim to germplasm of the world's major food crops. And when yield is the grail of profit, biodiversity isn't a priority By Paul Salopek Look at the seed. It is oblong, tapered like a bowling pin, ashy - [Bringing the GreenBack](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/bringing-the-greenback/) - Central Americans working abroad and sending money home are not only fueling their native economies—they’re also helping to bring the trees back. By John Carey When Susanna Hecht traveled to El Salvador in 1999 to work with the government on its environmental plan, she didn’t know she’d end up with a controversial and counter-intuitive idea: - [Finding Genes That Fit](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/finding-genes-that-fit/) - Desperate to break up the genetic monotony that cripples endangered species, researchers are outfitting populations with borrowed genes. The payoff is survival. The price is uniqueness. By Joe Roman The Florida panther was in a desperate state. Its habitat was shrinking, and highway deaths were commonplace. After a recovery plan was drawn up in 1981, - [Natural History Upgrade](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/natural-history-upgrade/) - Struggling to survive in the twenty-first century, naturalists might take a page from their own playbook: evolve, adapt—and start using technology to woo people back to nature. By Richard Conniff People who work in the natural world often get asked how on Earth they came to devote their lives to gastropods, or ground beetles, or - [An Inside Job](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/06/an-inside-job/) - John Edel, a Chicago entrepreneur, has transformed an abandoned meat-packing facility into the nation's first vertical farm. His goal is to bring large-scale, net-zero-waste food production right into the middle of the city. By Jennifer Cockrall-King According to the media, 2010 was the year of the vertical farm. Stories about skyscrapers layered with pigs, fish, - [What Tragedy? Whose Commons?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/what-tragedy-whose-commons/) - Pastoralist PR is dreadful. In the classic cautionary tale, communal land ownership inevitably leads to overgrazing. But maybe the story's got it wrong. By Fred Pearce Mohammed is a modern Bedouin from the Badia, the arid “outback” of eastern Jordan. He exchanged his camels years ago for a truck and a big motorized water tanker. - [Where Stuff Comes From](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/where-stuff-comes-from-2/) - The supply chain of a laptop computer Sourcemap is an open-source Web tool that allows users to track the journey of a product from raw material to end use. Sourcemap inventor and CEO Leonardo Bonanni developed the platform to help companies communicate the supply chains, along with the carbon and water footprints, of their products to - [In Search of an Environmentally Balanced Diet](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/in-search-of-an-environmentally-balanced-diet-2/) - A review of The Locavore's Dilemma By James McWilliams Not too long ago, Americans were waging cultural wars over topics as explosive as reproductive rights and capital punishment. Today, in a development few could have predicted even a decade ago, we now rage over the politics of food production. In a nation that engineered the - [Gardening on the Side](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/gardening-on-the-side-2/) - Architects experiment with moveable green walls Nancy Rottle didn’t set out to make green walls better—she just wanted to figure out how good they already are. But in the course of creating her own green wall for a study to evaluate these increasingly popular elements of urban sustainability, she encountered a common conundrum. “The big - [Windows Inspired by Spider Webs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/windows-inspired-by-spider-webs-2/) - Patterned UV coating on glass is invisible to humans—but not to birds Each day, more than 250,000 birds in Europe die from collisions with glass windows—and annual estimates in the U.S. run into the millions. Birds either don’t see the glass, or they see reflections—of trees, for example—in the glass that make them fly into - [Spiked](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/spiked-2/) - Could poisoning rhino horns undermine their medicinal reputation? When poachers approach the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve near Johannesburg, South Africa, they quickly learn that they won’t find anything of value there. Yes, the reserve is home to rhinoceroses, whose horns fetch top dollar—up to twice the price of gold—for use in traditional Asian medicine, - [Piping Hot Asphalt](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/piping-hot-asphalt-2/) - Roads and lots could double as water heaters Pavement covers as much as 45 percent of urban areas—and asphalt makes a sizeable contribution to the urban heat-island effect. On a steamy summer day, the surface of a road may get as hot as 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit). And it can stay miserably hot - [Listening in on 100 Million Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/listening-in-on-100-million-fish-2/) - Doppler radar for fish could revolutionize ocean monitoring On September 29, 2006, on board Oceanus, a 177-foot research vessel out of Woods Hole, Massachusetts, acoustic engineer Nicholas Makris captured an unusual reflection on his sonar screens. At first, a dark speck appeared off the northern flank of Georges Bank. The speck grew and grew, transforming - [When Plants Go Vegan](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/when-plants-go-vegan-2/) - Pollution makes carnivorous plant lose appetite for bugs In highly polluted areas, some carnivorous plants rely less on insects for sustenance, scientists have found. Instead, these normally voracious bug-eaters soak up more nutrients through their roots. Cars and factories release nitrogen pollutants into the atmosphere, which then rain back down on Earth. Plants use these - [Conservation in Crayon](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/conservation-in-crayon/) - Thousands of melting crayons ignite wildfire education On the heels of the devastating 2011 wildfire season in Texas, Herb Williams of Nashville, Tennessee, created this outdoor sculpture exhibit titled Unwanted Visitor: Portrait of Wildfire. Displayed last fall at the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock, Texas, Williams’s sculptures stood up to eight feet tall and - [Navigating a Hybrid River](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/navigating-a-hybrid-river/) - A restoration plan with an eco-industrial vision By Emma Marris One summer afternoon I bobbed on the waters of a river with an Indian name, watching a kingfisher dive for fish. Osprey perched nearby, and a few feet from my kayak a salmon jumped with an impressive splash. Was I on the Sol Duc River - [To Flush or Not to Flush](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/to-flush-or-not-to-flush/) - What’s the best way to keep drugs out of waterways? Tossing unused pills into the trash may be an environmentally friendlier option than flushing them down the toilet or taking them to a pharmacy for incineration, researchers have concluded. U.S. households accumulate millions of pounds of pharmaceutical products per year that have to be thrown - [Breathing Walls](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/breathing-walls/) - Green walls can reduce air pollution better than trees Planting trees isn’t always the best way to reduce air pollution on city streets, a new study says. In some cases, more trees could even make the problem worse. Instead, “green walls”—blanketing sides of buildings with grass, ivy, or other plants—might be the most effective solution. - [Bad Timing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/bad-timing/) - Hummingbirds and lilies are out of sync Every summer, hummingbirds feast on the nectar of glacier lilies at breeding grounds in Colorado. But as the climate warms, lilies and other flowers are blooming earlier, scientists have found. Within several decades, the overlap between the flowering time and the hummingbirds’ nesting period could shrink enough to - [Bloody Clever](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/bloody-clever-2/) - Scientists use leeches to track down rare mammals Researchers have come up with an ingenious way to survey for mammals in hard-to-reach tropical forests. By sampling DNA from leeches that suck on the animals’ blood, scientists can figure out the identity of the worm’s last victim. Tracking mammal species is difficult and costly, particularly for - [Fringe Benefits](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/fringe-benefits/) - Helpful spiders thrive alongside GM cotton Thanks to genetically modified (GM) crops, farmers are spraying less insecticide on their farms. That change has led to an increase in helpful spiders and other arthropods that eat pests, scientists report in Nature. And the perks aren’t confined to farms growing GM plants: surrounding crops benefit as well. - [Wine Stewards](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/wine-stewards/) - Vineyard falcons protect grapes and take better care of chicks New Zealand falcons have helped winemakers by hunting birds that damage grapes. Now a new study has shown that the arrangement also benefits the falcons: these raptors take better care of their chicks when they live in vineyards. The expansion of vineyards in the country’s - [Wasteful Thinking](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/wasteful-thinking/) - Recycling bins encourage people to consume more Before congratulating yourself for recycling that sheaf of paper, you might want to think about how much you used. According to a new study, people tend to fritter away more resources when they know they can recycle them. The idea for the study arose when Jesse Catlin and - [Taking on Water](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/taking-on-water/) - Sea-level rise is speeding up along part of U.S. East Coast Scientists have identified a 1,000-kilometer stretch along the U.S. Atlantic coast where rates of sea-level rise are increasing much faster than in the rest of the world. Contrary to what you might assume, global warming “does not force sea-level rise (SLR) at the same - [Tall Wood](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/tall-wood/) - Sustainable skyscrapers of the future may harken back to the log cabin era Just over a century ago, the architects and engineers who invented the skyscraper set us on the path to becoming an urban world. Tall buildings of concrete and steel helped make urban density—and the increased sustainability that comes with it—possible. But the - [A Museum Down Under](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/a-museum-down-under/) - Eco-sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor is founder and creator of two underwater museums that double as artificial reefs. His sculptures, which are made of pH-neutral, environmentally friendly cement, attract corals, sponges, fish, and other marine life. He works with marine biologists to create optimal spaces for aquatic flora and fauna, and he “plants” some of his - [The Lost Art of Listening](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/the-lost-art-of-listening/) - A review of The Great Animal Orchestra By Dawn Stover All it takes to become hooked on birding is one look through a good pair of binoculars. A mountain bluebird is lovely to behold with the naked eye, but once you’ve seen a breeding male in all its 10x magnificence, you’ll know why it’s called - [A Better Way to Dye](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/a-better-way-to-dye/) - Coloring fabric using pressurized CO2—instead of water—could clean up the textile industry Nike recently announced a partnership with a strangely named Dutch company: DyeCoo (the “coo” refers to carbon dioxide: one atom of carbon, two of oxygen). DyeCoo has developed a commercial process to pressurize carbon dioxide until it reaches a state where it takes - [Whither the Windcatcher?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/whither-the-windcatcher/) - Old-world cooling system makes a comeback in modern green buildings An ancient form of air conditioning is getting a second look in an age of global warming and rising energy costs. Windcatchers—towers or specially designed roof vents that pull fresh air into a building—have been the main indoor cooling strategy in hot, arid regions such - [A Taste for Change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/a-taste-for-change/) - Divorcing shark-fin soup from Asian wedding menus China is a land of thousands of soups. Claudia Li wants to rid dinner menus of just one of them. Lobster bisque. Abalone and crab. Ginger duck. Fish maw. Farmed tilapia. Mock or “faux” gelatin fin. Anything but shark-fin soup, a bland culinary status symbol responsible for the - [C.O.W.S. Turn Food Waste into Hot Water](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/c-o-w-s-turn-food-waste-into-hot-water/) - Closed-loop composting system draws inspiration from the inner workings of ruminants A team of entrepreneurial urban cowboys at a Michigan-based startup wants to put COWS into supermarkets and cafeterias across the country. They don’t mean the gassy, grass-gnashing farm animals. Rather, it’s a technology they call COWS (Compact Organic Waste System) that draws its inspiration - [Conservation Drones](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/conservation-drones/) - Small, remote-controlled planes explore large, hard-to-reach places Conservationists have converted a remote-controlled plane into a potent tool for conservation. Lian Pin Koh, an ecologist at the ETH Zürich, and Serge Wich, a biologist at the University of Zürich and PanEco, have developed a conservation drone equipped with cameras, sensors, and GPS. So far they have - [Nanocellulose Is No Small Thing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/06/nanocellulose-is-no-small-thing/) - Trees could become part of electronics, medical devices, and military gear For centuries, the forestry industry has produced paper and lumber. But what if trees could be transformed into an entirely new set of products, ranging from electronic sensors to biomedical implants to military protective gear? The idea isn’t as improbable as it sounds. Researchers - [All the Time in the World](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/all-the-time-in-the-world/) - Extreme longevity can lead to a false sense of permanence By Rachel Sussman The tree had been on fire for over a week before anyone noticed. The Senator, one of the oldest cypress trees in the world, was killed when a small flame slowly transformed it into a towering inferno. The cause of the tree’s - [Sold Out](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/sold-out/) - Illegal bird sales in street markets are draining biodiversity Along with drugs and weapons, wildlife is one of the world’s biggest sources of illegal trade. Now researchers in Brazil have put some numbers to the problem, finding that tens of thousands of birds are sold illegally each year in just one metropolitan area’s street markets. - [Off Target](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/off-target/) - Guns deter bears, but maybe not as much as common sense The bare necessities for a stroll through the Alaskan wilderness include gorp and sturdy footwear. But how rifles and other firearms for chasing off bears fit in with these must-haves remains unclear. A new survey of bear attacks shows that avoiding bad situations—such as - [Skirting the Issue](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/skirting-the-issue/) - Rerouting planes around the Arctic Circle could stave off sea-ice melt The Arctic is heating up faster than lower-latitude regions, and the biggest source of local pollution is airplanes. In a study published in Climatic Change, researchers propose a drastic solution: rerouting cross-polar flights around the Arctic Circle. This strategy could delay melting of Arctic - [Sound Check](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/sound-check/) - Human racket may harm trees Legions of fans worship heavy-metal music—just don’t count trees among them. That’s because some trees suffer when things get noisy, a new study suggests. Scientists have long known that human hubbub—from whizzing cars to renditions of rock anthems—can rattle many small animal species, forcing them out of their home territories. - [Feminist Climate](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/feminist-climate-2/) - Women’s rights appear to reduce carbon emissions Researchers have long noted that a country’s emissions of global-warming gases can correlate closely with a host of other factors, such as wealth and population size. Now, two sociologists have uncovered another intriguing link: nations where women have higher political status tend to have lower carbon dioxide emissions. - [Pollen Counts](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/pollen-counts/) - We could be headed for a sneezier future Pollen levels are rising across Europe, scientists report, and the culprit might be higher carbon dioxide levels. Allergies have been increasing around the world for the past 50 years, but scientists don’t fully understand why. Air pollution isn’t enough to explain the rise in sniffles. And while - [Live Wire](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/live-wire/) - Biofuel cell implanted in living snail generates power Talk about alternative energy. Researchers have managed to create a biofuel cell that can operate inside a live snail, powered by the sugar in the animal’s body. The idea of implanting biofuel cells into living organisms has been around for decades. Scientists envisioned that this technology could - [Chocolate Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/05/chocolate-conservation-3/) - Shade is pretty sweet for cocoa and wildlife Devotees of Hershey’s Kisses and fudge ice cream will tell you that chocolate is good for the soul. It may also be good for tropical forests. A new analysis suggests that in Ecuador, farmers produce even more cocoa beans when they grow their crops under a canopy - [Agent for the Resistance](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/06/agent-for-the-resistance/) - John Nielsen talks with Stephen Palumbi Around the world, warming seas are turning massive coral reefs into bone-white ghost towns. When the water gets too warm, stressed corals often respond by expelling the symbiotic algae, or zooxantehellae, that live within their tissues. The algae provide the coral with nutrients—and with color, causing the corals to - [The Lost Bird Project](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/the-lost-bird-project/) - Artist Todd McGrain has immortalized five extinct North American birds in larger-than-life bronze sculptures through his Lost Bird Project. An art professor at Cornell University, McGrain created sculptures of the great auk, Carolina parakeet, Labrador duck, passenger pigeon, and heath hen that stand over six feet tall and weigh up to 700 pounds. He installed - [Powered by Art](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/powered-by-art/) - Believing that public art can play a role in large-scale renewable energy production, architect Robert Ferry and artist Elizabeth Monoian created the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI). In its design competitions, a key piece of the organization’s work, LAGI calls on interdisciplinary teams to use “renewable energy technologies as a medium for the art,” the - [Testing the Weather](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/testing-the-weather/) - The nascent science of climate attribution is making it clear that we're no longer just talking about the weather—we're creating it. For many and perhaps most people, climate change is an abstract concept—something that will happen in the future. Weather, on the other hand, is very real. It’s here and now, in your face, and - [Hungry for Land](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/hungry-for-land/) - When the super-wealthy scoop up huge plots of land worldwide, what’s left behind? Gaia Vince reviews The Land Grabbers by Fred Pearce When Madagascan President Marc Ravalomanana was ousted in March 2009, a major factor in his new unpopularity was the deal he had made with South Korea’s Daewoo corporation, effectively handing over 1 million - [Share Your Ride](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/share-your-ride/) - A new communal car concept clears the road and the air Projections indicate as many as 4 billion cars on the road by 2050—more than quadruple the number today. That’s a recipe for a lot of gridlock. Today, car-sharing services such as Zipcar offer an early glimpse at one solution for easing traffic congestion. For - [Power Plumbing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/power-plumbing/) - Creating electricity from excess pressure in water pipes Water is often stored high above the city that consumes it. To reach its destination, water travels through a system of gradually shrinking pipes until it comes out the faucet. And as it travels, pressure valves dissipate excess pressure that gathers in the pipes. All of that - [The Once & Future City](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/the-once-future-city/) - World’s biggest proving ground for green technology Ghost towns are a standard part of western U.S. lore. But a brand-new ghost town for the twenty-first century? That’s the strange vision for “The Center,” an Orwellian-sounding city slated to rise in the New Mexico desert in 2014. The Center will house all you’d expect of a - [Mini Livestock](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/mini-livestock/) - Could giant farm-raised rats shrink the bushmeat trade? Sherlock Holmes fans know of a story hinted at—but never written—in which the detective faced off against “the giant rat of Sumatra.” Sumatra is, indeed, home to some fairly large rats, but for giants it’s best to turn to Africa, where the rodents known as cane rats - [How to Build a Living Seawall](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/how-to-build-a-living-seawall/) - Simple fixes bring marine life back to urban coastlines In the coming decades, coastal communities will build or reinforce hundreds of miles of seawalls, breakwaters, and other coastal defenses to protect themselves against rising sea levels and increased storms, as well as to accommodate growing populations. Already, more than half the shoreline in parts of - [Safe-Deposit Box](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/safe-deposit-box/) - Travels to the seed vault on top of the world By Carl Safina How would a biblical literalist count seven days and seven nights here? One day in Svalbard lasts four months, and the sun never sets; one night lasts four months, and the sun never rises. The other four months consist mainly of either - [When Enough Is Enough](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/when-enough-is-enough/) - In developed countries, people are consuming less. Could we be reaching “peak stuff”? Will rich societies start consuming less? Could wealth go green? Might parsimony become the new luxury? Surely heresy, you would say. But it might just be possible. Take Britain. A new study finds that the country that invented the industrial revolution two - [Iced In](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/iced-in-2/) - Are climate shifts creating death traps for narwhals? When hunters spotted nearly 100 narwhals trapped in a tiny patch of ice-enclosed ocean off Greenland in the fall of 2009, the news attracted little notice. To narwhal specialists, however, it seemed a little strange. Although ice entrapments were known to routinely kill narwhals on their wintering - [Acid Trip](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/acid-trip/) - Rising CO2 levels are messing with fish minds Carbon dioxide can do more than tickle your tongue—it can damage your brain, if you are a fish. Rising ocean concentrations of CO2 could interfere with a fish’s ability to hear, smell, turn, and evade predators, experiments have revealed. “For several years, our team has been testing - [Abandoned Carbon](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/abandoned-carbon-2/) - That vacant house may be helping soak up carbon emissions Eyesores. Fire traps. Rat manors. Abandoned homes aren’t popular with the neighbors. But their weedy, unkempt lawns may be helping suck carbon out of the atmosphere, a new study suggests. “Residential abandonment is on the rise in many urban areas,” Christopher M. Gough and Hunter - [Where Did All That Oil Go?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/where-did-all-that-oil-go/) - Bacterial blooms gorged on oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill It’s been one of the enduring mysteries of the massive 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico: Where did all the goop go? Try the microbes in the deep sea with a taste for hydrocarbons, suggests a recent modeling study. Millions of - [Vaccine Side Effects](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/vaccine-side-effects/) - Could vaccinating the Serengeti’s lions cause cheetahs to go extinct? In 1994, a deadly virus spread by domestic dogs had a devastating impact on the celebrated lions of Africa’s Serengeti National Park (SNP). Canine distemper virus (CDV) killed nearly 1,000 lions, or about one-third of the population. In response, conservationists launched “Project Life Lion,” a - [Permission to Land](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/permission-to-land-3/) - Airports could give a lift to alternative energy Finding sites for solar, wind, and biofuel projects can be a challenge. They need big chunks of land that aren’t used to grow food or support wildlife. That’s why some experts have urged using abandoned industrial sites. Now, researchers have another idea: airports. “There are 44,010 airports - [Infectious Imports](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/infectious-imports-2/) - Illegal wildlife trade could spread disease A new study of illegal bushmeat seized at airports in the U.S. finds that the flesh harbored some potentially nasty pathogens. “The global trade in wildlife has historically contributed to the emergence and spread of infectious diseases,” an international research team notes in PLoS ONE. But although “the United - [Losing the Lorax](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/losing-the-lorax/) - Children’s books pay less attention to nature Horton heard a who and the Lorax spoke for the trees. But today’s top children’s books don’t pay much attention to nature or wild animals, according to a new analysis. “Picture books often play an important role in childhood socialization,” a group of researchers notes in Sociological Review. - [Downsizing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/downsizing-2/) - New Guinea species is world’s smallest vertebrate Scientists continue to downsize the frog world. Capping a string of discoveries of ever-smaller hoppers, two recent papers describe the smallest ever found. The frogs, which live in leaf litter in New Guinea, are just 7.7 to 9 millimeters long—smaller than a dime. In December 2011, researcher Fred - [Riding the Wind](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/riding-the-wind/) - Albatross, seeds could be affected by shifting breezes Could wandering albatrosses and British plants be gone with the wind? Two recent studies take a close look at how climate shifts are influencing wind patterns—and how those changes could in turn affect organisms that depend on a fresh breeze. In the Southern Ocean, wandering albatrosses have - [Frozen Zookeeper](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/03/frozen-zookeeper/) - John Nielsen talks with Oliver Ryder Stem cells are the ultimate all-in-one tool. These unspecialized cells have the capacity to transmute into any type of cell in the body, from a fleck of skin to a bit of bone. That’s why biomedical scientists are excited by their potential to cure human diseases. But Oliver Ryder - [Top This](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/11/top-this/) - Green roofs have been around for centuries. But as the planet heats up and open space dwindles, a renaissance in green-roof design is sprouting wild, new urban canopies. Even the simplest green roofs and walls absorb rainfall, provide habitat for birds and insects, and help reverse the urban heat-island effect. The most ambitious roofs may - [Green Aftershocks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/11/economic-meltdown/) - How is the global economic meltdown changing conservation? Which do you want first–the good news or the bad news? It’s no coincidence that the words “economy” and “ecosystem” both originate from the same Greek word, oikos, for “home” or “household.” But rarely have the links between the complex financial and biological structures that sustain us been - [Chasing Rainbows](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/11/chasing-rainbows/) - How unbridled love for a beautiful trout led to ecological heartache By Anders Halverson Illustration by Jeanette Jobson John Muir, the pioneering wilderness advocate, liked to call California’s Sierra Nevada “the Range of Light,” and once you’ve experienced the luminous granite, sparkling waters, and brilliant sunlight of the high country, it’s hard to think of - [Batik Earth](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/12/batik-earth/) - Mary Edna Fraser uses the ancient technique of batik to illustrate landscapes around the world that are most vulnerable to climate change. Her recent work adorns Global Climate Change: A Primer by Orrin and Keith Pilkey. Batik is a wax-resistant fabric-dyeing technique. Fraser pencils her designs onto silk, then applies multiple layers of wax and - [Conservation Everywhere](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/12/conservation-everywhere/) - Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World By Emma Marris Bloomsbury, 2011 Every so often a book comes along that seems perfectly timed to a pivotal moment in a field—when an old set of ideas is losing its grip and gives way to the new. Rambunctious Garden is that book for this moment in - [In-Shoe Technology](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/12/in-shoe-technology/) - There’s a lot of “oomph” in a step: up to ten watts of power is lost as heat each time a foot hits the ground. Mobile devices such as phones and laptops use between one and 15 watts, so harnessing our “foot power” would make a notable difference for consumers. So far, however, attempts to - [Wave Catchers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/12/wave-catchers/) - Andre Sharon, an engineer at Boston University and the Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing Innovation (CMI), has an idea that could launch a thousand ships. He wants to build a fleet of ships—mobile wave-energy harvesters, he calls them—to ply the ocean, fishing for energy. Although ocean waves are abundant and constant, until now it’s been difficult - [Bee Line](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/12/bee-line/) - Crop-raiding elephants don’t mess with beehive fences An elephant never forgets: the old saying has some basis in scientific fact, at least when it comes to remembering an encounter with the business end of an angry honeybee. And that may be good news for farmers, say Lucy King and her colleagues at Save the Elephants - [Captive Breeding](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/12/captive-breeding/) - At the Cedar Creek Corrections Center in Littlerock, Washington, inmates are raising endangered Oregon spotted frogs for reintroduction into the wild. Compared with frogs raised in zoo programs, the frogs at Cedar Creek are significantly beefier and reach maturity faster. Maybe that’s because the prisoners, who are paid 42 cents per hour for their work, - [Minister of Cultures](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/11/minister-of-cultures/) - Gary Paul Nabhan of the University of Arizona in Tucson spent much of his career highlighting the need to preserve heirloom crops and culturally important native plants. Now he’s taken on the threat that modern food processing and cultural homogenization pose to the biodiversity of peperoni, pickles—and beer. In other words, Nabhan is calling on - [3.9 Degrees of Separation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/11/3-9-degrees-of-separation/) - By Elin Kelsey Consider this. You and I may not know each other, but we probably know some of the same people. At least we know someone who knows someone who knows someone we have in common. “It’s a small world,” we say when a new acquaintance turns out to be linked to us through - [Net Gain](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/12/net-gain/) - And who says regulations don’t work? The number of sea turtles accidentally caught and killed in fishing gear in U.S. coastal waters has declined by an estimated 90 percent since 1990, according to an analysis of fisheries data. Before rules to reduce such bycatch by fishing boats were set, more than 300,000 turtles became entangled - [Body Count](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/12/body-count/) - Mass bird kills at television towers and skyscrapers have received extensive attention over the past few decades. But the kills are having little “discernible” impact on North American bird numbers, concludes a comprehensive tally. Past studies have estimated that from 1 million to 50 million birds are killed annually at communication towers in North America - [Early Worm Gets the Bird](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/12/early-worm-gets-the-bird-2/) - Worms are turning the tables. The early bird may get the worm, but researchers say invasive European earthworms appear to be reducing densities of ground-dwelling songbirds in North American forests. Historically, the forests of northern North America were worm-free—a legacy of the Ice Age, which ended some 20,000 years ago. Over the past few hundred - [A Feathered Nest](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/12/a-feathered-nest/) - Home sellers take note: That blue jay in your backyard could add $32,000 to your asking price. An innovative study of home sales in Lubbock, Texas, suggests that planners can use relatively simple bird counts to analyze the ecological and economic values of urban landscapes. And it finds that even a single extra species can - [Backfire](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/12/backfire/) - A long-running debate over the benefits of trophy hunting for conservation is about to get a bit more heated. A new study of trophy-hunted cats concludes that—paradoxically—as protection increases for a threatened species, so does hunting. The find suggests trophy hunters are over-exploiting the rare cats just when their populations can least take the pressure. - [White Out](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/12/white-out-2/) - Seemed like a cool idea: paint the world’s roofs white to reflect more sunlight, and it could help cool down both cities and the planet. A new study, however, finds it’s a lot more complicated—even as the research dispels climate-change deniers’ claims that urban “heat islands” are a major cause of apparent temperature increases. The - [Dirty Laundry](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/12/dirty-laundry/) - Your nice, clean clothes may be having a surprising effect on ocean pollution. Household washing machines appear to be a major source of so-called “microplastic” pollution—bits of polyester and acrylic smaller than the head of a pin. Microplastic debris “is accumulating in marine habitats,” Mark Anthony Browne and colleagues report in Environmental Science & Technology. - [Missing Links](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/11/missing-links/) - Kids these days: In a series of worrying studies, researchers have found that the Internet appears to be shaping how kids perceive ecological threats, as well as causing concerns about a few high-profile species in distant lands and also about obscure threats to the plants and animals just outside their windows. Childhood is “the key - [Boring Expenses](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/11/boring-expenses-2/) - Invasive, wood-boring insects are costing Americans more than $2.5 billion each year—and there is a one-in-three chance that a new wood-chomping invader could add to the toll over the next decade, according to a new analysis in PLoS ONE. The research team, composed of scientists from U.S. and Canadian universities and from the U.S. Forest - [Black and White Makes Green](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/12/black-and-white-makes-green/) - When it comes to raising cattle, ranchers don’t like competition. In Africa, that has often meant eradicating or fencing out wild animals, such as zebras, that might eat the sweet grass their cattle need to get fat. New research, however, suggests that grazing by wild animals doesn’t necessarily harm—and sometimes can even benefit—cattle. “There is - [Growing Up in Smoke](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/growing-up-in-smoke-2/) - Slowing deforestation is one of the most straightforward and effective means of reducing carbon emissions into the atmosphere. It might also be expected to reduce the frequency of forest fires, which are big contributors to carbon emissions in their own right. But new research suggests a startling paradox: in the Amazon, reducing the rate of - [Can Cities Feed Us?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/can-c-ities-feed-us/) - For every acre of land cultivated in a high-rise urban farm, 10 to 20 acres of current cropland could go wild. By Sarah DeWeerdt Sometime in mid-2007, the world’s demographic scales tipped. Only a century earlier, urbanites represented just over 14 percent of humanity. But by 2007, a majority of the world’s people lived in - [Sea Sick](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/sea-sick/) - A gang of drug-resistant infections on the run from hospitals and landfills, is cropping up in marine mammals deep into the ocean By Rebecca Kessler Illustration by Steve Lawver The whale lay dead on the concrete lab floor, all 13 feet and 1,600 pounds of him. He had washed up late the night before on - [We Have Met the Enemy—and It Isn’t Ignorance](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/we-have-met-the-enemy-and-it-isnt-ignorance/) - Whenever controversies arise that pit scientists against segments of the U.S. public—the evolution debate, say, or the fight over emissions regulations—a predictable dance seems to unfold. On the one hand, the nonscientists appear almost entirely impervious to scientific data that undermine their opinions, and they are prone to argue back with technical claims of dubious - [Beyond an Unreasonable Doubt](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/10315/) - By Charles Alexander Illustration ©James Fryer If the world’s top climatologists are all convinced that the burning of fossil fuels is causing dangerous global warming, why do the media keep giving equal time to deniers? No matter how strong the scientific consensus becomes, the campaign to discount climate change—financed by the fossil-fuel industries and conservative - [Power on Sail](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/power-on-sail/) - As offshore wind power gains momentum, researchers have been struggling with how to wring power out of the ocean’s strongest winds—which flow hundreds of miles offshore in waters too deep to support traditional wind turbines. A newly proposed technology could solve that problem by using an intriguing mix of ships, generators, and “sails” the size - [This Won’t Hurt a Bit …](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/this-wont-hurt-a-bit/) - Genetically modified mosquitoes could deliver vaccines to people and endangered wildlife For years, scientists have wondered whether it’s possible to turn the mosquito’s ability to spread malaria into a weapon against diseases that plague humans and wildlife. But no one had been able to genetically alter the insects to deliver vaccines—until now. A pioneering group - [The Shape of Things to Come](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/the-shape-of-things-to-come/) - From blades of grass to the cup-like fly-catcher of the pitcher plant, the diversity of leaf shapes, sizes, and structures is stunning. It is also incredibly useful, allowing plants to live nearly everywhere on Earth. Now, the precise molecular switches that control these traits are being identified, with potentially huge ramifications for agriculture. “We are - [Slow Mow](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/slow-mow/) - Over the course of its life, a typical gas-powered lawnmower will produce as much air pollution as five new cars being driven 100,000 miles each. But most people still aren’t willing to give up their lawns or switch to gas-free mowers. So one researcher has attacked the other side of the equation by developing a - [Unfurling a Toxin Trap](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/unfurling-a-toxin-trap/) - The fern Pteris vittata can tolerate 100 to 1,000 times more arsenic than other plants. Now, two researchers from Purdue University might have figured out a way to transfer this bizarre ability to other plants and then use them to soak up arsenic from contaminated lands. The researchers, David Salt and Jody Banks, identified a - [Coconut Cars](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/coconut-cars/) - Each year, millions of coconuts are harvested for their milk or oil, leaving behind huge mounds of rotting husks. This creates a health problem—the husks collect water and provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other pests—and enormous amounts of waste. But, as Baylor University’s Walter Bradley has discovered, there also might be an environmental - [One Fish, Two Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/one-fish-two-fish-3/) - The great count is nearing its end. Marine researchers have unveiled the first tidal wave of data from the Census of Marine Life, a decade-long effort to survey all sea life. A dozen papers published in PLOS One begin to detail the thousands of known marine species, and a global tally is expected to include - [DOA](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/doa/) - Some researchers have argued that a warming world will favor the spread of parasites that cause malaria. But by examining the history of malaria distribution, a new paper in Nature finds that a few public-health strategies will do more than enough to counteract the coming malaria risk. A team led by Peter Gething of the - [Message Undeliverable](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/message-undeliverable-2/) - Plants have their own way of communicating: they send chemical signals to alert each other when they’ve been nibbled by herbivores. But according to a study in Ecology Letters, ozone pollution can hinder the delivery of these messages. An attacked plant may release volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chemicals which are detected by its neighbors. The - [Size Matters](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/size-matters/) - Compared to conventional farms, organic farms are widely presumed to be havens of biodiversity. But in another example of why size matters, a research team from the University of Leeds has found that the biodiversity benefits of going organic would be eclipsed if organic farming were undertaken on a large scale. In what researchers term - [Trading Up](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/trading-up-2/) - Today, conservationists often seek to simply expand or add to existing protected areas. To test a different strategy, researchers analyzed Australia’s 6,990 protected areas and ranked their cost-effectiveness—that is, how well each area conserved plant life, given the resources needed to acquire and maintain the land. If Australia got rid of sites ranking in the - [Dead-zone Entrée](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/dead-zone-entree-2/) - You already know your carbon footprint. How about your nitrogen footprint? Researchers have calculated how much nitrogen pollution is produced by the production of common foods. Ultimately, they hope the approach might help consumers curb nutrient pollution that is creating oxygen-poor “dead zones” in many coastal seas. Over the past few decades, researchers have documented - [The Jellyfish Diet](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/the-jellyfish-diet/) - The waters off Namibia once nurtured one of the world’s richest sardine fisheries, which attracted huge flocks of seabirds and predatory fish. By the 1970s, however, overfishing and climate and current shifts had transformed the vibrant ecosystem into a conservationist’s nightmare. Massive dead zones of oxygen-poor water formed. Swarms of microbes and voracious jellyfish invaded. - [Bumper Carbon Crop](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/bumper-co2-crop/) - The use of specially engineered, high-yield crops is seldom considered “environmentally friendly.” Modern, mechanized agriculture exerts high environmental costs in terms of water use, fertilizer runoff, pesticide contamination, and other factors. But according to a recent study, the so-called Green Revolution has also played an important role in limiting global warming. The authors say that - [Snakes on a Plane](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/snakes-on-a-plane/) - Airplane passengers may be illegally bringing more than 200 metric tons of bushmeat through a Paris airport each year, scientists say in Conservation Letters. The researchers stationed themselves at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport for a couple of weeks and helped inspect baggage from 29 flights arriving from Africa. Seven percent of the searched passengers - [Black Is the New Green](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/08/black-is-the-new-green/) - In a deft act of ecological jujitsu, Johannes Lehmann wants to borrow an 8,000-year-old technology to interrupt the natural carbon cycle and return some of the infamous black stuff to the soil. By Carl Zimmer illustration ©Bodhi Hill/Getty Images Win-win solutions can be hard to come by. But if Cornell University soil scientist Johannes Lehmann - [Forgive Me, Planet, for I Have Flown—Frequently](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/forgive-me-planet-for-i-have-flown-frequently/) - The other day, I half-jokingly told a Canadian friend who is a pastor that I needed to do penance for all the air travel I’m doing for work. He fired back an e-mail with a link to a new Web site that lets me calculate my carbon footprint and make a donation to offset it. - [God of Small Things](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/god-of-small-things/) - E.O. Wilson is to fiction as Michael Jordan is to baseball. Greatness on the basketball court didn’t translate to the baseball diamond—and a Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction doesn’t assure brilliant fiction. But Jordan played credible ball in the minors, and Wilson can vividly describe a scene and write believable dialogue, which goes a long way - [Bullet-proof Snails](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/bullet-proof-snails/) - The scaly-foot gastropod (Crysomallon squamiferum) is one tough soldier. The tiny mollusk not only lives in one of the world’s harshest environments—the ultra-hot, acidic waters surrounding undersea hydrothermal vents—it also faces an army of predators that include fanged, venomous snails and crabs that can squeeze victims for days until they crack. Now, new research from - [Rain Maker](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/rain-maker/) - On a small Netherlands farm, startup company Dutch Rainmaker will soon flip the switch on a windmill that wrings water straight from the air. About ten stories tall, the innovative windmill is essentially an oversized, leaky air conditioner. Instead of driving a generator to produce electricity, the windmill drives a heat pump that pulls water vapor from the - [Breathalyzer Test for Whales](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/breathalyzer-test-for-whales/) - Imagine trying to give a breathalyzer test to a humpback whale. That’s the challenge that Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse faced when she set out to gather key information about whale disease. A postdoctoral research fellow at London’s Institute of Zoology, Acevedo-Whitehouse knew that collecting blood and tissue samples—the normal method of sampling wildlife bacteria—from the massive, moving - [The iCat Is on Your Tail](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/the-icat-is-on-your-tail/) - In search of a better way to get people to conserve energy, researchers Cees Midden and Jaap Ham turned to an unconventional technique: using a robotic cat to scold people when they use too much electricity. Research has found that showing people their energy usage as they program an appliance could significantly reduce energy consumption. - [A Healthy Glow](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/a-healthy-glow/) - Installing a wall-sized lamp in your home might not seem like the best way to cut electricity usage. But thanks to an emerging technology, people could one day brighten their rooms with light-emitting walls that are even more efficient than fluorescent bulbs—and produce an attractive glow similar to sunlight. That’s the vision of U.K. company - [Dandelion Tires](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/dandelion-tires/) - Other than being an ingredient of upscale salads, dandelions are pretty useless plants. But one species, Taraxacum kok-saghyz (TKS), may yet make the big time. It produces molecules of rubber in its sap, and—if two research programs, one in Germany and one in America, come to fruition—it could supplement or even replace the traditional rubber - [Beetle Mania](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/beetle-mania/) - One sticky afternoon last summer, Richard Hofstetter, a beetle expert at Northern Arizona University, picked his way through yellow-green grass on the slopes of Humphreys Peak. Looking up the mountain, he could see the skeletal frames of dead trees amid evergreen forest. The ground was a mess of lifeless branches—about half the conifers were dead - [Up Up And Away](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/up-up-and-away/) - By J. Madeleine Nash Illustration ©Steve Dininno The cartoon version of how climate change will affect mountain ecosystems goes like this. Plants and animals will try to escape rising temperatures by retreating upward until they can go no further. Then, like deserving souls transported to heaven, they will vanish into the ether. Tongue in cheek, - [Building On The Fly](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/building-on-the-fly/) - By Philip Ball Photo ©Chris Goodwin In the heart of Africa’s savanna lies a city that is a model of sustainable development. Its buttressed towers are built entirely from natural, biodegradable materials. Its inhabitants live and work in quarters that are air-conditioned and humidity-regulated without consuming a single watt of electricity. Water comes from wells - [The New Normal](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/the-new-normal/) - As though working through the five stages of grief, more and more ecologists are reluctantly accepting that we live in a human-dominated world. And some are discovering that patchwork ecosystems might even rival their pristine counterparts. By Emma Marris Illustration by Darryl Brown, courtesy of George Fox University Joe Mascaro, a PhD student in a - [A Cadillac Health Plan](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/a-cadillac-health-plan/) - Scientists, economists, and politicians have long debated the environmental benefits of reducing emissions, but they have paid far less attention to how many lives could be saved or improved by cutting carbon. A series of papers in the British medical journal The Lancet took on this question, showing that emissions cuts could be a boon - [In the Red](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/in-the-red-2/) - These days, many North American fisheries are scrambling to get their seafood certified as sustainable in hopes that the ecolabels will attract consumers. But this expensive practice might not pay off for Maine’s lobster fishery, researchers argue in Marine Policy. The Maine lobster industry has been suffering on multiple fronts. Prices have gone down as - [High and Dry](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/high-and-dry/) - Researchers have long known that coast redwoods rely on frequent baths of moist air—i.e., fog—to stay hydrated during dry summer months. Suspecting also that fog levels are changing, possibly due to climate change, they have struggled to monitor the historical variations. Now, James Johnstone and Todd Dawson of the University of California, Berkeley, may have - [Sour Grapes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/sour-grapes-2/) - Many people are willing to pay more for products labeled with environmentally friendly terms such as “organic.” But that may not be the case for wine, researchers have found. In fact, consumers seem to value ecolabeled wines even less than other wines. A team discovered this trend while analyzing 13,426 California wines produced from 1998 - [After the Storm](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/after-the-storm-2/) - Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August 2005, wiping out commercial fishing boats and reducing recreational fishing. A new study has revealed that, while the storm was disastrous for Louisiana, its fallout may have encouraged more dolphins to reproduce. In the years since the storm struck, researchers have speculated that the ensuing downturn in - [Seeking Immunity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/seeking-immunity/) - Bacteria resistant to antibiotics are becoming disturbingly common in people. Even more worrisome, genes conferring this resistance are showing up in bacteria found in other animals. When resistant bacteria hop between species, that can increase the rate of evolution and turn a mildly resistant bug into a serious threat. This has left researchers wondering how - [Slow Burn](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/slow-burn-2/) - Wildfires have become bigger and more severe in the western U.S., and the problem could get worse with global warming. In turn, these fires could exacerbate climate change by releasing more carbon into the atmosphere. A new study in Environmental Science & Technology proposes a seemingly counterintuitive solution to this problem: reduce forest fire emissions - [Hot and Bothered](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/hot-and-bothered/) - Octopuses, hyenas, spiders, and fish are just a few of the critters shown in recent years to behave consistently across situations and time—to have personalities, if you will. Much like people, some individuals are naturally bold, some are meek; some are active, some are couch potatoes; and so on. But what happens when—as may be - [Brand-name Environmentalist](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/brand-name-environmentalist/) - All those people driving Toyota Priuses aren’t necessarily acting out of concern for the planet, a new study suggests. Rather, consumers may buy environmentally friendly products in order to make themselves appear superior. Being a green consumer doesn’t always make economic sense. After all, many green products are more expensive and lack some of the - [Change Does Begin At Home](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/change-does-begin-at-home/) - One problem environmentalists face is the widespread presumption that individual or household behavior doesn’t matter. So finally, some smart people—led by Thomas Dietz of Michigan State University—did everyone a favor and ran the numbers. And it turns out that, while consumers can’t stop global warming on their own, they can have a measureable impact. The researchers - [Will This Dam Self-destruct?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/will-this-dam-self-destruct/) - Dams are engineered to withstand a certain amount of flooding. To determine this amount, engineers look at historical patterns of flooding and extreme precipitation. But what if the creation of the dam alters these patterns by triggering higher precipitation levels? Could future flooding exceed the dam’s original specifications? The answer could be yes, according to - [The Power of Many](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/06/the-power-of-many-2/) - One of the biggest problems with wind power is that it’s not constant. But a 2,500-kilometer-long grid of wind generators, oriented in roughly the same direction that cyclones travel, might overcome this difficulty. Researchers envision placing the system of linked wind generators off the eastern coast of the U.S. The wind at each station would - [Wounds That Can Heal](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/wounds-that-can-heal/) - By Marguerite Holloway Galvanized by observations of environmental destruction in the U.S. and in many of the countries he studied or visited during his career as an American diplomat, George Perkins Marsh wrote Man and Nature. Published in 1864, the influential book awakened the American public to the devastation humans were wreaking, the potential consequences - [Garbage In, Garbage Out](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/garbage-in-garbage-out/) - When a single swath of ocean contains more plastic than plankton, the simple act of taking out the trash becomes a grueling scientific challenge. By Susan Casey Art by Maarten Brinkman Fate can take strange forms, and so perhaps it does not seem unusual that Captain Charles Moore found his life’s purpose in a nightmare. - [Shy Affectionate SF](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/desperately-seeking-ltr-with-nature/) - by Kathleen Dean Moore Frank, my husband, is a self-described “hard” scientist. He studies chemicals in the brain—how desire actually works in the cells, the little switches and locks. He listens to me talk about what it means to love a place, but he says I can’t just assume that people care about places. He - [Why is Climate Change Denial So Seductive?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/why-is-climate-change-denial-so-seductive/) - By George Monbiot There is no point in denying it: we’re losing. Climate change denial is spreading like a contagious disease. It exists in a sphere that cannot be reached by evidence or reasoned argument. This sphere is expanding with astonishing speed. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center suggests that the proportion of - [Shrinking Sinks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/shrinking-sinks/) - As global warming lengthens the growing season for many ecosystems, trees may suck more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere—or so some have hoped. A study of a subalpine forest, however, shows that the exact opposite can happen. Researchers studied nine years of data on a Colorado forest composed mainly of pine, fir, and spruce. - [Frog Fiction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/frog-fiction/) - Amphibians may not be canaries in a coal mine after all Scientists are challenging the widespread idea that amphibians are more sensitive to environmental contamination than other species. Amphibians are thought to provide early warning signs of environmental damage because they have permeable skin, diverse diets, and habitats spanning both land and water. But some - [Not so Sweet Deal](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/not-so-sweet-deal/) - The marriage between chocolate and conservation might be more bitter than sweet. For years, conservationists have chased after the goal of making shade-grown cacao farms a win-win for business, poor farmers, and the environment. But a new study in Conservation Letters explains how economic boom-bust cycles have gotten in the way. Led by Yann Clough - [Buyer Beware](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/buyer-beware/) - The dark side of green consumerism Do you feel a little better about yourself when you opt for the organic yogurt, recycled paper towels, and compact fluorescent light bulbs at the store? If so, you may be surprised to learn that buying environmentally friendly products might make you more likely to engage in unethical behavior. - [Deep Sea Serenade](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/deep-sea-serenade/) - In a puzzling development, blue whales around the world are singing in deeper tones. This finding came as researchers analyzed historical recordings of seven types of blue whale songs taken in the Pacific, Atlantic, Southern, and Indian Oceans. The most-extensively monitored type of song, recorded in the eastern North Pacific, dropped in tonal frequency by - [Middle Ground](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/middle-ground/) - Planting trees in mid-latitudes—rather than the tropics—keeps the planet cool Carbon-offsetting schemes often focus on planting new forests as a means of lowering atmospheric CO2. Most climate models have suggested that this strategy will be most effective in the tropics, where forests are more productive and can therefore store more carbon. But a new study - [Nitrogen vs. Carbon Smackdown](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/n-vs-co2-smackdown/) - Rising CO2 levels could battle back nitrogen pollution’s assault on plants The nitrogen pumped by humans into the environment may reduce plant biodiversity, but higher carbon-dioxide levels could hold those losses in check. University of Minnesota researcher Peter Reich carried out a ten-year experiment to determine the combined effects of elevated nitrogen and carbon-dioxide levels - [Served Rare](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/served-rare/) - Upwardly mobile Asian diners have developed a taste for civet, pangolin, and other exotic—and protected—wild animals. In turn, semi-clandestine restaurants serve up rare animals for a hefty price. To reduce this pressure on wild populations, some conservationists have proposed establishing farms where the species can be raised for human consumption. But new research in Conservation - [Shell Game](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/shell-game/) - Some species build heavier shells in acidic seawater It is widely feared that ocean acidification—caused by rising atmospheric CO2—will weaken the shells of marine organisms. But a new experiment shows that certain species actually increase their shell production under these seemingly harsh conditions. To reach this conclusion, researchers raised 18 species of marine organisms in - [Walk on the Wild Side](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/walk-on-the-wild-side/) - Coyotes thrive in North American cities Are urban coyote populations rising because the creatures are attracted to human activities or in spite of those activities? This question has vexed researchers for years, and now Stanley Gehrt of Ohio State University is piecing together an answer. In the Journal of Mammalogy, Gehrt and his colleagues chronicle - [Spider Silk Muscles](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/spider-silk-muscles/) - Scientists have always known spider silk is strong. But strong enough to lift an SUV and hold it in the air? Researchers at the University of Akron think so and are making intriguing discoveries about how spider silk could revolutionize everything from manufacturing to medicine. Their core finding: by adding or removing moisture to dragline - [Disturbing the Peace](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/disturbing-the-peace/) - Argentine ants are masters of destruction. They displace native ants, raid honeybee hives, drive pollinators away from flowers, and pour into people’s homes around the globe. In fact, one enormous colony extends for thousands of kilometers along the southern coast of Europe. To stop these relentless invaders, Neil Tsutsui at the University of California, Berkeley, - [Biological Batteries](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/biological-batteries/) - In December 2007, a Japanese aquarium hooked up the lights on a Christmas tree to a tank containing an electric eel. Metal plates at the ends of the tank collected the electricity the fish generated, which was used to power the bulbs. It was certainly effective as a publicity stunt. Now some researchers in America - [Skin Cream for Ships](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/skin-cream-for-ships/) - Barnacles and other sea creatures can encrust a ship’s hull after just a few months in the water, slashing fuel efficiency and requiring costly cleanings. In turn, shipping companies have long dreamt of finding a sure-fire way to discourage the growth. Now, a research team led by Rahul Ganguli of Teledyne Scientific & Imaging may - [Cheap Labor](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/cheap-labor-2/) - The Patagonian Sea is one of the earth’s richest marine areas. Spanning 3 million square kilometers, it’s also so vast that conservationists have struggled to develop a comprehensive scheme to protect its denizens. Now, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society and BirdLife International have developed a breakthrough tool: a cutting-edge atlas that could be a - [A Flock of Jets](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/a-flock-of-jets/) - Both Boeing and Airbus have trumpeted the efficiency of their newest aircraft, the 787 and A350, respectively. Their clever designs certainly make a difference. But a group of researchers at Stanford University, led by Ilan Kroo, has suggested that airlines could take a more naturalistic approach to cutting jet-fuel use. The answer, says Kroo, lies - [An Invasive in Every Pot](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/an-invasive-in-every-pot/) - Concerned about the Asian carp takeover? Just pulled a truckload of garlic mustard from your yard? Make the best of invasive species by bringing them into the kitchen. With the growth of the “eat ’em to beat ’em” movement comes a growing number of books and other resources for cooking invasive species. The Lionfish Cookbook: - [Malaria Takes Flight](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/malaria-takes-flight/) - Warming climate boosts avian parasites Health experts have long warned that a warming climate could enable some dangerous parasitic diseases such as malaria to expand. Evidence, however, has been hard to come by. But a new survey of malaria in birds is giving the argument a bit of a lift. Malaria is caused by parasites - [Between a Rock and a Warm Place](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/rock-and-a-warm-place/) - Pumping CO2 underground to generate geothermal power Jack Kerouac famously parlayed a road trip into the Great American Novel. Now two University of Minnesota scientists have turned their own time on the road into something equally nifty: a way to generate electricity with a negative carbon footprint. Martin Saar, assistant professor in the Department of - [The Rat in the Hat Doesn’t Come Back](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/the-rat-in-the-hat-doesnt-come-back/) - Jeffrey A. Lockwood reviews Rat Island by William Stolzenburg William Stolzenburg’s compelling tale, Rat Island: Predators in Paradise and the World’s Greatest Wildlife Rescue, is the story of impassioned conservationists attempting to save vulnerable island fauna (mostly birds) from the ravages of accidentally introduced predators (mostly rats). But rather than merely “managing” the pests, the - [Everything Old Is Green Again](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/everything-old-is-green-again/) - The most energy-efficient building may be the one already built The Monadnock Building in downtown Chicago, Illinois, was completed in 1894 and was once the largest office building in the world. With austere, 17-story façades ornamented mainly by columns of bay windows, it’s the sort of structure that led the poet Carl Sandburg to call - [Electric Fruits](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/electric-fruits/) - Tropical plants could charge your next car battery Durian is famous for its noxious smell, but one day the so-called king of fruits could actually help reduce pollution, say researchers at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. They are developing a process to turn durian and other tropical plants into activated carbon, a component of - [Can I Keep It?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/can-i-keep-it/) - An app for finding ecofriendly exotic pets Bearded dragon or Burmese python? Goldfinch or cockatiel? At www.petwatch.net, potential pet owners can comb through profiles of five dozen wild species, each of which is ranked as a “good,” “fair,” or “poor” choice for a pet. They can also read about how each species stacks up according - [Free-Range Fish Herding](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/free-range-fish-herding/) - Wild-fish roundups may be the future of sustainable seafood Fish ranching—where the animals are free to roam but trained to return to a certain point so they can be caught—could one day become a significant part of global fisheries, fitting between traditional catching and aquaculture, says Björn Björnsson, the lead author of a study published - [Bottom Feeders](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/bottom-feeders/) - Mushrooms that clean up dirty diapers Changing a dirty diaper isn’t a fun job. Eating a diaper is even less fun, but luckily there are fungi that can do just that. Oyster mushrooms, Pleurotus ostreatus, can devour 90 percent of a disposable diaper within two months, observed Alethia Vázquez-Morillas of the Autonomous Metropolitan University in - [Following the Paper Trail](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/following-the-paper-trail/) - New DNA and forensic techniques could curb illegal logging Sitting in a sturdy wooden chair as you read this? How do you know the raw material didn’t come from a criminal gang that had razed a protected forest? And how about the pages of this magazine—was some of the pulp wrung from an endangered tree? - [The Ecology of Make-Believe](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/the-ecology-of-make-believe/) - Does it matter when novelists muddle facts about nature? By Adelheid Fischer This spring I traveled with two of my professor friends from our home town of Phoenix to a vacation getaway in the Chiricahua Mountains of southern Arizona. There we did what most writers and academics do while on holiday: we spent part of - [Dead Space](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/dead-space-2/) - “Landscapes of death” create conservation opportunities The Baby Boom is about to give way to the Corpse Boom, as planners begin to ponder where we’ll bury the roughly 76 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964. The die-off will boost demand for burial space and pose a challenge to land-use planners, a new study concludes—but - [Fatal Attraction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/fatal-attraction-2/) - Researchers shed light on moth mortality Anybody enjoying the porch at night has probably watched moths bouncing off a lamp. The moths may be a mere annoyance for people, but biologists worry that this “flight to light” behavior has dire consequences for moths and their predators. Now, new research looks into how variations in light - [Carbon Cruise](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/carbon-cruise/) - The Antarctic tourism industry’s carbon footprint The beauty of Antarctica’s vast ice sheet may be a selling point in the travel brochures, but researchers are now taking a closer look at how much the South Pole’s tourism industry contributes to the global carbon emissions that are threatening to melt the ice. Traveling to Antarctica is - [Eco-Bigotry?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/eco-bigotry-2/) - A provocative essay calling on conservation biologists to stop bad-mouthing nonnative species has sparked a testy showdown in the pages of the prestigious journal Nature. “Over the past few decades, ‘nonnative’ species have been vilified for driving beloved ‘native’ species to extinction and generally polluting ‘natural’ environments,” a team of 19 researchers wrote in the - [The Cola Test](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/the-cola-test-2/) - The real thing for measuring uranium contamination Need to measure how much uranium is in the soil at that contaminated old mine? Just bring a can of Coca-Cola Classic® along. Researchers report that the popular pop works just as well as more expensive solutions for analyzing levels of “bioaccessible” uranium and other trace elements in - [Cool White Dudes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/cool-white-dudes-2/) - Climate-change denial strongest among pale, male conservatives “The more you think you know, the more you think you’re right.” Now comes a study of sex, skin color, and political ideology that suggests this pretty much sums up how some white male conservatives in the U.S. respond to climate change. “Even casual observers” of those arguing - [Bad Signal](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/bad-signal/) - Cell phones buzz off bees Cell phones can be annoying. But could the electromagnetic fields they produce be contributing to the collapse of honeybee colonies? New research showing that bees, too, are annoyed by cell calls is adding to the buzz surrounding a provocative idea. Experiments suggesting that active handsets tucked into hives can lead - [Perfect Storm](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/perfect-storm/) - Nuclear power no answer for climate change? Nuclear energy is often touted as a solution to curbing climate change because it produces fewer greenhouse gases than burning fossil fuels. Ironically, however, some changes wrought by climate change may make operating nuclear power plants a nonstarter, two researchers conclude in Energy Policy. “Nuclear power is - [Counsel for the Accused](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/counsel-for-the-accused/) - John Nielsen talks with Elizabeth Nichols Parasites are the pariahs of the biological world—they get no respect. Everybody knows that at best, they are freeloaders. At worst, they can kill or maim the creatures they latch onto. But hardly anybody knows that they also help keep ecosystems healthy. Elizabeth Nichols, an ecologist at the American - [Conservation Crochet](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/conservation-crochet/) - The “Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef,” a unique exhibition and thought-provoking fusion of science, conservation, mathematics, and art, was recently on display in Washington, D.C., at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. By engaging local communities to crochet coral reefs, the exhibition celebrates the reefs’ beautiful diversity and speaks to the urgent need to protect - [Of Ants and Men](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/of-ants-and-men/) - By Tim Flannery Parallels between the ants and ourselves are striking for the light they shed on the nature of everyday human experiences. Some ants get forced into low-status jobs and are prevented from becoming upwardly mobile by other members of the colony. Garbage dump workers, for example, are confined to their humble and dangerous - [Ultra Zoom](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/ultra-zoom/) - An ordinary camera and an extraordinary technology create billion-pixel images that allow viewers to virtually fly deep into a landscape and explore nature in stunning detail. When NASA’s twin Mars rovers began sending detailed pictures to Earth in January 2004, Randy Sargent, a computer scientist working on visualizations of those images, was enthralled by the - [Crossing to Safety](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/crossing-to-safety/) - Innovative wildlife bridges designed to protect travelers on four wheels and four legs Every year, more than 1 million collisions between vehicles and large mammals occur on U.S. roadways. The result is tens of thousands of human injuries and billions of dollars in property damage—not to mention the deadly toll on wildlife, including many rare species. - [Cleared for Takeoff](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/cleared-for-takeoff/) - Airport wetland restoration could reduce bird-plane collisions When birds strike a plane, they can shatter the windshield, damage the engine, and force an emergency landing. So the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was understandably concerned when planners at a California airport proposed restoring wildlife-friendly tidal wetlands near runways. But a new study suggests the project could - [Fast Carbon Relief](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/fast-co2-relief/) - Limestone scrubbers transform powerplant emissions into ocean antacid Greg Rau wants to deal with carbon emissions the way nature intended—except a whole lot faster. Increased carbon dioxide in the air also increases carbon dioxide dissolved in the ocean. There it forms carbonic acid, causing ocean acidification. Eventually, this acid is neutralized as it comes into - [A Clean Green 2-for-1](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/a-clean-green-2-for-1/) - Algae can treat your wastewater and then fill up your tank Just what are algae capable of? According to researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology, just about anything short of mixing a cocktail. They can clean your wastewater, fuel up your car, and then help grow a fish for your dinner. Associate professor of - [Perennial Agriculture](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/perennial-agriculture/) - New technologies are reinventing farming from the roots up Some people have recurring dreams. Jerry Glover dreams of recurring plants—perennial crops that would naturally re-sprout year after year, saving energy and fertilizer while providing more ecological bang for our buck than annual crops that drop dead after just one growing season. It’s an old idea - [Battle of the Book](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/battle-of-the-book/) - Is it “greener” to read an e-book or an old-fashioned paper book? By Daniel Goleman and Gregory Norris With e-readers like Apple’s new iPad and Amazon’s Kindle touting their vast libraries of digital titles, some bookworms are bound to wonder if tomes-on-paper will one day become quaint relics. But the question also arises, which is - [A Room Full of Mini-rivers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/a-room-full-of-mini-rivers/) - Showing how biodiversity cleans up water pollution Sometimes, one river isn’t enough. That’s why Bradley Cardinale built 150. In an experiment that colleagues are hailing as “elegant,” the University of Michigan biologist used dozens of small artificial streams to prove a point: more biodiversity can mean less pollution. Past studies have suggested that ecosystems with - [Sick Leave](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/sick-leave/) - Tourists may have spread deadly virus to wild gorillas In June 2009, researchers in Rwanda noticed a female mountain gorilla coughing as she fed in her forest home. Within days, she was dead—and researchers now conclude that she and an infant gorilla were killed by a virus that appears to have spread from human visitors. - [Pop That Cork](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/pop-that-cork-3/) - Plastic stoppers threaten cork-oak habitat That merlot with the plastic bottle-stopper may be threatening biodiversity, according to a study of bird life in the Mediterranean oak forests that produce traditional corks. “Montados” in Portugal and “dehesas” in Spain are agricultural grasslands dotted with the cork oak (Quercus suber) and holm oak (Quercus ilex) trees. These - [Monarch Decline](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/monarch-decline/) - Grim outlook for mass butterfly phenomenon Mexico’s population of overwintering monarch butterflies appears to have rebounded slightly from last year’s record low, researchers say—but the showy, long-distance migrant is facing growing threats to its survival. In the winter of 2009–2010, researchers recorded the smallest clusters of overwintering monarchs seen in the 17 years they have - [Red Fish, Blue Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/red-fish-blue-fish/) - But sharks can’t tell the difference Sharks can’t appreciate color, according to some new work by vision researchers—but that blind spot might help keep the big predators out of trouble. Whether sharks have color vision has long been a vexing question, with various studies coming to different conclusions. The new evidence—that they can’t tell blood - [Creepy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/creepy-2/) - Are the vines taking over? If the meek don’t inherit the earth, maybe the vines will. A recent study appears to confirm a controversial finding that climbing plants are overwhelming trees in tropical forests in South and Central America. There’s no agreement on what might be driving the shift, but researchers say it could have - [Hue and Die](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/hue-and-die/) - Wind-turbine color is a life-or-death matter The evidence isn’t black and white, but paint color could be contributing to wildlife kills at the world’s growing number of wind turbines. Field experiments in the U.K. suggest that common turbine hues attract insects, and the buzzing food supply might in turn lure hungry birds and bats too - [Billion-dollar Bats](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/billion-dollar-bats/) - Flying mammals are a boon to U.S. economy Those bats in the belfry are worth billions. By keeping insect pests in check, bats save U.S. farmers as much as $53 billion each year, according to a new tally in Science. But all could be lost if policymakers don’t move quickly to address threats that are - [On the Vapor Trail](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/on-the-vapor-trail/) - Jet contrails contribute to global warming You may never see those wispy contrails drifting across the sky in the same way again. Despite their delicate appearance, the cloudy streaks created by aircraft appear to be aviation’s biggest contribution to global warming, a new analysis finds. Contrails can last long after the plane that created them has - [Electric Slide](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/electric-slide/) - Alaskan avalanche becomes case study in energy conservation An avalanche that severed the main electric line into Juneau, Alaska, has given researchers a unique look at how high electricity prices can cause long-lasting changes in how people use energy. The April 2008 slide cut power lines that connect the city of 30,000 to its main - [Turtle Whisperer](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/turtle-whisperer/) - John Nielsen talks with Alexander Gaos Last year, biologist Alexander Gaos drove his derelict pickup truck thousands of miles along the western coasts of Mexico and Central America. His mission? First, coaxing suspicious fishermen—and even poachers—into revealing where he could find critically endangered eastern Pacific hawksbill sea turtles, which are often killed for their elaborate, - [Coming to Terms with the Gulf Oil Blowout](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/coming-to-terms/) - A Sea in Flames: The Deepwater Horizon Oil Blowout By Carl Safina Crown, 2011 Book review by Eric Wagner Little more than a year has passed since the BP drill rig Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico about 60 miles off the Louisiana coast. Gone are the dashed-off Tweets, the frothing - [Flight Tracker](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/flight-tracker/) - John Nielsen talks with Martin Wikelski Martin Wikelski, the soft-spoken but relentless director of the ornithological station of Germany’s Max Planck Institute, spent decades gluing tracking tags to everything from dragonflies to fruit bats and then chasing after them in cars and planes. Now he dreams of using the International Space Station to track masses - [Frog Fable Brought to Boil](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/frog-fable-brought-to-boil/) - By Dr. Karl S. Kruszelnicki If you plunge a frog into boiling water, it will immediately jump out. But if you place the frog into cool water and slowly heat it to boiling, the frog won’t notice and will slowly cook to death. So claims the myth. Indeed, everyone—from corporate consultants to politicians to environmental - [Green Dreams: Lost and Found](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/green-dreams-lost-and-found/) - Powering The Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology By Alexis Madrigal Da Capo Press, 2011 Book review by Stewart Brand It’s refreshing to read a history book whose intent is to improve decisions in the present and near future. No forbidden Theory of History is needed if the subject is specific and practical, - [Re-mined](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/re-mined/) - Old mines generate new energy Abandoned mines have long been a favorite backdrop for movie makers and adventure writers. But they could also be put to practical use in producing sustainable energy, three Canadian researchers argue. The water that floods derelict mines is often warm enough to help heat buildings and produce electricity—and with perhaps - [Tropical Treasure Map](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/tropical-treasure-map/) - Jamaica’s abandoned plantations provide a rare look at long-term forest recovery A priceless set of historic maps is giving ecologists unique insights into how tropical forests bounce back from past damage—and just how useful these “second-growth” forests might be for preserving biodiversity. It’s a tale that rests on coffee, a bloody slave rebellion, and a - [Slippery Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/slippery-fish/) - Scientists grapple with measuring the human impact on global fisheries Fisheries scientists have thrown some new fuel on a long-running—and often feisty—debate over how best to measure the impact of humans on the world’s marine fisheries. The scholarly feud dates back to 1998, when a team led by Daniel Pauly of the University of British - [Windfall](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/windfall/) - More trees equals less wind It’s an ill wind that blows no good. But what if the wind doesn’t blow at all? Researchers have measured a drop in surface wind speeds around the world since 1979. Now they’re puzzling over what might be causing the “stilling”—and what it might mean for efforts to generate wind - [Gray and Green](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/gray-and-green/) - Aging populations curb CO2 emissions Here’s a climate-change solution to ponder: wrinkles. An aging population could substantially reduce future emissions—according to a recent analysis. When it comes to climate emissions, not everyone is created equal. Wealthy people tend to emit more than the poor, younger people more than older ones, and rural residents more than - [Live and Let Die](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/live-and-let-die/) - Dead salmon bring Canadian parks to life Ask not what a park can do for spawning salmon. Ask what robust salmon runs could do for the park—and for coastal fishing communities. That’s the provocative idea behind a “radical” proposal being floated by a wide-ranging group of conservation biologists. Limiting fishing for some Pacific salmon bound - [Plugging into the Ocean](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/plugging-into-the-ocean/) - The ecological tradeoffs of scaling up blue power Crashing surf and surging currents make for dramatic seaside scenery. These high-energy environments are also increasingly eyed for producing electricity—a trend that highlights the need for more study of the ecological implications of ocean-energy projects, argues a new study. Engineers have come up with a variety of - [Democracy and Deforestation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/democracy-deforestation-2/) - Is autocracy better for trees? It’s a long-running debate in certain circles: does having the ballot benefit the bees and the butterflies? Or would a dictator do a better job of protecting ecosystems? In search of an answer, two researchers have examined how deforestation rates compare to signs of democracy in 177 nations. “Deforestation has - [Amazon Exodus](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/amazon-exodus-2/) - What does depopulation of Brazil’s forests mean for conservation? Things are changing along the Ituxi River, a waterway that leads deep into one of the remotest parts of Brazil’s Amazon forest. Once, the river was “highly populated,” a villager told researcher Luke Parry. But “today it has ten times fewer people than before.” It was a - [Leaf Lit](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/leaf-lit/) - Nanoparticles that turn leaves into carbon-negative night lights The golden glow of street lights could soon be replaced by the green fluorescence of tree leaves. Scientists from the Academia Sinica and the National Cheng Kung University in Taipei and Tainan have implanted glowing gold nanoparticles, known as bio–light emitting diodes, or bio-LEDs, inside the leaves - [Tree Farming](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/tree-farming/) - Planting crops under leafy trees provides affordable green fertilizer Imagine a breakthrough that creates free fertilizer, allows poor farmers to increase yields while conserving land, and is not only carbon-neutral but actually absorbs CO2. What is this amazing innovation? Dennis Garrity likes to call it a tree. “This is quite a novel concept,” he says. - [Cattle Feed with a Kick](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/cattle-feed-with-a-kick/) - A spicy diet knocks the wind out of methane emissions “If we the humans can enjoy spices, why not animals as well?” asks Abdul Shakoor Chaudhry, a researcher at Newcastle University in the U.K. There’s more than mere fine dining at stake in the question: Chaudhry says that adding curry spices to livestock feed could - [Foam Milk](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/foam-milk/) - Biodegradable styrofoam with a dairy twist There’s no use crying over spilled milk—just turn it into ecofriendly plastic instead. That’s the advice from David Schiraldi of Case Western Reserve University, who has developed a process to make a foam-like material using casein, milk’s most abundant protein, and sodium montmorillonite, a type of clay. The method - [Pork in a Petri](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/pork-in-a-petri/) - Stem-cell technology spurs the advent of in vitro meat Mark Post has never been tempted to taste the “fake” pork that he grows in his lab. As far as he knows, the only person who has swallowed a strip of the pale, limp muscle tissue is a Russian TV journalist who visited the lab this - [Aural Fog](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/aural-fog/) - The sound of oceans warming By Alan Burdick I’m always struck by how quiet ocean documentaries are. One hears the ghostly soundings of whales, of course, the eager pip of dolphins, the clacking of a crab’s claws. But invariably, as if to cover for an awkward and extended natural silence, the sound track swoops in, - [Material World](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/material-world-gallery/) - An unusual library in New York City connects designers, architects, and manufacturers to a new generation of green materials—everything from tree-free paper to sponges that sop up oil spills By Maywa Montenegro and Veronique Greenwood Images and text reprinted with permission, SEED Magazine, February 4, 2010 - [It’s the End of the World As We Know It . . . and I Feel Fine](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/its-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it-and-i-feel-fine/) - Environmentalists have never been very good at predicting the apocalypse, but that doesn’t keep us from trying. Such was the case in 1968, when Paul Ehrlich published The Population Bomb. Seven years later, he warned that hundreds of millions of people would starve due to widespread famine and that society would enter a “genuine age - [Let Them Eat Meat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/let-them-eat-meat/) - By George Monbiot This will not be an easy article to write. I am about to put down 1,200 words in support of a book that starts by attacking me and often returns to this sport. But it has persuaded me that I was wrong. More to the point, it has opened my eyes to - [Raining Lethal Mice](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/raining-lethal-mice/) - In a spectacularly creative effort to rid Guam of an invasive species, the US Department of Agriculture is planning to “bomb” the island’s rainforests with frozen dead mice laced with acetaminophen. The mouse-bombs are meant to target the brown tree snake, an invasive species which has ravaged local wildlife—and angered local residents—since arriving in the - [Swimming into the Wind](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/swimming-into-the-wind/) - Most wind farms today consist of large, propeller-like horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWTs). These turbines must be spaced hundreds of feet apart in expansive wind farms; other-wise, turbulence interferes with power generation. But John Dabiri, head of the Biological Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, has calculated that we could radically shrink the footprint - [Coral Cryogenics](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/coral-cryogenics/) - There’s a lab at the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology where scientists are cataloguing and freezing live reproductive cells, in hopes of one day repopulating the planet with the cryopreserved seeds of extinct or near-extinct species. If this sounds like the opening scene of a disaster flick, that’s because in a way, it is. Dr. - [Taking Solar to the Streets](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/taking-solar-to-the-streets/) - Maybe paving paradise wouldn’t seem quite so bad, if we could put up a solar parking lot. That’s the premise behind an electrical engineer’s vision of bringing the world of rooftop solar photovoltaic panels a little closer down to Earth. Idaho entrepreneur Scott Brusaw started Solar Roadways, a company working to develop durable, shatter-proof solar - [Powerful Pee](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/powerful-pee/) - The shower is well known as a source of good ideas. But the toilet? Equally promising, says Gerardine Botte, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Ohio University who has developed a technology to generate hydrogen fuel from urine. Botte recognized that urine contains two compounds that could be a source of hydrogen: ammonia - [Exit Strategies](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/exit-strategies/) - “We can bury her, burn her, or dump her.” The lucrative business of running funeral homes is rarely as blunt as that portrayed by Monty Python, a British satirical television show, and certainly not a front for cannibalism. But burial rites in most of the modern world remain an expensive relic of 19th-century habit. The - [Intelligence by Design](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/intelligence-by-design/) - By Martin Wells The manifest good nature of dolphins, who have every reason to be leery of people (we swipe their fish, drown them in nets, and sometimes even shoot or spear them), is infectious. One can only hope that these occasional encounters do as much good for the dolphins concerned, because a dolphin that - [The Green Cross](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/the-green-cross/) - By John McQuaid For several weeks after the Deepwater Horizon rig collapsed last April 18, nobody knew how much oil the busted wellhead was releasing into the Gulf of Mexico—only that the quantity was huge. Without that critical data point, there was no way to gauge the growing size or potential impact of the disaster. - [Carbon Accounting](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/carbon-accounting/) - Calculating the amount of carbon in tropical rainforests is a daunting task. Field measurements are expensive and labor-intensive, while satellite images reveal forest cover but not carbon content. Now, a team has demonstrated a relatively low-cost method to create high-resolution maps of tropical-forest carbon stocks and emissions from land use over large areas. The study - [The Path of Least Resilience](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/the-path-of-least-resilience/) - Which ecosystems can be expected to be most resilient to the onslaughts of climate change? The conventional view holds that systems already damaged by other human activities will be less able to withstand additional stresses than pristine counterparts. But a new paper in PLoS Biology argues that such thinking, while intuitively appealing, is sometimes wrong: - [Plastic Plankton](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/plastic-plankton/) - Evidence of humanity’s “plastic footprint” continues to grow, with a new study in Science providing the first documentation of high concentrations of plastic waste in the Atlantic Ocean. Yet researchers say you might sail right through the most-polluted waters and never see much trash—most of the debris consists of small plastic fragments only a few - [The New Porc](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/the-new-porc/) - It’s a long-standing idea: take pressure off wild animals threatened by over-exploitation by encouraging farmers to raise and sell them. A new study from Vietnam, however, suggests that commercial farming is doing more harm than good for a porcupine that’s popular on the dinner plate. That’s partly because some farmers appear to be “laundering” porcupines—buying - [Sound Footprint](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/sound-footprint/) - Downloading an album, it turns out, is substantially greener than acquiring tunes the old-fashioned way. Researchers calculated the amount of energy used and carbon dioxide emitted in six common scenarios for buying a single album in digital or CD form. They accounted for every step of the process, from manufacturing, packaging, and transporting a CD - [Money Can’t Buy Love](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/money-cant-buy-love/) - Wolf conservation has an unwelcome side effect: these carnivores prey on livestock and can breed hostility among rural communities. To address this problem, some regions offer compensation programs that pay residents for losses caused by wolf attacks. But such programs may do little to change people’s mindset about wolves, a new study in Biological Conservation - [Planned Obsolescence](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/planned-obsolescence/) - If it were a game, it could be called climate freeze-tag. A new study finds that freezing construction of all new carbon-emitting machines—and then letting the remaining cars, power plants, and factories run until they rust away—could prevent catastrophic global warming. But such a radical solution would be possible only if we get cracking on - [Turtle Tumors](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/turtle-tumors/) - Researchers may have solved the mystery behind a disease that leaves Hawaiian sea turtles with hideous tumors—and the tracks lead back to land, and to an amino acid called arginine. The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) is an endangered species found around the world, mostly in tropical seas. Off Hawaii, populations have been relatively healthy - [Ant vs. Elephant](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/12/ant-vs-elephant/) - Pitting ants against elephants doesn’t seem like a fair fight. But according to a study in Current Biology, these humble insects can act as mighty “bodyguards” that prevent elephants from munching trees on the African savanna. The idea for the study arose when researchers noticed something strange about savanna satellite images from 2003 and 2008. - [Taming the Blue Frontier](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/taming-the-blue-frontier/) - Ten thousand years ago, humans made the shift on land from hunting and gathering to farming. Now the same transformation is taking place at sea. This time, can we get it right? By Sarah Simpson Illustration by Ira Korman A shipment of 100,000 fresh, sushi-grade cobia, each fish amounting to about five pounds of firm, - [The Mushroom Messiah](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/the-mushroom-messiah/) - Faced with bioterrorism, fuel shortages, and a warming planet, where should we turn for solutions: a) religion, b) technology, or c) fungus? By John Weier Illustration By Pedro Scassa Bearded and burly, Paul Stamets searches the forest on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula like a bloodhound, peering under fallen trees and sniffing inquisitively at the air. - [Purple Pipes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/purple-pipes/) - and other tales of innovative water conservation in unlikely places By Charles Fishman In the rangeland of Australia, sheep get frightfully dirty. They roam the outback among all manner of plants, trees, and scrub; they loll in the dirt; they sleep on the ground; they roll in their own poop. They shower only if it - [Fertility Treatments](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/fertility-treatments/) - When Fritz Haber first showed the world how to fix nitrogen from thin air, the results were earth-shattering. Synthetic fertilizer fueled the green revolution and set off a population bomb. Now, 100 years later, we need another soil fertility breakthrough—one without the ecological casualties. By James McWilliams Every now and then, an innovation comes along - [Zoo Futures](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/zoo-futures/) - Caught between circuses, theme parks, museums, and menageries, zoos are struggling to be leaders in the conservation world. Getting there may mean letting some animals go. By Jon Cohen When the San Diego Zoo opened its gates in 1923, no one could have guessed that the outlandish project of local surgeon Harry Wegeforth would become - [Heirloom Technology](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/heirloom-technology/) - By David Owen We buy and abandon costly, tantalizing, resource-intensive gadgets with remarkable speed. One way to break free is to rethink not only an object’s design but also how we use it. Example? Hand-crank your cell phone. In 2004, Saul Griffith, a young Australian who was working on his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute - [A High-Tech Twist on Carpooling](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/a-high-tech-twist-on-carpooling/) - In the smart cities of tomorrow, a modern take on good-old-fashioned carpooling can make urban living greener and more efficient. Paolo Santi and colleagues at the MIT Senseable City Lab have created a tool called HubCab that calculates the ride-sharing benefits of any given New York City cab trip in terms of money, miles, and - [DIY Glaciers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/diy-glaciers/) - In a desert 13,000 feet above sea level, a remarkable man is taking on the global warming challenge—and winning. By Gaia Vince Chewang Norphel is no ordinary villager. He makes glaciers. Norphel takes a barren, high-altitude desert and turns it into a field of ice that supplies perfectly timed irrigation juice to some of the - [Please Step Out of Your Car](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/please-step-out-of-your-car/) - With imaginative, green ways of getting around the city, cars may finally go the way of the horse and buggy. The car culture in cities is taking its toll on the climate. Urban transportation pumped about 2.3 gigatons of CO2 into the atmosphere in 2010—that’s about one-quarter of all transportation sector emissions. What would happen - [The Future Will Not Be Dry](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/the-future-will-not-be-dry/) - In a world of melting ice caps, storm surges, and tropical cyclones, the most resilient cities aren't the ones that fight the water back—but the ones that absorb it. By Fred Pearce The ramshackle river port of Khulna in southwest Bangladesh is one of the most flood-prone urban areas on Earth. The third-largest city in - [Reality Is Too Confining](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/reality-is-too-confining/) - We know that nature experiences can change environmental behavior—but it turns out those experiences don’t have to be real. By Amy Westervelt A woman peers through goggles embedded in a large black helmet. Forest sounds emanate from various corners of the room: a bird chirping here, a breeze whispering there. She moves slowly around the - [Our Changing Seas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/our-changing-seas/) - Tiny marine organisms painstakingly build expansive coral reefs, one tiny piece of calcium carbonate at a time. Sculptor and ocean advocate Courtney Mattison mimics that process, patiently handcrafting reef pieces one by one, shaping and texturing them with simple tools such as chopsticks, and assembling them into complex colonies. Mattison has constructed a series of - [Bug Art](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/bug-art/) - Steven Kutcher is an artist, an entomologist, a teacher—and a Hollywood bug wrangler. Kutcher got his start in bug art in the 1980s when he was asked to figure out how to make a fly walk through ink and leave footprints for a Steven Spielberg–directed TV project. From there he went on to work with - [Add a Few Species. Pull Down the Fences. Step Back.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/feral-book-review/) - Brandom Keim reviews George Monbiot's Feral The early twenty-first century is a soul-searching moment for conservation. With each new report of vanishing species and dwindling biodiversity, the last century’s great successes grow distant. Fundamental ideals and assumptions, in particular our cherished notions of wilderness, often feel ill-fitted to a crowded planet of more than 7 - [Solar Wind Energy Tower](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/solar-wind-energy-tower/) - It’s solar (sort of). It’s wind (kind of). It’s nuclear (not at all). Imagine climbing to the top of New York City’s One World Trade Center, and then another 500 feet into the sky, and you’ve got an idea of how big the first solar downdraft tower will be. This new idea for clean power generation uses sunlight—sort of—and wind - [Roof Tiles That Soak Up the Smog](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/roof-tiles-that-soak-up-the-smog/) - Picture Los Angeles from above, and a sprawling expanse of rooftops comes to mind. What if all those buildings could clean up some of the city’s infamous smog? Engineering students at the University of California, Riverside, have developed a titanium dioxide roof-tile coating that breaks down smog-producing nitrogen oxides. The students calculated that for five - [Google Methane Mapping](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/google-methane-mapping/) - Methane emerges from cows, melting permafrost, and from fracking wells—threatening to accelerate the greenhouse effect now roasting the planet. One source of this potent, heat-trapping gas that we can more readily control is close to home: the leaky natural gas pipes in aging cities. Environmental Defensive Fund has teamed up with Google Earth Outreach to - [Making Flight Connections](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/making-flight-connections/) - Commercial airplanes will soon track animal migration Every winter, sun-starved residents of cold climes jet off to tropical locales. The same goes for the thousands of migratory species. But the itineraries of many small globe-trotting birds, amphibians, and butterflies are difficult to track with current technology. Soon, the best place to get that data may - [This Entire House Is a Water Filter](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/this-entire-house-is-a-water-filter/) - Hungarian design firm IVANKA is an avant-garde concrete company. Over the past decade, they’ve developed unexpected ways to incorporate this utilitarian material into everything from designer handbags to BMW concept cars. Lately, though, the company is focusing not just on luxury goods but on the most basic of everyday resources: clean water. Their new “bio-concrete” - [The Interspecies Internet](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/the-interspecies-internet/) - Why restrict the Web to one species? By Diane Ackerman At the Toronto Zoo, Matt Berridge, the zoo’s main orangutan keeper, offers Budi, a young orangutan, one of several musical apps—a piano keyboard—and Budi stretches four long fingers through the bars and knuckle-taps an atonal chord, then several more. “There you go! That’s good!” Matt - [How CO2-Committed Are We?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/how-co2-committed-are-we/) - We’re used to hearing about how much CO2 is emitted from power plants each year, but a new paper argues that this sort of accounting misses the big picture. By focusing on “commitment accounting,” researchers calculated the total amount of future emissions expected from all existing power plants over their lifetimes. Instead of measuring actual - [The Low-Carbon Deal That's Almost Too Good to Be True](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/low-carbon-deal-too-good-to-be-true/) - The economics of slashing carbon emissions look significantly better than they did only a few years ago. The New Climate Economy Report and an International Monetary Fund working paper both calculate that climate action would hardly affect economic growth in most countries—and would lead to faster growth in many. The numbers look so good thanks - [Who's Afraid Now?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/whos-afraid-now/) - In predator-human conflicts, the thing we have to fear most is fear itself One afternoon in September, a six-year old boy was hiking with his parents and siblings along a wooded trail in California’s Silicon Valley when a mountain lion leapt toward him. Whether the big cat saw the boy as a meal is uncertain, - [What Food Should Go Nude?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/what-food-should-go-nude/) - And when can packaging actually be good for the environment? If you’re like me, you probably get a bit annoyed when you discover that an item you bought in the grocery store uses too much packaging. It seems like such a waste of plastic and cardboard. From an environmental perspective, wouldn’t it be better to - [The First Edible-Insect Farm](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/the-first-edible-insect-farm/) - In Conservation’s Summer 2014 issue, Daniella Martin laid out a vision of a more eco-friendly fast-food future—one that includes a healthy serving of insects—in her feature story “iHop.” In a big leap forward for this leggy protein source, Big Cricket Farms has opened up the first edible-insect farm in the U.S. in an abandoned warehouse - [Exporting Emissions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/exporting-emissions/) - In “(Natural) Gas Pains” (Conservation, Summer 2013), John Carey reported that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell by about seven percent between 2005 and 2011, due in part to the replacement of coal with natural gas in the nation’s energy mix. For every MWh generated, natural gas emits half the CO2 that coal does. While this - [A Kinder, Gentler Haber-Bosch](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/a-kinder-gentler-haber-bosch/) - The ability to produce ammonia for fertilizer from atmospheric nitrogen (i.e., the Haber-Bosch process) sparked the Green Revolution and sent crop yields soaring. But we know that this breakthrough came with ecological casualties. James McWilliams addressed the nutrient runoff problem in “Fertility Treatments” (Conservation, Spring 2013). But another environmental side effect of industrial fertilizer is - [Not So Itsy-Bitsy Spiders in the City](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/10/city-spiders-getting-bigger/) - Coyotes find cemeteries to be good habitat, urban shrews grow bigger brains, and birds change their tune to be heard over city noise. Sarah DeWeerdt explored these and other surprising urban wildlife adaptations in “Cohabitation” (Conservation, Winter 2014). According to a new study, spiders in the city are adapting to their surroundings, as well—and the - [How to reform a disastrous disaster policy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/politics-of-risk/) - The Politics of Risk by Scott Gabriel Knowles At a Port Monmouth, New Jersey, town hall meeting in February of this year, residents voiced their anger over the slow recovery from Hurricane Sandy. Governor Chris Christie took the opportunity to continue his feud with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the flood protection arm of the Federal Emergency - [The Climate Corporation's hyper-local weather insurance](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/the-climate-corporations-hyper-local-weather-insurance/) - The business of risk by McKenzie Funk A decade ago, when David Friedberg was in his 20s and a product manager at Google, his daily commute took him past a bike-rental business on San Francisco’s Embarcadero. When the sun was out, he noticed, the shop was open. When it rained—and tourists stayed indoors—the shop was closed. - [How much is climate change to blame for extreme weather?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/science-of-risk/) - The science of risk by Maggie Koerth-Baker A lot of journalists think the public can’t possibly comprehend the complicated probability and risk assessments associated with climate change. Myles Allen thinks they’re wrong. There’s not much difference between explaining how climate change could contribute to a specific weather event and explaining how smoking for 50 years could - [Particle Falls](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/06/particle-falls/) - Digital artist Andrea Polli has managed to make air pollution visible—and beautiful. To draw attention to the dust, metals, sulfates, and nitrates spewed out by diesel engines and other sources, she created “Particle Falls.” On display last year, the installation projected air quality data onto the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia in real time. Polli, a - [Did You Hear the One about CO2?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/06/did-you-hear-the-one-about-co2/) - To break down the complexity of climate change, the “world’s first and only stand-up economist” Yoram Bauman (a PhD economist by day) teamed up with illustrator Grady Klein to create The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change. Don’t let the format fool you—this is sophisticated stuff. Bauman and Klein cover everything from Milankovitch cycles to cap-and-trade - [Ocean Floor Mats Send Power to the Surface](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/ocean-floor-mats/) - Sit on a beach long enough, and the sun will set, the wind will die down. But the tides will roll in and out, and the waves will crash ceaselessly. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated that in the U.S. alone, recoverable wave power resources total 1,170 terawatt-hours per year. That’s more than a - [Self-Destructing Trees Make Cheaper Biofuels](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/self-destructing-trees-make-cheaper-biofuels/) - Wood is great for building and heating homes, but it’s the bane of biofuels. When converting plants to fuels, engineers must remove lignin, a key component of wood, to get to the sugary cellulose that’s fermented into energy-rich compounds. This is costly because it normally requires high temperatures and caustic chemicals. Now, researchers in the - [Collapsible Commute](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/collapsible-commute/) - Carrying a bicycle onto a bus or subway for unrideable sections of your carless commute is less than convenient. This is where the Sada Bike fits in. Whereas other foldable bikes have shrunken frames and wheels, the Sada Bike’s full-sized frame folds down to the size of an umbrella; its spokeless, hubless, 26-inch wheels double - [Non-Toxic Flame Retardants Made from Milk](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/non-toxic-flame-retardants-made-from-milk/) - Milk, it is said, does a body good; but what about the clothes that are on that body? New research has shown that milk proteins called caseins, a byproduct of cheese production that normally gets dumped down the sewer, could help make fabrics more flame-retardant. The idea, which is still in its early phases, could - [Citywide Solar](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/mapdwell-solar-system/) - A new tool demonstrates the collective power of urban rooftops Walk at street level through the orderly grid of government buildings in Washington, D.C., and you feel like you’re hemmed in by giant boxes. But look down on it from above, and it looks like a perfect canvas for solar energy. And that’s exactly what - [Agrivoltaics](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/agrivoltaics/) - Farming food and fuel, side by side What is the best way to utilize sunlight—to grow food or to produce fuel? For millennia, the answer was easy: we used solar energy to grow plants that we could eat. Then, in the 1970s, the answer became more complex as fields of photovoltaic panels (PVPs) began popping - [Pace Yourself](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/pace-yourself/) - The virtues of ballparks and beaches By Jeffrey Alan Lockwood My “secret” pleasure in coming to Cape Cod as a nature writer was sneaking out of our idyllic setting in a quaint shack set amid the dunes to watch a baseball game. I’m a fantasy baseball owner, which is a bit like admitting that one - [31 Flavors and Then Some](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/31-flavors-and-then-some/) - There are nearly 1,900 recorded edible insect species on Earth, and counting. How many different types of meat have you sampled in your lifetime? Most people never go beyond the standard dozen-plus basics of chicken, beef, pork, lamb, and maybe five to ten kinds of fish. This is a fairly limited flavor palate—the “beginner box” - [Neuroscience at Sea](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/06/blue-mind-review/) - A review of Wallace J. Nichols's Blue Mind By Erik Vance Imagine for a moment you are somewhere south of Playa del Carmen. It’s hot, and you’ve been in a plane, a bus, and then a taxi all day. You’re tired and grumpy as you check into the hotel with your broken Spanish. Now imagine - [Climate Actuarially: What Are the Odds?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/what-are-the-odds/) - Clear away all the politics and rhetoric, and climate change risk is simply a numbers game. And the insurance industry has a lot of skin in that game. Insurance premiums aren't as sexy as solar cars and smart grids, but they may be more powerful when it comes to changing how people think about climate - [iHop](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/eat-insects-not-cows/) - A radical rethinking of our fast food future: Eat insects, not cows. By Daniella Martin Imagine the fast-food restaurant of the future. With environmental pressures mounting, a growing population to feed, and China calling in its mountain of American debt, farm subsidies have dwindled. Restaurants of the future have to find ways to offset the - [What to Do with Leftovers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/what-to-do-with-leftovers/) - Cities are recycling old and outdated infrastructure in creative new ways Flood the Subway Paris has a wealth of leftovers right beneath its feet: 11 “ghost” subway stations that have been closed since World War II. Recent mayoral candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet has a plan to revitalize these abandoned tunnels into beautiful public spaces. Architects from - [This Forest Is Bugged](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/rainforest-connection/) - Rainforest Connection is a tiny nonprofit launched two years ago in San Francisco by Topher White. White, 32, is “upcycling” used Android smartphones into solar-powered spy gadgets, which he mounts in the canopy of protected forests. The devices record periodic snippets of audio, uploading the clips over the cellular network to his servers, which scan - [Watchmen of the Global Forest](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/global-forest-watch/) - In February, the World Resources Institute launched the first interactive, regularly updated map of the world’s forests. Two years in the making, the Global Forest Watch Web service integrates terabytes of data from a vast archive that includes multiple satellite feeds. It builds on detailed maps of forest change published two years ago in Science - [Spies Like Us](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/spies-like-us/) - Armed with low-cost surveillance technologies, nonprofits aided by “citizen spies” are tracking fracking in Pennsylvania, flaring in North Dakota, and rogue fishing around Easter Island By W. Wayt Gibbs It’s a pitch-dark evening in November, and a gaggle of knitters are chatting around a table in the Yarnability knitting shop in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, a - [Climate Change Attitudes Are as Variable as the Weather](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/climate-change-attitudes-are-as-variable-as-the-weather/) - All politics is local, and so, it turns out, are climate change attitudes. People’s perception of climate change is also heavily influenced by what’s happening with their neighborhood weather, researchers say—and that could have troubling implications for the world’s ability to promptly embrace effective climate policies. Social scientists have long recognized that, to a certain - [Too Many Butts on the Beach](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/cigarette-butts-beach-pollution/) - With smokers flicking an estimated 4.5 trillion cigarette butts into the ecosphere each year, it’s time take a tougher stand against the toxin-laden litter, researchers say. The paper tubes are essentially mini Superfund sites laced with pesticides, heavy metals, and formaldehyde, explain Thomas E. Novotny and Elli Slaughter of California’s San Diego State University in - [Is It Contagious?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/is-it-contagious-2/) - Disease can spread from animals to humans—and back again In September 2012, a man with pneumonia was admitted to a hospital in Saudi Arabia. His doctors identified the source of his infection as a type of coronavirus new to medicine. These viruses are found around the world in bats, birds, cats, dogs, pigs, mice, horses, - [Diesel vs. Electric Buses](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/06/diesel-vs-electric-buses/) - When my young granddaughter plays with her toys, she makes the typical growling “rrrrr” noise for the sound of her cars and trucks but a “whoosh” sound for her toy bus. This puzzled me at first, but then I realized that the city she lives in has mass transit buses powered by rechargeable electric batteries. - [Dietary Restrictions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/dietary-restrictions/) - “The Chinese do eat probably the world’s greatest diversity of beasts,” wrote Craig Simons in his Fall 2013 feature story “Chinese Takeout.” And with China’s population growing, these culinary preferences pose serious risks to biodiversity. The country’s government, however, is beginning to crack down on treasured wildlife on the menu. The Chinese newswire Xinhua reported - [Solar Is Big­—and Cheap—in Texas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/solar-is-big-and-cheap-in-texas/) - Over the past several years, an unexpected flood of cheap natural gas has taken a bite out of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. But natural gas is still a fossil fuel. As John Carey explained in “Gas Pains” (Conservation, Summer 2013), renewable energy sources need to reach price parity with gas in order for it to - [Conservation and Poverty Reduction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/conservation-and-poverty-reduction/) - Ever since conservationists started to marry protected area management with social programs, the relationship has been rocky and ill-defined. In “Conservation and Poverty” (Conservation, Spring 2011), Fred Pearce explored economic advancement in biodiverse regions. A recent study looked at communities in Costa Rica whose welfare improved after protected areas were established nearby. (1) Economists found - [Does Wood Construction Benefit the Climate?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/does-wood-construction-benefit-the-climate/) - In the “Think Again” section of Conservation’s Summer 2012 issue, Sarah DeWeerdt laid out the carbon-storing virtues of using wood in skyscraper construction (“Tall Wood”). According to a new study, the benefits of using more wood in building and bridge construction are multiplied when you account for the energy- and emission-intensive steel and concrete that - [Free the Seed](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/07/open-source-seed-initiative/) - In “Closed Source Crops” (Conservation, Summer 2011), Paul Salopek explored how a handful of large corporations are laying the groundwork to control the genetic data of our major food crops. This consolidation of the seed industry has broad implications for biodiversity and food security in a warming world. Now a group of plant breeders, farmers, - [We Need a Fixer (Not Just a Maker) Movement](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/need-fixer-movement/) - By Clive Thompson Madison Sheffield cracks open a toaster oven, jams her hand inside, then turns on the power. It looks like she’s about to electrocute herself, but she seems unfazed. “Thermostat or heating element?” Sheffield mutters, yanking on wires and poking around with a multimeter. “Why isn’t this working?” She isn’t the only one - [Migrating Murals](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/migrating-murals/) - It’s rare to catch a glimpse of the endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep that migrate up and down the craggy peaks of eastern California. But artist Jane Kim is on a mission to increase their visibility. She has memorialized the species in five picturesque murals along California’s Highway 395, a travel corridor for both humans - [The IPCC Report in Haiku](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/ipcc-report-haiku/) - Brevity is the soul of wit. In that spirit, NOAA oceanographer Greg Johnson distilled the 2,000-plus pages of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report into 19 watercolor-illustrated haiku poems of 17 syllables each. The complete series can be viewed at daily.sightline.org/2013/12/16/the-entire-ipcc-report-in-19-illustrated-haiku. ©Greg Johnson - [Metamorphosis](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/metamorphosis/) - Gabby Wild inhabits a fierce, rugged environment: the fashion jungle. The supermodel, animal activist, and Cornell University veterinary student combines her passions for high fashion and wildlife to benefit conservation and research around the world. Her work includes modeling species-inspired outfits and producing eco-couture fashion shows at universities and zoos around the country. The photo - [How Evolution Shapes Our Loves and Fears](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/evolution-shapes-loves-fears/) - See a snake, and many of us shiver. Hear a symphony, we sigh. A stroll through a garden can bring comfort and pleasure. But why? In his slim but rich new book Snakes, Sunrises, and Shakespeare, Gordon Orians, a professor emeritus of biology at the University of Washington in Seattle, explores how evolution has shaped - [How Many Species Can You Find in That Soup?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/dna-metabarcoding/) - DNA metabarcoding can pick out thousands Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus revolutionized biology in the 1700s with his system for classifying every creature on Earth. But collecting and cataloguing the planet’s myriad life forms has been a laborious, slow process. Now, a blender and some emerging genetic techniques could change all that, allowing researchers to track - [An Anti-Monopoly Take on Land Development](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/landscape-game/) - More than 1 billion people have played the game Monopoly ruthlessly—acquiring land, building on it, and driving opponents into bankruptcy. Herry Purnomo, a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research in Indonesia, wants to redirect that competitive drive. So he created the Landscape Game. Players must figure out how to manage different land types - [No-Crossing Zones](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/banff-railroad-electromats/) - New technology keeps bears out of harm's way At 8:45 on an October night in 2012, two yearling grizzly bears prowling the railroad tracks in Banff National Park were struck and killed by an oncoming train. In Banff, death on the rails is all too common: while the park has famously addressed its roadkill problem - [Striking a Deal with the Weed from Hell](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/water-hyacinth-in-kings-bay/) - The scene at Florida’s Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge in Kings Bay last October would have been familiar to anyone who has ever engaged in the battle to control the spread of invasive plants. Eager volunteers scurried about the shoreline of this manatee wintering ground, carting large plastic bins stuffed with water hyacinth, a notorious - [City in a Garden](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/city-garden/) - Chicago's aesthetically challenged seal and prescient motto By Curt Meine [read_later_buttons] On March 4, 1837, the Illinois legislature approved Chicago’s proposal for incorporation, and the lakeside village of 4,170 souls officially became a city. That June, the city adopted its official seal, one of those wonderfully cluttered montages of symbols that nineteenth-century Americans did so - [The European Green Belt](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/european-green-belt/) - From Death Strip to Lifeline The Iron Curtain divided the European continent for over 40 years. Although tensions ran high during that time, wildlife in the vicinity of the dividing line found refuge. The border region, largely off-limits, saw little agriculture or development; thus large swaths of undisturbed natural habitat containing many threatened species were - [Where Humans Fear to Tread](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/humans-fear-tread/) - Paradoxically, decades of chronic warfare in disputed border zones have created de facto nature reserves. What happens when peace breaks out? By Dan Drollette Jr. [read_later_buttons] No matter where you go or what you do in Vietnam, there are echoes of war. Go into a night spot, and you discover that the most popular chain - [The Ecological Creed of Craft Beer](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/sustainable-practices-in-craft-brewing/) - A time-honored artisanal endeavor is quietly articulating a 21st century version of industrial production By James McWilliams [read_later_buttons] From the outside, the New Belgium Brewery, located on 50 acres near downtown Fort Collins, Colorado, appears to be an environmentalist’s dreamscape. Company-issued bicycles surround the facility. A parking lot next to the brew house has an electric - [The Kingdom of Robots](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/biomimetic-robots/) - Biomimetic robots are coming by land, by air, and by sea There’s a new taxonomy in the making. A fleet of species-inspired machines is rolling, flying, and swimming into hard-to-reach places to monitor CO2, track marine life, and even pollinate crops. The Tumbleweed Robot (above), developed by Israeli industrial designer Shlomi Mir, helps researchers - [Nations Have Carved Up the Ocean. Now What?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/aquaculture-in-us-federal-waters/) - The U.S. has laid claim to 2.5 billion acres of coastal seas, but that vast area produces very little seafood for Americans. Therein lies a dilemma: should the U.S. cultivate giant offshore fish farms in its piece of the sea or keep taking most of the fish we eat from foreign waters? By Paul Greenberg - [Sprawl Wipes Out Carbon Savings of Dense Cities](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/sprawl-wipes-carbon-savings-dense-cities/) - People living in tightly packed cities tend to have smaller carbon footprints. But a new study suggests that simply increasing population density isn’t the answer to climate change woes. While it’s true that urban households generate fewer emissions, sprawling suburbs that sprout up around cities cancel out those greenhouse gas savings. The researchers estimated household - [Score One for the Really Old Guys](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/trees-grow-faster-with-age/) - Aging is generally associated with slowing down. But scientists have found that trees actually grow faster as they get older, making them star players in a forest’s carbon storage. In fact, one old tree can fix as much carbon in a year as the total amount of carbon in a “middle-aged” tree. Researchers measured 673,046 - [Cows vs. Coal](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/cows-vs-coal/) - To reduce emissions, the usual thinking goes, we should promote alternative energy and declare war on coal. But researchers argue that policymakers are ignoring a crucial climate threat: cows. Cows release methane as part of their digestive process, and this greenhouse gas is a major contributor to global warming. It also lingers in the atmosphere - [Electric Vehicles Have Little Impact on U.S. Emissions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/electric-vehicles-little-impact-u-s-emissions/) - In a modeling study, researchers at North Carolina State University found that, even if electric drive vehicles (EDVs) made up 42 percent of U.S. passenger vehicles by 2050, there would be little or no reduction in the emission of key air pollutants such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, or nitrogen oxide. One reason for this: - [Do Animated Animals on the Big Screen Promote Conservation on the Ground?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/do-animated-animals-promote-conservation/) - What does the Spix’s macaw have in common with the ring-tailed lemur, the rockhopper penguin, and the green sea turtle? For one thing, the IUCN lists each of those species as threatened or near-threatened. For another, they’ve all been featured in highly successful animated motion pictures with environmental themes within the past decade. In the - [Butter Is Toast](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/butter-vs-margarine-environmental/) - . . . in an environmental showdown with margarine My father-in-law was in the dairy business for over 40 years, and—as might be expected—he had nothing good to say about margarine. He called it a synthetic product of the chemical industry. Butter, of course, was natural and therefore better. I mischievously delighted in pointing out - [Could Geoengineering Take the Rain out of the Rainforest?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/geoengineering-take-rain-rainforest/) - Pumping reflective particles into the atmosphere might cool down the planet, but what other consequences could it have? In A Case for Climate Engineering, physicist David Keith argued for a concerted research program into the effects of such a geoengineering plan, known as solar radiation management. Dave Levitan reviewed the book in Conservation’s previous issue - [Solar Crowdfunding Goes Global](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/solar-crowdfunding-goes-global/) - Last fall, Conservation ran a story on the innovative company Mosaic and its model for crowdfunding large solar power installations. Individuals can invest small amounts in specific projects, pocketing returns when the new solar array starts producing clean energy (“Solar Power to the People” by Dave Levitan). Mosaic recently won $1 million through Verizon’s Powerful - [The Microbe-Friendly Office](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/microbe-friendly-office/) - In the constant struggle to deal with environmental change, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: don’t count out the little guys. Microbes, that is. In Conservation’s previous issue, Richard Conniff described how some microbes can clean up toxic waste and boost crop yields (“The Next Big Thing Is Really Really Small”). And back in Fall - [Making Guitars in Tune with Nature](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/03/making-guitars-tune-nature/) - In Conservation’s Winter 2013 issue, Fred Pearce wrote about how barcoding tropical timber could help ensure that wood import-ed to western markets was harvested in an environmentally and socially responsible way (“Logging by Number”). Through the Lacey Act, the U.S. has begun cracking down on importing illegally harvested timber, fining Gibson Guitars in 2011 for - [How to decide between a white or green roof](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/01/decide-white-green-roof/) - Black roofs are out, and white and green roofs are in. But which environmentally-friendly option gives you the most bang for your buck? Roofing has become an environmental and public health issue in cities because commonly-used dark roofs absorb sunlight, heating the building and driving up air-conditioning use and heat-related deaths. In contrast, white roofs - [The environmental cost of collecting seashells](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2014/01/environmental-cost-collecting-seashells/) - It’s a normal part of summer vacation: Head to the beach, pick up a few seashells, and take them home as keepsakes. But multiply this innocent activity by millions of tourists and we might have a big problem, researchers warn in PLOS ONE. Skyrocketing numbers of beachcombers are pocketing seashells, and the environmental effects could - [Eco-label makes coffee taste better](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/eco-label-makes-coffee-taste-better/) - Mmm, that environmentally-friendly coffee tastes good. Or does it? According to a study in PLOS ONE, people presented with two cups of coffee are more likely to prefer the taste of the eco-labelled one — even if the brews are in fact identical. Many studies have shown that our sense of taste can be hijacked - [The secret to long-lasting strawberries](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/secret-long-lasting-strawberries/) - The next time you bite into a juicy strawberry, thank the bees. According to a new study, these crop-pollinating insects help improve the fruit’s shelf life, thus reducing food waste. Bees play a huge role in agriculture. Animals pollinate about three-quarters of the world’s most important crops, and fruits in particular often rely on bee - [Follow Me](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/technology-reshaping-relationships-with-species/) - The wired wild is reshaping our relationships with other species By Emily Anthes [read_later_buttons] Last December, wolf 832F ventured out of her territory in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley. As soon as she left the park, she lost its protections; the wolf, a six-year-old alpha female, was shot and killed by a hunter. It’s rare for the - [Fold It](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/fold-the-flock/) - It’s not as complex as protein folding, but The Lost Bird Project’s new initiative is no less worthy. They’re rebuilding a flock of passenger pigeons—with origami. The group’s previous projects have included outsized bronze sculptures of five extinct birds and a documentary film. Its new project, Fold the Flock, aims to connect even more people - [The Alien Aesthetic](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/alien-weeds-art/) - For some, invasive plants are the scourge of the landscape. For others, they are tasty ingredients in creative new cuisine. And for Patterson Clark, they’re a local and abundant source of art supplies. Clark, a Washington, D.C.–based artist and author of a Washington Post urban natural history column, creates pens, inks, brushes, paper, printing blocks—and - [We Are as Gods. We Might as Well Get Good at It.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/case-for-climate-engineering-review/) - A review of David Keith's A Case for Climate Engineering By Dave Levitan [read_later_buttons] Humans are not particularly good at creating some new bit of technological wizardry and then saying, “Wait; that looks dangerous. No, thanks.” Geoengineering brings us face to face with this particular human foible. Should we intentionally tinker with the climate so - [A Blobfish Walks into a Bar](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/ugly-animal-preservation-society/) - Stand-up comedians support aesthetically challenged species Simon Watt thinks we focus too much on attractive mammals when we talk about extinction. “We have a tendency to focus on giant pandas and forget how big the problem really is,” says the British TV science presenter. “As a result, we think there are only a few endangered - [Concrete's Cleaner Afterlife](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/recycling-concrete/) - The business of demolition elevates its green profile The modern age is built upon concrete. Concrete is cheap to make, easy to transport, and highly formable—making it a ubiquitous and universal feature of the developed landscape. But unlike building materials that defined past eras, concrete doesn’t exactly stand up to the test of time. Concrete - [Synthetic Cactus Needles Draw Oil out of the Ocean](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/synthetic-cactus-needles-draw-oil-ocean/) - Researchers looking for a better way to clean up oil spills are taking a cue from the humble cactus. A new study shows that synthetic needles based on those of the desert plant can take up oil droplets from the ocean much as the cactus takes up water from the air. Cactus needles have a - [How Beer Money Can Help Save a Nation’s Water Supply](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/paramos-water-funds/) - By Fred Pearce [read_later_buttons] Leaving the plane at the Bogotá airport, the first signs you see beside the moving walkway to the baggage hall are advertising Aguila beer. It is the top brand from Colombia’s monopoly brewery, owned by the people who supply America with Miller Lite. But with the local market sewn up, the - [Close Quarters](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/close-quarters/) - Where does the wild end and the city begin? By Lyanda Lynn Haupt [read_later_buttons] It sounds like an urban myth, but it isn’t. One day a lost coyote wandered into downtown Seattle. It was promptly discovered by a group of crows, who hate coyotes for their habit of preying on crow fledglings. The crows began - [Accidental Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/accidental-conservation/) - Golden-headed lion tamarins are an endangered species turned invasive, thriving in the suburbs of Rio. They are not as wild as they might be elsewhere, but not tame either. Are we okay with that? By James Barilla [read_later_buttons] The highway that leads from the airport into the center of Rio is, according to Rob, known - [Cohabitation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/cohabitation/) - Cities are one of the fastest growing habitat types for people—and wildlife. And increasingly diverse urban ecosystems are inspiring creative living arrangements. By Sarah DeWeerdt To the human eye, a city looks like unpromising habitat for wildlife: a jumble of asphalt, chain link, and scraggly weeds—hardly fit even for a starling. But animal species often have - [The Next Big Thing Is Really Really Small](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/10-ways-microbes-save-world/) - 10 ways the microbial universe could change how we go about saving species, habitats—and even the planet. By Richard Conniff [read_later_buttons] When the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in 2010, spilling 4.9 million barrels of petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico, the television cameras focused mostly on mopping-up efforts by human responders. But beneath the - [Fill in the Cracks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/carbon-sequestration-marcellus-shale/) - Fracking opens up space for CO2 sequestration University of Virginia researchers have proposed using the same cracks created by fracking engineers to extract natural gas from shale to sequester carbon dioxide. When they ran the numbers for the Marcellus shale formation, which stretches 600 miles across the eastern U.S., they found that the storage potential - [Which View Do You Prefer?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/biodiversity-perceived-ugly/) - Biodiversity falls short in "likes" Encounters with nature bring many benefits to urban dwellers. But dedicating space to native species can be a hard sell. In an exploratory study in Sweden, visitors to a large city park were asked to rate the attractiveness of its different habitat types. The park’s main walking trail dissected sections - [Dye Out](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/fique-plant-cleans-up-dye/) - Fique plant fibers vanquish toxic dyes Near textile factories in China and India, rivers run pink, purple, and blue. They’re contaminated with clothing dyes dumped into waterways instead of being sent to treatment plants. “You can find out what color is in fashion in New York by looking at the water in those areas,” says - [Damaged Goods](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/people-dont-recycle-damaged-stuff/) - People avoid recycling torn and dented stuff Researchers have found that people tend to trash products that have been modified somehow during use—for example, torn or dented. If the product still looks relatively untouched, they’re more likely to recycle it. To reach this conclusion, the team first analyzed the contents of recycling and garbage bins - [4 Quadrillion Calories Added](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/4-quadrillion-calories-added/) - The recipe: Shift the meat-to-plant ratio Can farmers feed an additional 4 billion people with current levels of crop production? A team from the University of Minnesota tackled the problem by shifting the definition of agricultural productivity from the standard measure (tons per hectare) to the number of people fed per hectare. They then audited - [Solar Suburbs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/solar-suburbs/) - Suburbs get a bad rap for environmental irresponsibility. But they may shine when it comes to renewable energy production. In a simulation of energy captured by rooftop photovoltaic panels in Auckland, New Zealand, fewer net kilowatts were generated in central business districts and industrial zones than in outlying areas. All those towering buildings were capped - [3D Printer Test](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/3d-printer-test/) - Is "made to order" greener than mass manufacturing? With a 3D printer, you can now make everything from a child’s toy to an iPhone case to a kitchen gadget at home. Just download a design file and feed a spool of spaghetti-like plastic into the machine: the printer will build the object from the bottom - [Saving for the Future](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/saving-future/) - Nature discourages shortsightedness How can we convince people to conserve resources for the sake of future generations? Showing them pictures of nature might do the trick, according to a new study. In contrast, seeing photos of cities could make people less likely to favor long-term investments in our planet’s health. The authors, based in the - [False Scents](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/diesel-exhaust-honeybee-scents/) - Diesel exhaust keeps bees from flowers Air pollution may be giving bees the equivalent of a stuffed-up nose. According to a study in Scientific Reports, diesel exhaust distorts the scents of flowers—and as a result, honeybees could have trouble sniffing out plants to pollinate. By some estimates, about 35 percent of the world’s food crop - [The Footprint of Restroom Hand Dryers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/footprint-of-restroom-hand-dryers/) - 1. Push button 2. Rub hands gently under warm air 3. Wipe hands on pants Who hasn’t seen the instructions for heated-air hand dryers in public restrooms defaced with this practical advice? These types of hand dryers seem to be universally loathed, but that’s too bad: a recently published comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of - [New Measurements of Methane Leakage from Fracking Wells](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/new-measurements-methane-leakage-fracking-wells/) - The recent natural gas boom in the U.S. has contributed to a 20-year low in the country’s CO2 emissions, and the vast supply of this fuel could create a bridge to a low–carbon energy future. John Carey explored this idea in our Summer 2013 cover story, “Gas Pains.” One key outstanding question is how much methane, - [A Giant Green XPRIZE](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/wendy-schmidt-xprize/) - Driving innovation with big cash prizes has become an increasingly popular method for solving tough environmental problems. Marc Gunther reported on this trend in our Summer 2012 cover story, “The Best Ideas Money Can Buy.” The XPRIZE Foundation continues to up the ante in the prize arena. This September, it announced the $2 million Wendy - [Bike Share Hazards](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/bike-share-hazards/) - In his review of If Mayors Ruled the World (“Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities,” Fall 2013), Richard Conniff wrote about a popular bike-sharing program in Paris and how the idea has spread to other cities around the world. Since its introduction, the pioneering Vélib’ system has helped reduce transportation’s toll on the environment: more than 500 - [A Chicken-and-Egg First](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/12/houbara-bustard-from-chicken-egg/) - In “Ditto” (Summer 2013), Emily Anthes recounted scientists’ progress in cloning endangered cats by using ordinary house cats as surrogates. In another step forward for wildlife reproductive technology, scientists at the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dubai have successfully hatched a rare bird from the egg of a domestic chicken. (1) The researchers transferred embryos - [The Crooked Path from Farm to Fork](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/gentrification-urban-agriculture/) - Gentrification and urban agriculture By James McWilliams The cultural—and agricultural—quest to reclaim and reform the food system appeals primarily to relatively privileged, mostly white urbanites. Committed to the pulse of city life, these advocates generally view the countryside as a place for weekend getaways. Still, they want to be close to the point of food - [Whale Migration in Dymax](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/whale-migration-dymaxion-map/) - A new take on Buckminster Fuller’s iconic map Seventy years ago, Buckminster Fuller’s icosahedral “Dymaxion Map” (or Fuller Projection Map) first appeared in Life magazine. The innovator and technologist, perhaps best known for inventing the geodesic dome, developed this projection of the earth so that land masses were distorted very little and no continents were - [Microbial Bebop](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/microbial-bebop/) - Music in the key of algae In the age of Big Data, making sense of the information deluge is no small feat. But biologist and jazz-music fan Peter Larsen of Argonne National Lab thinks he has a powerful way to capture the complex interplay between microbial life and the physical environment: bebop music. Larsen’s data-driven - [Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/if-mayors-ruled-the-world/) - Richard Conniff reviews If Mayors Ruled the World by Benjamin Barber On opposite sides of the Israeli-Palestinian border a few years ago, toward the rancorous end of the latest intifada, two municipalities found themselves at odds over an utterly mundane problem. Sewage was contaminating groundwater for both Tulkarm, on the Palestinian side, and Emek Hefer, in Israel—and also - [Fishing Nets into Carpet Tiles](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/fishing-nets-into-carpet-tiles/) - Danajon Bank in the Philippines, a biodiverse region that’s home to nearly 200 threatened species, is one of only six double barrier reefs in the world. But the coral reefs have taken a hit from unsustainable fishing practices and “ghost fishing,” a phenomenon in which discarded nets entangle—and kill—sea turtles, fish, and other marine life. - [To the Bat Bunker!](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/bat-bunker/) - Cold War–era military shelter promises fungus-free hibernation How do you protect bats from the fungus that has already killed millions of animals and threatens several species with extinction? A Cold War–era military bunker that once held a 40,000-pound nuclear warhead might provide some answers. The 80-foot-long bunker—part of the decommissioned Loring Air Force Base—is located - [Solar Power to the People](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/solar-power-to-the-people/) - Where crowdfunding meets Wall Street, a new model for financing solar Could we interest you in investing in the clean energy revolution? The annual return is 4.5 percent or above, and you can get in for as little as $25. So goes the pitch from the San Francisco–based start-up Mosaic—formerly Solar Mosaic. The company doesn’t - [How desperation, iPads, and real-time data revived a fishery](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/ecatch/) - When The Nature Conservancy, the nation’s largest environmental group, came into Morro Bay, California, in 2006 and bought out all the fishing rights—effectively closing millions of acres of marine habitat to fishing almost overnight—it was every fisherman’s worst nightmare. But then something interesting happened. TNC began leasing fishing rights back to fishermen, provided they followed - [Nature’s Prime Number Generators](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/cicadas-prime-numbers/) - The cicada timing riddle By David Rothenberg It’s the slowest sonic beat in the animal world. It’s a sound that can be used to mark the phases of a human life. It’s a mathematical conundrum, an unearthly wonder of animal sound. The cloud of insect music you can barely recall. When you last heard it, - [Chinese Takeout](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/chinese-takeout/) - The Chinese probably eat the world’s greatest diversity of wild beasts. As their national appetite grows, American biologists are wondering, where have all the turtles gone? By Craig Simons There is an often repeated Chinese joke that says, “In southern China people eat everything on four legs except tables, everything that flies except planes, and - [TV as Birth Control](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/tv-as-birth-control/) - How to defuse the population bomb: Provide people with a steady diet of soap operas and reality TV shows that depict modern, urban lifestyles. New research makes a compelling case that when TV ownership rises, fertility falls. By Fred Pearce Earlier this year Stanford human geographer Martin Lewis asked his students a simple question: How - [Precision Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/precision-conservation/) - If we treat agricultural pollution with a scalpel instead of a hatchet, we might have a fighting chance of cutting the flow of fertilizers into rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. By John Carey When Katie Songer started cold-calling farmers in Wisconsin’s Pleasant Valley in 2008, she was the messenger for an uncomfortable truth. It wasn’t just - [Put It Where the Sun Don’t (always) Shine](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/best-sites-for-clean-energy/) - Siting clean energy facilities to maximize CO2 reduction Deciding where to install wind turbines and solar panels seems straightforward: pick gusty and sunny spots. But researchers say the problem is a bit more complicated. To get the most emissions reductions and health benefits, the U.S. may need to focus its clean-energy efforts on some unlikely - [Gold mining with sugar instead of cyanide](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/gold-mining-with-sugar/) - One evening in October 2011, Zhichang Liu performed a simple chemistry experiment. Liu, a chemist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, wanted to investigate the properties of sugar molecules derived from starch by mixing them with a gold-containing solution. To his surprise, a pale brown suspension quickly formed. When he examined the brown chemical with - [UV Protection](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/uv-lights-reduce-turtle-bycatch-2/) - Nets fitted with ultraviolet lights reduce turtle bycatch Researchers have devised a simple but effective way to reduce the number of turtles accidentally caught by fishing nets: illuminate the nets with ultraviolet lights. When fishing boats gather fish such as flounder, they often pick up sea turtles as well. This bycatch is “a barrier to - [Surprise Delivery](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/old-pregnancy-test-frog-fungus/) - Old pregnancy testing method triggered spread of deadly frog fungus In the 1930s, South Africa began shipping frogs around the world for an unusual purpose: human pregnancy tests. While it may seem bizarre compared to today’s tame practice of peeing on a stick, doctors used to test for pregnancy by injecting a woman’s urine into - [The Cost of Clean Greens](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/the-cost-of-clean-greens/) - Food safety measures on farms could damage wildlife habitat Fears of bacterial contamination have risen ever since a high-profile 2006 outbreak of dangerous Escherichia coli in spinach cost the industry hundreds of millions of dollars. Under pressure from corporate buyers, farmers have taken steps to keep wild animals away from crops—for example, by clearing nearby - [Weed Killer](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/pot-farm-pesticides-poison-fishers/) - Pesticides from pot farms poison fishers The marijuana industry may seem far removed from the world of carnivore conservation. But scientists have discovered that in the remote reaches of California’s Sierra National Forest, pesticides on illegal pot farms are poisoning threatened animals called fishers, members of the weasel family. The first clues emerged in 2009, - [How Green Is Grocery Delivery?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/how-green-is-grocery-delivery/) - Younger readers might be astonished to learn that until just 40 or 50 years ago, milk, cheese, and even ice cream were customarily delivered to your doorstep by the local dairy. The “milkman” of years past is now largely extinct, but in his place we are starting to see more and more grocery stores offering - [Environmental Solutions Get the Google Bump](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/environmental-solutions-get-the-google-bump/) - Energy from high-altitude winds just got a big boost from Google. In our Winter 2013 issue, Eric Wagner covered the wind power innovators at Makani Power, describing the company’s “enormous, tricked-out kite” that harnesses stronger gales high above the ground (“High-Altitude Wind Power”). Google announced its purchase of Makani Power in May, just days after - [The Walls Are Alive](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/the-walls-are-alive/) - The cover story of our Winter 2009 issue, “The Mushroom Messiah,” lays out five ways in which mushrooms could solve some of the world’s most pressing problems. Since we ran the story, the list of mushroom miracles continues to grow. Now, from the company that brought you mycelium-based packaging (see “Repacking the Future,” Summer 2012), - [The Green Concrete of Ancient Rome](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/the-green-concrete-of-ancient-rome/) - Cement is one of the most energy-intensive materials to produce, so reducing its CO2 footprint could make a significant difference in the climate change equation. In “Cementing the Future” (Winter 2011), Eli Kintisch described how Stanford geologist Brent Constantz was looking to nature—specifically, the way marine organisms create carbonate shells—to develop a carbon-negative cement. Other - [Slime Mold Just Got Smarter](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/slime-mold-just-got-smarter/) - In our photo essay on nature-inspired design (“Design Genius,” Fall 2011), we described how the slime mold Physarum polycephalum can “map out” efficient road networks. It turns out they could one day be central to efficient computing as well. More and more, researchers are looking to alternative materials that make electronics cheaper, faster, and more efficient. - [Mapping the Great Land Grab](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/09/mapping-the-great-land-grab/) - In our Spring 2012 issue, Gaia Vince reviewed Fred Pearce’s eye-opening book about how the world’s super-wealthy are buying up large swaths of land in the developing world (“Hungry for Land: A Review of The Land Grabbers”). Now a recently revised online database and visualization tool is making these often closed-door deals more transparent. Land - [There Goes the Neighborhood](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/urban-wildlife-comeback/) - A surprising wildlife comeback sets off new nature wars By Jim Sterba It is very likely that in the eastern U.S. today, more people live in closer proximity to more wildlife than anywhere else on Earth at any time in history. There are greater concentrations of wildlife elsewhere in the world, and they have been - [Holding Water](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/holding-water/) - A cabinet modeled after snowpack data Artist Adrien Segal has transformed cold, hard data about snow into an undulating wood sculpture. Segal started with 31 years of snowpack measurements recorded by a SNOTEL sensor at Ebbetts Pass in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. The SNOTEL (short for “snowpack telemetry”) network, operated by the USDA’s National Water - [Fleeting Beauty](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/fleeting-beauty/) - Jim Denevan’s large-scale sand art makes a big visual impact—not an environmental one. Denevan often walks miles to create a single drawing. That it will get washed away by the next tide is part of its beauty and appeal; it’s art that’s at the same time both colossal and humble. His work has been featured - [Gathering Emotional Intelligence](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/animal-wise-review/) - Jason G. Goldman reviews Virginia Morell's Animal Wise It was just after six o’clock in the evening on an autumn day in Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve. A researcher watched a female elephant known as Eleanor collapse. She was a matriarch, an elder within female-dominated elephant society. Her swollen trunk dragged on the ground. One of - [Fingerprinting Fracking Fluid](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/fingerprinting-fracking-fluid/) - New tracers could resolve water contamination questions Oil and gas companies drilled a total of 1,365 “unconventional” natural gas wells . . . just in Pennsylvania . . . just in 2012. “Unconventional” means the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was used—which means the drillers sent gallons and gallons of the mystery chemical - [Satellite Tags Made to Order](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/satellite-tags-made-to-order/) - 3-D printing meets fish tracking Conservation biologists want in on the 3-D printing revolution. John Barnes of Australia’s national science agency CSIRO is designing and printing titanium fish tags to help marine biologists study big fish such as marlin, sharks, and tuna. The tags the biologists had been using before were rather crude, one-size-fits-all devices. - [Brick Biotope](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/brick-biotope/) - Bird habitat built into the wall Once a common bird across western Europe, the house sparrow has been squeezed out of its habitat within the past couple of decades. In response to such rapid population declines, Dutch design students Micaela Nardella and Oana Tudose have devised a way to create more space in the urban - [Point, Shoot, Post](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/fluker-posts/) - Crowdsourced monitoring made simple Martin Fluker’s innovation for ecosystem monitoring requires little infrastructure beyond strategically placed wooden posts and some bright green paint. But his grand vision harnesses the power of citizen science and the ubiquity of digital cameras to generate crowdsourced, time-lapse photography of ecologically sensitive landscapes. Fluker, a lecturer in nature-based tourism at - [iTree](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/itree/) - Calculate the value of the urban forest For David Nowak, making urban nature a policy priority requires hard, dollars-and-cents data. Cool interactive maps help, too. Nowak, a research forester with the U.S. Forest Service in Syracuse, New York, is out to provide both. After conducting comprehensive assessments of trees in half a dozen major cities, - [Energy Storage Wars](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/compressed-air-energy-storage/) - Compressed air technology is an underdog to watch In the battle to scale up intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar, the team with the best storage strategy wins. While many companies are banking on new battery technologies to fill the gaps when the wind dies and the sun sets, a few are working - [Night Vision](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/night-vision/) - The world’s first International Dark Sky Island By Paul Bogard The Isle of Sark rises abruptly from the English Channel, 300-foot cliffs topped by dark hedgerow lines and sloping checkerboard greens, looking as if chipped from England and floated out to sea. But that is Sark in daylight; at night, in the dark, Sark nearly - [Gas Pains](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/gas-pains/) - The recent natural gas boom has divided the green community. While some see an environmental train wreck, others envision a bridge to wind and solar. Either way, the transition to a zero carbon energy future could get uncomfortable. By John Carey Climate change may be one of the biggest threats facing humankind, but the United - [Visualizing Carbon](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/visualizing-carbon/) - For Antony Turner, pictures make a story come alive—and in the climate change story, one of the main characters is invisible. In 2009, together with artist/scientist Adam Nieman, he founded Carbon Visuals to help people “see” the carbon dioxide that’s trapping heat in Earth’s atmosphere. Their strategy: Transform the mass (tons and gigatons) of carbon - [Vino Ecology](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/vino-ecology/) - Some of the best winemaking regions sit on the same real estate as the most biologically rich habitats on Earth. As vineyards are expanding worldwide, so is a new conservation science dedicated to balancing wine with nature. By David Malakoff More than 7,500 years ago, farmers living somewhere in Eurasia performed a miracle of sorts: - [Backyard Leopards](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/backyard-leopards/) - Can big cats and people peacefully coexist? When most people think of backyard wildlife, they imagine squirrels and sparrows. But researchers have discovered much more imposing neighbors living among people in India: wild leopards. The animals frequent many of the same paths taken by humans and often sit in fields of tall crops such as - [Immigration Reform](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/invasive-crabs-help-restore-salt-marshes/) - European green crabs help restore salt marshes on Cape Cod Invasive species are usually the bad guys in conservation. But an invasive crab is helping restore salt marshes on Cape Cod by forcing out more destructive crabs, a new Ecology study suggests. Along the New England coast, fishing has left many marshes bereft of predatory - [Life Is Short](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/swallows-with-short-wings-avoid-cars/) - If you are a swallow with long wings Last summer, behavioral ecologist Charles Brown noticed something odd. He had been collecting road-killed cliff swallows in southwestern Nebraska for three decades, and the number of carcasses seemed to be dropping. “I began to think, you know, we’re not finding as many dead birds as we used - [Empty Forests](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/empty-forests/) - What happens to tropical trees when the animals are gone? Around the world, hunters are emptying tropical forests of wildlife. Gorillas, chimpanzees, leaf monkeys, and gibbons all have fallen prey to people’s hunger for meat. Now, two new studies show that bushmeat hunting affects not just the animals but also the plants they leave behind. - [Metallic Aftertaste](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/warmer-waters-boost-fish-mercury-content/) - Warmer waters could boost mercury content in fish Researchers have found another potential downside to climate change: warmer waters could make fish accumulate more mercury, increasing the health risk to people who eat seafood. As small fish eat tiny marine organisms, a chemical called methylmercury builds up in their bodies. The methylmercury then gets passed - [Rough Ride](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/climate-change-will-increase-turbulence/) - Climate change will increase turbulence on transatlantic flights Airplane passengers flying over the North Atlantic will experience more turbulence by mid-century, according to a study in Nature Climate Change. The link between climate change and bumpy flights may not seem immediately obvious. But global warming is expected to strengthen the jet stream, a channel of - [Heating and Cooling Costs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/chilly-cities-demand-more-energy/) - Chilly cities demand more energy than balmy ones People in Miami can now feel slightly less guilty for using air conditioning in the summer. According to a new study, cooling down hot cities in the U.S. is far less energy-intensive than warming up cold cities. There’s no question that AC eats up a lot of - [Bar Soap vs. Liquid Soap](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/05/bar-soap-vs-liquid-soap/) - Which Is Greener? We all know that scrubbing our hands with soap and water is good for our own health, but how do different soaps stack up in terms of environmental health? A recent study on the environmental impacts of soaps and their associated packaging found that bar soaps have a lower environmental impact than - [Restorative Art](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/restorative-art/) - By Sarah DeWeerdt Artists and ecological restorationists have a lot in common: both work experimentally with materials that are sometimes unpredictable. But there are tensions between art and restoration, too. To be effective as art, a piece has to stand out to human eyes. To be effective as restoration, it has to blend in from - [Loss Aversion](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/loss-aversion/) - Iain Woodhouse, an expert in remote sensing at the University of Edinburgh, spends a lot of time looking at the forests of the world through the eyes of satellites. On the side, though, he’s recently taken an on-the-ground—and, dare we say, painterly—approach to the global problem of deforestation. Seeking a way to visualize forests that - [Which Light Is Greenest?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/which-light-is-greenest/) - Suppose a light bulb burns out in your house and you want to replace it with the most environmentally sustainable option. Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) and light-emitting-diode bulbs (LEDs) use about 75 percent less energy than a comparable incandescent light bulb. Sounds like a no-brainer to use a CFL or an LED, right? Not necessarily. - [Good-bye Sustainability, Hello Resilience](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/good-bye-sustainability-hello-resilience/) - By Andrew Zolli For decades, people who concern themselves with the world’s “wicked problems”—interconnected issues like environmental degradation, poverty, food security, and climate change—have marched together under the banner of “sustainability”: the idea that with the right mix of incentives, technology substitutions, and social change, humanity might finally achieve a lasting equilibrium with our planet - [Coping with Ecological Anxiety](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/coping-with-ecological-anxiety/) - By Emma Marris Chances are good that somewhere in your house—in your fridge or your bathroom, probably—you’ve got a container with the title of Nathanael Johnson’s new book on it: All Natural. It is calming, reassuring, and totally meaningless. The phrase has no regulatory definition; companies can slap it onto whatever perfumed synthetic stew they - [Stepping Off the Grid](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/stepping-off-the-grid/) - Energy-generating tiles harness the power of foot traffic It’s not necessary to jump on Pavegen tiles in order to make them produce energy or light up like fireflies. Simply stepping on them will do. But often people standing on Pavegen tiles—at international festivals and publicity events, in subway stations and school hallways—do find themselves jumping - [Homeostatic Building Façade](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/homeostatic-building-facade/) - Architectural skin regulates indoor temperature by expanding and contracting like muscles New York architectural-material technology firm Decker Yeadon has designed a double-skin glass façade system for large buildings that opens and closes autonomously in response to changes in interior room temperature. Current double-skin façades consist of interior and exterior glass walls with a simple air - [Knowledge Is Power](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/knowledge-is-power/) - Wireless sensor networks could revolutionize energy conservation In Shwetak Patel’s Seattle home, it’s possible to turn on the lights, crank up the heat, and run the dryer—all while getting real-time feedback on the cost of his daily routine on a computer screen. Patel, a computer scientist at the University of Washington, is turning this knowledge - [Pay It Forward](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/pay-it-forward/) - Wildlife premiums incentivize conservation in rural communities Rolex, Cartier, Rolls-Royce . . . Customers always seem willing to pay more for premium brands. Why should wildlife conservation be any different? If companies and governments are going to spend money on carbon credits anyway, will they be willing to pay more to also protect habitats for - [Touch Me Not](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/touch-me-not/) - What a plant feels By Daniel Chamovitz In the early 1960s, Frank Salisbury was studying the chemicals that induce flowering in cocklebur (Zanthium strumarium), a weed found throughout North America and most notorious for its little football-shaped burrs, which are commonly found clinging to hikers’ clothing. To understand how the plant grew, Salisbury and his - [State of Fear](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/state-of-fear-2/) - People in Wisconsin have become more afraid of wolves Gray wolves have bounced back in the U.S. But how do people feel about them? According to a recent study, Wisconsin residents have become more afraid of wolves and more supportive of measures to kill them. The number of gray wolves in Wisconsin more than doubled - [Slime Is the New Silk](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/slime-is-the-new-silk/) - Sustainable fabric from hagfish The hagfish is not exactly a style icon. It’s an ugly, eel-like creature that eats carcasses on the ocean floor and spews slime at its predators. But hagfish-slime fibers could one day be used as a sustainable material for clothing and other textile-based products, researchers say. Hagfish are covered with glands - [Second-Hand Smoke](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/second-hand-smoke/) - Urban birds use cigarette butts to keep parasites away City-dwelling birds have an odd habit of lining their nests with bits of cigarette butts. Now scientists have figured out why: the nicotine in the butts may help keep parasites away. Birds often bring parasite-deterring plants into their nests. Faced with different nesting materials in the - [How to Be Good](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/how-to-be-good/) - Moral appeals may be key to encouraging green behavior How can people be convinced to act in a greener way? Environmental campaigns have tried everything, from extolling the cost savings of cutting electricity use to bemoaning the devastation of our planet. But neither approach may be the most effective, two new studies suggest. Instead, the - [A Dry Subject](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/a-dry-subject/) - Global droughts largely unchanged over 60 years Recent headlines about severe drought in the U.S. and Australia can give the impression that these extreme events have become more common. But according to a study in Nature, the amount of drought worldwide hasn’t changed much within the past six decades. Scientists have predicted that climate change - [Online Survey](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/online-survey/) - Google Street View helps scientists study bird habitat Most people use Google Street View to scope out city roads and buildings. But biologists have found a new purpose for this free, online tool: surveying hard-to-study habitats such as cliffs. The Google Maps Street View feature offers a massive collection of photos, taken along roads around - [Cause of Death](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/03/cause-of-death/) - Invasion of tree-killing beetles linked to rise in human deaths Scientists have long thought that nature is good for human health, but finding strong evidence to support this isn’t easy. Now, a study has linked the decimation of about 100 million trees—killed by the invasive emerald ash borer—to higher rates of cardiovascular- and lower respiratory - [The Origins of Running Shoes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/the-origins-of-running-shoes/) - When you look at an athletic shoe, think oil. Some shoes contain cotton, leather, and/or trace amounts of natural rubber. But what you lace up before pounding the pavement is probably an assortment of industrial chemicals derived from hydrocarbons. Two petroleum-based synthetics—polyester and polyurethane—make up 36 percent of the weight of a typical running shoe, - [Change Your Clothes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/change-your-clothes/) - Fashion with an ecological twist No matter what your style, your clothes make a difference—ecologically, that is. We buy a lot of clothes. In the U.S. alone, 19.4 billion garments were sold in 2011; 97 percent of them were manufactured abroad. We wash a lot of clothes: the average American family runs almost 400 loads - [Are There Too Many People on the Planet?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/are-there-too-many-people-on-the-planet/) - By Peter Kareiva Before you read any further, please answer the question in the headline. Finished? Now read on. I’m guessing that a lot of you answered yes. Now let’s think this through: We have 7 billion people on the planet. Were 5 billion too many? Were 3 billion people too many? Were 1 billion - [Botanicus Interacticus](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/botanicus-interacticus/) - Make music, create a lightshow, and control a computer—with a plant People are not used to thinking about plants as dynamic, responsive, and sensitive beings. Some intrepid botanists have tried talking to their plants, but the foliage never gave much feedback. Yet scientists keep uncovering amazing ways that plants, in their unassuming manner, actually sense - [Collapsible Shipping Containers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/collapsible-shipping-containers/) - A simple design could shrink the energy footprint of moving cargo The worldwide shipping industry—the fleet of giant ships carrying more than half the goods moved around the world each year—owns more than 17 million shipping containers. About 20 percent of those containers are empty, and they’re not always in the right place to be - [Water Bear Inspires Refrigeration-free Storage](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/water-bear-inspires-refrigeration-free-storage/) - Biological samples are fragile: if they’re not kept at cold temperatures, they quickly degrade. And refrigeration in labs and on trucks, planes, and ships is costly and requires a huge amount of energy. The company Biomatrica has developed a solution that allows these fragile materials to be stored at room temperature. The technology mimics the - [A More Transparent Energy Plan](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/a-more-transparent-energy-plan/) - See-through solar cells turn windows into power sources Many people look at skyscrapers and see symbols of human ingenuity and power. Richard Lunt sees actual power—in the form of electricity. Lunt, an engineering professor at Michigan State University, aims to develop solar windows capable of turning tall buildings into zero-emissions power plants. Embedding an electricity-generating - [Let It Be](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/let-it-be/) - Hands-off approach is best for forest recovery after a major storm After a hurricane flattens a forest, people often swoop in to collect the downed trees and clean up the mess. But a new study suggests that nature should just be left alone. Given enough time, trees will regenerate on their own—and human interference could - [Good Job](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/good-job/) - Employees of green companies are more productive Companies that adopt green practices have more-productive workers, according to a new study in the Journal of Organizational Behavior. Past research suggests that committing to environmental standards can improve a company’s financial performance. Magali Delmas, an environmental economist at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Sanja Pekovic, - [Fish with Benefits](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/fish-with-benefits/) - Sustainable seafood is often healthier If you buy eco-friendly fish at the supermarket, you could be doing your body a favor. According to a new study, unsustainably harvested seafood also tends to pose more health risks. Today’s consumers are awash in information about what kind of seafood to buy. Many educational campaigns offer recommendations for - [Tight Squeeze](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/tight-squeeze-2/) - Dense cities are better for birds than urban sprawl Which is better for city birds: densely packed housing or sprawling development? In a new analysis, researchers suggest that compact urban design—even though it leads to smaller yards—is ultimately better for biodiversity. Cities are growing fast, but planners don’t know much about how different types of - [Limited Windfall](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/limited-windfall-2/) - Too many turbines can sap wind power Though it may seem like an infinite resource, even wind energy can be tapped out. A new estimate of Earth’s overall wind potential suggests wind-farm density reaches a saturation point beyond which additional turbines yield no increase in power. The findings suggest wind farms will need sufficient space - [Into the Wild](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/into-the-wild-2/) - Superbug MRSA is infecting wild animals Wild animals in Iowa are carrying an antibiotic-resistant superbug, scientists have reported in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases. The pathogen, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is a bacterium that can resist antibiotics called beta-lactams, which include penicillin and methicillin. Humans infected with MRSA often suffer from rashes and abscesses; if - [Night Moves](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/night-moves/) - Tigers coexist with humans by taking the graveyard shift Making way for Asia’s king of the jungle may no longer be the only option for conservationists looking to protect tiger populations. Although many think the big cats require reserves away from human activity, a new analysis of camera-trap data from Chitwan National Park in Nepal - [Jellyfish Spread](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/jellyfish-spread/) - Sprawling man-made structures are creating a gelatinous future If you build it, they will come. The flood of jellyfish in ocean waters may be due in part to the expansion of man-made structures, according to a new study. The ocean-wide sprawl of docks, moorings, and rigs provides a strong foundation for jellyfish nurseries, which bud - [Paving Roads Can Increase Weed Invasions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/paving-roads-can-increase-weed-invasions/) - Although it is well known that roads can spread invasive weeds, new research shows that some roads are worse than others. In Utah, areas along paved roads were far more likely to be invaded than those along 4-wheel-drive tracks. This suggests that limiting road improvements could help keep out invasive weeds. “Each step of road - [Waterbird Habitat: Are Ricefields as Good as Marshes?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/waterbird-habitat-are-ricefields-as-good-as-marshes/) - About 40 percent of people worldwide depend on rice, and ricefields have replaced natural wetlands in many areas. Conservation biologists frequently suggest that ricefields are suitable wetland habitat for wintering and migrating waterbirds. However, new research shows that waterbirds overwhelmingly prefer natural marshes to ricefields in the Camargue delta on the Mediterranean coast of southern - [Warmer Climate Linked to Earlier Frog Calling](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/warmer-climate-linked-to-earlier-frog-calling/) - Bolstering evidence that climate warming is hastening biological signs of spring, new research shows that frogs are calling up to two weeks earlier near Ithaca, New York. This is the strongest evidence of a biological response to climate change in eastern North America. “We have found a compelling connection between changes in the calling dates - [Texas Tortoise and Cattle Can Coexist](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/texas-tortoise-and-cattle-can-coexist/) - Conventional wisdom says that tortoises and cattle don’t mix. But new research shows that the Texas tortoise and cattle can share rangelands as long as the grazing is managed. “Generalities about the effect of cattle grazing on North American tortoises should be avoided,” say Richard Kazmaier of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and his - [NASA Helps Conservation Biologists Get the Big Picture](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/nasa-helps-conservation-biologists-get-the-big-picture/) - NASA’s views of Earth — from satellite images to photographs taken by astronauts — can give conservation biologists the big picture of how our planet and the life on it are changing, from forest fragmentation to the possible link between UV-B radiation and amphibian declines. To explore NASA’s role in conservation, the August issue of - [Hikers May Threaten Desert Bighorn Sheep](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/hikers-may-threaten-desert-bighorn-sheep/) - Over the last 20 years, the number of people visiting Utah’s Canyonlands National Park has more than tripled. Does this affect desert bighorn sheep, or do they get used to all the vehicles, mountain bikers, and hikers? New research shows that hikers have the biggest impact on the sheep, which flee more than half of - [Fish-Stocking May Spread Amphibian Disease](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/fish-stocking-may-spread-amphibian-disease/) - New research shows that hatchery-reared fish can spread a fungus implicated in the mass deaths of amphibian embryos in the Pacific Northwest. This is the first evidence that fish-stocking can spread amphibian diseases. “Fish used in stocking programs could be important vectors for diseases responsible for amphibian losses,” say Joseph Kiesecker of the Pennsylvania State - [Beyond Protection: Active Conservation in New Zealand](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/beyond-protection-active-conservation-in-new-zealand/) - The bad news is that although New Zealand was one of the first countries to provide legal protection for its wildlife, 40 percent of its terrestrial birds are extinct and more than 40 percent of the remaining birds are threatened. Likewise, many endemic reptiles, invertebrates, and plants are threatened. New Zealand’s plants and animals are - [Arctic Ecosystems Being Nibbled Away](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/arctic-ecosystems-being-nibbled-away/) - The Arctic’s fragile ecosystems are threatened by disturbances from petroleum development to ecotourism. New research shows that even small disturbances may permanently damage tundra: for instance, the single pass of a heavy tank-like tracked vehicle can drain an Arctic meadow. “In the increasingly accessible Arctic, we need to be wary of relatively small and seemingly - [Harvesting Clams and Data](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/harvesting-clams-and-data/) - Involving local communities in monitoring can lead to conservation success in all sorts of unanticipated ways: A case in Fiji. By Alifereti Tawake, John Parks, Pio Radikedike, Bill Aalbersberg, Veikila Vuki, and Nick Salafsky Early one morning, a small group of Fijian villagers gathers on the beach. In front of them are the mudflats, mangroves, - [After the Sheep are Gone](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/after-the-sheep-are-gone/) - Restoration of Santa Cruz Island turned out to be as much about defining a new ecosystem as about restoring an old one. By Jason Van Driesche and Roy Van Driesche It wasn't until we banked in close that I saw any sign of life. From a thousand feet up, there were a few trees clinging - [Ecological Modeling](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/ecological-modeling/) - A guide for the nonmodeler By Steven L. Peck You are facing a crucial decision on whether to allow harvesting of 200 hectares of forest. But you are concerned about a small population of Pseudo faux, the rare and beautiful phoenix. So you pull out a copy of the latest article, “The Movement and Population - [Turning the Ship Around](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/turning-the-ship-around/) - Changing the policies and culture of a government agency to make ecosystem management work By Jennifer M. Belcher Will the last white male leaving the DNR please put the toilet seat down! the sign on the men's room wall announced, and I was reminded of just how difficult the job I had undertaken was going - [Rethinking Insects](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/rethinking-insects/) - Moderate levels of herbivory can benefit plants and communities and help return systems that are out of balance to a healthier state By Timothy D. Schowalter with Jay Withgott Twenty-six years ago, Forest Service entomologists William Mattson and Norton Addy published a paper in Science that should have revolutionized the way land managers approached insects. - [Pet Trade Wrong: Poaching Major Threat to Parrots](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/pet-trade-wrong-poaching-major-threat-to-parrots/) - While both the commercial pet trade and conservation biologists agree that parrots are threatened by habitat loss, they disagree about the effects of poaching. Although avicultural interests downplay it, biologists say poaching chicks for the lucrative pet trade is one of the biggest reasons for the parrots’ decline. New research shows that the biologists are - [Kyoto's Global Warming Controls Could Harm Forests](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/kyotos-global-warming-controls-could-harm-forests/) - To help reduce global warming, the Kyoto Protocol encourages countries to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by planting more trees. But the Protocol fails to consider conservation — countries can meet their commitment by replacing mature forests with rapidly-growing plantations. “Replacement of old forests with plantations is a perverse incentive of the Kyoto Protocol,” - [Invasive Plant Threatens Nile Crocodile](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/invasive-plant-threatens-nile-crocodile/) - How can a plant threaten crocodiles? By shading and thus cooling the river banks where they nest, the plants skew the temperature-dependent sex balance toward females. New research suggests this may be happening in Lake St. Lucia, where a non-native plant is taking over one of South Africa’s last remaining Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) nesting - [Fragmentation May Limit Songbird Sex Lives](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/fragmentation-may-limit-songbird-sex-lives/) - Researchers have discovered a surprising factor in the decline of songbirds in North America: forest fragmentation may put a cramp in their sex lives. “Our results suggest a new link between social behavior and habitat choice in fragmented landscapes,” say Ryan Norris, at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and Bridget Stutchbury of York University. This - [Disturbance Can Benefit Some Rare Forest Plants](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/disturbance-can-benefit-some-rare-forest-plants/) - While human disturbances can destroy ecosystems, new research shows that a little disturbance can be good for forest plants with small ranges. Called endemics, these species are often a conservation priority, and this is the first study of how human disturbances affect them. “Forest destruction is a reality, and finding that forests subject to human - [Biodiversity Linked to Non-Native Species Invasions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/biodiversity-linked-to-non-native-species-invasions/) - While non-native species have devastated many ecosystems, some invasions are relatively benign. The trick is to figure out which ecosystems are most vulnerable to invasion. Theory says species-poor ecosystems are more likely to be invaded but new research bolsters the growing body of evidence suggesting the opposite: in southern California’s coastal sage scrub, sites with - [Crossing The Border](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/crossing-the-border/) - A U.S.-Mexican partnership to save the parrots of the Cebadillas By Scott Norris Flying in a plane at 30,000 feet, it is easy to see how biological patterns and processes form a seamless web across international political boundaries. But down on the ground, efforts to protect biodiversity often stumble at border crossings, where languages, laws, - [Tapping the Ivory Tower](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/tapping-the-ivory-tower/) - How academic-agency partnerships can advance conservation By P. Dee Boersma with Sarah DeWeerdt It’s a familiar scenario: Scientists who work for government agencies, though genuinely committed to conservation, face a perennial lack of money and time and move from crisis to crisis while slogging through a mire of paperwork. University scientists, though insulated from legal - [Stone-Age Minds at Work on 21st Century Science](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/stone-age-minds-at-work-on-21st-century-science/) - How cognitive psychology can inform conservation biology By Judith L. Anderson It was an affair only a statistician could love, but close to 100 regional biologists toughed it out, spending the day in Seattle listening and commenting as the [National Marine Fisheries Service] described its latest work in the arcane world of extinction mathematics....By late - [Designing Marine Reserve Networks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/designing-marine-reserve-networks/) - Why small, isolated protected areas are not enough By Callum M. Roberts, Benjamin Halpern, Stephen R. Palumbi, and Robert R. Warner For a fish, the north coast of Jamaica is a lonely place. Fishing intensities are so high that most fish are caught long before they reach maturity. Coral reefs there are festooned with traps, - [Reserves Can Threaten Wildlife by Attracting Poachers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/reserves-can-threaten-wildlife-by-attracting-poachers/) - If you think there is no question that reserves are great for wildlife, think again. Spain’s Doñana National Park is such a draw to poachers that there are fewer badgers inside the reserve than in the area just outside it, according to new research in the February issue of Conservation Biology. “The story of badger - [Preserving Moroccan Forests Need Not Endanger Barbary Macaques](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/preserving-moroccan-forests-need-not-endanger-barbary-macaques/) - The Moroccan government wants to move the largest remaining population of Barbary macaques because they are stripping bark off cedars, which can kill the trees. But this plan would needlessly endanger these monkeys. There is a way to save the cedars without harming macaques, according to new research in the February issue of Conservation Biology. - [Can We Really Create Marshes?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/can-we-really-create-marshes/) - Many people think it’s OK to develop coastal marshes as long as we compensate by restoring them elsewhere. But can we really create marshes? It’s too soon to tell, according to new research in the December 2000 issue of Conservation Ecology. “Unfortunately, the apparently successful attempts have often been monitored only for a short time - [Environmental Variation is Good for Some Species](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/environmental-variation-is-good-for-some-species/) - Conventional wisdom says that species living in environments with drought, fire, and other variations are more likely to go extinct. But this is not always true: some species do better when their environment is variable, according to a paper in the December issue of Trends in Ecology and Evolution. “This phenomenon is likely to be - [Don't Fight Natural Changes in Reserves](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/dont-fight-natural-changes-in-reserves/) - Managers of small reserves with modified ecosystems usually try to preserve particular features such as sand dunes in an effort to protect associated species. But fighting change may have the opposite effect and can actually cause rare species to die out, according to new research in the February issue of Biological Conservation. “For sites to - [Linking Citizens With Scientists](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/linking-citizens-with-scientists-how-illinois-ecowatch-uses-volunteers-to-collect-ecological-data/) - By Carolyn Latteier Illinois EcoWatch Coordinator Dana Curtiss didn’t invent the idea of using volunteers to collect scientific data, but she did knock on her boss’ door and suggest it. In 1994, the idea seemed unconventional. “He threw me out of the office,” she said. “I went to lunch, and when I came back there - [Restoring Wetland Habitats with Cows and other Livestock](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/restoring-wetland-habitats-with-cows-and-other-livestock/) - By Jason Tesauro No chemicals, no chainsaws, no blowtorches — just an adequate fence, an occasional shelter, and the appropriate livestock, which, depending upon the habitat size and invasive plant species may be goats, sheep, or cattle... At first glance this may not read like a recipe for bog turtle conservation. Yet, in the marshes, - [Promoting Conservation through Effective Public Speaking](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/promoting-conservation-through-effective-public-speaking/) - By Susan Jacobson I sat in a dark room with 100 neighbors whose homes were threatened by floods. Water Management District staff was attempting to placate fears of more flooding. The district scientist shuffled to the front of the room to put our minds at ease. He placed three illegible diagrams on the overhead projector - [Speaking the Language of Remote Sensing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/speaking-the-language-of-remote-sensing/) - By Doug Muchoney and Bob Unnasch While satellite images of the earth have been available for over 25 years, only recently has remote sensing become a household term among managers. Recent advances in technology and ownership have made remote sensing a tool not only sharp enough for natural resource monitoring but also affordable for natural - [Selecting Effective Umbrella Species](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/selecting-effective-umbrella-species/) - By Erica Fleishman, Dennis D. Murphy, & Robert B. Blair Even a well-designed shortcut can miss its destination. The role of umbrella species in conservation planning is a case in point. In the face of limited time and resources, umbrella species offer an appealing shortcut to land managers. But they do not shorten every road. - [Safe Harbor Agreements](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/safe-harbor-agreements/) - By Michael J. Bean, J. Peter Jenny, and Brian van Eerden Like a mirage that recedes into the distance as one approaches it, the recovery of many endangered species is likely to be an unreachable goal without the active cooperation of private land owners. Ironically, however, the stringent requirements of the Endangered Species Act have - [Turning A Radical Idea Into Reality](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/turning-a-radical-idea-into-reality/) - By Robin Meadows Illustration ©Astrid Dininno/SIS Maine’s Kennebec River was renowned for its magnificent runs of salmon, sturgeon, and other anadromous fish until their migration was blocked by the 1837 construction of Edwards Dam in Augusta. Opposed by citizens of Maine before it was even built, the privately-owned dam stood for more than 160 years - [Roads Can Be Genetic Barriers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/roads-can-be-genetic-barriers/) - Roads and conservation just don’t mix. Already blamed for spreading invasive species and increasing sediment in steams, roads can also block gene flow in animal populations, according to new research in the August issue of Conservation Biology. This is the first study showing that roads can isolate populations genetically. There are lots of natural barriers - [Does Population Viability Analysis Underestimate Extinction Risk?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/does-population-viability-analysis-underestimate-extinction-risk/) - Many conservation biologists have been skeptical of population viability analysis (PVA), which wildlife managers use to predict species’ extinction risks and rank management options. But in a pair of recent papers, researchers show that while some PVA models can underestimate extinction risk, they are reasonably accurate when used correctly. The study showing that PVA can - [Prioritizing Weeds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/prioritizing-weeds/) - By Ron Hiebert Which invasive species cause the most serious ecological threats? And, which are most amenable to management? With more than 100 alien plants on many wildland sites and the daunting prospect of long-term expensive management strategies, these are not academic questions. Many managers may be inclined to just throw up their hands and - [Even for Plants, There's No Place Like Home](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/even-for-plants-theres-no-place-like-home/) - Many of us do best in familiar environments, and the same is true of plants used for restoring ecosystems, according to new research in the August issue of Conservation Biology. This is the first study showing the importance of both genetic and environmental similarity when transplanting wild plants. While many restoration projects use native plants, - [Nectar Trails of Migratory Pollinators](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/nectar-trails-of-migratory-pollinators/) - By Gary Paul Nabhan Not far from the U.S./Mexico border, Mark Larkin grows a dozen vegetable crops as well as fruits and pasture grasses. One season he noticed that honeybees were nearly absent from his fields and orchards along the Rio Santa Cruz floodplain. Larkin is what you might call a stripped-down farmer—a short crew - [More Lakeshore Houses Can Mean Smaller Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/more-lakeshore-houses-can-mean-smaller-fish/) - People love living on lakes, but they may be damaging the ecosystems they treasure. Compared to lakes with no residential development, lakes with many houses along the shoreline have bluegill sunfish that grow more slowly and are smaller for their age, according to new research presented in the May/June issue of Ecosystems. This work is - [Guilty Until Proven Innocent](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/guilty-until-proven-innocent/) - By Jason Van Driesche & Roy Van Driesche Illustration by Jonathan Evans Prevention is a concept that does not come naturally to most Americans. We are a culture that places full faith in our ability to emerge victorious from battle no matter what the odds, and the American approach to danger and uncertainty has always - [Deer Can Threaten Forest Birds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/deer-can-threaten-forest-birds/) - Thanks to conservation efforts, U.S. deer densities are the highest they have been in 100 years. But the downside is that too many deer may be bad for forest birds, according to new research in the August issue of Conservation Biology. This is the first study showing that deer can drive at-risk bird species out - [Coordinating an International Monitoring Program](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2001/07/coordinating-an-international-monitoring-program/) - By Sarah DeWeerdt Something was rotten in the state of amphibia. Chatting casually in the hallways at the first World Conference of Herpetology in 1989, scientists shared story after story of mysterious declines and disappearances among various species of frogs. Once, for example, a certain ridge in the Monteverde Cloud Forest of Costa Rica became - [Breeding Programs Should Incorporate Mate Choice](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/breeding-programs-should-incorporate-mate-choice/) - The breeding programs widely used to supplement fisheries and conserve endangered species may be flawed. The problem is that although animals usually choose their mates in the wild, they typically do not get a choice when bred in captivity. The benefits of mate choice can include increased resistance to disease among offspring, and new work - [Old Science New Science](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/old-science-new-science/) - By Chuck Striplen and Sarah DeWeerdt Illustration ©Michael Gibbs Thomas Albert, a biologist and former large animal veterinarian, came to Alaska in 1981 to help develop a census program for the Beaufort-Chukchi-Bering Seas’ (BCB) stock of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus). At the time, detailed ecological information on this species was hard to come by. Albert - [Opening Rivers to Trojan Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/opening-rivers-to-trojan-fish/) - By Ross Freeman with William Bowerman and others Under current ecological thinking, there is no goal nobler than restoring a river’s hydrologic connectivity by removing dams. Fish can access upstream spawning grounds, historic habitat is once again available, and the naturally fluctuating flow of nutrients and water is reestablished. But what if those same fish - [First Practical Test for Monitoring Shark Trade](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/first-practical-test-for-monitoring-shark-trade/) - Shark finning — chopping off the fins and tossing the rest — is increasing worldwide to satisfy the demand for shark fin soup. But tracking this trade is hard because isolated fins from different species generally look the same. Now there is a new way to identify shark species from just their fins. “We have - [Religion Can Benefit Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/religion-can-benefit-conservation/) - By limiting human activity at sacred sites, many traditional societies serendipitously protected biodiversity there as well. New research shows that religion can still be a powerful force for conservation today: a religious association in southwest China is restoring sacred sites, bringing their plant diversity close to that of a nearby nature reserve. “Conserving biodiversity based - [Multi-Species Recovery Plans Fall Short](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/multi-species-recovery-plans-fall-short/) - Multi-species recovery plans are all the rage — but do they work? New research suggests that they are not yet delivering on their promise. “As currently employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), multi-species recovery plans are less effective management tools than single-species plans,” say Alan Clark of the University of Washington in - [Illicit Crops Threaten Birds in Colombia](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/illicit-crops-threaten-birds-in-colombia/) - While Columbia has more bird species than any other country worldwide, much of its habitat is also suitable for growing coca (Erythroxylum novogranatense and E. coca) and opium poppies (Papaver somniferum). New research shows that these illicit crops are expanding into forest remnants where threatened bird species live. “Ultimately, the conservation of forests and forest-dependent - [Development Can Disrupt Caribou Migration](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/development-can-disrupt-caribou-migration/) - The impact of roads, pipe lines, and other human disturbances on caribou (Rangifer tarandus) migration is controversial but largely unknown. New research shows that the construction of a hydroelectric dam in Newfoundland, Canada, disrupted caribou migration and land use. “The development caused a disruption of migrational timing during construction and longer-term diminished use of the - [Removing Roads](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/removing-roads/) - By David Havlick “Basically, I'm a road killer.” When I heard that job description, I knew I ought to meet Mike Sanders. With degrees in both physics and geology, Sanders has been working as a hit man—taking out roads—for Redwood National Park since 1995. When it comes to road removal, it is tough to find - [The Biodiversity Knowledge Commons](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-biodiversity-knowledge-commons/) - By Jonathan Adams, Frank Biasi, Colin Bibby, and Martin Sneary Imagine that you are having chest pains. Concerned, you go immediately to a team of doctors who run a battery of tests. The results come back, and the doctors tell you that you have a serious condition that requires a risky new procedure. When you - [Ground Truthing Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/ground-truthing-conservation/) - By Alan Rabinowitz Illustration ©Ken Orvidas “The time for great discoveries is passed,” said Louis Agassiz in 1867. “No student of nature goes out now expecting to find a new world.”1 Agassiz was wrong. Within the first ten years of his pronouncement, Nikolay Przhevalsky explored the Gobi Desert from end to end and Henry Morton - [Thinking Like an Ocean](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/thinking-like-an-ocean/) - By Scott Norris with Martin Hall Illustration ©Ray Troll I’ve just finished another two-hour conversation with a man who considers it necessary that Pacific tuna fishers be allowed to set nets on dolphins. His outspoken and influential views have been controversial among some environmentalists. Yet there is some irony here. The man who has been - [On the Bookshelf, Summer 2002](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/books-2/) - Who Owns the Sky By Peter Barnes Island Press, 2001 Reviewed by Kathleen Snow The “tragedy of the commons” is a sadly familiar term to those working in the conservation arena. In this intriguing book, however, entrepreneur Peter Barnes (cofounder of the telephone company Working Assets), describes how market mechanisms could be used to not - [Three-Toed Woodpeckers Picky about Snags](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/three-toed-woodpeckers-picky-about-snags/) - Although it is well known that three-toed woodpeckers depend on the dead trees characteristic of old-growth forest, new research shows that not just any snags will do: the woodpeckers only forage on those that are dying or have died recently. This means that current management plans based on providing snags for nesting may be inadequate. - [Snowmobiles Can Stress Wildlife](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/snowmobiles-can-stress-wildlife/) - Snowmobile lovers say the noisy machines don’t harm wildlife, but conservationists fear they do. However, there has been little solid evidence for either side. Now, new research shows that snowmobiles can raise the stress hormones of animals in national parks. “Elk and wolves show physiological stress responses to snowmobiles and that the response is stronger - [Rock Climbing Harms Cliff Ecosystems](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/rock-climbing-harms-cliff-ecosystems/) - While it stands to reason that rock climbers might harm habitats such as the ancient, stunted forests that grow on cliffs around the world, there has been little unambiguous evidence that this is so. Now, the first study to isolate rock climbing from other factors confirms that the sport damages cliff ecosystems. “Our work shows - [Night Lights Threaten Baby Birds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/night-lights-threaten-baby-birds/) - Every spring, the streets of Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean are littered with petrel fledglings that have gone astray. The problem is that the birds are nocturnal and are attracted to light, which is a deadly combination on Réunion because artificial lights have skyrocketed with the island’s development. “Fledglings are attracted by lights during - [Hatchery Salmon May Threaten Wild Populations](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/hatchery-salmon-may-threaten-wild-populations/) - A popular way to manage endangered Pacific salmon may do more harm than good. Many salmon recovery plans supplement wild populations with hatchery-raised fish. But new research shows that hatchery salmon can readily adapt to captivity and transfer these traits to wild populations. “As the population adapts to the hatchery, its survival rate in the - [European Agriculture Crisis Could Benefit Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/european-agriculture-crisis-could-benefit-conservation/) - Although European agriculture is reeling from mad cow and hoof-and-mouth disease, the crisis could benefit conservation. The push for major agricultural reforms may be the best hope for restoring habitats in Western Europe, much of which has been almost completely developed. “Visitors to the UK are often astonished by the paucity of anything resembling natural - [Biocontrol Backfires Again](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/biocontrol-backfires-again/) - Biocontrol advocates claim that releasing nonnative insects to control nonnative plants is safe for native species — but the number of “exceptions” keeps growing. The latest is a weevil intended to control a nonnative thistle. New research shows that the weevil prefers a native thistle and can reduce its seed set by 98 percent. “Ecological - [Using the Internet to Build a Conservation Network](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/using-the-internet-to-build-a-conservation-network/) - By Jason Van Driesche The Maui Invasive Species Control Team is in high gear today. A local resident phoned in a report earlier this week of a miconia sighting upslope from his house, and it turned out to be quite a large infestation. It took the crew all day to cut down the trees, treat - [Buy A Fish, Save A Tree?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/buy-a-fish-save-a-tree/) - By Scott Norris with Ning Labbish Chao Jose Bento de Araújo guides his canoe forward through the dark, slow-moving water of a remote rainforest stream in the Rio Negro floodplain. He stops when a flash of metallic blue signals the presence of his quarry: a school of cardinal tetras. “Zé” and his five-man team are - [EcoReefs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/ecoreefs/) - By Michael Moore and Mark Erdmann Karang Palsu, or fake coral, was the best term we could find when trying to describe a new artificial reef system to local community members in Bunaken National Park, Indonesia. We were asking their permission to conduct a 3-year pilot project to restore local reefs damaged by blast fishing. - [Context Matters: Considerations for Large-Scale Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/context-matters-considerations-for-large-scale-conservation/) - By Reed Noss Illustration © Christophe Vorlet I leaned against my dusty 1974 Opel in the parking lot of Sugar-creek Nature Reserve in southwestern Ohio, reviewing the day’s count. The 10 most common bird species — common grackle, northern cardinal, carolina chickadee, red-winged blackbird, American goldfinch, blue-gray gnatcatcher, European starling, indigo bunting, field sparrow, brown-headed - [On the Bookshelf, Spring 2002](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/books/) - Responding to Bioprospecting: From Biodiversity in the South to Medicines in the North Edited by Hanne Svarstad and Shivcharn S. Dhillion Spartacus Forlag AS, 2000 High levels of biodiversity combined with indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants in the tropics have attracted a new breed of prospectors hunting potential pharmaceutical treasures. Bioprospecting has been seen as - [Treatment for Ballast Tanks Also Kills Aquatic Invasives](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/treatment-for-ballast-tanks-also-kills-aquatic-invasives/) - The shipping industry moves four-fifths of the commodities worldwide — and also spreads invasive aquatic species in ballast water. New research suggests that a cost-effective ballast water treatment will please both ship owners and conservationists: purging the water of oxygen extends the life of ballast tanks while killing many invasive aquatic species. “This novel deoxygenation - [Salmon and Hydropower May Be Able to Coexist](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/salmon-and-hydropower-may-be-able-to-coexist/) - Many blame the nearly 200 large dams in the Columbia River Basin for the decline in Pacific salmon, whose population has dropped by more than 90 percent since the 1980s. But new research shows that dam operation can be made salmon-friendly and suggests that other significant factors are impeding the salmon’s recovery. “Although the hundreds - [Protecting Waterbirds from Watercraft](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/protecting-waterbirds-from-watercraft/) - You are peacefully eating or resting when up zooms a jetski. You’d fly away if you could — and that’s exactly what waterbirds do. But new research shows that waterbirds and watercraft can coexist as long as they are far enough away from each other. “Wildlife viewing...may cause waterbirds to abandon sites that managers are - [Pigs Threaten Island Fox](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/pigs-threaten-island-fox/) - In an unexpected twist, new research shows that feral pigs are contributing to the decline of foxes on California’s Channel Islands. The story is that the pigs provide enough prey to support a breeding population of golden eagles, which are not native to the islands and find the foxes to be easy pickings. “We suggest - [Fragmentation Can Make Seedlings Wimpy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/fragmentation-can-make-seedlings-wimpy/) - New research shows that fragmentation of tropical forests can make trees wimpy. Seeds from isolated trees had less genetic diversity and were less likely to germinate, and the seedlings that did grow had smaller leaves. This is the first study of how forest fragmentation affects seedling quality. “Fragmentation of tropical dry forests reduces genetic variation - [Conservation of the Matrix II: Salamanders in Headwater Streams](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/conservation-of-the-matrix-ii-salamanders-in-headwater-streams/) - The second paper showing that what’s around an area can be critical to conserving what’s in it is by Winsor Lowe and Douglas Bolger of Dartmouth College. Lowe and Bolger studied how logging near 25 headwater streams in New Hampshire affects spring salamanders, which are pink, up to 8 inches long, and rarely seen. Because - [Conservation of the Matrix I: Ants in Coffee Plantations](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/conservation-of-the-matrix-i-ants-in-coffee-plantations/) - While most conservation planners focus on preserving specific areas, new research shows that an area’s surroundings may be just as important. The need to include the “outside” in conservation planning is highlighted in a pair of papers in the February issue of Conservation Biology. Specifically, ant diversity near forest fragments is higher in shade than - [Harnessing the Restoration Potential of Artifical Floods](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/harnessing-the-restoration-potential-of-artifical-floods/) - By Ross Freeman Illustration ©Ken Orvidas In the spring of 1963, as teams of ironworkers rolled the last massive steel gate shut, Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona officially opened for business. Ten million tons of concrete formed a plug over 700 feet high, capable of detaining almost 2 year’s worth of the Colorado River’s - [Relocating People Out of Private Reserves](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/relocating-people-out-of-private-reserves/) - By Cheryl Margolius, John Beavers, & Marie Claire Paiz In the Peten, the northernmost department of Guatemala, people stake their claim to land by establishing "ax rights." If land is cleared, it indicates that it is not available to others. So when people come upon a forested area in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, they assume - [Curbing Roadside Erosion](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/curbing-roadside-erosion/) - By Lisa Lewisy In 28 B.C. the Chinese were using soil bioengineering to repair dikes. In the 21st century, conservationists are using those same techniques as an ecological alternative to traditional engineering. Ever since the industrial revolution, the modern answer to roadside erosion has been concrete and steel. But what if roots and stems could - [Agriculture versus Biodiversity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/agriculture-versus-biodiversity/) - By Richard Manning Illustration ©Dave Cutler/SIS There’s a good reason that the central organizing myth of agriculture is man against nature. Throughout much of the 10,000-year-old experiment that is farming, observers from Plato to the present have lamented what George Washington called farming’s “baneful effects.” The tenor of that litany is best summarized by Aldo - [Informed Decisions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/informed-decisions/) - By Leslie Bienen Illustration ©Neil Aspinall/Laughing Stock The idea that human travel and migration play a crucial role in spreading infectious diseases has, finally and permanently, set up shop in our modern consciousness. Numerous books-The Coming Plague, Secret Agents: the Menace of Emerging Infectious Disease, The Hot Zone, and even Hollywood movies (Outbreak, based on - [Wolves, Elk, & Aspen: Predators May Benefit Trees in Yellowstone](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/wolves-elk-aspen-predators-may-benefit-trees-in-yellowston/) - Over the last century, quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) has declined by more than half in Yellowstone National Park’s northern range. A big part of the problem is that elk like the new growth so much that given the chance, they overbrowse it. The solution may be the return of the wolf: new research provides the - [Species vs. Functional Groups: Which Kind of Diversity Matters Most?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/species-vs-functional-groups-which-kind-of-diversity-matters-most/) - While conservation biologists agree that plant diversity is crucial to ecosystem function, the debate rages over which aspect of diversity is most important. Most biologists focus on species diversity, but two recent papers suggest that diversity of functional groups (such as nitrogen-fixing legumes and soil-stabilizing bunchgrasses) is also critical. The first paper argues that both - [Special Section: Habitat Fragmentation Can Amplify Ecological Stress](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/special-section-habitat-fragmentation-can-amplify-ecological-stress/) - Habitat fragmentation is even more devastating than we thought. Fragments are known to be inferior to intact habitat because they are more likely to lose species. New research shows that fragments are also more vulnerable to hunting, fire, drought, and other kinds of ecological stress. “Such negative synergisms could potentially be one of the most - [Prescribed Burning: Do We Really Know What We're Doing?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/prescribed-burning-do-we-really-know-what-were-doing/) - New research shows that prescribed burning may be used too widely. The theory is that by reducing the unnatural fuel buildup caused by decades of fire suppression, prescribed burning reduces the risk of catastrophic fires. But this theory doesn’t fit all ecosystems, and prescribed burning can sometimes cause more harm than good. “Although prescription burning - [Invasion Theory Overturned for Birds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/invasion-theory-overturned-for-birds/) - Because islands and the Temperate Zone are hotspots of non-native species invasions, biologists have hypothesized that mainlands and tropics are harder to invade. The latter regions have more species, and the idea is that biodiversity confers “biotic resistance.” But new research overturns this theory for birds, showing that invasion success depends on factors such as - [Genetic Takeover Threatens Crayfish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/genetic-takeover-threatens-crayfish/) - Introduced crayfish are wiping out native species in North America, which has three-quarters of the crayfish species worldwide. New research provides the first evidence that introduced crayfish are taking over native species genetically by hybridizing with them. “Our study is the first to document hybridization associated with the invasion and displacement of resident crayfish species,” - [Working with the Horticulture Industry To Limit Invasive Species Introductions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/working-with-the-horticulture-industry-to-limit-invasive-species-introductions/) - By Kathleen Snow Every weekend, millions of Americans escape from their desks to enjoy one of the most popular hobbies: gardening. Fresh air and flowers, a little exercise, and a lot of time spent with green and growing things-is this a peaceful picture or a cause for conservation concern? Every year, the horticulture/nursery industry imports - [How Much Data is Enough?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/how-much-data-is-enough/) - By Scott Norris How do you know when you have enough data? That is a difficult question to answer if you don’t know how much you need. We seldom know the basic quanta of conservation with much precision. And when science offers only partial knowledge and statistically informed guesswork, we often make policy decisions based - [Virtual Tourism](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/virtual-tourism/) - By Julia F. Carpenter, Daniel Zatz, Julia Mair, and David S. Wilkie As a new era of Internet and broadcasting technologies emerge, the possibility of minimal impact mass tourism is nearing a reality. Through the use of powerful web servers, streaming video, broadcast-quality cameras, video compression, and satellite communications, it is increasingly possible to bring - [The Fallacy of Passive Management](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/the-fallacy-of-passive-management/) - By James K. Agee The hard lesson that we should take away from the last decade of fire management in drier forests is that a choice to do nothing is a choice of action, not always with a desirable outcome. Forest ecosystems are dynamic —they change when humans disturb them, and they change when humans - [What Really is an Evolutionarily Significant Unit?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2002/07/what-really-is-an-evolutionarily-significant-unit/) - By Sarah DeWeerdt Illustration ©Michael Gibbs Snails on a certain hillside in Utah have a ridge on their shells not found on the shells of snails on neighboring hillsides—do the ridged snails represent a distinct subspecies? Northern and southern populations of an endangered Brazilian parrot have different calls—do these vocal differences reflect a more fundamental - [Forest Fragmentation May Increase Lyme Disease Risk](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/forest-fragmentation-may-increase-lyme-disease-risk/) - Having a patch of woods in your backyard may boost your spirits but could threaten your health. New research shows that small forest fragments in New York have more Lyme disease-carrying ticks, which could increase peoples’ risk of acquiring the disease. “These results suggest that...habitat fragmentation can influence human health,” say Felicia Keesing of Bard - [Book Review: Singing the Turtles to Sea](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/books-7/) - Singing the Turtles to Sea: The Comcáac (Seri) Art and Science of Reptiles By Gary Paul Nabhan University of California Press, 2003 Reviewed by David B. Williams Only one serpent lives in the Sea of Cortez, the yellow-bellied seasnake. Biologists consider it to be extremely dangerous; full envenomation can kill a person in two and - [Species vs. Ecosystem Recovery](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/species-vs-ecosystem-recovery/) - Although endangered populations are typically delisted once they reach a certain population threshold, this doesn’t tell the whole story. Yellowstone Ecosystem wolves and grizzly bears are close to being delisted — but new research suggests that their wide-ranging ecological effects have not yet been restored. “What will we have achieved by putting wolves and grizzly - [Quarries May Be Last Chance for Rare European Butterflies](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/quarries-may-be-last-chance-for-rare-european-butterflies/) - Although European environmentalists see quarries as scars in the Earth, these industrial operations may actually play a critical role in preserving rare species. New research shows that quarries provide the only suitable habitat for at-risk butterflies in some places, suggesting that current policies of filling in old quarries are misguided. “Increasing evidence is revealing the - [Making Boaters Slow Down for Manatees](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/making-boaters-slow-down-for-manatees/) - Many boaters exceed the speed limits set to protect manatees, and boat collisions cause about a quarter of the deaths of these endangered marine mammals in Florida. New research suggests that increased social pressure and law enforcement would encourage more boaters to comply with speed limits. “An understanding of boaters’ beliefs and attitudes towards manatees - [Live Seafood Trade Linked to Species Invasions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/live-seafood-trade-linked-to-species-invasions/) - Global live seafood trade is barely regulated even though it could be a significant conservation threat. New research shows that “fresh” shellfish sold in markets are still alive enough to feed—and so presumably to spawn. This suggests that the seafood trade could spread invasive nonnative marine species around the world. It wouldn’t take much. “Introduced - [Hunting for Sport Can Boost Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/hunting-for-sport-can-boost-conservation/) - Animal welfare advocates want to ban fox hunting in Britain, and most Members of Parliament agree. But new research shows that this could be detrimental to conservation — British landowners who engage in such field sports maintain far more wildlife habitat. “Landowners who hunt with hounds are more likely to conserve woodland habitat and plant - [Helping Coral Reefs Survive Climate Change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/helping-coral-reefs-survive-climate-change/) - Although the high ocean surface temperatures during the 1997-1998 El Niño bleached coral reefs in more than 50 tropical countries worldwide, patches of coral did survive in or near the damaged reefs. A new study of these patches identifies factors likely to protect these threatened marine ecosystems during climate change. “As baseline sea surface temperatures - [Habitat Diversity Critical to Restoration](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/habitat-diversity-critical-to-restoration/) - Restoration efforts often over-look the importance of “phenotype diversity,” or non-heritable variations in morphology and behavior that suit different parts of a habitat. A new analysis shows how restoring a habitat’s diversity can increase phenotype diversity, which in turn can increase a population’s chances of surviving rapid environmental change. “Phenotype management is essentially a bet-hedging - [Distributing Risk](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/distributing-risk/) - When and endangered species is limited to a single location, one chance event can erase it from existence. In Australia, ecologists have found a way to hedge the bets of the black-eared miner. By Douglas Fox Two hours ago the last scratchy FM radio signal sputtered out. One hour ago, the pavement gave way to - [Harnessing Consumer Power for Ocean Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/harnessing-consumer-power-for-ocean-conservation/) - Accessible, transparent, and scientifically sound information can translate choices at the cash register into better marine conservation. By Carrie Brownstein, Mercédès Lee, and Carl Safina One hundred miles from their rock-bound Nova Scotia homeport, Franklyn d’Entremont and his crew gaze with satisfaction upon their biggest fish of the day—a 147-kilogram (325-pound) swordfish (Xiphias gladius) just - [Renting Biodiversity: The Conservation Concessions Approach](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/renting-biodiversity-the-conservation-concessions-approach/) - With all the money we spend making conservation pay for itself, we could just pay for conservation. By Katherine Ellison Jared Hardner felt more than slightly anxious as he followed the skinny man beckoning to him from a hut along a dangling catwalk. The Palo Alto, California, consultant had traveled two days by fishing boat - [Virtual Ecosystems](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/virtual-ecosystems/) - Animated by a few simple yet baffling rules, virtual ecosystems growing in supercomputers bear an uncanny resemblance to real ones. The simulations challenge conventional wisdom about extinctions and invasions. It is time to start thinking about how these models could be used—or misused—to inform conservation decisions. By W. Wayt Gibbs Conservation biology is an endless - [Restoration as Weed Control](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/restoration-as-weed-control/) - Although it makes sense that restoring native plants could help control invasive weeds, no one knows if it would really work. New research makes a good case for this approach: restoring tallgrass prairie in old fields decreased the weed biomass by nearly 95 percent. Moreover, restoration may ultimately be easier and cheaper than traditional ways - [Even Nondestructive Fishing Can Threaten Coral Reef Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/even-nondestructive-fishing-can-threaten-coral-reef-fish/) - Catching coral reef fish for the aquarium trade used to mean using cyanide or even dynamite, which destroyed much of the reef ecosystem. Today, the trend is to use nondestructive methods such as hand-net fishing, and fish importers argue that this means coral reef fish can be harvested continuously — but new research suggests otherwise. - [Monogamous Animals May Be More Likely to Die Out](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/monogamous-animals-may-be-more-likely-to-die-out/) - New research reveals a surprising risk factor for extinction: monogamy. In reserves in Ghana, large mammals that live in pairs or have small harems are far more likely to die out than those with big harems. “In avoiding extinction, it pays to be promiscuous,” says Justin Brashares of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, - [Marine Reserves: Thinking Out of the Box](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/marine-reserves-thinking-out-of-the-box/) - Current theories for designing reserves are based mostly on land ecosystems. This is not surprising because reserves protect much more of the Earth’s land than of its marine realm (nearly 6 percent versus less than 1 percent, respectively). But key strategies that work for reserves on the land may not work in the sea. Perhaps - [Contemporary Evolution Can Make Conservation Tricky](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/contemporary-evolution-can-make-conservation-tricky/) - Most conservationists pay more attention to species' survival than to their evolution. But recent research shows that some of the major factors that threaten biodiversity can also make populations evolve amazingly quickly, often within decades. A new analysis shows how this “contemporary” evolution can complicate conservation, and suggests ways of addressing it in management plans. - [Estimating Species Numbers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/estimating-species-numbers/) - One barrier to protecting biodiversity is that there are no good ways to figure out how many species there are in large areas. Now, we may finally be able to find out: a new method accurately predicts the total number of North American butterfly species even when only a tenth of the ecoregions are sampled. - [Lost and Found](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/lost-and-found/) - By Sarah DeWeerdt Illustration ©Theo Rudnak/SIS In 1993, a group of Dutch and Tanzanian biologists working on a survey of Lake Victoria’s fish fauna pulled up a small, vermilion-finned fish in a trawl conducted along a transect in the Mwanza Gulf, near the southern shore of the lake. This handsome fish was a specimen of - [Evidence-based Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/evidence-based-conservation/) - By William Sutherland Some patients with heart blockages have additional ventricle beats and it has been shown that these can be suppressed by various drugs; this treatment thus became common practice (1). This follows the conventional methodology of identifying a problem and finding ways of alleviating it. However, analysis using randomized trials showed that patients - [More than Meets the Eye: Behavior and Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/more-than-meets-the-eye-behavior-and-conservation/) - By Douglas Fox It’s a warm May morning in Amboseli National Park in Kenya. Kilimanjaro’s frosted peaks dominate the south, and to the north, rolling plains of grass and stooped acacia gradually sink into swamps. Slowly wading through is a tagalong troupe of 17 elephants (Loxodonta Africana) — a large matriarch with aged tusks, six - [Auditing Conservation in an Age of Accountability](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/auditing-conservation-in-an-age-of-accountability/) - By Jon Christensen Illustration ©Michael Gibbs When The Nature Conservancy of California asked Silicon Valley venture capitalist Seth Neiman for a multimillion-dollar contribution to help protect local open space, no one involved had the slightest notion that they were about to step into one of the deepest and most difficult questions in conservation worldwide. The - [Strip Mines: Aligning Reclamation with Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/strip-mines-aligning-reclamation-with-conservation/) - Despite the fact that strip mines can destroy entire mountain tops in the Appalachians, mine reclamation mandates focus on short-term fixes instead of ecosystem restoration. New research shows that although reclaimed mines can look good, even after 30 years they are still missing about half of the plant species found in unmined forests. “More emphasis - [Planning Wildlife Friendly Roads](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/planning-wildlife-friendly-roads/) - A first step in reducing roadkill is figuring out where animals are most likely to get hit along roads. New research shows that small animals in Canada’s Banff National Park are safest along raised roads and suggests that reducing roadkill may be as simple as providing enough culverts for wildlife to use as underpasses. This - [Marine Reserves Can’t Do It All: Sea Otters vs Red Abalone](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/marine-reserves-cant-do-it-all-sea-otters-vs-red-abalone/) - California’s sea otters (Enhydra lutris) and red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) fisheries both need help — but what’s the best way to protect predators as well as their prey? New research suggests that the answer is separate reserves. “We conclude that coastal marine protected areas off California cannot enhance abalone fisheries if they also contain sea - [How Perceptions of Nature Shape Conservation Policy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/how-perceptions-of-nature-shape-conservation-policy/) - When it comes to conservation, perception really is reality. Two new studies show that people’s views of nature and interpretations of environmental buzzwords can drive conservation policies and management. “Differing assumptions about nature constrain people’s vision of what environmental conditions can and should exist, thereby constraining the future that can be negotiated,” say Bruce Hull - [Hikers May Disturb Breeding Spotted Owls](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/hikers-may-disturb-breeding-spotted-owls/) - Imagine if people kept hiking through your baby’s room. That’s essentially what happens in some of the canyons where Mexican spotted owls (Strix occidentalis lucida) breed, and a new study shows that hikers can disrupt the owls’ behavior in ways that might harm their young. “We suggest that restrictions on hiking intensity should be considered - [Corridors May Not Help Birds in Forest Fragments](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/corridors-may-not-help-birds-in-forest-fragments/) - Linking habitat fragments with corridors is a catchy idea, but no one knows if it really benefits species. New research suggests that corridors may not help birds in Canadian forest fragments, which means they might be better off in a larger protected area than in a series of small ones. “Corridors connecting small reserves of - [Creating Habitat on Farms](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/creating-habitat-on-farms/) - By Brian DeVore Illustration: ©Warren Gebert/Laughing Stock I sat in a darkened conference room on a June afternoon in 1996. Along with agronomists, engineers, and others participating in something called the International Precision Agriculture Conference, I watched a video of a John Deere 7800 tractor rolling along a California test plot. The man sitting in - [Taking the Bite out of Wildlife Damage](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/taking-the-bite-out-of-wildlife-damage/) - By Philip Nyhus, Hank Fischer, Francine Madden, and Steve Osofsky Illustration © Cynthia Gale/SIS With flaming torches lighting the night sky, a young man with a whip rushes toward a massive bull elephant moving through his rice field. Chased by the cracking whip, exploding firecrackers, drums, and screams of villagers, the pachyderm, a regular visitor - [The Conundrum of Biological Control: Weighing Urgency Against Uncertainty](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-conundrum-of-biological-control-weighing-urgency-against-uncertainty/) - By Jason Van Driesche and Roy Van Driesche Illustration ©Janusz Kapusta/SIS If only all conservation crises were this simple. It was 1920. The invasion of prickly pear cacti (Opuntia spp.) in Australia had become an emergency of national proportions. Millions of acres of grassland and forest were covered with these invaders, leaving domestic grazers with - [Making Conservation Profitable](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/making-conservation-profitable/) - By Katherine Ellison and Gretchen C. Daily Illustration ©Michael Gibbs Adam Davis was sitting in a Marin County, California cafe four years ago when he dreamed up an idea he hoped could help save the Earth-and also make some money in the process. In a plan that might have tickled the imagination of science-fiction writer - [Too Many Turtles May End Up as Roadkill](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/too-many-turtles-may-end-up-as-roadkill/) - Turtles and roads are a bad combination. Nearly half of the 55 turtle species native to the U.S. are declining, and new research suggests that collisions with cars and trucks are partly to blame. “Our work provides a compelling explanation for the bewildering decline of turtles, particularly the mobile land turtles and semi-aquatic species,” says - [The Pitfalls of Doing What Comes Naturally](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-pitfalls-of-doing-what-comes-naturally/) - Doing what comes naturally can work against wildlife in an unnatural world. Animals use environmental cues to choose habitats and guide their behavior — but altered environments can “trap” animals into making wrong choices. To fix traps, managers need to understand the cues that lead wildlife into them. “Ecological and evolutionary traps... can potentially result - [Pesticides Linked to Amphibian Declines](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/pesticides-linked-to-amphibian-declines/) - California is a hotspot of amphibian declines — half of the state’s frogs and toads are in trouble — and new research suggests that agricultural pesticides may be one of the biggest reasons. “Declines of four...species were strongly associated with the amount of upwind agricultural land use, suggesting that wind-borne agrochemicals may be a factor,” - [Nonnative Earthworms May Be Wiping Out Rare Plants](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/nonnative-earthworms-may-be-wiping-out-rare-plants/) - Most of us don’t pay much attention to earthworms but maybe we should. New research suggests that nonnative earthworms are radically changing the forest floor in the northern U.S., threatening the goblin fern (Botrychium mormo) and other rare plants. This is “the first research to show that exotic earthworms are harmful to rare native vegetation - [Hatchery Salmon May Endanger Wild Cousins](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/hatchery-salmon-may-endanger-wild-cousins/) - Wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest are in trouble — 26 populations are listed as threatened or endangered — and many conservationists fear hatcheries are a big part of the problem. In support of this belief, new research suggests that hatchery-reared steelhead are a threat to wild chinook in the Snake River. “Our work suggests - [Getting the Most out of Rivers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/getting-the-most-out-of-rivers/) - We ask a lot of our rivers, expecting both natural ecosystems and uninterrupted water and hydropower supplies. Although meeting these conflicting mandates may seem impossible, new research identifies ways to find common ground between them. “How do we save the salmon and still have electricity? How do we save the Delta smelt and still have - [Using Exotics as Temporary Habitat: An Accidental Experiment on Rodrigues Island](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/using-exotics-as-temporary-habitat-an-accidental-experiment-on-rodrigues-island/) - By Douglas Fox Illustration by Ken Orvidas It’s a typical November morning on Rodrigues Island, a tiny speck in the Indian Ocean 560 kilometers northeast of Mauritius and just south of the equator. Sweat oozes from a chorus of pores across my back, soaking my shirt, turning my backpack into a sponge. Mary Jane Raboude, - [GIS-Based Conservation Planning: A Powerful Tool to be Used with Caution](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/gis-based-conservation-planning-a-powerful-tool-to-be-used-with-caution/) - By David Stokes and Peter Morrison Illustration ©Michael Gibbs Geographic Information System (GIS) models have a seductive quality. With their vivid map outputs and appearance of objectivity, they convey a sense of reality, regardless of the analyses and data used to construct them. The model, as such, becomes a persuasive voice. But what if the - [Top-Down Meets Bottom-Up: Conservation in a Post-Conflict World](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/top-down-meets-bottom-up-conservation-in-a-post-conflict-world/) - By Peter Zahler Imagine that your local parks and wildlife administration is defined by three men sitting in a single room at a single table with no vehicles at their disposal, no computers, no fax, not even a telephone. Now imagine that this scenario describes your country’s entire parks and wildlife management contingent. Welcome to - [Rules of Engagement for Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/rules-of-engagement-for-conservation/) - By John and Terese Hart Illustration by Guy Billout, first published in the Atlantic Monthly, July 1998 The small plane that brought us from the Okapi Reserve to the airstrip in eastern Congo left its motor running as we stepped out to clear immigration. The soldier flipping through our passports could not have been - [Connections May Be Key to Surviving Fragmentation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/connections-may-be-key-to-surviving-fragmentation/) - For people, being well connected means who you know. For wildlife, it means where they can go. New research shows that the connectivity of fragmented habitat may determine whether its species thrive or die out: populations of an Australian wren can increase in well connected fragments but will drop in those that are not. Lesley - [On the Bookshelf, Fall 2002](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/books-3/) - Carnivore Conservation Edited by John L. Gittleman, Stephan M. Funk, David W. Macdonald, and Robert K. Wayne Cambridge University Press, 2001 Reviewed by Kathleen Snow Are carnivores worth the disproportionate costs of conserving them? They are rare, elusive, and dangerous—and extremely expensive to study and conserve. Nevertheless, when we think about carnivores in a conservation - [Forest Fragments Boost Coffee Production](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/forest-fragments-boost-coffee-production-2/) - Brazilian law requires rural landowners to preserve a fifth of the native forest on their property, and new research suggests that this law may provide economic as well as conservation benefits. The study shows that forest fragments can boost production on nearby coffee farms by nearly 15 percent. “The forest’s economic value may convince more - [Is Conservation Ready for the Light of Day?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/is-conservation-ready-for-the-light-of-day/) - By Jon Christensen Conservation still has a clubby smell. Sometimes there's a whiff of wool and leather, gunpowder and fly-fishing rods, musty old maps, and remote destinations. Sometimes it's the scent of wetlands, wet corduroy, and binoculars. Sometimes it's the smell of no smell, the insider baseball of scientific publications, computer models, meetings in hotel - [The Father of All Mass Extinctions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-father-of-all-mass-extinctions/) - There is a good possibility that losses in diversity in the present will surpass anything in the geological past. Facing that specter could shake the very tenets of conservation. By Peter Ward In the mid-1960s, when I first began scuba diving in Puget Sound, the large inland seaway of Western Washington, I was attracted to - [Lunch With A Turtle Poacher](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/lunch-with-a-turtle-poacher/) - We must embrace our enemies, look into their eyes long enough to see ourselves. Then, we can begin talking. By Wallace J. Nichols and Carl Safina San Ignacio, Baja California Sur, Mexico, April 2003 We are sitting on the outdoor deck of a little village restaurant across from a man named after St. Francis, the - [Tastes Like Chicken](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/tastes-like-chicken/) - Side-by-side taste tests offer clues to stem the bushmeat crisis in Gabon By Erik Ness Like most wildlife biologists, David Wilkie never imagined he would one day serve up wild animals in an African café. "I never thought I'd be talking about elasticities of bushmeat demand either," says Wilkie, of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - [Backward Compatible](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/backward-compatible/) - CyberTracker fuses ancient knowledge with cutting-edge technology By Nancy Bazilchuk In 2003, trained trackers combing the rich jungles in the Republic of Congo’s Lossi Sanctuary for gorillas and chimpanzees stumbled upon a disturbing trend. Duikers, dog-sized antelopes that weave and dive through the jungle’s dense undergrowth, were dying at an astounding rate—local indices dropped 50 - [Ghost Story: Tales from a Species Crypt](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/ghost-story-tales-from-a-species-crypt/) - A frozen graveyard of Rocky Mountain locusts, historical research, and ecological sleuthing reveal a remarkable story that causes us to pause and question, what makes a species real? By Jeffrey Lockwood In your dream a blizzard sweeps over the horizon, the sky fills with swirling flakes. But the fields are green and the breeze is - [Burned](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/burned/) - Fire is the embodiment of uncertainty, and playing with it is just what Mama said. By William deBuys It is said that for every complex question there exists a simple, easily understood, and completely erroneous answer. In the year 2000, such answers sprouted like radishes from the ashes of the Cerro Grande fire, which had - [Don't Shoot the Messenger](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/dont-shoot-the-messenger/) - By Jon Christensen Conservationists often complain about other people's priorities. It's a shame, for instance, that the environment basically dropped off the radar screen as a priority in this year's U.S. presidential election. But why should we care about conservation priorities when they don't matter much anyway? That's one reading of a controversial paper presented - [Book Review: Rapture of the Deep](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/books-11/) - Rapture of the Deep: The Art of Ray Troll University of California Press, 2004 Reviewed by Kieran Mulvaney To Alaskans, marine scientists, paleontologists, and environmentalists, Ray Troll has long been something of a cult superstar. Now, with the publication of his first complete anthology, the rest of the world has a chance to become acquainted - [The Traits That Make Different Primate Species Vulnerable](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-traits-that-make-different-primate-species-vulnerable/) - About half of the roughly 300 primate species worldwide are threatened, and knowing which species are likely to be harmed by which threats is key to protecting them. In the most comprehensive such analysis to date, researchers assessed primates’ vulnerabilities to forestry, agriculture, and hunting and then linked these vulnerabilities to underlying biological traits. “This - [Roads May Skew Turtle Sex Ratios](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/roads-may-skew-turtle-sex-ratios/) - Anyone who’s seen a turtle cross the road knows that these slow-moving reptiles are no match for the cars whizzing past. But there has been little evidence that roads are a threat to turtle populations. Now new research suggests that cars are picking off the females: painted turtle populations are 73 percent male, and snapping - [Frogs Rebound When Introduced Trout Are Removed](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/frogs-rebound-when-introduced-trout-are-removed/) - One of the mysteries of global amphibian decline is that many affected populations are in protected areas. Although biologists suspect that introduced predatory fish may be the culprit in the decline of mountain frogs, there has been little evidence that the two are directly linked. Now new research shows that mountain yellow-legged frogs (Rana mucosa) - [Invasives Don't Always Outcompete Native Species](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/invasives-dont-always-outcompete-native-species/) - Most California grasslands have been taken over by European plants. Conventional wisdom holds that these non-native species outcompete the native grasses. But new research shows that native grasses can actually out-compete non-natives in coastal prairies, thus giving hope for restoring them. Jeffrey Corbin and Carla D’Antonio, both from the University of California, Berkeley, present this - [Intense Prescribed Fire Can Restore Forest Structures](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/intense-prescribed-fire-can-restore-forest-structures/) - More than a century of fire suppression has turned many western U.S. forests into tinderboxes crammed with flammable young trees and woody debris. Although the problem is obvious, the solution is not. New research suggests that some of these forests could be restored with intense prescribed fire. “Especially in remote and roadless areas, intense prescribed - [Forest Elephant Counts Based on Crude Guesswork](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/forest-elephant-counts-based-on-crude-guesswork/) - A new analysis shows that despite decades of conservation effort, most estimates of forest elephant populations are unreliable. Knowing how many forest elephants there are and where they live is key to deciding which populations are most important to protect. “The frequent repetition of crude guesses has created a false sense that we know more - [Are We Losing Ground?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/are-we-losing-ground/) - New research signals a global disparity between the habitats we are protecting and those that we are losing. A game plan that concentrates on species loss won’t solve the problem. by Jonathan M. Hoekstra, Timothy M. Boucher, Taylor H. Ricketts, and Carter Roberts Click charts and graphs above to see an enlargement If we set - [Living the Good Life](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/living-the-good-life/) - In Britain, conservation now counts as a measure of quality of life By Nancy Bazilchuk In a world where hungry children, congested roads, and number of unemployed citizens have long been the standard measure of a nation’s quality of life, Britons have gone green. In 1999, the British government decided the numbers of corn buntings - [Why Good Governance Matters for Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/why-good-governance-matters-for-conservation/) - By Jon Christensen A year ago, when The Nature Conservancy was confronted with a blistering exposé in the Washington Post, it did what big companies often do. It went into damage control mode. Executives halted practices that were criticized while they reviewed policies. They took out ads. They got friends in high places to write - [Book Review: The Whale and the Supercomputer](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/books-10/) - The Whale and the Supercomputer: On the Northern Front of Climate Change By Charles Wohlforth North Point Press, 2004 Reviewed by Jonathan Beard For most of us, the threat of global warming seems vague, distant: winters getting half a degree, even a whole degree, warmer over a decade may even sound appealing. But for the - [Wading Birds Rarer in Conserved Areas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/wading-birds-rarer-in-conserved-areas/) - Dutch conservation agreements pay farmers for adopting agricultural practices intended to benefit nature, but a new analysis suggests that they are not working. The agreements are not helping and in some cases may even harm their target species — the diversity of plants and meadow birds has failed to increase, and the numbers of wading - [Does Conserving Subspecies Make Sense?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/does-conserving-subspecies-make-sense/) - When it comes to subspecies, which ones count? A new study suggests current conservation of bird subspecies is misguided. In fact, there is a dramatic mismatch between named subspecies and genetically distinct populations. “The focus on subspecies could misdirect conservation effort,” says Robert Zink of the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, in the March 2004 - [No Link between Flagship Species and Other Biodiversity in Belize](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/no-link-between-flagship-species-and-other-biodiversity-in-belize/) - Flagship species such as the giant panda and the jaguar often drive the establishment of small reserves. But is this a good idea? Not according to new research that shows no link between flagship species and biodiversity in a Belize rainforest. Flagship species “appear to be a poor conservation tool... for delineating the location of - [Marine Reserves Can Boost Local Fisheries](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/marine-reserves-can-boost-local-fisheries/) - No-take marine reserves are controversial partly because they are expected to help local people by providing more fish to catch, yet there is no solid evidence that they actually do so. Now a new study in the Philippines confirms that marine reserves can boost the catch and lower the fishing effort in nearby fisheries. “The - [Conservation Incentives Do Work](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/conservation-incentives-do-work/) - Private landowners don’t have to help endangered species on their property, but conservationists hope they will want to. Several incentive programs encourage habitat protection on private lands in the U.S., and a new study suggests that they can work. “These incentive programs are the most promising development in endangered species conservation in a decade,” says - [Culling Whales in the Name of Ecosystem Management?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/culling-whales-in-the-name-of-ecosystem-management/) - Journal Watch Even as conservationists promote whale watching over whaling, the debate is shifting. A new report says that whaling nations are focusing less on whether rebounding whale populations should be hunted and more on whether they are threats to marine ecosystems. “The debate on managing whale killing is moving to the question of how - [Forest Fragments Boost Coffee Production](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/forest-fragments-boost-coffee-production/) - Brazilian law requires rural landowners to preserve a fifth of the native forest on their property, and new research suggests that this law may provide economic as well as conservation benefits. The study shows that forest fragments can boost production on nearby coffee farms by nearly 15 percent. “The forest’s economic value may convince more - [The Elephant Listening Project](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-elephant-listening-project/) - Bioacoustic monitoring portends a sweeping change in our ability to listen in on the cacophony of the wild world—and perhaps even make sense of it. By Douglas Fox The afternoon doldrums hang heavy over Dzanga Bai. On the edge of this forest clearing in the Central African Republic, half a dozen researchers and Ba’Aka assistants - [Conservation in 3D](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/conservation-in-3d/) - LIDAR systems put everything into perspective By John Weier For ecologists, seeing the forest for the trees is a constant dilemma. Satellite and airplane images provide an overall picture of the forest and its boundaries. But the aspects of the forest typically crucial to the health of the local denizens, such as the age, height - [No Easy Way Out](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/no-easy-way-out/) - Human health, wildlife disease, and conservation are inextricably linked. Yet modern medicine has fostered the profoundly dangerous illusion that we are above or apart from the natural world. By Mark Jerome Walters In December 2003,the chickens at the Umsung-gun poultry facility, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, Korea, did not come home to roost. Twenty thousand - [Food Fight! Which Side Are You On?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/food-fight-which-side-are-you-on/) - By Jon Christensen Quick: I say, “Genetically modified organisms.” And you say what? Which side are you on? I was at a dinner party with a diverse group of conservation-minded folks who were in town for a meeting on conservation finance. There were biologists, economists, conservationists, and the like. As far as I could tell, - [Book Review: Locust](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/books-9/) - Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect That Shaped the American Frontier By Jeffrey Alan Lockwood Reviewed by Jonathan Beard Locust begins on the newly settled Nebraska prairies in1875. For thousands of families between 1874 and 1876, an ordinary summer day would suddenly turn catastrophic as the skies turned yellow, then began - [Public Access Key to Support for Wetland Mitigation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/public-access-key-to-support-for-wetland-mitigation/) - Because many wetlands are destroyed for roads, flood control, and other public works, the public must pay the hefty costs of conserving or creating wetlands elsewhere. What makes people willing to pay? A new survey shows that public access is one of the things they care about most. “Public access may be critically important to - [Predators Make Pesticides More Lethal](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/predators-make-pesticides-more-lethal/) - The link between amphibian declines and pesticide use has been puzzling because pesticide levels in nature are well below those that are lethal in the laboratory. New research helps explain this mystery: the presence of predators can make the pesticide carbaryl more toxic to tadpoles. “When we include some of the natural ecology, even low - [Oystercatchers Need More Than They Can Eat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/oystercatchers-need-more-than-they-can-eat/) - Even though the Dutch set aside shellfish for mollusk-eating birds, the survival rate of these birds still drops when shellfish stocks are low. New research suggests why: oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus) may need nearly ten times their current allotment, largely because competition keeps many birds from getting enough to eat when shellfish are scarce. “Even leaving - [A New Way of Accounting for Ecological Uncertainty](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/a-new-way-of-accounting-for-ecological-uncertainty/) - Managing populations can be tricky when you don’t know very much about them. But now it’s easier to decide what to do, thanks to a new way of accounting for ecological uncertainty. Even better, an analysis of this method shows that a relatively simple approach is often the best. This gives hope for “robust conservation - [Keeping the Eco in Ecotourism](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/keeping-the-eco-in-ecotourism/) - Too much ecotourism may harm the very creatures that people love to see. New research suggests that tourism boats are disrupting dolphin behavior in southern New Zealand fjords. Too many boats can make dolphins spend less time socializing — which could mean less reproduction — and more time at sea — which could mean more - [Gold Mining Sediment Threatens Fish and People](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/gold-mining-sediment-threatens-fish-and-people/) - Mercury poisoning has not been enough to make Suriname regulate small-scale gold mining — but sediment may. Although it is hardly as frightening as mercury, sediment can be just as deadly to stream ecosystems. And new research links sediment to a large reduction in food fish in Suriname, a finding that could catch policymakers’ attention - [Conserving Naturally Small Populations](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/conserving-naturally-small-populations/) - Many species that survived ice ages or evolved on islands naturally have small populations, making extinction a constant threat. A new analysis of two such relict species — the Spanish Imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti) and the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) — argues that, rather than trying to increase these populations, managers should just try to - [Hi-Tech Monitoring](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/hi-tech-monitoring/) - By Martha Baer Illustration ©Steve Kropp/SIS John Anderson is stretched out on his side, his right arm plunged to the shoulder in a narrow hole in the ground. He’s grubby, his unwashed hair stuck to his forehead and sandaled feet in dire need of a scrub. His belly sags sideways in the brush. With a - [Finding the Baseline](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/finding-the-baseline/) - By Douglas Fox Over 10,000 species identified, 427 of them new to science. It sounds exotic, downright Amazonian, but in fact this reach into the unknown is happening in down-home Tennessee. The project is called the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI). Its goal is to discover the entire range of biodiversity within Great Smoky Mountains - [Ecological Reform School](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/ecological-reform-school/) - By Douglas Fox On a muggy midsummer’s Saturday morning, cars collect in the parking lot of Brooklyn’s New York Aquarium; commuters, many of them not entirely happy to be there, emerge with coffee cups in their hands and head for the education complex. The scene has that sour-grapes “traffic school” feeling—and that’s not far from - [Degraded Darkness](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/degraded-darkness/) - By Ben Harder Illustration ©Michael Gibbs On a pair of sweltering days one recent July, Sharon Wise and her husband Bryant Buchanan rigged strands of white Christmas lights from tree to tree in the wilderness of Virginia. No nativity scene was in evidence, no plastic reindeer, and certainly no snow. Any neighbors the couple might - [What Makes Environmental Treaties Work?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/what-makes-environmental-treaties-work/) - By Frances Cairncross illustration ©Dennis Noble/SIS If the Kyoto Protocol fails, will it be because a badly thought-out treaty? Scott Barrett, a professor at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, believes the latter. He has spent seven years scrutinizing hundreds of environmental treaties, studying why some work and - [Groundwater Crisis Threatens Subterranean Biodiversity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/groundwater-crisis-threatens-subterranean-biodiversity/) - People are using so much groundwater that there are chronic shortages in many parts of the world. Whereas the proposed solutions focus on providing drinking and irrigation water, groundwater is also critical to the diverse creatures that live beneath the surface of the Earth. A new analysis calls for protecting groundwater ecosystems as well as - [Restoring Destroyed Grasslands in China](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/restoration-as-weed-control-2/) - China has both the largest human population and the largest continuous grassland in the world, and the former makes it hard to protect the latter. So many people are grazing livestock in the Inner Mongolian steppes that the steppes are being destroyed. New research suggests a win-win solution: concentrating people in cities could both improve - [Nonlethal Carnivore Control](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/nonlethal-carnivore-control/) - When wolves and other large carnivores threaten people and their livestock, wildlife managers often resort to killing these predators. But now there’s hope for a nonlethal solution to controlling carnivores. New research shows that movement-activated guards with strobe lights and sound recordings can help keep wolves and bears away. “High-technology devices are much more expensive, - [Even Hand-Logging Can Threaten Orangutans](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/even-hand-logging-can-threaten-orangutans/) - Hand-logging is thought to be relatively conservation-friendly because it doesn’t use heavy machinery. But that doesn’t mean it’s benign. New research shows that hand-logging may threaten orangutans by breaking up the forest canopies where they live and by harvesting the large fruit trees where they prefer to eat. Hand-logging may also affect female orangutans more - [Endangered Species Listings May Backfire](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/endangered-species-listings-may-backfire/) - New research confirms fears that Endangered Species Act listings do not necessarily help — and may even harm — rare species on private lands. Since the Preble’s jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei) was listed as threatened, landowners in this study have degraded as much habitat as they have enhanced, and most oppose biological surveys critical - [Dung Could Help Restore Mediterranean Grasslands](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/dung-could-help-restore-mediterranean-grasslands/) - Getting the right seeds for grassland restoration is hard — collecting them in the wild is time consuming, and commercial mixes typically lack rare species. New research suggests that cows can be used to both collect and package Mediterranean grassland seeds: dung from cattle grazing in diverse grasslands may help restore grasslands that have lost - [Does Shade Coffee Help or Hinder Conservation?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/does-shade-coffee-help-or-hinder-conservation/) - Although shade coffee is promoted as protecting tropical forests and birds, conservationists are split on whether it actually works. The December 2003 issue of Conservation Biology has the latest on the debate: one side says shade coffee can give farmers a reason to preserve tropical biodiversity, whereas the other side fears it can actually encourage - [Road Kill](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/road-kill/) - By David Havlick The deer is broken, legs akimbo, and lies ragged at the side of the road. Another car passes by, its driver scarcely noticing the carnage. Road kill, after all, is commonplace. On the average day in Michigan, a car brings down a deer once every eight minutes. In 2002, more than 100 - [Urbanization's Aura](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/urbanizations-aura/) - By John Weier Illustration ©Lawrence Lawry/Getty Images Despite the conspicuous and environmentally corrosive nature of urbanization, tracking it has always been troublesome. Urban sprawl moves relatively fast, consuming hundreds of square miles of land in North America alone each year, and it tends to spread over the landscape in an irregular, organic fashion like mold - [Win-Win Illusions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/win-win-illusions/) - By Jon Christensen Illustration ©John Martin/SIS Like many conservationists, Kent Redford dreams of a world where people and nature thrive side by side. But over and over, he has seen those illusions shattered. Last fall, at the World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa, indigenous groups threatened to take the stage to broadcast a simple - [Reflections on the Pond](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/reflections-on-the-pond/) - By Sarah DeWeerdt Illustration © Tomek Olbinski/SIS Ask a child to draw a wetland and you'll likely get a pond. Ask a planner to restore a wetland and you'll likely get a pond. The pond is the nearly universal icon for wetlands. They are easy to build, meet regulatory guidelines, and they are clearly wet - [Jellyfish Thrive in Overfished Seas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/jellyfish-thrive-in-overfished-seas-2/) - Jellyfish as wide as dinner plates now dominate Namibian waters where fish once teemed, according to a recent report in Current Biology. "This is a profound ecosystem change, with possible consequences to fish stock recovery," say Christopher Lynam of the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland, and six coauthors. Masses of large jellyfish cause - [Plantations Drink Streams Dry](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/plantations-drink-streams-dry-2/) - Planting trees is no panacea for global warming. Although touted as a guilt-free way to offset carbon emissions, plantations have hidden environmental costs. New research shows that stands of fast-growing trees can drink streams completely dry and leave soil salty or acidic. “The trade-offs of plantations should ideally be taken into account when negotiating carbon - [Climate-Driven Epidemic Wipes Out Frogs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/climate-driven-epidemic-wipes-out-frogs-2/) - New research blames global warming for the mass extinction of harlequin frogs from Costa Rica to Peru, where two-thirds of the 110 species mysteriously vanished in the late twentieth century, despite habitat protections. The study shows that most of these frogs disappeared after warmer years and that rising temperatures in the tropics are linked to - [Ship Noise Stresses Freshwater Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/ship-noise-stresses-freshwater-fish-2/) - Underwater noise pollution is on the rise worldwide, and new research shows that it stresses freshwater fish. Recordings of ship noise doubled secretions of the stress hormone cortisol in three species of fish that live in European lakes and rivers. “Ships in freshwater should be required to reduce their noise levels,” say Lidia Eva Wysocki, - [What Does "Wild" Really Mean?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/what-does-wild-really-mean/) - By Jon Christensen Some ideas are like burrs stuck in your boots. If you don’t stop and deal with them, they’ll keep on troubling you. But coming to terms with a troubling idea is never as simple as shaking out your boots. If it were, conservationists would not still be driven wild by questions about - [One Big Fix](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/one-big-fix/) - By Elizabeth Kolbert A few years ago, in an essay in Nature, Nobel Prize-winning Dutch chemist Paul Crutzen coined a term. (1) Instead of the Holocene, he wrote, we should think of ourselves as living in the Anthropocene, an age defined by one species—man—that had become so dominant it was capable of altering the planet - [A Nugget of Hope for Coral Reefs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/a-nugget-of-hope-for-coral-reefs/) - Good news at last for coral reefs: although warmer waters can bleach and kill vast swathes of coral, some colonies continue to thrive despite temperature spikes. This is "a nugget of hope for coral reefs in an era of climate change," say Ray Berkelmans and Madeleine van Oppen of the Australian Institute of Marine Science - [Nitrogen-Fixing Tree Paves the Way for Other Invaders](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/nitrogen-fixing-tree-paves-the-way-for-other-invaders/) - Invasion-resistant ecosystems can be breached by introducing a single nonnative plant that makes it easier for other nonnatives to grow. New research at the Cape Cod National Seashore shows that black locust trees that enrich poor soils by fixing nitrogen have dense undergrowths of invasive species. In contrast, the native trees do not fix nitrogen - [A Good Fish for the Wine](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/a-good-fish-for-the-wine/) - By Robin Meadows Salmon may be the perfect fertilizer for Pacific Coast vineyards, according to new research showing that wine grapes along a California river get up to one-fourth of their nitrogen from the sea. Unlike commercial fertilizer, which is expensive and costly to transport, "salmon fertilizer" is free and is transported directly to riparian - [Jellyfish Thrive in Overfished Seas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/jellyfish-thrive-in-overfished-seas/) - By Robin Meadows Jellyfish as wide as dinner plates now dominate Namibian waters where fish once teemed, according to a recent report in Current Biology. "This is a profound ecosystem change, with possible consequences to fish stock recovery," say Christopher Lynam of the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland, and six coauthors. Masses of - [Earlier Spring, Bigger Fires](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/earlier-spring-bigger-fires/) - By Robin Meadows New research suggests that we have missed the underlying reason why many wildfires in the western U.S. have gotten more intense. Climate change often plays a key role, making the fire season longer and drier. The growing intensity of western wildfires is generally attributed to past fire suppression and consequent fuel buildup. - [Greenhouse Gas Puts the 'Poison' in Poison Ivy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/greenhouse-gas-puts-the-poison-in-poison-ivy/) - Climate change could bring out the worst in poison ivy. New research demonstrates that adding carbon dioxide to the air makes poison ivy grow faster and produce a stronger form of "poison," suggesting that these woody vines will be more plentiful and more potent by the middle of the next century. Worst of all, this - [Deforested Beaches Make for Lonely Female Turtles](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/deforested-beaches-make-for-lonely-female-turtles/) - The current strategy for conserving sea turtles—protecting them and their eggs—may be inadequate for hawksbills, which are classified as critically endangered. New research shows that unless we also protect the increasingly rare beach forests in the Caribbean, there may not be enough male hawksbills to maintain stable populations. Sea turtle sex is determined by incubation - [Could Viagra Be a Conservation Tool?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/could-viagra-be-a-conservation-tool/) - No one is suggesting that Viagra could halt trade in endangered species, or even take the place of conservation efforts to save rhinos and tigers. But here's something to consider. Viagra may be making inroads into the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) market where little else has. A survey of 256 men in a Hong Kong - [Carbon Credits on eBay](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/carbon-credits-on-ebay/) - By Amanda Hawn Internet shoppers can now find greenhouse gas offsets from Meru, Kenya, on eBay, just a click away from their favorite antique collectibles. Sustainable development, and a way to neutralize planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions, has come to the world’s largest online marketplace. Greenhouse gas offsets, also known as carbon credits, are marketable certificates - [It's in the Vault](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/its-in-the-vault/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk This coming fall, the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard will see an unparalleled jump in the diversity of its plant life. Where now the glacier-bedecked islands have only 164 species of flowering plants, most no more than ankle-high, hundreds of thousands of species and varieties will soon take up secondary residence in the - [Feathers with ZIP Codes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/feathers-with-zip-codes/) - By Douglas Fox Armed with mass spectrometers, ecologists are reading the isotope signatures of feathers, scales, teeth, and toenails. Their efforts are revealing the movements of animals whose travels are hard to track—and that information could help manage migratory populations. The underlying insight is that ratios of stable isotopes vary from place to place. In - [Age Is Only Skin Deep](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/age-is-only-skin-deep/) - By Carina Dennis Researcher Daniel Burns and his colleagues were keeping a respectful distance behind a pair of courting humpback whales when a third whale came onto the scene. Soon Burns and his six-meter boat were sandwiched between three 35-ton whales. But with a kitchen sieve strapped to the end of a stick, he got - [Do No Harm](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/do-no-harm/) - The story of the Hawaiian crow is a parable of doing harm by going to all lengths to do good. What role should the ancient advice of Hippocrates play in endangered species conservation? By Mark Jerome Walters Illustration: ©Christopher Zacharow/ images.com On June 14, 2002, federal wildlife biologist Jeff Burgett drove as usual the gravel - [Second Chance](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/second-chance/) - By Cynthia Mills ©Dean C. Kalmantis/images.com Could be guilt, or simply loss, but people hope with mythic zeal for the resurrection of extinct or nearly extinct species. Regard the passion aroused by recent sightings (and soundings) of the ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas swamps. Check out the websites showing a blurry video of what may - [Us or Them](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/us-or-them/) - By William Stolzenburg Lion Hunt, detail of two men and a lion, 1621 (oil on canvas), Peter Paul Rubens, (1577-1640) / Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany, Giraudon / The Bridgeman Art Library In 1963, a prestigious panel of biologists was appointed to review the U.S. government’s branch of Predator and Rodent Control. The panel looked into - [A Warm, Comfortable Blind Spot](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/a-warm-comfortable-blind-spot/) - By Tim Flannery I'm beginning to think that there is more to humanity's reluctance to tackle climate change than fear of prohibitive costs, inconclusive science, and political gaming. If scientists were predicting the imminent return of the ice age, I'm certain our response would be more robust. "Global warming" creates an illusion of a comfortable, - [Invasive Plants Evade Herbivores with Novel Toxins](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/invasive-plants-evade-herbivores-with-novel-toxins/) - Why are some plants more invasive than others? New research reveals that at least part of the answer lies in their chemistry. The worst invasive plants produce toxins not found in native species. This gives them an edge over the competition. Although no more potent than those produced by native plants, the invasives' toxins are - ["Seal-friendly" Nets Overrated](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/seal-friendly-nets-overrated/) - It seemed like the perfect conservation success story: after a Tasmanian trawl fishery was required to use nets with built-in escape hatches, the seal bycatch went way down. But new research shows that today's bycatch is low even without the "seal-friendly" nets, raising the question of what's really going on. It turns out that, rather - [Culling Coyotes Doesn't Pay Off](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/culling-coyotes-doesnt-pay-off/) - People have been killing predators to protect livestock for thousands of years, and today many countries around the world have government programs to control predators. But any benefits to the livestock industry are assumed rather than proven. New research raises questions about this assumption by showing that U.S. coyote control programs do little—if anything—for the - [Pollination Crisis in Biodiversity Hotspots](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/pollination-crisis-in-biodiversity-hotspots/) - More species is not always a good thing—particularly for plants that are competing for pollinators. New research shows that, as the number of plant species in biodiversity hotspots goes up, their likelihood of reproducing goes down. "Plants in biodiversity hotspots are precariously poised for speciation and extinction," says Jana Vamosi of the University of Calgary, - [Endemism as a Surrogate for Biodiversity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/endemism-as-a-surrogate-for-biodiversity/) - Although work casting doubt on the link between endemism and biodiversity has made recent headlines, new research shows that the two do overlap considerably at the local level. "This is good news," says Richard Cowling of the University of Port Elizabeth in South Africa. "It justifies conservation strategies that have focused on endemism hotspots." To - [Exotic Herbivores Promote Plant Invasions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/exotic-herbivores-promote-plant-invasions/) - Invasive plants are thought to be so successful because they don't have natural enemies in their new homes. But new research suggests that the opposite is true. "Exotic plants may thrive not by escaping their native enemies, but by following them," say John Parker and two coauthors in Science. The researchers made this discovery by - [Extinction Blind Spots](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/extinction-blind-spots/) - New research reveals that the mammals most at risk of disappearing in the near future may not appear threatened now. The reason, say the researchers, is that these species are disproportionately vulnerable to human disturbances. "Many species currently considered safe could leapfrog other species on the extinction risk scale to become the most highly threatened - [The Depopulation Bomb](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-depopulation-bomb/) - By Phillip Longman When asked how long it will take for the world's population to double, nearly half of all Americans say 20 years or less. This is hardly surprising, given the sensations of overcrowding we feel in our day-to-day lives and the reports of teeming Third World megacities. Yet looking beneath the surface, we - [Skyscraper Habitats](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/skyscraper-habitats/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk Dusty Gedge is an avid birdwatcher and former London street performer who has taken to the roofs of London—literally—to preach an unlikely gospel: he wants the city to convert up to 400,000 square meters of skyscraper and condominium rooftops into "living roofs," where biodiversity can bloom and rare bugs and birds can - [Hitchhiker's Guide to Ocean Currents](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/hitchhikers-guide-to-ocean-currents/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk The coastal ocean is full of tiny hitchhikers, their glassine alien bodies perfectly designed to drift with the surface current in a lazy dance, a pas de deux where the ocean takes the lead. All these travelers—from the weird horned larvae of the Dungeness crab to the large-eyed smolt of anadromous salmon - [The Greatest Map on Earth](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-greatest-map-on-earth/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk People have been killing predators to protect livestock for thousands of years, and today many countries around the world have government programs to control predators. But any benefits to the livestock industry are assumed rather than proven. New research raises questions about this assumption by showing that U.S. coyote control programs do - [Evolutionary Tinkering](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/evolutionary-tinkering/) - By Scott Norris Illustration by ©Rafal Olbinski Something has shifted recently in my image of future life on earth. It's not that the dire predictions of global climate change and ecological collapse have changed all that much or seem any less convincing. But if I really imagine being there—the year 2306, say—I see something - [Aux Barricades!](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/aux-barricades/) - By Jon Christensen Fortress conservation is making a come-back. Don’t be fooled by all the happy talk about putting people and communities back at the center of conservation and linking conservation to poverty alleviation—talk you might have read here, among other places. While talking a friendly line, conservationists have been busy behind the scenes, reinforcing - [On the Bookshelf, Summer 2006](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/books-17/) - Condor: To the Brink and Back—The Life and Times of One Giant Bird By John Nielsen Harper Collins, 2006 Reviewed by Scott Weidensaul John Nielsen grew up in the shadow of the California condor, psychically if not physically. In the 1960s, he was a kid roaming the foothills of the rugged mountains near the Sespe - [Plantations Drink Streams Dry](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/plantations-drink-streams-dry/) - By Robin Meadows Planting trees is no panacea for global warming. Although touted as a guilt-free way to offset carbon emissions, plantations have hidden environmental costs. New research shows that stands of fast-growing trees can drink streams completely dry and leave soil salty or acidic. “The trade-offs of plantations should ideally be taken into account - [Eradicating Invasives Backfires](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/eradicating-invasives-backfires/) - Eradicating invasive species can sometimes do more harm than good. New research shows that the relative abundance of native species actually drops when one of the U.K.’s worst invasive plants is removed from riparian plots. “The species that respond most dramatically are other nonnative plants,” say Philip Hulme and Eleanor Bremner of the NERC Centre - [Invasive Toad Grows Less Toxic](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/invasive-toad-grows-less-toxic/) - New research shows that cane toads have become less toxic since invading Australia. Besides being good news for the many native species that die after eating the poisonous toads, this diminishing toxicity could be part of a wider phenomenon that applies to other invasive species. “Changes that affect invaders’ impact could be happening regularly—they haven’t - [Malaria Linked to Deforestation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/malaria-linked-to-deforestation/) - Malaria has recently made a comeback in the Peruvian Amazon, and deforestation may be the underlying cause. New research shows that the risk of being bitten by the primary malaria-carrying mosquito is nearly 300 times higher in cleared areas than in those that are largely undisturbed—adding to the growing evidence that conservation is critical to - [Ecotourists Will Pay More—a Lot More—to See Birds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/ecotourists-will-pay-more-a-lot-more-to-see-birds/) - By Robin Meadows New research shows that ecotourism could be doing a lot more for conservation. In a tropical forest reserve in Uganda, the diversity of birds is such a huge draw that plenty of tourists would still visit, even if entrance fees were nearly 10 times higher. Better yet, this revenue increase would be - [Climate-Driven Epidemic Wipes Out Frogs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/climate-driven-epidemic-wipes-out-frogs/) - By Robin Meadows New research blames global warming for the mass extinction of harlequin frogs from Costa Rica to Peru, where two-thirds of the 110 species mysteriously vanished in the late twentieth century, despite habitat protections. The study shows that most of these frogs disappeared after warmer years and that rising temperatures in the tropics - [Who's Feeling the Heat?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/whos-feeling-the-heat/) - In early 2006, David Reiner from the University of Cambridge and colleagues completed surveys of citizens in the U.S., the U.K., Sweden, and Japan about their attitudes on global warming. They found that despite sharp differences in government policy, the views of the American public are remarkably similar to those in the other three countries. - [Border Control](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/border-control/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk Phoeurk Sar, a 50-year-old Cambodian woman, used a bus ride to the Vietnamese border to ferry her contraband cargo. Her luggage bulged with four endangered Sunda pangolins, curled up big and round as bowling balls, along with 11 Asian soft-shelled turtles, a king cobra, and a rat snake. The acting mayor of - [Live Rock](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/live-rock/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk Many villagers in the island nation of Fiji earn cash by planting sugar cane. But residents of Tagaqe are growing something different: live rock. Not the loud music variety, but a critical component in saltwater aquaria. When villagers suspend porous rocks in the rich waters of the Fijian reef, the rocks are - [Seeing Stars](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/seeing-stars/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk Astrophysicist Zaven Arzoumanian spends his days thinking about the stars, deciphering the murmured messages sent in x-rays and radio waves emitted by distant neutron stars and black holes. Marine biologist Brad Norman spends his days thinking about the ocean and studying the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), the world’s largest fish, as it - [Get Real](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/get-real/) - By Katherine Ellison Illustration by Mick Wiggins Top scientists warn that for the world to have a fighting chance of slowing climate change global emissions will have to be reduced by as much as 70 percent—and the sooner, the better. The longer we wait, the more weather disasters such as floods, hurricanes, and the like - [Environmental Heresies](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/environmental-heresies/) - An interview with Stewart Brand Q: You’re not worried about population growth. Why? Was Paul Ehrlich wrong all along? When I studied ecology at Stanford in the late 1950s, Paul Ehrlich was an assistant professor and one of my teachers. I was so moved by his book The Population Bomb (1), I organized a public - [Democratizing Taxonomy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/democratizing-taxonomy/) - By Marguerite Holloway Illustration by James Marsh With 16 butterflies hidden in a briefcase, biologists Daniel Janzen and Winnie Hallwachs arrived for a meeting at the Banbury Center of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York in March 2003. Some were dark-chocolate brown with white bands and patches of shimmering azure, others mocha with cream - [Selective Logging Doubles Amazon Forest Damage](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/selective-logging-doubles-amazon-forest-damage/) - A new, high-resolution analysis of satellite images reveals that in the Brazilian Amazon, as much forest is lost to selective logging as to outright deforestation, such as clearcutting or burning. “Selective logging has been mostly invisible to satellites,” say Gregory Asner of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Stanford, California, and five coauthors in Science. - [Black Bears Wiped Out by Introduced Deer](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/black-bears-wiped-out-by-introduced-deer/) - Deer overpopulation is blamed for a host of ecological woes, from wildflower losses to songbird declines. Now there’s an unexpected addition to the list: new research suggests that white-tailed deer have driven black bears to extinction on Québec’s Anticosti Island. “To my knowledge, this is the first evidence of what appears to be the indirect - [Phosophorus Pollution Limits Plant Diversity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/phosophorus-pollution-limits-plant-diversity/) - The conventional wisdom that nitrogen pollution threatens biodiversity may be wrong. Rather, the culprit might be too much phosphorus. New research shows that many more endangered plants are still surviving in areas where phosphorus is scarce than in those where nitrogen is scarce, which means these species are more likely to die out if phosphorus - [Highways Are a Genetic Barrier for Bighorns](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/highways-are-a-genetic-barrier-for-bighorns/) - New research shows that highways have reduced the genetic diversity of desert bighorn (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) sheep in southern California. The effects of barriers on these at-risk bighorns are particularly dire because the populations live in scattered mountain ranges and so are already naturally isolated. “Interstate highways, canals, and developed areas, where present, have - [Biodiversity May Curb West Nile Virus](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/biodiversity-may-curb-west-nile-virus/) - Biodiversity could help control West Nile virus (WNV), an untreatable disease that can spread from wild birds to people. The key is that some birds are poor hosts for the virus, and new research suggests that the greater the diversity of these species, the lower the incidence of the disease in people. These findings are - [Road Salt Turns Streams Toxic](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/road-salt-turns-streams-toxic/) - New research shows that chloride levels are rising so fast that many streams in the northeastern U.S. could be toxic to sensitive freshwater life by the next century. Salt contamination is “one of the most significant threats to the integrity of freshwater ecosystems in the northeastern United States,” say Sujay Kaushal and seven coauthors - [Hotspots Not Necessarily So Hot](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/hotspots-not-necessarily-so-hot/) - Not all biodiversity hotspots are equal. New research shows that for birds, most hotspots are rich in either overall diversity, threatened species, or endemics but that very few are rich in all three types of diversity. “The different types of hotspots vary greatly in their utility as conservation tools,” say David Orme of Imperial College, - [Raising the Bar on Kyoto](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/raising-the-bar-on-kyoto/) - By Adelheid Fischer At first glance, it seemed like one of those win-win scenarios. To provide charcoal fuel for its pig iron works, Plantar S.A. Reflorestamentos, a private company in southeastern Brazil, sought to plant 23,000 ha of cloned eucalyptus trees. Using cultivated trees, the company argued, would sequester one metric ton of carbon for - [Stalking the Wild House Wren](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/stalking-the-wild-house-wren/) - By Joshua Brown Paula Sullivan’s backyard in Alexandria, Virginia, sits on a cul-de-sac six blocks from the Interstate highway and a few miles from Reagan National Airport. It’s not exactly where John James Audubon would have taken out his paint box. But for house wrens (Troglodytes aedon) looking to nest, this suburban plot may be - [Right Brain-Left Brain Conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/right-brain-left-brain-conservation/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk In the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in the Oregon Cascades, researchers have laced fallen trees with the mundane materials of field science: metal tags and bits of plastic used to document decay rates. To writer Robert Michael Pyle, the scientists are “the druids of forest research” and their paraphernalia “offerings to Rot.” - [High Seas Garbage Pickup](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/high-seas-garbage-pickup/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk When physicist Jim Churnside boarded a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) “hurricane hunter” airplane loaded with thousands of dollars’ worth of instruments, he wasn’t sure whether he could find the ghosts he was looking for. What if his team were wrong about the idea of using satellite data to find ghost - [Where the Wild Things Were](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/where-the-wild-things-were/) - By William Stolzenburg Illustration by Carl Buell The conjured images were surreal, lions prowling Nebraska corn fields, elephants stomping across North Dakota. From there the visions grew frightful, exotic and dangerous beasts swarming the Great Plains, slaughtering livestock, spreading disease, ruining rural livelihoods as far abroad as Africa. When, last August, a group of 12 - [Connecting Flights](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/connecting-flights/) - Never mind the road map for peace. An unlikely marriage between bird conservation and military aviation is thriving on one of the most divisive pieces of real estate on Earth. By Frances Cairncross Illustration by © Stanislaw Fernandes It’s just before eight o’clock in the morning at the end of August, and we have been - [The Shift to Sands](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-shift-to-sands-2/) - Scientists have devised a way to forecast the sudden and irreversible collapse of arid ecosystems Six thousand years ago, the Sahara was as green as any verdant field. Then the weather changed, so to speak, and it became nothing but sand. And for the 2 billion people who live in the arid regions of the - [A Rock and a Hard Place](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/a-rock-and-a-hard-place-3/) - Female moose avoid bear predation by giving birth near roads Humans, brown bears, and moose are engaged in a curious, triangular relationship at Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, according to the recently published findings of a ten-year study. Bears (Ursus arctos) avoid roads (= humans + cars) and so escape a mangled-road-kill fate. Moose (Alces - [Wipe Out](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/wipe-out-2/) - The domino effect extends to marine life After decades of heavy fishing, it’s no surprise that great sharks have virtually disappeared from the U.S. Atlantic seaboard. But it is surprising that they are taking bay scallops and probably other bottom-dwelling shellfish with them. “In the past, people thought removing predators wouldn’t affect other parts of - [Hidden Effects of Climate Change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/hidden-effects-of-climate-change-2/) - Seal mating patterns shift with climate Beyond shifting species' ranges, climate change may also cause hidden alterations at the genetic level by disrupting animal mating patterns. New research reveals that climate variation can undermine the breeding hierarchy in grey seal colonies. When rainfall is scant, dominant males mate less and subordinate males mate more. "A - [Save Whales . . . and Money](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/save-whales-and-money-2/) - U.S. lobster fishermen could shift their season, avoid whales, and catch as much Lobster trap lines have long threatened the North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of Maine. The thick lines, which extend from surface buoys to lobster traps on the sea floor, can injure or even kill whales by wrapping around their baleen - [Tropics Are the Cradle of Biodiversity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/tropics-are-the-cradle-of-biodiversity-2/) - New research establishes that most of the marine bivalve lineages worldwide that first appeared in the past 11 million years did so in the tropics. This suggests that, besides having the most species, the tropics are likely the primary source of diversity elsewhere on Earth. "A tropical diversity crisis would thus have profound evolutionary effects - [The Plural of Anecdote is Data](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-plural-of-anecdote-is-data-2/) - Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man By Dale Peterson Houghton Mifflin, 2006 Reviewed by Florence Williams When 23-year-old Jane Goodall became Louis Leakey's secretary at the Coryndon Museum in Kenya, it's not clear which of her attributes he was most drawn to: her physical beauty, her reverence for him and his work, or her - [Viewer Discretion Advised](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/05/viewer-discretion-advised/) - Reviewed by Natalie Jeremijenko Climate change, perhaps the most far-reaching and significant issue of this century, is no stranger to the bestseller list, the red carpet, the floor of the Senate, or the corporate agenda. But another realm has also been involved in the dialogue—contemporary art. The book Burning Ice: Art and Climate Change compiles - [Drawing the Line](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/05/drawing-the-line/) - It’s December 2004, and I am back in Myitkyina, the capital of the Kachin State in Myanmar. As I drive through the gates onto the manicured grounds of the Town Hall, I am aware that the next few hours will help determine the success or failure of the tiger reserve that has been five years - [Green Giants](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/green-giants/) - By George Monbiot You batter your head against the door until you begin to wonder whether it is a door at all. Suddenly, it opens and you find yourself flying through space. The superstores' green conversion is astonishing, wonderful, disorienting. If Tesco and Wal-Mart have become friends of the Earth, are any enemies left? These - [The Upside of Erosion](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-upside-of-erosion/) - By Nathanael Johnson In a simpler world, all the "good" environmental processes would wear white cowboy hats while all the villains would be off causing cancer, clubbing baby seals, and making people fat. In the real world, the bad guys—in this case, erosion—sometimes muddy the waters by doing good deeds. During the Gold Rush, when - [The Shift to Sands](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-shift-to-sands/) - By Eric Wagner October-December 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 4) Kéfi, S. et al. 2007. Spatial vegetation patterns and imminent desertification in Mediterranean arid ecosystems. Nature 449(7159):213-217. Six thousand years ago, the Sahara was as green as any verdant field. Then the weather changed, so to speak, and it became nothing but sand. And for the - [Earthworms Steal the Floor](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/earthworms-steal-the-floor/) - Invasion by nonnative earthworms triggers decline in plant diversity If plants are disappearing all around you, check underneath your boots. You might find invading earthworms. Andrew Holdsworth and University of Minnesota colleagues describe in Conservation Biology how declines in plant species numbers in two national forests, the Chippewa and the Chequamegon, can be traced to - [Spice Girls Buzz Off](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/spice-girls-buzz-off/) - Angry bees could be the way to control rampaging elephants A refreshingly low-tech solution to the problem of crop-raiding elephants (Loxodonta africana) has been found, scientists report in Current Biology. You and I know it’s not a good idea to hang around a nest of disturbed African bees (Apis mellifera scutellata), and so do elephants. - [A Rock and a Hard Place](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/a-rock-and-a-hard-place/) - By Nick Atkinson Berger, J. 2007. Fear, human shields and the redistribution of prey and predators in protected areas. Biology Letters 3(6):620-623. Humans, brown bears, and moose are engaged in a curious, triangular relationship at Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, according to the recently published findings of a ten-year study. Bears (Ursus arctos) avoid roads - [Counting Backward](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/counting-backward/) - Genetic analysis suggests Pacific gray whale populations are a shadow of their former numbers Populations of Pacific gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) may have been three to five times greater than what they are today, according to researchers at Stanford University and the University of Washington. Their findings, published in PNAS, lend a cautionary note to - [The Price of Power](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-price-of-power/) - Pursuing biofuel strategy is barking up the wrong tree, scientists claim Biofuels, particularly ethanol and biodiesel, are a mere distraction in the fight to limit carbon emissions, warn the authors of a paper in Science. Their meta-analysis of data published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Energy Agency (IEA), and others - [Brand Name Wilderness](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/brand-name-wilderness/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk The Apennine mountains run for 1,000 kilometers along the length of Italy, their weathered peaks punching up like the gigantic vertebrae of some long-extinct dinosaur. Halfway down, east of Rome, the Abruzzo region contains the range’s most spectacular and extensive summits. In 1995, Italy created one of its newest national parks, Parco - [A Fine Weave](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/a-fine-weave/) - By Shilpa Kannan The government of Jammu and Kashmir in India has started a new scheme that uses microchip tags for all registered Tibetan antelope products. They hope that this will check illegal trade in shahtoosh, the valuable wool from these creatures that is used to make shawls. Any person found in Kashmir with a - [Run Silent, Run Deep](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/run-silent-run-deep/) - By Katharine Sanderson An underwater robot that can hear the calls of whales, and so help ships to avoid them, has just been successfully trialed in the Bahamas. The scheme relies on a torpedo-shaped glider that zigzags through the ocean. It can dive down as far as 200 meters below the surface and directs itself - [Cross-Species Cookbook](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/cross-species-cookbook/) - By Eric Wagner If it’s nice outside, sometimes I’ll take my lunch to a nearby park. More often than not, a gaggle of geese is there too, dining on the knoll. While I enjoy my turkey sandwich, they eat grass. The culinary gap between our two lunches makes sense, given what at first seems to - [Coral-Safe Scallops](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/coral-safe-scallops/) - Tasty species live at the bottom of the sea. Plucking these morsels from their habitat, however, is often a violent affair that destroys other denizens of the deep. Now researchers have developed a more benign way to fish. Trawling is the most widespread form of fishing. But bottom trawling is brutal. It uses an enormous, - [The Courage of Prediction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-courage-of-prediction/) - By W. Wayt Gibbs If, like me, you have a cynical streak, then you may share my suspicion of the process through which raw data are munged by statistical machines into trend charts with giant error bars, then distilled by policymakers into dollops of wisdom. Misplaced faith in oversimplified models, after all, has produced some - [The Vision Thing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-vision-thing/) - By Ted Nordhaus & Michael Shellenberger On January 27, 2005, standing before the Davos World Economic Forum, Prime Minister Tony Blair put at the center of his vision of global interdependence two issues that had never before played such a prominent role in any geopolitical agenda: extreme poverty and global warming. For environmentalists, Blair’s Davos - [Wildlife Contraception](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/wildlife-contraception/) - Charged with downsizing wildlife populations to fit the geography of the modern world, researchers are out to replace bullets with family planning. By Douglas Fox A lone elephant hurries toward a stand of trees as the whoop-whoop of a helicopter looms overhead. The helicopter swings within a few yards of the elephant, and she breaks - [Saint Ursus Maritimus](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/saint-ursus-maritimus/) - Icons are about simplicity and clarity. No gray areas. But what happens when the real polar bear clashes with the symbol it has become? By Jim Robbins Hunting nanuq on the blizzard-prone, wind-whipped ice off the coast of Nunavut in Canada’s far north is not for the faint-hearted. Polar bear hunters travel with an Inuit - [Razza, the Rat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/razza-the-rat/) - By Eric Wagner Perhaps you remember the curious tale of Razza, the rat. It began a couple of years ago, when James Russell and colleagues from the University of Auckland in New Zealand tagged a Norway rat and set it loose on a small, rat-free island. Their aim was to see how hard it would - [Slow-growth Forests](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/slow-growth-forests/) - Climate change may stunt rather than spur tree growth Not all forests are responding to climate change in the same way. In the Amazon, trees are growing faster. But new research shows that trees in Panama and Malaysia are actually growing more slowly. So if we were pinning our hopes on tropical forests working overtime - [Bears, Bulls, and Birds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/bears-bulls-and-birds/) - Economic inequality linked to species at risk An interdisciplinary group of McGill University scientists has discovered a somewhat unsettling link between economic inequality and biodiversity loss. Writing in PLoS ONE, Gregory Mikkelson and colleagues describe how the level of economic inequality—how wealth is distributed—is a robust predictor of the proportion of bird species in decline: - [Wipe Out](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/wipe-out/) - By Robin Meadows Myers, R.A. et al. 2007. Cascading effects of the loss of apex predatory sharks from a coastal ocean. Science 315:1846-1850. After decades of heavy fishing, it’s no surprise that great sharks have virtually disappeared from the U.S. Atlantic seaboard. But it is surprising that they are taking bay scallops and probably other - [Six Degrees of Separation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/six-degrees-of-separation/) - Anchovy and sardine populations take turns collapsing Anchovy and sardine fisheries are famous for their dramatic collapses, but a new study suggests the cause isn’t overexploitation. Writing in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, three Japanese biologists led by Akinori Takasuka at the National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, Yokohama, show that the - [Cold Climate Evolution](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/cold-climate-evolution/) - Species come and go faster near the poles Just as breaking into a crowded market can be tough, it turns out that fewer species arise in the biodiversity-rich tropics. But alternative markets can be risky. While species in colder climes evolve faster, they also die out faster, thus keeping their numbers low. So says a - [The Joy of Biodiversity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-joy-of-biodiversity/) - More biodiversity intensifies our emotional attachment to green spaces We already knew that greenery was good for us, relieving stress and even speeding recovery times after surgery. But a new study in Biology Letters goes further by showing that greenery with more biodiversity is even better for us. To gauge how biodiversity affects city-dwellers, researchers - [Long-distance Killer](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/long-distance-killer/) - Pesticides are the latest suspect in Costa Rica’s mysterious frog decline Massive amphibian die-offs in Central America have been hard to explain because they are more common at higher elevations, where habitats seem more pristine. But new research resolves this paradox, revealing that the region’s mountaintop cloud forests are literally dripping with agricultural pesticides. In - [Nothing to Declare](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/nothing-to-declare/) - By Michelle Carr Australia has introduced the world’s first DNA timber test to stem the import of illegally logged, endangered trees. The test uses sampling techniques similar to human DNA fingerprinting to confirm the exact source of trees to be imported from Indonesia—a country where more than 80 percent of all wood produced and sold - [Cheap Labor](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/cheap-labor/) - ©Dana LeBlanc By Nancy Bazilchuk Brazilian researchers have found an unusual way to reforest hundreds of thousands of hectares of denuded Atlantic and Amazonian forests. They are luring fruit bats into fruit-free cleared areas by impregnating fake fruits with essential oils of the bat’s favored foods. When the bats fly to investigate the aromatic foam-rubber - [Hunting Apparel](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/hunting-apparel/) - By Michelle Carr Domestic cats kill an estimated 100 million native Australian animals each year. Now a study shows that a brightly-colored bib attached to a cat’s collar can reduce hunting effectiveness by 72 percent. Cats are believed to have pushed some Australian species extinct on islands and contributed to the disappearance of ground-living birds - [Identified Flying Objects](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/identified-flying-objects/) - By Gaia Vance Ornithologists seeking the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker have been given a much-needed boost: the world’s first fully automated, robotic birdwatcher. Believed extinct for more than half a century, the iconic woodpecker with its distinctive plumage appeared to stage a miraculous return in April 2005, when ornithologists claimed to have spotted the bird in - [Tour de Turtle](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/tour-de-turtle/) - By Peter Popham What is it about the word turtle? Why must a fatally outdated style of knitwear, one of America’s corniest Sixties pop groups, and a dire children’s cartoon series all cluster around this innocuous word? The clumsiest thing you can do in a boat is turn turtle. The turtle itself invariably cuts a - [10 Solutions to Save the Ocean](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/10-solutions-to-save-the-ocean/) - Great ideas can pop open whole new vistas. And they can come in many forms. They can be as big and sweeping as a new business model or as focused as a single piece of equipment. What’s key is that they are leverage points that have the potential to turn tides. Saving the world’s oceans - [The Last Gladiators](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-last-gladiators/) - By Scott Weidensaul We’ve all seen a Barbary lionóat least, a three Studios lion, the one with the magnificent beginning of classic movies, is thought to have been a Barbary—a large subspecies of the African lion Panthera leo leo that once lived from Morocco to Egypt. This was the lion that fought gladiators and ate - [Arresting Evidence](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/arresting-evidence/) - By Natasha Loder illustration: © Christopher Zacharow/images.com Inside a glitzy store in one of China’s port cities is a room that might shock you. Low lights, shiny glass, and mirrored cabinets: the room is a temple to ivory. It’s all available at a price, from tiny figurines to massive high-end carvings and even entire carved - [Old Limbs, Would-be Explorers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/books-21/) - The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring By Richard Preston Random House, 2007 Reviewed by David Rains Wallace All organisms must explore their environments. Exploration acquired a problematic dimension with the rise of civilization, however. It became a progressive sequence of discovery leading to exploitation and colonization, which raised the troubling possibility that - [Hidden Effects of Climate Change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/hidden-effects-of-climate-change/) - By Robin Meadows S. Twiss et al. 2007. The impact of climatic variation on the opportunity for sexual selection. Biology Letters 3:12-15. Beyond shifting species' ranges, climate change may also cause hidden alterations at the genetic level by disrupting animal mating patterns. New research reveals that climate variation can undermine the breeding hierarchy in grey - [Enforcement Trumps Encouragement](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/enforcement-trumps-encouragement/) - What's the most cost-effective way to protect wildlife in African national parks? Working to develop local economies and providing alternatives to poaching, or simply increasing law enforcement? The latter may be enough, according to new research in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park. Antipoaching patrols there have spurred a recent resurgence of animals. This work - [Save Whales . . . and Money](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/save-whales-and-money/) - By Robin Meadows R.A. Myers et al. 2007. Saving endangered whales at no cost. Current Biology 17:R10-11. Lobster trap lines have long threatened the North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of Maine. The thick lines, which extend from surface buoys to lobster traps on the sea floor, can injure or even kill whales by - [Leave It to Beavers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/leave-it-to-beavers/) - A new appreciation for dams as a source of amphibian habitat Beavers are widely considered to be a nuisance for damaging forests and flooding roads and crops. But allowing these rodents to build more dams could help North American frogs and toads. In a new Canadian study, most beaver ponds had plenty of courting and - [Small, Inbred, but Still Diverse](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/small-inbred-but-still-diverse/) - Isolated wolf population retains genetic variation The 150 wolves living in Scandinavia descended from just three individuals, which sounds like a recipe for inbreeding. But new research reveals that the wolves are, surprisingly, genetically diverse. "Small isolated populations in the wild may not lose genetic variation as quickly as predicted," say Staffan Bensch of Lund - [Parasites Lost](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/parasites-lost/) - Threatened primates have fewer viruses, bacteria, protozoa, worms, and insects A new study has established that threatened primates are infested by fewer kinds of parasites than their nonthreatened cousins. Sounds good, right? Not necessarily. Having fewer parasites could paradoxically increase endangered species' vulnerability to some infectious diseases. The question is "whether the loss of parasites - [Outsmarting Extinction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/outsmarting-extinction/) - Big-brained birds more likely to cope with global warming and other challenges Brains may matter more than brawn in the animal world. New research shows that birds having relatively big brains are also more likely to survive in the wild. "Large-brained animals might be better prepared to cope with environmental challenges such as global warming - [Is There Anybody Out There?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/numbers-in-context/) - Photo: ©Leah-Anne Thompson/iStockphoto.com Visits to national parks have decreased by over 20% since 1988—it's the first persistent downward trend in U.S. park history. Most of the decline (98%) can be explained by four variables: time spent watching movies (at home and in theaters), surfing the Internet, playing video games, and oil prices. Correlation doesn't equal - [Buy 'em, Trade 'em, Protect 'em](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/buy-em-trade-em-protect-em/) - By Cameron Walker Protected areas can suffer from too much love. In the Galapagos Islands, tourism has brought invasive species and overuse. But it has also boosted the local economy. So the question is, how can we protect biodiversity without shutting down local tourism industries? A new proposal based on the cap-and-trade concept now used - [Remote Patrol](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/remote-patrol/) - By Eric Sorensen Of all the animals in the Republic of Congo's Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, from gorillas to buffalo to some 3,000 threatened forest elephants, the human is the most powerful animal of all. And it is unique for having something no other animal possesses: metal. "We are the iron-carrying ape," says Steve Gulick, a - [Top Down Inquiry](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/top-down-inquiry/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk To sample the uppermost parts of the world's tropical canopies, researchers have tried alpine climbing techniques, construction cranes, powerful pesticides, andówhen all else failsóthe chainsaw. Now Pro-Natura International, a private French research organization, has literally floated into the picture with an approach that draws on The Wizard of Oz. They've developed a - [Email, Phone, Data: All in One Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/email-phone-data-all-in-one-fish/) - By Eric Sorensen For years we've had cell phones that take pictures and personal digital assistants that surf the Web and play music. If only we could put something like that on a fish to record its worldwide wanderings and send an occasional, fact-filled email. Consider it done. Almost. The US$136-million Ocean Tracking Network, funded - [Writers' Block](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/writers-block/) - By Jenny Price "Is there nature in Los Angeles?" people typically respond when I tell them that I write about nature in my city. The question sometimes betrays sarcasm, but sometimes not. L.A., after all, has long been decried as the Anti-Nature: it's the American megalopolis with brown air, fouled beaches, pavement to the horizon, - [That Sinking Feeling](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/that-sinking-feeling/) - By Nick Atkinson Illustration ©Dave Cutler/Images.com Aren't trees great? There's something so utterly natural about meandering through a leafy woodland glade, staring up at that immense, almost overwhelming beech tree, and giving the big old thing a hug. And not only are trees our friends, but they can also save the planet. Right? According to - [Aliens Among Us](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/aliens-among-us/) - Photomosaic® by Robert Silvers www.photomosaic.com A round table with James H. Brown and Dov F. Sax, Daniel Simberloff, and Mark Sagoff April-June 2007 (Vol. 8, No. 2) Do Biological Invasions Decrease Biodiversity? James H. Brown is Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. On a practical level, Brown is known for - [Like Humans, Like Elephants](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/like-humans-like-elephants/) - By Martin Meredith An increasing number of scientists appear willing to cross into the forbidden territory of anthropomorphism in their quest to understand the animal world. In the case of elephants, a recent spate of brutal attacks has prompted some notable examples of how some animals are more like us than we might be willing - [A Most Dangerous Game](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/books-20/) - The Man-Eaters of Eden By Robert Frump The Lyons Press, 2006 Reviewed by David Baron IN CONSERVATION CIRCLES there is a fact of nature that many consider impolitic to mention: big cats on occasion eat human beings. Just look at how environmental groups respond whenever a cougar jumps an L.A. mountain biker or a leopard - [Salmon Farms Create Deadly Clouds of Sea Lice](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/salmon-farms-create-deadly-clouds-of-sea-lice/) - Conservationists and aquaculturists are at odds over whether fish farms threaten wild stocks by spreading diseases. Now, new research shows that coastal salmon farms spread sea lice to juvenile wild salmon, killing up to 95 percent of the smolts as they migrate from rivers out to sea. Although young salmon commonly catch lice from adults, - [Tropics Are the Cradle of Biodiversity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/tropics-are-the-cradle-of-biodiversity/) - By Robin Meadows Jablonski, D., K. Roy and J.W. Valentine. 2006. Out of the tropics: evolutionary dynamics of the latitudinal diversity gradient. Science 314(5796):102-106. New research establishes that most of the marine bivalve lineages worldwide that first appeared in the past 11 million years did so in the tropics. This suggests that, besides having the - [Showy Males Most Vulnerable to Warming](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/showy-males-most-vulnerable-to-warming/) - As the world warms, many birds are migrating earlier in the spring, but some species are arriving on breeding grounds even earlier than others. A new study suggests that the difference may lie in the birds' mating systems: the most-affected species are those whose males vie hardest for females. Getting to the breeding grounds first - [Small Worlds Shed New Light on Habitat Loss](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/small-worlds-shed-new-light-on-habitat-loss/) - Bigger habitats aren't always better. New research shows that the mix of species—and how they affect each other—may matter even more than sheer size. Especially important is the trophic web of organisms that variously eat or are eaten by others. "This is the first experimental confirmation that trophic structure can determine species abundances in the - [Honey Bees Get a Bump from Wild Brethren](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/honey-bees-get-a-bump-from-wild-brethren/) - Wild bees have a surprising way of boosting crop production: according to new research, they literally bump it up by crashing into honey bees, which then visit and pollinate more flowers. In honey bee-stocked sunflower fields, seed production is five times higher when wild bees are plentiful than when they are rare. "Wild bees may - [Hotspot Mismatch for Most-Imperiled Species](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/hotspot-mismatch-for-most-imperiled-species/) - While many conservation strategies are based on the assumption that hotspots for one group of imperiled species will also be rich for other groups, new research reveals that this is not true. The most accurate map to date of vertebrate diversity worldwide shows that there is little overlap among rare and threatened amphibians, birds, and - [A Little Vaccination Goes a Long Way](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/a-little-vaccination-goes-a-long-way/) - With only about 500 remaining, Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis) are the world's rarest canid, and their most immediate threat is rabies from domestic dogs. But new research shows that we don't have to immunize each wolf against rabies: vaccinating just one-third of a population was enough to protect it during a rabies epidemic. With only - [Are We Putting Tigers in Our Tanks?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/are-we-putting-tigers-in-our-tanks/) - Fossil fuels burned in 1997 were generated from carbon equal to 422 years' worth of Earth's current productivity, or 73 times the global standing stock of vegetation. To replace our fossil fuel use with biofuels, humanity's footprint would have to increase by 50 percent (1). United States Production of biodiesel grew from about 6,000 tonnes - [Choral Reefs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/choral-reefs/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk When colonies of tropical snapping shrimp clack their outsized, super-fast claws, the noise is so powerful it stuns their prey—and so loud it can obscure the sound of submarines from sonar. Now Marc Lammers, a postdoctoral researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, hopes the sounds of shrimp and other organisms - [Last Wishes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/last-wishes/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk The Galisteo Basin Preserve in New Mexico is a conservationist's dream. The 5,260-hectare parcel is blanketed by a patchwork of piñon and juniper forests and blue grama grasslands, with raptors wheeling overhead while jackrabbits and coyotes lope down dry arroyos. And if Joe Sehee has his way, this spectacular high-desert life will - [Personal Carbon Accounts](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/personal-carbon-accounts/) - By Nick Atkinson Nearly half of Great Britain's greenhouse-gas emissions come from individuals, but the bulk of public policies aimed at reducing emissions target corporations, governments, and other institutions. That could soon change. The U.K. government is considering a personal allowance of carbon "credits"—a high-tech version of the ration books and coupons used to buy - [Wildlife Flight Recorder](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/wildlife-flight-recorder/) - By Eric Sorensen As a doctoral student in the early '80s, Rory Wilson was thrilled when he finally started studying firsthand the behavior of African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) on the South African coast. But a hard reality quickly became apparent when his subjects waddled off into the impenetrable depths of the Benguela Current. "I watched - [When Worlds Collide](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/when-worlds-collide/) - By Douglas Fox Illustration by ©Guy Billout A DYING RACE IS MAKING ITS LAST STAND in the drippy forests of Florida. Its name is Torreya taxifolia, a species of yew tree. Only a few hundred of its kind remain—in some cases, nothing but a few green sprouts pleading for life on a rotting stump. - [Virginity Lost](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/virginity-lost/) - By Fred Pearce Illustration by ©James Marsh Surely in the Amazon, the greatest rainforest on the planet, virginity can be discovered—nature red in tooth and claw? That's what everyone thought until an American oil prospector named Kenneth Lee first climbed aboard a beach buggy and bounced across the grassy lowlands of Baures in the Bolivian - [Capturing a River's Memory](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/capturing-a-rivers-memory/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk When Patty Zaradic sees the spiny alien body of a mayfly nymph or the rough geometric tube of a caddisfly nymph, she sees more than an aquatic insect adapted to clear running water. In the patterns and assemblages of these macroinvertebrates, she sees a river’s memory. “Aquatic insects are like camcorders,” says - [Flood Insurance](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/flood-insurance-2/) - Revisiting an old debate, study finds that forest cover reduces flooding in 56 countries Rightly or not, catastrophic flooding is often viewed as a consequence of poor forest management. The idea that standing forests significantly reduce the frequency and severity of downstream floods provides a powerful incentive for conservation and has spurred forest protection and - [More Fish in the Sea](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/more-fish-in-the-sea/) - Russ G.R. et al. 2008. Rapid increase in fish numbers follows creation of world’s largest marine reserve network. Current Biology 18(12):514-515. In mid-2004, the Australian government set up the largest network of no-fishing zones in the world by prohibiting fishing across one-third (114,000 square kilometers) of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Two years later, - [Word of Mouth](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/word-of-mouth/) - Much like people, birds looking to raise children like to settle down in neighborhoods that already have plenty of families. For years, scientists have believed that birds identify those “neighborhoods” (i.e., nesting sites) based solely on their vegetation. But a new paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B, threatens to upend this belief - [Watch Your Step](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/watch-your-step/) - Conservationists often hail nature-based recreation and ecotourism as critical tools in the fight to preserve wild lands. This support is based on the assumption that many recreational activities have little impact on parks and other natural areas. But a study in Conservation Letters suggests that even the least-disruptive activities can upset ecosystems and diminish biodiversity. - [Don't Tread on Me](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/dont-tread-on-me/) - Raccoons (Procyon lotor) love loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) eggs, as do ghost crabs (Ocypode quadrata). Unfortunately, the often-used conservation measure of controlling raccoons at turtle nesting beaches lets the ghost crabs off the hook. But raccoons are also partial to the odd crustacean for dinner. A study published recently in Biological Conservation suggests that leaving - [Safety in Numbers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/saftey-in-numbers/) - Incidence of West Nile virus in humans tends to be lower in areas with a diverse array of bird species, according to a new paper in PLoS ONE. Led by John Swaddle of the University of California, Santa Barbara, the study is in line with previous research showing that higher species diversity slows the spread - [Down to the Bone](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/down-to-the-bone/) - When it comes to endangered tigers, consumers’ buying habits clash with their conservation values, according to a recent study led by Brian Gratwicke of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in Washington, D.C. In a survey of 1,880 people living in China, Gratwicke’s team found that 93 percent of respondents believed the country’s 1993 law - [Marine Sentinels](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/marine-sentinels/) - Dee Boersma has spent over 20 years studying Magellanic penguins in Punta Tombo, Argentina—long enough to suspect that their dramatic decline signals a more ominous truth: oceans are in trouble. In a new paper in Bioscience, Boersma, of the University of Washington, recounts how penguins are going 60 kilometers farther to find food than they - [Living on the Edge](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/living-on-the-edge/) - Human populations in areas adjoining nature reserves grow faster than in other areas. And, in a surprising twist, this growth is not due to people moving out of newly protected areas and then populating their boundaries. Rather, the parks may offer previously unforeseen benefits to other local residents, enticing them to move closer. In a - [Early Arrivals](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/early-arrivals/) - One of the most visible biological consequences of global warming is the earlier spring arrival of many migratory songbirds. But measuring the extent to which spring arrival dates have actually shifted for any given species is extremely complicated. A new report in Global Change Biology suggests that many previous studies have drawn erroneous conclusions because - [Seeing-eye Seals](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/seeing-eye-seals/) - Move over, Flipper. Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) have been drafted into the fight against climate change and are helping scientists unravel key mysteries about the most remote waters on earth. As detailed in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of international researchers, including Jean-Benoît Charassin of the Paris Natural History Museum - [Robofish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/robofish/) - Researchers have spent years hunting for a more efficient way to track targets that travel underwater. While methods such as tagging dolphins or dispatching boats to take water samples are effective, they’re also expensive and labor-intensive. Now, the University of Washington’s Kristi Morgansen may have found a better solution: autonomous, robotic fish that could be - [Spot On](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/spot-on/) - When Kevin McGarigal started studying marbled salamanders, he ran into a problem that left him feeling cross-eyed. A biologist at the University of Massachusetts, McGarigal needed to track individual salamanders as they moved between vernal pools. But the spotted creatures are hard to tell apart, so McGarigal’s team would spend painstaking hours poring over photographs, - [Hold That Thought](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/hold-that-thought/) - Alexei Vyssotski’s search for a new way to monitor animal brain waves began in 2002 when he was trying to figure out how homing pigeons, Columba livia, navigate. A researcher at the University of Zurich, Vyssotski wanted to see how the birds’ brain activity changed when they encountered landmarks. But he needed a device that - [Environmental Refugee Crisis](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/environmental-refugee-crisis/) - It’s the perfect storm. Climate change, poverty, and the fact that there are so many of us on the planet mean that millions of people are being forced into ever more marginal and vulnerable areas. According to Oxfam International, natural disasters and their associated humanitarian impacts marked 2007 as one of the worst years on - [The Most Popular Lifestyle on Earth](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/the-most-popular-life-style-on-earth/) - Forget lions, tigers, and sharks. The billions of tiny parasites that make a living castrating and brainwashing their hosts may be the new kings of the food web. By Carl Zimmer Every science has its icon. Genetics has the double helix of DNA. Particle physics has the spiraling tracks of electrons and protons. And if - [The Sterile Banana](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/the-sterile-banana/) - As uniformity replaces diversity, some of your favorite fruits could be on the cusp of extinction. By Fred Pearce Pity the banana. Despite its unmistakably phallic appearance, it hasn’t had sex for thousands of years. The world’s most erotic fruit is a sterile, seedless mutant—and therein lies a problem. The banana is genetically old and decrepit. - [Closing in on a Killer](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/closing-in-on-a-killer/) - Munson, L. et al. 2008. Climate extremes promote fatal co-infections during canine distemper epidemics in African lions. PLoS ONE 3(6):e2545. Studies of disease ecology have shown that shifts in climate can alter relationships between disease-causing organisms and their animal hosts, thus leading to unexpected epidemics. A new study of lions in Africa, appearing in PLoS - [Impostor Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/impostor-fish/) - Misnaming seafood isn’t just a ripoff. It’s a global phenomenon that’s wreaking havoc on ocean conservation. By Douglas Fox Illustration ©Christopher Zacharow/images.com One cool day in January 2006, eight students from Stanford University went on a shopping binge—and not for the latest iPods or Levi’s. They visited two dozen grocery stores, fish markets, and sushi restaurants - [A Tale of Three Tuna](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/a-tale-of-three-tuna/) - By Trevor Corson Imagine sitting down at your favorite sushi bar. The chef reaches across the fish case and serves you three pieces of sushi. “Bluefin tuna,” he says with a grin. The pink flesh of bluefin, marbled with fat, is considered by many connoisseurs to be the ultimate sushi delight. These three pieces of bluefin - [Productivity Gains](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/productivity-gains/) - By Scott Norris For years ecologists have planted garden plots with different numbers and combinations of species, while holding other factors constant, and then watched to see what happens. After much seeding and weeding, these experiments have generally shown that plant communities with more species are more productive—that is, they accumulate more biomass over the - [Freezing to Flaming](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/freezing-to-flaming/) - By Scott Norris In Arctic tundra ecosystems today, fires are relatively rare. For instance, only three percent of Alaskan tundra burned between 1950 and 2005, a far lower percentage than what is seen in most boreal forests. But when conditions are right, tundra vegetation can be highly flammable, as proven by last year’s enormous Anaktuvuk - [Living on Acid](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/living-on-acid/) - By Scott Norris The consequences of an atmosphere loaded with carbon dioxide go well beyond global warming. One of the most alarming predictions is a dramatic rise in the acidity of seawater as the oceans absorb atmospheric CO2. Multiple experiments have now shown that acidity levels predicted to occur by the end of this century - [Scents of Direction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/scents-of-direction/) - By Scott Norris Air pollution can make roses smell less sweet, at least to pollinating insects. A new study finds that ozone and other airborne pollutants bind with the molecules plants release to attract pollinators, diminishing their aroma. And the more the aroma degrades, the harder it might be for bees and other pollinators to - [Wide Awake in the Wild](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/wide-awake-in-the-wild/) - By Nick Atkinson We all know sloths love their shuteye. But that should be captive sloths, as a study published this week in Biology Letters makes crystal clear. Niels Rattenborg, a sleep specialist at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and the paper’s lead author, attached newly developed miniature electroencephalogram (EEG) recorders to three adult - [It's Our Fault](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/its-our-fault/) - By Nick Atkinson With the earth’s physical and biological systems undergoing significant changes, NASA scientist Cynthia Rosenzweig and her colleagues investigated whether humans are truly to blame. In a paper published in Nature, Rosenzweig’s team sifted through 35 years of research, looking for connections between human-induced climate change and other natural problems. They found that, - [And If That Bird Don't Sing . . .](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/and-if-that-bird-dont-sing/) - By Eric Wagner With more than 500 species of songbirds threatened with extinction, scientists are constantly hunting for new ways to figure out which other populations are in trouble. Now, a team of Spanish researchers has deduced that a key indicator of population health might be hidden in the songs birds sing—or, more precisely, in - [Stopped in Their Tracks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/stopped-in-their-tracks/) - By John Weier When Smithsonian biologist Bill Laurance traveled to Gabon to investigate the impact of logging on the rainforest, he was taken aback by how deforestation had altered not only the forest, but also the coast of the small central African country. Thousands of errant logs from inland timber operations had made their way - [Crossing Guards](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/crossing-guards/) - By Justin Matlick Researchers from Cornell University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute have developed a high-tech method for preventing deadly collisions between whales and ships: buoys that listen for endangered right whales and alert vessels when the animals are nearby. The new “auto-detection” buoys address one of the leading causes of right whale death. - [Water Footprint Calculator](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/water-footprint-calculator/) - By Justin Matlick If you’re looking for an excuse to drink beer instead of milk, try this: it’s better for the environment. Factoring in the water used at each step in the production process, it takes 1,000 liters of water to make a liter of milk, but only 75 liters go into a pint of - [Flush Often](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/flush-often/) - By John Weier From zebra mussels to mitten crabs, some of the worst invasive species to hit American shores have arrived in the ballast tanks of cargo ships. Together, these species have fouled beaches, shut down river locks, led to local extinctions, and cost taxpayers and companies billions of dollars. Now, University of Michigan naval - [Call and Response](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/call-and-response/) - By Courtney Humphries There’s always a catch to success. When endangered species make a comeback, research funding often dries up, making it more difficult to track the health of recovering populations. So when wolves in the Northern Rockies were recently delisted from their endangered status, a team of University of Montana scientists started searching for - [Whale Watching with a Joystick](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/whale-watching-with-a-joystick/) - By John Weier Every time Amanda Hodgson counts humpbacks off the Australian coast, she has to rent a plane, round up four other researchers to help spot the creatures, and fly over the ocean for hours. “It’s all very low and slow,” says the University of Queensland researcher. Now Hodgson is teaming up with aircraft - [Branching Out](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/branching-out/) - By Justin Matlick Planting trees has long been considered one of the best ways to absorb excess CO2 from the atmosphere. But with climate change threatening to change where forests grow, large-scale tree planting is a tricky proposition. A U.S. company is developing an alternate solution: a machine that mimics trees’ ability to soak up - [Power Walk](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/power-walk/) - By Justin Matlick Max Donelan is giving new meaning to the term “power walker.” An assistant professor at Simon Fraser University and chief science officer at Bionic Power Inc., Donelan and his colleagues have developed an ingenious new device that, by harvesting electricity from the human stride, could power everything from flashlights to prosthetic limbs - [Ecological Freakonomics](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/ecological-freakonomics/) - By Jonah Lehrer Illustration ©Thomas Fuchs When the Wolong Nature Reserve was established in Southwestern China in 1975, it was hailed as a landmark achievement of the environmental movement. The reserve, which covers more than 200,000 hectares, contains more than 10 percent of the wild giant panda population and has received extensive financial and logistical - [Confessions of a Hit Man](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/confessions-of-a-hit-man/) - Our mark was an invasive pest that had made a remote tropical island its home. But good and evil are not so easily discerned in ecological systems, even when a place looks like Eden. By Jeffrey A. Lockwood and Alexandre V. Latchininsky Most assassins work alone. But we’re a pair of hired guns. Between us, - [Dangerous Games](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/dangerous-games/) - By Catherine Brahic You may recall the “What’s the worst that could happen?” video that went around YouTube last year. U.S. high school teacher “Greg” explained in a series of videos, complete with simple matrices and quirky hats, that decisions to act on climate change could all be resolved by considering the question: “What’s the - [Moving Green Mountains](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/moving-green-mountains/) - By Nick Atkinson The line marking the transition between Vermont’s northern hardwood and boreal trees has moved around 100 meters uphill in just 40 years, according to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2004, researchers at Yale University and the University of Vermont, led by the latter’s Brian Beckage, - [Trade Barriers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/trade-barriers/) - By Nick Atkinson Longhorned beetles and other invasive species could soon feel the brunt of hard-nosed economics, if the authors of a paper published in Ecological Economics have got their sums right. Iowa State University professor of economics John Beghin and colleagues looked at the effect of trade tariff escalations—which protect exports of raw materials - [Follow the Money](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/follow-the-money/) - By Scott Norris Invasive species are a problem almost everywhere, but not all parts of the world suffer in equal measure. Are regional differences in numbers of invasives the result of different degrees of human impact, or are some native habitats simply more or less accommodating to outsiders? Ecological theory predicts that an area’s richness - [Depending on the Enemy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/depending-on-the-enemy/) - By Jeremy Hance In a bizarre biological twist, a new study in the journal Biological Conservation shows that the hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) depends on its greatest predator for survival. Living in Brazil’s Pantanal region, the endangered bird requires a very specific home: a pre-existing hole in the manduvi tree. But such trees are in - [Dam It](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/dam-it/) - By Scott Norris Climate change models predict more frequent and severe droughts in much of North America, and wetland habitats may be especially vulnerable. But a new study documents one simple and highly effective solution for helping these critical areas withstand dry spells. All it takes is beavers. University of Alberta researchers Glynnis Hood and - [Seabird Junk Food](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/seabird-junk-food/) - By Sarah Simpson Scenes of noisy seabirds flocking behind fishing vessels are common the world over. The boats dump huge volumes of dead and unwanted fish overboard, and birds pluck easy snacks from the rejects. Many people have suggested that this cornucopia of convenience food could rescue some ailing populations of marine predators facing shortages - [Inside Story](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/inside-story/) - By John Weier Two years ago, when Oliver Pergams and Patricia Zaradic declared that people were forsaking U.S. national parks to play video games and surf the Net, their research sparked an intense and wide-ranging debate. Pergams and Zaradic had declared that declining per capita visits to U.S. national parks meant people were losing interest - [Is It Contagious?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/is-it-contagious/) - Close Encounters HIV, Ebola, and the West Nile virus are all zoonoses—diseases that made the jump from animals to humans. Emerging zoonoses have tripled since 1940, in large part because human populations have expanded and come into closer contact with wildlife. Seventy percent of zoonoses originate in wildlife. The next pandemic could start with one - [When Lemurs Fly](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/when-lemurs-fly/) - By Eric Wagner When it comes to aerial prowess, the colugo—a.k.a. the “flying lemur”—could give Rocky the Flying Squirrel a run for his money. To get from tree to tree, the colugo uses the skin between its limbs like makeshift wings, gliding as far as 110 meters at a time. Along the way, it can - [Underwater Electric Kites](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/underwater-electric-kites/) - By John Weier Hydroelectric turbines would be a terrific form of carbon-free, renewable energy—if they weren’t encased in dams that devastate fish populations, change the course of rivers, and flood untold acres of arable land. Fortunately, innovators such as Swiss-born inventor Philippe Vauthier have been busy trying to separate turbines from dams and have developed - [Turn Signals](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/turn-signals/) - By Eric Wagner By human standards, most reef fish make terrible parents. They let the ocean sweep their young far away from the reefs they inhabit, leaving the two-millimeter-long newborns to make their own way home. Scientists have long marveled that so small a creature can travel so far—the journey can take months and cover - [Gyn-Ecology](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/gyn-ecology/) - By John Weier For millennia, deer have protected their newborns by stashing them deep in the brush, where they stay until they’re strong enough to run away from predators. That’s good news if you’re a fawn struggling to survive. But what if you’re Chad Bishop, a researcher with the Colorado Division of Wildlife whose work - [Catch You Later](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/catch-you-later/) - By Christopher Pala Everyone knows how a fishing calendar works: it tells you when you have the best chance of catching the most fish. This year, though, Kelson Poepoe, a conservationist on Hawaii’s Molokai Island, helped publish an unusual variation on this formula. Poepoe and his colleagues decided to print a calendar telling people when - [A Witness to Violence](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/a-witness-to-violence/) - By J. Michael Fay photo ©Tim Flach/Stone/Getty Images Twenty-five years ago, I arrived in Manovo-Gounda-St. Floris National Park in the northern Central African Republic as a Peace Corps volunteer to be the botanist for an elephant project. It was a dream job. They gave me a dirt bike and said, go out into this vast - [Identity Crisis](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/identity-crisis/) - By Douglas Fox painting by HessDesignWorks.com On a crisp February morning, several hundred hunters and spectators dressed in camouflage, Carhartts, and flannel mingled outside a metal-roofed shed in Frenchville, Pennsylvania, for the final hours of the seventeenth Annual Mosquito Creek Coyote Hunt. As spectators watched and children stomped about in the snow, 177 coyotes—brought down - [Do Trees Grow on Money?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/do-trees-grow-on-money/) - By Fred Pearce Illustration ©Daniel Horowitz The long-held orthodoxy about rainforests has taken it as read that they are worth more alive than dead. Worth more not just to science, to the planet’s biodiversity, and to our sense of wonder about nature, but also as cash in hand for the inhabitants of the forests. It - [An Agricultural Crime against Humanity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/an-agricultural-crime-against-humanity/) - By George Monbiot It doesn’t get madder than this. Swaziland is in the grip of a famine and receiving emergency food aid. Forty percent of its people are facing acute food shortages. So what has the government decided to export? Biofuel made from one of its staple crops, cassava. (1) The government has allocated several - [Alarming or Alarmist?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/08/book-reviews/) - Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet By Mark Lynas Reviewed by Eric J. Steig Illustration © Guy Billout When Mark Lynas’s book Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet came out in the U.K. last year, my initial reaction was that it was alarmist and probably not worth reading. A review in - [Walking Canes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/walking-canes/) - Invasive toads prone to debilitating arthritis infections Since their first introduction to northern Queensland in 1935, cane toads (Chaunus marinus) have hopped across more than 1 million square kilometers of the Australian landscape. Carnage has followed the invasion, as native animals have fallen prey to the toads’ voracious appetites and naïve predators have succumbed to - [No Room at the Top](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/no-room-at-the-top/) - By Eric Wagner Just seven years ago, climate change wasn’t listed as a potential hazard in Threatened Birds of the World. Now it gets its own heading in the annual book, and with good reason: a new study finds that climate change may trigger the extinction of 30 percent of land bird species by the - [Boreal Forests Aflame](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/boreal-forests-aflame/) - By Emma Marris For years, researchers have regarded the boreal forest as one of the world’s largest carbon reservoirs. The boreal already houses about as much carbon as the earth’s atmosphere, and that amount was thought to be increasing, making the forest a modest counterweight against climate change. But a new study in Nature suggests - [Greener Grass](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/greener-grass/) - Could switchgrass be the next biofuel? Growing plants for fuel doesn’t always have to lead to rainforest loss or higher food prices, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. USDA scientist Ken Vogel and colleagues present the results of the first field-scale experiment on the production of ethanol - [Flood Insurance](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/flood-insurance/) - By Scott Norris Rightly or not, catastrophic flooding is often viewed as a consequence of poor forest management. The idea that standing forests significantly reduce the frequency and severity of downstream floods provides a powerful incentive for conservation and has spurred forest protection and reforestation programs in developing countries, where the human and economic costs - [Lonely Polar Nights](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/lonely-polar-nights/) - By Nick Atkinson Canadian male polar bears (Ursus maritimus) spend much of their time tracking potential mates across the rapidly disappearing sea ice, but a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society warns that climate change is not the only threat to their survival. University of Alberta biologist Péter Molnár and colleagues subjected - [The Heat of Battle](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-heat-of-battle/) - By Eric Wagner When the Nobel committee handed Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change the 2007 Peace Prize, some critics were perplexed. What, they wondered, did the fight against climate change have to do with peace? A new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences helps answer these questions by - [Connect the Dots](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/connect-the-dots/) - By Emma Marris A pile of tiger skins, a crate of ivory tusks, a truck brimming with endangered snakes. Illegal wildlife trafficking is booming, and authorities often find themselves outmatched by the sophisticated crime rings that trade in animal pelts and other contraband. To level the playing field, investigators are starting to enlist a high-tech - [Eye Ointment for Frogs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/eye-ointment-for-frogs/) - By Eric Wagner Faced with an epidemic that has wiped out 40 species of amphibians, New Zealand researchers have stumbled across an unlikely cure: human eye cream. The remedy is chloramphenicol, a potent antibiotic used to treat pinkeye in people. But it doubles as a wonder drug for chytridiomycosis, the fungal disease that has killed - [RU Shopping 4 Fish?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/ru-shopping-4-fish/) - By Justin Matlick Tired of standing at the fish counter, wondering whether it’s more sustainable to eat salmon or swordfish? A new text-messaging service promises to deliver an answer and, in turn, direct more buying power toward ecofriendly seafoods. Dubbed “Fishphone” and developed by the Blue Ocean Institute, the free service offers evaluations of more - [Till Death Us Do Part](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/till-death-us-do-part/) - Divorce is on the rise around the world. Even in China, where divorce hasnít been common, the number of divorced couples surged from 1.6 million in 2004 to 1.9 million in 2006. In Ecuador, Greece, and the U.S., the number of extra households due to divorce increased dramatically from 1970 to 2001. Divorced households use - [Circuitous Routes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/circuitous-routes/) - By Eric Wagner Brad McRae was studying cougar populations when he ran into a problem. He knew the populations’ genetic makeup, and he had good maps of the cats’ habitat. But he couldn’t explain how the landscape influenced the way the animals—and, in turn, their genes—traveled between groups. The search for a solution led McRae, - [Collect Calls](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/collect-calls/) - By John Weier If Dale Joachim’s new invention continues to show promise, cell phones may soon be not only for the birds, but also for the frogs, the bats, and the elephants. He and fellow researcher Eben Goodale have developed a cellular device that lets a person broadcast animal calls into the wilderness and listen - [Cancer on a Whole Species](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/cancer-on-a-whole-species/) - The gruesome disease ravaging Tasmanian devils is unlike anything we've seen before By Cynthia Mills The story of the devil unfolds much as a kind doctor delivers bad news. It all started in 1996 when Dutch wildlife photographer Christo Baars took photographs of two different devils from Mt. William, in the far northeastern corner of - [Ecosystems Unraveling](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/ecosystems-unraveling/) - Pull predators out of the mix, and a once lush green world turns into an ecological shop of horrors By William Stolzenburg In 1986, near the confluence of Orinoco and Caroní rivers in east-central Venezuela, the gates finished closing on a huge hydroelectric dam. The rising waters flooded a tract of tropical forest as broad - [Urban Myths](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/urban-myths/) - By Jonah Lehrer Illustration ©John Martin/Images.com I’m underneath New York City, a few blocks east of Times Square. I’ve entered through a manhole in the middle of the street and descended a few feet down a slippery ladder. At first glance, there’s not much to see: just a tangle of wires and sewer lines that - [Dig Deeper](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/dig-deeper/) - By Douglas Fox Illustration by © Michael Morgenstern Two trillion clam shells piled on the Colorado River Delta tell a story that no one would have believed. These shells were heaped by tides into ridges that stretch for miles across the mudflats. The vast majority belong to one species: the thin-shelled Colorado Delta clam. Yet - [Smooth Blend](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/smooth-blend-2/) - Coffee farms hold key to forest recovery Jha, S. and C. Dick. 2008. Shade coffee farms promote genetic diversity of native trees. Current Biology 18(24): R1126-R1128. The more they look, the more scientists discover that the benefits of shade-grown coffee extend far beyond its robust flavor. Instead of leveling the forests, shade coffee farms leave - [To Catch a Rat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/to-catch-a-rat-2/) - Fishers who kill seabirds can still buy them limited time until extinction It’s payback time—or not. Recent proposals have suggested that long-line fishermen who take in seabirds as bycatch compensate by paying to remove other threats to seabird populations—namely rats, an onshore invasive predator of bird eggs and babies. But controversy remains regarding - [Course Correction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/course-correction-2/) - Predictions of species movements in a warmer world could be off-target Birds are shifting their ranges north, and butterflies are fleeing toward mountaintops. Predicting exactly where they and other species will live as the earth warms has become something of a cottage industry among biologists. A paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, however, - [Burning Questions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/burning-questions-3/) - Which came first: fire, climate change, or human influence? When Jennifer Marlon and her team charted out the rate at which vegetation has burned over the past 2,000 years, they ended up with a wildly fluctuating graph that resembled a roller-coaster ride. To get to the bottom of these surprising gyrations, the researchers set out - [Slime Busters](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/slime-busters-3/) - Fish diversity stops algae from overtaking reefs The loss of algae-eating fish and invertebrates can decimate coral reefs, but researchers haven’t been sure which species best stop reefs from being taken over by macro-algae (a.k.a. seaweed). A new paper in PNAS suggests the answer might be a diverse collection of herbivores. Deron Burkepile of Florida - [Keeping Fit Past 500](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/keeping-fit-past-500-3/) - Climatologists have overlooked old growth forests’ ability to soak up CO2 Scientists have long believed that young forests serve as carbon sinks, consuming more atmospheric carbon dioxide than they produce. Reflecting this assumption, the Kyoto Protocol encourages nations to develop new carbon sinks by restoring lost forests. But the protocol offers no incentives for leaving - [Do the Twist](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/do-the-twist-2/) - Researchers build an artificial river to hone restoration technology Scientists have figured out how to make a river meander in the lab, according to a report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research could help determine the best strategies for stream restoration. The team carved an artificial streambed with one bend into - [Freeloaders in Hard Times](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/freeloaders-in-hard-times-2/) - Global recession linked to a spike in marine invasives As if job losses, foreclosures, and the credit crunch weren’t enough to worry about, researchers have raised yet another possible downside of the economic crisis. Merchant ships are sitting idle at ports, potentially accumulating marine organisms that could be carried to other parts of the world - [Blinded by the Light](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/blinded-by-the-light-3/) - Skyscrapers, gravestones, and oil slicks create a new kind of light pollution Light pollution can happen in the daytime, too—which could be disastrous for some species, according to a study in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. At issue are glass buildings, asphalt roads, and even oil slicks that do a surprisingly good job of - [Diversified Assets](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/diversified-assets-2/) - Invasive plants add surprising richness to oceanic islands Conservation biologists typically view invasive species as a scourge that drives native plants and animals to extinction. But Brown University’s Dov Sax isn’t sure exotic plants deserve their bad reputation. Sax looked for patterns in hundreds of years’ worth of data on plant and vertebrate extinctions on - [Survivor](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/survivor-essay/) - By Eric Roston Ginkgo biloba embraces the sacred and the mundane like little else in our experience. Its most-ancient recognizable relatives are embedded in fossils more than 270 million years old. Ginkgo’s survival into modernity was not merely a matter of luck. It needed an arsenal of molecular and systemic weapons against disease, predators, and - [Bathtub Analogy Doesn't Hold Water](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/bathtub-analogy-doesnt-hold-water/) - By William L. Chameides When we think of sea level, we tend to envision the water level in a bathtub—flat and uniform everywhere. In turn, we assume rising sea level is just like water in a tub with the spigot on, rising evenly along the coasts just as it does along the porcelain walls. But - [Shades of Green](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/shades-of-green/) - Editor’s Note: An icon of the environmental and counterculture movements of the 1960s, Stewart Brand created and edited The Whole Earth Catalog (1968–1985). Since then, he has cofounded the Global Business Network, The Long Now Foundation, and the All Species Foundation. Here, we offer you a small taste of his latest book, Whole Earth Discipline. - [A Shady Scheme](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/a-shady-scheme/) - A bold new project calls for transforming vast swaths of the Sahara into a CO2-absorbing forest. Spearheaded by Leonard Ornstein, a cell biologist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the plan would start by building desalination plants on the coastlines surrounding the desert. Aqueducts would carry freshwater inland to feed plantations of eucalyptus and - [Invasion of the Flying Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/invasion-of-the-flying-fish/) - In a deft act of ecological ju-jitsu, Illi-nois researchers are testing a system that could stop one of the world’s most dominant invasive species: Asian carp. The fish are wreaking environmental havoc across the American Midwest, in part by gobbling up plankton at the base of the food chain. To halt the invasion, wildlife managers - [An Ounce of Prevention](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/an-ounce-of-prevention/) - After the September 11, 2001, attacks, Todd DeSantis and his colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory started developing a device to detect airborne pathogens released by terrorists. The technology was designed to take a quick census of microbes, allowing officials to raise an alarm if dangerous bacteria appeared. Now, the same technology could be used - [Electric Sweat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/electric-sweat/) - When water evaporates from a tree leaf, it triggers a chain reaction that can pull other water molecules all the way up the trunk of a 90-meter-tall redwood. Each molecule attracts the one behind it, creating a continuous stream from the roots to the leaves. Now Michel Maharbiz, a researcher at the University of California, - [Sick Puppies](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/sick-puppies/) - You’ll have to forgive prairie dogs if they feel like sitting ducks. For starters, the burrowing rodents face an epidemic of sylvatic plague, a disease sparked by the same bacteria as the “black death” that ravaged Europe in the middle ages. What’s more, the researchers behind a new vaccine don’t have the prairie dogs’ best - [Up on the Farm](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/up-on-the-farm/) - Vertical farming has generated plenty of buzz as a way for cities to eat sustainably, but little practical progress has been made—until now. Valcent Products Inc. has developed a vertical farming system for commercial use and is testing it on some tough customers: primates and other animals in the U.K.’s Paignton Zoo. Dubbed “VertiCrop” and - [Troubled Teens](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/troubled-teens/) - By Dawn Stover On a dark night last fall, 11-year-old Joe Hess was playing a backyard game of hide-and-seek with his younger brother and two friends near Grand Coulee Dam in eastern Washington. Lying face-down in the grass, Joe thought he saw Magellan—a huge housecat that lived next door—out of the corner of his eye. - [The (Un)Natural Order of Things](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/the-unnatural-order-of-things/) - By Carol Kaesuk Yoon Illustration By Daniel Horowitz I was raised on the milk of science. Both my parents were working scientists. On rainy Saturdays I played with my father’s laboratory mice on the living room floor or chatted with my mother as she tinkered in the federally funded laboratory set up in our basement. - [Fish Here](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/fish-here/) - Researchers propose radical alternative to marine reserves Marine reserves have proven effective in bolstering fish populations, but implementing them is often difficult. Despite dire warnings about fisheries nearing collapse, less than one percent of the world’s oceans are currently protected. In a recent paper in PLoS ONE, two Canadian researchers offer a bold new approach - [Southern Exposure](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/southern-exposure/) - Retreat of Antarctic ice uncovers new carbon sinks The loss of ice shelves and glaciers in parts of Antarctica has exposed thousands of square kilometers of water, opening up new habitat for plant and animal communities that could act as carbon sinks, according to a paper in Global Change Biology. Many climate-change studies have focused - [Be Fruitful & Multiply?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/be-fruitful-multiply/) - By David Malakoff Illustration by Istvan Banyai People were starving to death in a suburban parking lot wedged between a busy supermarket and a sit-down restaurant. It was October 1969 in Hayward, California. About 100 young activists—dubbed “anti-population protesters” by reporters—were staging a “starve-in” to dramatize the perils of overpopulation. Just the year before, Stanford - [Wrecking a Reef](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/wrecking-a-reef/) - Around 1991, the long-line fishing vessel Hui Feng No. 1 mysteriously foundered on Palmyra Atoll, a group of Pacific islets fringed with spectacularly lush coral reefs. While little is known about the crash itself—the wreck was never reported to authorities and appears to have been simply abandoned—scientists are piecing together a picture of how its - [Last Legs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/last-legs/) - The not-so-healthy appetite for frog legs Overharvesting has long been considered a contributor to frog declines, but no one had ever quantified the harvest. Now, researchers have used 20 years of United Nations statistics to find that roughly 8,000 to 10,000 metric tons of frogs’ legs are traded internationally each year. Add in estimates of - [Do the Twist](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/do-the-twist/) - Scientists have figured out how to make a river meander in the lab, according to a report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research could help determine the best strategies for stream restoration. The team carved an artificial streambed with one bend into a 17-meter-long basin filled with sand. They planted alfalfa - [Freeloaders in Hard Times](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/freeloaders-in-hard-times/) - As if job losses, foreclosures, and the credit crunch weren’t enough to worry about, researchers have raised yet another possible downside of the economic crisis. Merchant ships are sitting idle at ports, potentially accumulating marine organisms that could be carried to other parts of the world when business picks up. For years, ships that transport - [More Biofuel Woes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/more-biofuel-woes/) - Fuel crops stymie restoration of Gulf dead zone Meeting U.S. goals for biofuel production will increase nutrient runoff to the Gulf of Mexico, making it more difficult to reduce the size of the gulf’s “dead zone.” U.S. energy policy dictates that 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel must be produced annually by 2022. But a - [In the Cold of Battle](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/in-the-cold-of-battle/) - Wars in Europe are linked to cooler periods In awarding the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to U.S. President Barack Obama, the Nobel committee noted his efforts to meet the challenge of climate change. Climate change could trigger mass migrations and higher competition for resources, leading to “increased danger of violent conflicts and wars,” the committee - [It's a Fish-Eat-Fish World](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/its-a-fish-eat-fish-world/) - Fish-feed substitutes can keep aquaculture from depleting oceans The aquaculture industry is mired in a dilemma. On the one hand, 2009 was a landmark year—for the first time, aquaculture provided a whopping 50 percent of global seafood supplies, up from just 25 percent in 1995. And that trend is bound to continue. With wild catch - [Urban Chill Factor](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/urban-chill-factor/) - Cities store more carbon than tropical rainforests do Acre for acre, more organic carbon is stored in cities and suburbs than anywhere else—even tropical forests. This startling result comes from the first complete carbon-storage tally of human-dominated ecosystems in the contiguous United States. The researchers added up the amount of carbon tucked away in everything - [Mother Nature's Dark Side](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/mother-natures-dark-side/) - A review by Jeffrey Lockwood The Medea Hypothesis By Peter Ward Princeton University Press, 2009 The thesis of Peter Ward’s The Medea Hypothesis is simple and provocative: Life is self-destructive. Alluding to Medea, the mythic Greek villainess who killed her children, Ward inverts James Lovelock’s famous Gaia hypothesis. Earth is not a stable, self-regulating organism - [Telltale Stripes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/telltale-stripes/) - Most tigers have over 100 stripes, aligned in a unique pattern that can be as intricate—and as hard to identify—as human fingerprints. So it seems sensible that, in search of a better way to monitor tigers and the criminals who poach them, scientists have turned to technology normally used by police. To keep track of - [Carbon gets stoned](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/carbon-get-stoned/) - Even if scientists find a way to soak up atmospheric CO2, there remains the problem of where to put the gas once it’s captured. Some researchers have proposed storing it underground, but there’s always the chance it could leak out and wreak havoc. Now, two geochemists have come up with an alternative that they say - [Escape Artist](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/escape-artist/) - A one-meter-long octopus can squeeze its body through a hole just two centimeters wide. What’s more, its arms can stretch to twice their original length and can alternate between being soft and rigid, depending on the task at hand. Now, scientists are developing a robot that mimics this unique dexterity, with hopes it will help - [Winging It](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/winging-it/) - A truck with a furry coating might be an odd sight. But it’s not beyond the realm of imagination for a group of engineers at the University of Genoa, Italy, who say that fibers designed to imitate bird feathers could one day improve the efficiency of trucks, ships, and small unmanned planes. The project began - [On the Fence](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/on-the-fence/) - By Douglas Fox A three-meter fence, anchored by sections of railroad track driven like stakes into the ground, cuts across South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province. On one side sits Addo Park, a thriving slice of wilderness containing the largest elephant population in the region. These beasts, with their rare tuskless females, represent a gem of - [Operation Sex Change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/operation-sex-change/) - Imagine waking up to discover that your mother, your sister, and your friends' wives are all men. That could be reality for invasive fish if a radical plan to exterminate them takes shape. By Cynthia Mills Illustration by Ken Orvidas John Teem and Juan Gutierrez have a bizarre solution to an intractable problem: They want - [Is a Warmer World a Sicker World?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/is-a-warmer-world-a-sicker-world/) - By Roberta Kwok In the late 1990s, a set of alarming maps created a stir in the scientific community. Based on predictions by a team of Dutch and Australian researchers and initially published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, the maps charted how global warming could increase the risk of malaria in seemingly unlikely locales: - [Much Abuzz about Nothing?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/much-abuzz-about-nothing/) - Fears of global bee decline may be unfounded Reports of bee colony losses in the U.S. and Europe have triggered fears of a worldwide “pollination crisis.” A new study in Current Biology suggests the decline might not be so widespread after all. Bees are needed to pollinate certain crops, and some fear that a global - [Trial by Fire](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/trial-by-fire/) - The Carbon Footprint of Barbecue Who says science is no picnic? To assess the carbon footprint of barbecues, Eric Johnson rounded up eight volunteer grillers (including himself) and held the equivalent of 50 cookouts. The researchers used both gas and charcoal grills and kept tabs on their fuel usage, the length of time they grilled, - [Scat from Space](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/scat-from-space/) - Penguins tracked down by their “mark” on the ice Animals often mark their territory with the only thing they’ve got going for them: their poop. Now researchers are using this idea at a whole new level. They are tracking penguin colonies by following their droppings via space satellite, the brown patches blazing against sheets of - [Sponge Surgery](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/sponge-surgery/) - Researchers propose new way to repair reefs after storms Scientists have invented a better fixer-upper for damaged coral reefs. The method could aid local restoration efforts to rehabilitate these ecosystems in the aftermath of hurricanes or harmful human activities. After such events, large sponges often litter the ground and die because they cannot grow back - [Bite the Bullet](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/bite-the-bullet/) - Lead bullets poison the game for everyone When human hunters leave a carcass behind, the scavengers who pick it apart often ingest lead bullet fragments. This can cause lead poisoning in condors and other wildlife, spurring some environmental organizations to ask that hunters switch to lead-free bullets. Hunters have largely resisted those requests, but a - [Boom Towns Busted](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/boom-towns-busted/) - Rainforest clearing is not profitable for locals A basic assumption behind a lot of tropical deforestation may be wrong, a study in Science shows. Amazon communities that convert their forests to ranches or farms are usually seeking to earn money and better their lives. But a study of 286 municipalities in the poorest regions of - [Undocumented Immigrants](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/undocumented-immigrants/) - Millions of unidentified animals are pouring over U.S. borders Poor labeling of wildlife imports means that four out of five species entering the United States are improperly identified, according to an analysis in the journal Science. Between 2000 and 2006, researchers found, importers carted 1.5 billion live animals over U.S. borders—a number that corresponds to - [The Forest Giveth and Taketh Away](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/the-forest-giveth-and-taketh-away/) - Old-growth trees absorb carbon, but increasing drought could cause them to belch it out Tropical rainforests have for years quietly sequestered carbon, buying the world more time to pursue a global-warming solution. But how much longer these carbon sponges will chug along remains one of the biggest uncertainties in climate models. Two major studies hammer - [A Drink or Drive Issue](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/a-drink-or-drive-issue/) - The water footprint of biofuels In the latest blow to biofuels’ green cred, a report in Environmental Science & Technology shows that growing crops for ethanol may take a heavy toll on the water supply. In Nebraska, for instance, it can take 800 gallons of irrigation water to produce the amount of corn necessary to - [Back to Nature](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/back-to-nature/) - People are still flocking to natural areas. Just not in the U.S. The idea that people are becoming increasingly less interested in nature has become a familiar lament. But how does it jibe with reports that the popularity of ecotourism and other forms of natural recreation is growing? To unravel this contradiction, a research team - [Cambodia's Trail of Guns](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/07/cambodias-trail-of-guns/) - Weapons from the Khmer Rouge now fuel wildlife trade When armed conflicts erupt, wildlife usually suffers along with people. To better understand exactly how and why this occurs, researchers led by Colby Loucks of the World Wildlife Fund turned their attention to Cambodia, which suffered devastating violence and upheaval in the decades before Pol Pot’s - [War & Peace](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/war-peace/) - In a small way, the plight of the British in 1940 resembles the state of the civilized world now. At that time we had had nearly a decade of the well-intentioned but quite wrong belief that peace was all that mattered. The followers of the peace lobbies of the 1930s resembled the environmentalist movements now; - [Flying Solo](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/flying-solo/) - Eco Barons: The Dreamers, Schemers, and Millionaires Who Are Saving Our Planet By Edward Humes, Ecco Press 2009. Review by Florence Williams How important are individuals to social change? The question has been a topic of lively debate since at least the Enlightenment. In Eco Barons: The Dreamers, Schemers, and Millionaires Who Are Saving Our - [Bat Tunnels](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/bat-tunnels/) - It’s common knowledge that animals are reluctant to walk across highways and that this can block migrations and dilute gene pools. Researchers have now discovered that some critters—in this case, a species of bat—won’t fly over busy roads. Strangely, the bats will happily cross beneath the roads, and researchers hope to build bat tunnels throughout - [Biofuels Déjà Vu](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/biofuels-deja-vu/) - By David Malakoff Illustration by Randy Lyhus These days, Jason Clay walks around with an eerie sense of déjà vu. Over the past few years, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) anthropologist has become deeply entangled in the tortuous struggle to ensure that supposedly “green” biofuels—such as ethanol brewed from corn and biodiesel wrung from palm - [Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/between-the-devil-and-the-deep-blue-sea/) - By Jim Robbins Illustration by Tim O’Brien When NOAA published its latest climate change research in January, it might have been tempting to file it away as just another dire prediction. The researchers found that, if CO2 emissions continue to rise throughout this century, the consequences will include dramatic increases in sea level, diminished drinking-water - [Smooth Blend](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/smooth-blend/) - The more they look, the more scientists discover that the benefits of shade-grown coffee extend far beyond its robust flavor. Instead of leveling the forests, shade coffee farms leave a canopy of trees intact and grow plants beneath them. The farms have been shown to provide critical habitat to a variety of animals, including bats, - [To Catch a Rat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/to-catch-a-rat/) - It’s payback time—or not. Recent proposals have suggested that long-line fishermen who take in seabirds as bycatch compensate by paying to remove other threats to seabird populations—namely rats, an onshore invasive predator of bird eggs and babies. But controversy remains regarding whether such a scheme could really reverse the trends of seabird populations in decline. - [Course Correction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/course-correction/) - Birds are shifting their ranges north, and butterflies are fleeing toward mountaintops. Predicting exactly where they and other species will live as the earth warms has become something of a cottage industry among biologists. A paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, however, points out a potentially fatal flaw of these forecasts: they assume - [Blinded by the Light](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/blinded-by-the-light/) - Light pollution can happen in the daytime, too—which could be disastrous for some species, according to a study in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. At issue are glass buildings, asphalt roads, and even oil slicks that do a surprisingly good job of mirroring the polarized light animals use to recognize bodies of water. Hundreds - [Wrongful Death](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/wrongful-death/) - Culling buffalo to prevent disease transmission may be overkill So much for “home on the range.” When heavy snow forces Yellowstone bison to move down to nearby ranchlands, wildlife managers try to herd the animals back into the park. If that doesn’t work, the unsuspecting bison are summarily shot. This aggressive response is part of - [Stand and Be Counted](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/stand-and-be-counted/) - Census reveals surprising diversity in icy Antarctic waters At first glance, the South Orkney Islands could hardly seem less hospitable: they sit just 600 kilometers north of Antarctica, 85 percent of their land mass is covered by glaciers, and temperatures rarely climb above single digits—even in the summer. Despite their desolate appearance, a new study - [More Womb for Sharks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/a-womb-of-ones-own/) - You’d think one womb would be enough. Not for female gray nurse sharks, which house dozens of embryos in two wombs and then sit idly by as the baby sharks eat each other in utero. The two strongest (or at least hungriest) sharks, one from each uterus, are born alone into the sea. This seemingly - [Where the Sidewalk Ends](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/where-the-sidewalk-ends/) - Cement production is responsible for more CO2 output than the entire aviation industry, and with demand for concrete expected to grow 50 percent by 2020, the problem won’t go away anytime soon. But engineers at the London-based company Novacem have come up with a novel solution: a new type of carbon-absorbing cement that could become - [Reversal of Fortune](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/reversal-of-fortune/) - Nitrogen pollution resurrects Nile fishery Researchers have uncovered a strange twist in the otherwise sad story of agricultural runoff. Overloaded with nutrients from fertilizer, animal waste, and sewage, parts of the sea have become oxygen-deprived dead zones. But the same force appears to be driving at least one fishery’s dramatic recovery. That’s the upshot of - [Red Light. Green Light.](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/red-light-green-light/) - Each spring and fall, a grisly spectacle plays out above the North Sea. As millions of migrating birds fly overhead, the lights of offshore oil and gas installations throw the birds off course. Some birds die in collisions with the installations, while others spend hours circling until exhaustion forces them to fall from the sky. - [Field of Gleams](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/field-of-gleams/) - Shiny crops could cool the Earth Farm fields with bling may be the next big thing in agriculture, if scientists from the University of Bristol have their say. In Current Biology, they propose that farmers fight climate change by planting crops that reflect more sunlight back to space. Some varieties of corn, wheat, and barley - [Under Siege](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/under-seige/) - War zones and biodiversity hotspots overlap Not even conservation areas are safe from war. Eighty percent of the 146 armed conflicts occurring between 1950 and 2000 took place within the world’s biodiversity hotspots, according to a study in Conservation Biology. To reach this conclusion, researchers cross-referenced the locations of conflicts incurring more than 1,000 casualties - [Biofuel Bust](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/04/biofuel-bust/) - The potential for farming fuels has been inflated From corn and castor to sorghum and sweet potato, it seems like almost any crop is capable of running our cars these days. But as biofuel boosters talk up production potential of these various feedstocks, new data suggest that most claims of how much fuel can be - [The Better to Eat You With](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/the-better-to-eat-you-with/) - The Better to Eat You With: Fear in the Animal World By Joel Berger University of Chicago Press, 2008 Review by Florence Williams It’s been said that some scientists unconsciously take on the characteristics of the wildlife they study. I know a grizzly biologist who lumbers through the woods, picking edible berries with his lips. - [Flying Whale Fins](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/flying-whale-fins/) - To feed, humpback whales round up prey into nets of bubbles, then blast through the trapped swarm, mouths agape, to catch the feast. Believing bumps on the humpbacks’ flippers aid the underwater maneuver, scientists, in an unlikely twist, are now mimicking the design for a next-generation wind turbine. The connection between whales and wind was - [20,000 Eyes Under the Sea](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/20000-eyes-under-the-sea/) - Inspired by plankton, researchers from the University of Genoa, Italy, are developing tiny robots that drift through the ocean and collect data along the way. Dubbed “smart plankton,” the gadgets would keep track of everything from temperature to pollution; thanks to an ingenious design that harvests power from the ocean, they could provide a high-efficiency - [Artificial Upwelling](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/artificial-upwelling/) - When Phil Kithil decided to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, he wanted to do something far more dramatic than donating money or building houses. Kithil, an entrepreneur and inventor, set out to devise a way to actually prevent future destruction by weakening hurricanes before they strike land. And his solution—a system of self-powered pumps that - [Coal Mine Aquaculture](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/coal-mine-aquaculture/) - It takes plenty of water to farm fish, and West Virginia aquaculturists have tapped into an unlikely source: abandoned coal mines. But if the thought of eating food grown in mine runoff makes you queasy, consider that the water is perfectly clean and that fish raised in it are safe to eat. Mining leaves behind - [A Light in the Forest](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/a-light-in-the-forest/) - One freezing day in February 2006, physicist Andreas Mershin huddled with others around a tree on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus to watch an unlikely demonstration. An engineering company claimed it could produce electricity simply by wiring a nail in the tree’s trunk to a metal rod in the ground. Sure enough, the demo - [Not So Silent Spring](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/not-so-silent-spring/) - Blackbirds in Europe are mimicking car alarms, ambulance sirens, and cell phones at jarringly life-like volumes. And they aren't the only wildlife switching frequencies in order to be heard over the human din. *Featured in Best American Science and Nature Writing 2010* By Dawn Stover Illustration By James Marsh A male European blackbird was terrorizing - [Cold and Old](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/cold-and-old/) - Permafrost keeps its cool—even in a warmed-over world At northern latitudes, buildings are collapsing and roads are buckling as the permafrost beneath them thaws. But the frozen ground further below the surface is proving remarkably stable. A new study in Science reports the discovery of a 740,000-year-old ice wedge in Canada’s Yukon Territory. It’s the - [Burning Questions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/burning-questions/) - When Jennifer Marlon and her team charted out the rate at which vegetation has burned over the past 2,000 years, they ended up with a wildly fluctuating graph that resembled a roller-coaster ride. To get to the bottom of these surprising gyrations, the researchers set out to disentangle the gnarly mix of human and climate - [Who Killed Dolly?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/who-killed-dolly/) - DNA evidence clears wolves, nails dogs Although wolves frequently shoulder the blame for raiding livestock pens, a study in Conservation Genetics proves that, in at least one case, they were framed. Researchers from Sweden’s Uppsala University analyzed saliva DNA from the bite wounds of two sheep to determine whether a wolf or dog had attacked - [Empty Nests](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/empty-nests/) - Alarming chimp population declines in Côte d’Ivoire For years, Côte d’Ivoire has been regarded as one of the last havens for endangered West African chimpanzees. A 1990 survey found that the country was home to 8,000 to 10,000 of the animals; while that was precipitously lower than earlier population estimates, it meant a significant number - [Diversified Assets](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/diversified-assets/) - Conservation biologists typically view invasive species as a scourge that drives native plants and animals to extinction. But Brown University’s Dov Sax isn’t sure exotic plants deserve their bad reputation. Sax looked for patterns in hundreds of years’ worth of data on plant and vertebrate extinctions on the world’s islands. He confirmed that invasive animals - [Follow the Light](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/follow-the-light/) - Night lights help pinpoint vulnerable coral reefs It’s easy to interpret pictures of the earth at night as a study in contrasts, with bright city lights isolated against dark expanses of sea. But Christoph Aubrecht of the Austrian Research Centers believes the images present a unity rather than a dichotomy, and he is using light - [Keeping Fit Past 500](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/keeping-fit-past-500/) - Scientists have long believed that young forests serve as carbon sinks, consuming more atmospheric carbon dioxide than they produce. Reflecting this assumption, the Kyoto Protocol encourages nations to develop new carbon sinks by restoring lost forests. But the protocol offers no incentives for leaving existing primary and old-growth forests intact. One reason for the omission - [CO2 Hangover](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/co2-hangover/) - The warmer it gets, the longer it takes plants to absorb greenhouse gases When it comes to climate change, scientists know that warming begets warming, but some critical aspects of this relationship remain unclear. For instance, many plants absorb less CO2 during unusually warm years, but researchers haven’t been sure whether plants’ carbon uptake recovers - [Slowing Down the Race to Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/01/slowing-down-the-race-to-fish/) - Private “catch shares” create incentives to protect fisheries Population crashes of predatory fish such as salmon, cod, and bluefin tuna are becoming increasingly common, and some experts warn that most of the world’s commercial fisheries could collapse within decades. These declines highlight a puzzling reality of fisheries management: overfishing is decimating many fisheries, even though - [Foreclosure Fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/foreclosure-fish/) - By Debora MacKenzie Here’s a good one: what links the U.S. mortgage crisis and West Nile disease? Answer: one of the world’s most invasive alien species. As we all know, unwise dealing by U.S. financial institutions has caused a lot of people to default on mortgages. A lot of this has been happening in the - [Low-gas Grass](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/09/low-gas-grass/) - Cow belches, one of the strangest contributors to global warming, may have an even stranger cure: low-burp grass. Cows’ digestive systems contain special microbes that help break down grass, allowing the animals to subsist on an all-grass diet. But this digestion process also produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, which is released when the cows - [Hope for the Banana](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/hope-for-the-banana/) - “Pity the banana. Despite its unmistakably phallic appearance, it hasn’t had sex for thousands of years,” wrote Fred Pearce in his 2008 feature story about declining genetic diversity among bananas (“The Sterile Banana,” Fall 2008). As it turns out, some people are, in fact, now taking pity on the faltering fruit. This past February, The - [The Cow Conundrum](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2013/06/the-cow-conundrum/) - Wildlife biologist and grazing guru Allan Savory continues to garner attention on the global stage. In the pages of this magazine, Judith Schwartz covered his concept of holistic management of grasslands with the strategic use of cattle (“Greener Pastures,” Summer 2011). His method for moving grazing animals helps sequester carbon in the soil and fight - [Time Travel at Your Fingertips](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/12/time-travel-at-your-fingertips/) - Our Summer 2011 photo essay, “Ultra Zoom,” showcased the use of GigaPan’s billion-pixel imagery in conservation research. Now the researchers behind GigaPan at Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute have teamed up with Google and the U.S. Geological Survey to take their image-exploration tools into a new dimension—literally. Since our story ran, the Carnegie Mellon team - [Paleocene Minifauna](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2012/09/paleocene-minifauna/) - In our Spring 2011 cover story, “Shrink to Fit,” David Malakoff reported on the dwarfing effect hot temperatures have on species and how larger animals could be in bigger trouble in a warming climate. A February 2012 study in Science illustrates the connection between temperature and the shrinking phenomenon by looking at the evolution of - [Rise of the Smartphone Naturalist](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/smartphone-naturalist/) - [A Name Worth Remembering](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/09/a-name-worth-remembering/) - It’s tough to love a species with an unpronounceable name. The Guardian decided to solve this problem through crowd-sourcing, asking readers to give common names to threatened or endangered species that previously had only a Latinate moniker. An expert panel of judges recently chose winners for the second annual “Name a Species” competition. Here’s a - [The Plastic Sausage Machine](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/06/the-plastic-sausage-machine/) - Despite efforts to recycle plastic, mountains of the stuff still end up in dumps and landfills. The problem is that plastic bottles, lids, containers, and the like must not only be clean but must also be sorted into their various types, if recycling them is not to be prohibitively expensive. Recently, though, a factory has - [Live Fast, Die Young](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/live-fast-die-young-2/) - In 1883, German physiologist Max Rubner pondered why large mammals and birds typically live longer than small ones. He offered a "rate-of-living" explanation that linked body size to metabolic rate. In essence, small animals live fast and die young because they have high metabolic rates, he theorized, while big ones burn the candle more slowly. - [The Marriage between Conservation and Social Projects](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2011/03/the-marriage/) - By Fred Pearce Until two decades ago, the conservation movement was frequently responsible for designing, funding, and managing national parks and other protected areas that excluded humans and created large numbers of impoverished refugees. Concern about the social consequences of these actions emerged during the 1970s. Conservationists responded initially by funding add-on social projects aimed - [Cutting Pollinator Commute Times](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/cutting-pollinator-commute-times/) - Pollinators are pricey. In California’s central valley—where the local crisis is very real—the cost of renting bee hives during the almond bloom recently tripled within two years: $50 per hive in 2006, $100 per hive in 2007, and $150 in 2008. As the numbers ratchet up, farmers may start looking for a backup plan. Several - [Breakdown](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/breakdown/) - Plastic poses a deadly threat to marine organisms that swallow or become ensnared in it, but researchers have long wondered whether plastic also affects marine species on a molecular level. Now, a team of Japanese scientists has uncovered the first evidence that plastic may decompose in seawater—suggesting that it could contaminate marine life from the - [Nurdle Soup](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2010/01/nurdle-soup/) - In August 2009, scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography set sail on an unprecedented research mission. Their goal: start unraveling plastic’s impact on ocean ecology. The research team headed west from San Diego to the North Pacific garbage patch, where they encountered a surprise. Based on previous reports, the scientists had expected to find - [Parental Guidance Advised](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/parental-guidance-advised/) - Cougars aren’t the only species that need adult supervision to keep them in line. When the California Condor Recovery Program began releasing the first captivity-bred condors in 1992, the young birds ripped apart cabins, tore windshield wipers off cars, and pestered humans for food. “They are naturally curious birds, but they didn’t have a healthy - [No Country for Old Cougars](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/no-country-for-old-cougars/) - When Bron the cougar got old enough to live on his own, he faced the same threat as all male cougars: His father essentially told him to find his own turf—or else. Rather than risk getting killed by his territorial dad, Bron (a nickname given by the researchers who tracked him) set out from his - [Science vs Instinct](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/science-vs-instinct/) - How is it that scientists could deny the reality of fish? Yet, absurd as it sounds, that is exactly what the scientists known as “cladists,” from the Greek klados (“branch”), did in the early 1980s. Their goal was Darwin’s: to order the living world strictly according to evolutionary relatedness. That is, they resolved to recognize - [Head Count](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2009/11/head-count/) - If it were a reality show, they might call it “The Ultimate Head Count.” But while forecasting global population might never make for compelling cable, the problem has fascinated scholars for more than 300 years. And it seems they’re getting better at calculating credible numbers. Even before Thomas Malthus warned in 1798 that humankind faced - [Born Again](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/born-again/) - William McDonough, a radical architect, dismisses traditional recycling as tired and inadequate. Instead, he’s invented “industrial ecoystems” in which substances and machines are infinitely recycled. By Jim Robbins Illustration ©Michael Gibbs From his perch atop the gleaming observation deck at Ford Motor Company's Rouge River complex, William "Bill" McDonough, in a black shirt, black pants, - [Point of No Return](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/point-of-no-return/) - Fishing may be such a powerful evolutionary force that we are running up a Darwinian debt for future generations By Natasha Loder Illustration © Jon Krause Contrary to the opinion of a number of the citizens of Kansas, evolution is not merely a “nice theory” but rather a demonstrable fact. Evolution is all around us. - [What if We're Wrong](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/what-if-were-wrong/) - By Jon Christensen So this is what it feels like to be in the throes of a paradigm shift. It turns out that much of what we think we know about species and ecosystems is wrong. That's a strong word: wrong. But it's the word that James H. Brown uses to describe the current state - [Book Review: The Golden Spruce](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/books-15/) - The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed By John Vaillant Norton, 2005 Reviewed by Jeffrey A. Lockwood A simple story: Grant Hadwin was an environmental wacko who had a mystical experience and then cut down a sacred tree to protest the logging of old-growth forests. A self-evident subtitle: A True Story - [Domestication Threatens Key Deer](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/domestication-threatens-key-deer/) - By Robin Meadows People who feed wild animals can inadvertently take the “wild” out of “wildlife.” New research shows that providing food and water to Florida's Key deer has led to behavioral changes, substantially increasing their density and group size. Ultimately, domestication could also lead to genetic changes. “Losing the ‘wildness’ in wildlife is as - [Does Conserving Top Predators Protect Biodiversity?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/does-conserving-top-predators-protect-biodiversity/) - By Robin Meadows Protecting charismatic top predators is a common strategy for conserving biodiversity, but does it really work? New research shows that the answer is yes for birds of prey in the Italian Alps. Sites where raptors breed have the greatest diversity of birds, butterflies, and trees. This is one of the few quantitative - [More Deer, Fewer Songbirds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/more-deer-fewer-songbirds/) - By Robin Meadows More deer may mean fewer songbirds, which could help explain the continental-scale decline of forest birds in North America and Europe. New research shows that there are only about one-third as many forest birds on British Columbian islands that are heavily browsed by deer than on those that are deer-free. Sylvain Allombert - [Endangered Native or Alien Invader?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/endangered-native-or-alien-invader/) - By Robin Meadows Figuring out which species are native could be harder than we thought. Although pool frogs in Britain were long thought to have been introduced from nearby countries, new research suggests that some populations were actually native. This flip-flop in conservation status makes them the U.K.'s most endangered amphibian rather than just another - [Testing the Effectiveness of Conservation Corridors](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/testing-the-effectiveness-of-conservation-corridors/) - By Robin Meadows Having a relatively simple way to assess the effects of conservation corridors is critical to determining whether they are working as intended. Now, new research shows that corridors do work for bluebirds and the seeds they disperse in South Carolina: the birds dispersed about one-third more seeds to habitat patches that were - [Seizmic Elephant Surveys](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/seizmic-elephant-surveys/) - By Robin Meadows Now there's a new way to survey elusive forest elephants: record their footsteps with underground seismic sensors called geophones. This method can distinguish elephants from other large animals more than 80 percent of the time and can also estimate herd size. “Given this level of precision . . . our technique should - [Muddy Waters](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/muddy-waters/) - We're increasing sediments in the world's rivers, yet only a tiny fraction of it ever reaches its coastal destination. Now for the first time, research led by James Syvitski at the University of Colorado offers a damming picture of sediment transport in the world's large rivers. Photo by © Ryan McVay - [Businesses Come Clean](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/businesses-come-clean/) - By Joshua Brown WorldCom, Enron, and Tyco and their financial disasters seem far distant from the conservation world's goal of protecting rare species, preserving environmental quality, and maintaining the world's biodiversity. But the downfall of these economic giants has led investors to demand more detailed accounting. Now the nonprofit Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is providing - [Google Scales the Ivory Tower](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/google-scales-the-ivory-tower/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk Whether it's preserving snow leopards or managing populations of great apes, many of the world's thorniest conservation problems are found far from university libraries and scholarly resources. Now, a new free search engine called Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) can enable researchers in the remotest places to sift through scholarly publications as easily as - [Sequencing the Ocean](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/sequencing-the-ocean/) - By Nancy Bazilchuk It took the invention of the microscope to enable the Dutch amateur scientist Anton van Leeuwenhoek to be the first to see the invisible world of protozoa and bacteria in 1674. More than 300 years later, genomics offers an equivalent, novel view of ocean life. Marine biologists are using genetic techniques to - [The Look of Success](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-look-of-success/) - By Jim Robbins Illustration by Cynthia Gale/images.com For most of the 1990s, Ed Bangs, head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Endangered Species Office, helped truck wolves from Canada to the U.S. and was instrumental in establishing the first pack in the Northern Rockies in more than half a century. For years he - [Four Futures](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/four-futures/) - By Erik Ness Illustration ©Michael Gibbs “There was something strange about my new job offer,” said the young Indian. He looked nervously at his hands, caressing the scab on his knee. “Five months' pay for one month's work. Even if it was far away, it just seemed odd. But how could one resist?” Life had - [Oil Change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/oil-change/) - By Jared Diamond Illustration by © Guy Billout Like much of the public, I loved to hate the oil industry, and I deeply suspected the credibility of anyone who dared to report anything positive about the industry's performance or its contribution to society. My field observations, however, have forced me to think differently. In particular, - [Sitting Out the Big Game](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/sitting-out-the-big-game/) - By Jon Christensen It’s a shame. Conservationists are sitting on the sidelines while the Big Game unfolds before our eyes. A major campaign is under way to change the terms of development, alleviate crushing debt, and help poor people around the world live better lives. Successes are being racked up. And conservation and environmental groups - [Book Review: Out of Eden](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/books-14/) - Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion By Alan Burdick Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005 Reviewed by Jason Van Driesche It is not often that a book presents a contradiction before you even open the cover. But such is the case with Out of Eden. At the heart of the matter lies a well-worn - [Shrinking Buffers Undercut Protected Tropical Forests](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/shrinking-buffers-undercut-protected-tropical-forests/) - By Robin Meadows How well are we preserving tropical forests and their remarkable biodiversity? The first comprehensive assessment of changes in tropical forest cover has yielded both good and bad news: formally protected forests are largely stable, but the unprotected buffers around most have shrunk, increasing their isolation and decreasing their conservation value. This research, - [Imposing Tariffs on Exotic Species](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/imposing-tariffs-on-exotic-species/) - By Robin Meadows A new paper argues that we are taking the wrong approach to dealing with biological invasions. Right now, we let most species in and hope for the best. When the worst happens and they become invasive, society pays for the resulting ecological damage. But the best way of limiting biological invasions may - [Common Herbicide Lethal to Wetland Species](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/common-herbicide-lethal-to-wetland-species/) - By Robin Meadows The environmental effects of pesticides may be even worse than we thought. A new study of how pesticides affect wetland species yielded a surprising result: a popular herbicide also kills tadpoles. Realistic concentrations of Roundup® essentially exterminated three out of five frog species tested in simulated ecosystems. “The most shocking insight coming - [Helping Native Species Adapt to Exotics](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/helping-native-species-adapt-to-exotics/) - By Robin Meadows Having a relatively simple way to assess the effects of conservation corridors is critical to determining whether they are working as intended. Now, new research shows that corridors do work for bluebirds and the seeds they disperse in South Carolina: the birds dispersed about one-third more seeds to habitat patches that were - [Culling Livestock Killers As a Conservation Strategy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/culling-livestock-killers-as-a-conservation-strategy/) - By Robin Meadows Killing a few lions may help the rest survive. New research suggests that relatively few lions are responsible for most of the livestock kills on African ranches, which means that targeted lion-culling could ease conflicts with ranchers and thus benefit the species as a whole. The findings also suggest that livestock killers - [Even a Billion Flatfish Are Still Inbred](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/even-a-billion-flatfish-are-still-inbred/) - By Robin Meadows Huge populations may not be enough to safeguard commercially fished stocks against genetic risks. New research shows that, even though there are a billion plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) in the North Sea, this flatfish is still inbred. This is because the breeding population is naturally much smaller than the total population and is - [When will populations double ... and where?](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/when-will-populations-double-and-where/) - Click charts and graphs above to see an enlargement - [The Ecosystem Marketplace](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/the-ecosystem-marketplace/) - By Katherine Ellison Conservationists have always known that biodiversity has value. But only in recent years has anyone envisioned “ecosystem assets” that might eventually be traded like pork bellies and soybeans. Unsettling as this concept may seem to those who revere nature’s worth as immeasurable, it is quickly becoming more mainstream, as demonstrated by a - [Moss Conservation Behind Bars](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/conservation/2008/07/moss-conservation-behind-bars/) - By Adelheid Fischer When the early woodland people of North America needed diaper material, they stripped mosses from trees, rocks, and downed limbs. Packing the plants snugly around their infants, they created a cushioned layer that could absorb ten times its weight in liquid. 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[Global South](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/global-south/) - [disease](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/disease/) - [Arctic](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/arctic/) - [sea turtle](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/sea-turtle/) - [treaty](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/treaty/) - [beaver](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/beaver/) - [river](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/river/) - [water quality](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/water-quality/) - [windows](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/windows/) - [cooling](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/cooling/) - [mushrooms](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/mushrooms/) - [electronic waste](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/electronic-waste/) - [spillover](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/spillover/) - [plant-based diet](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/plant-based-diet/) - [meat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/meat/) - [pets](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/pets/) - [pet food](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/pet-food/) - [sharks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/sharks/) - [grocery delivery](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/grocery-delivery/) - [shopping](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/shopping/) - [energy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/energy/) - [tropical forest](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/tropical-forest/) - [forest restoration](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/forest-restoration/) - [ammonia](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/ammonia/) - [sewage](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/sewage/) - [mining](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/mining/) - [forests](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/forests/) - [trees](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/trees/) - [fresh water](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/fresh-water/) - [drinking water](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/drinking-water/) - [dams](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/dams/) - [irrigation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/irrigation/) - [4-day work week](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/4-day-work-week/) - [plastics](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/plastics/) - [birds](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/birds/) - [migration](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/migration/) - [nanoengineering](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/nanoengineering/) - [oil](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/oil/) - [nuclear energy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/nuclear-energy/) - [fusion](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/fusion/) - [fission](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/fission/) - [reef restoration](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/reef-restoration/) - [refrigeration](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/refrigeration/) - [land sparing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/land-sparing/) - [land sharing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/land-sharing/) - [rainforest](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/rainforest/) - [circular economy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/circular-economy/) - [nitrogen pollution](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/nitrogen-pollution/) - [animating carbon](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/animating-carbon/) - [wildlife conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/wildlife-conservation/) - [fracking](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/fracking/) - [elephants](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/elephants/) - [hydropower](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/hydropower/) - [carbon offsets](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/carbon-offsets/) - [Natural gas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/natural-gas/) - [electricity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/electricity/) - [dolphins](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/dolphins/) - [electric](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/electric/) - [carbon capture](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/carbon-capture/) - [energy transition](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/energy-transition/) - [clothes recycling](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/clothes-recycling/) - [textile recycling](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/textile-recycling/) - [Food sharing economy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/food-sharing-economy/) - [rebound effect](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/rebound-effect/) - [predators](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/predators/) - [direct air capture](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/direct-air-capture/) - [Green Business](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/green-business/) - [whales](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/whales/) - [war](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/war/) - [biofuel](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/biofuel/) - [citizen action](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/citizen-action/) - [fishing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/fishing/) - [freshwater](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/freshwater/) - [Sustainable development](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/sustainable-development/) - [urban planning](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/urban-planning/) - [green cities](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/green-cities/) - [salt marshes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/salt-marshes/) - [coastal restoration](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/coastal-restoration/) - [rock dust](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/rock-dust/) - [government](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/government/) - [insulation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/insulation/) - [bioplastic](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/bioplastic/) - [agrivoltaics](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/agrivoltaics/) - [nuclear power](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/nuclear-power/) - [chicken](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/chicken/) - [animal welfare](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/animal-welfare/) - [heating and cooling](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/heating-and-cooling/) - [electronics](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/electronics/) - [private land conservation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/private-land-conservation/) - [solar panel](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/solar-panel/) - [cows](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/cows/) - [infrastructure](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/infrastructure/) - [genomics](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/genomics/) - [kelp](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/kelp/) - [horses](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/horses/) - [protein](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/protein/) - [construction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/construction/) - [poverty](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/poverty/) - [farms](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/farms/) - [soil](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/soil/) - [monitoring](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/monitoring/) - [energy storage](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/energy-storage/) - [COVID](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/covid/) - [Marine Protected Areas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/marine-protected-areas/) - [grazing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/grazing/) - [media](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/media/) - [climate psychology](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/climate-psychology/) - [herbivores](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/herbivores/) - [reptiles](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/reptiles/) - [livestock](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/livestock/) - [ocean carbon](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/ocean-carbon/) - [artificial intelligence](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/artificial-intelligence/) - [fungus](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/fungus/) - [building materials](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/building-materials/) - [farming](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/farming/) - [glaciers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/glaciers/) - [paint](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/paint/) - [nature-based solutions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/nature-based-solutions/) - [microbial fuel](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/microbial-fuel/) - [remote work](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/remote-work/) - [Paris Agreement](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/paris-agreement/) - [protected areas](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/protected-areas/) - [marine mammals](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/marine-mammals/) - [enhanced rock weathering](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/enhanced-rock-weathering/) - [biochar](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/biochar/) - [trash](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/trash/) - [China](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/china/) - [Neil Stephenson](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/neil-stephenson/) - [geoengineering](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/geoengineering/) - [geothermal energy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/geothermal-energy/) - [news](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/news/) - [Zoe Young](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/zoe-young/) - [Jame Sturz](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/jame-sturz/) - [organic farming](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/organic-farming/) - [pesticides](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/pesticides/) - [carbon budget](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/carbon-budget/) - [fences](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/fences/) - [urban heat island](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/urban-heat-island/) - [carbon market](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/carbon-market/) - [coffee](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/coffee/) - [extreme weather](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/extreme-weather/) - [heatwaves](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/heatwaves/) - [carbon removal](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/carbon-removal/) - [precision agriculture](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/precision-agriculture/) - [solar farm](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/solar-farm/) - [rooftop solar](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/rooftop-solar/) - [transportation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/transportation/) - [green roof](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/green-roof/) - [renewable electricity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/renewable-electricity/) - [GMO](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/gmo/) - [lab-grown meat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/lab-grown-meat/) - [bats](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/bats/) - [desalinization](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/desalinization/) - [materials](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/materials/) - [climate-friendly buildings](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/climate-friendly-buildings/) - [regenerative agriculture](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/regenerative-agriculture/) - [green building](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/green-building/) - [international agree](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/international-agree/) - [penguins](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/penguins/) - [drought tolerance](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/drought-tolerance/) - [butterflies](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/butterflies/) - [monarch butterflies](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/monarch-butterflies/) - [assisted migration](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/assisted-migration/) - [food](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/food/) - [minerals](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/minerals/) - [renewable energy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/renewable-energy/) - [fossil fuels](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/fossil-fuels/) - [Prashant Vaze](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/prashant-vaze/) - [carbon dioxide](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/carbon-dioxide/) - [food production](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/food-production/) - [insurance](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/insurance/) - [disasters](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/disasters/) - [climate change](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/climate-change/) - [sports](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/sports/) - [sportswashing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/sportswashing/) - [skiing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/skiing/) - [soccer](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/soccer/) - [olympics](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/olympics/) - [hurricane](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/hurricane/) - [flooding](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/flooding/) - [natural disasters](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/natural-disasters/) - [seaweed](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/seaweed/) - [carbon credits](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/carbon-credits/) - [chocolate](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/chocolate/) - [certification](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/certification/) - [climate resilient crops](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/climate-resilient-crops/) - [photosynthesis](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/photosynthesis/) - [life cycle analysis](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/life-cycle-analysis/) - [health care](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/health-care/) - [microbial diversity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/microbial-diversity/) - [Thermoelectric Energy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/thermoelectric-energy/) - [waste heat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/waste-heat/) - [climate policy](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/climate-policy/) - [sociology](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/sociology/) - [forest fragmentation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/forest-fragmentation/) - [AI](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/ai/) - [data centers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/data-centers/) - [computing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/computing/) - [earth worms](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/earth-worms/) - [biomimicry](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/biomimicry/) - [electric grid](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/electric-grid/) - [nuclear waste](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/nuclear-waste/) - [drilling](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/drilling/) - [pollution](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/pollution/) - [drugs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/drugs/) - [greenwashing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/greenwashing/) - [voting](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/voting/) - [culture](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/culture/) - [paper](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/paper/) - [rice](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/rice/) - [heat tolerance](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/heat-tolerance/) - [human](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/human/) - [medicine](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/medicine/) - [oysters](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/oysters/) - [sea level rise](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/sea-level-rise/) - [sea grass](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/sea-grass/) - [indigenous people](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/indigenous-people/) - [roads](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/roads/) - [cement](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/cement/) - [fashion](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/fashion/) - [microplastics](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/microplastics/) - [shipping](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/shipping/) - [brain](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/brain/) - [map](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/map/) - [Steel](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/steel/) - [fast fashion](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/fast-fashion/) - [EVs](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/evs/) - [grid](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/grid/) - [human waste](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/human-waste/) - [activism](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/activism/) - [trust](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/trust/) - [rewilding](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/rewilding/) - [wolves](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/wolves/) - [RNA](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/rna/) - [DNA](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/dna/) - [eDNA](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/edna/) - [eRNA](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/erna/) - [attribution science](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/attribution-science/) - [Ecological Health](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/ecological-health/) - [sustainable construction](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/sustainable-construction/) - [prairie](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/prairie/) - [vultures](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/vultures/) - [compost](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/compost/) - [desert](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/desert/) - [ecology of fear](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/ecology-of-fear/) - [big oil](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/big-oil/) - [groundwater](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/groundwater/) - [solar](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/solar/) - [garbage](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/garbage/) - [microbes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/microbes/) - [beavers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/beavers/) - [ecosystem engineers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/ecosystem-engineers/) - [microfibers](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/microfibers/) - [microplastic pollutions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/microplastic-pollutions/) - [laundry](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/laundry/) - [bears](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/bears/) - [green revolution](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/green-revolution/) - [blue carbon](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/blue-carbon/) - [zoos](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/zoos/) - [wetland](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/wetland/) - [polar bear](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/polar-bear/) - [farm waste](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/farm-waste/) - [cementte](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/cementte/) - [recycle](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/recycle/) - [contrails](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/contrails/) - [rain](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/rain/) - [pharmaceuticals](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/pharmaceuticals/) - [bread](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/bread/) - [electric vehicle](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/electric-vehicle/) - [manufacturing](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/manufacturing/) - [electrification](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/electrification/) - [five-fixes-crops](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/five-fixes-crops/) - [tomatoes](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/tomatoes/) - [five-fixes-carbon-cleanup](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/five-fixes-carbon-cleanup/) - [five-fixes-grid](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/five-fixes-grid/) - [five-fixes-biodiversity](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/five-fixes-biodiversity/) - [five-fixes-despair](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/five-fixes-despair/) - [climate messaging](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/climate-messaging/) - [five-fixes-circular](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/five-fixes-circular/) - [five-fixes-buildings](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/five-fixes-buildings/) - [Perennial crops](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/perennial-crops/) - [antibiotic resistance](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/antibiotic-resistance/) - [heat](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/heat/) - [light](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/light/) - [bioluminescence](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/bioluminescence/) - [wine](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/wine/) - [mosquito](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/mosquito/) - [tourism](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/tourism/) - [mountain lions](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/mountain-lions/) - [recreation](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/recreation/) - [fish](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/tag/fish/) - 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