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Friday, July 10, 2026 7:10 PM ET

The Conversation - Environment

Beyond birds and mice, free-ranging cats eat a surprising number of insects - Christopher A. Lepczyk, Auburn University; Daniel Rubinoff, University of Hawaii, and Jean E. Fantle-Lepczyk, Auburn University

2 days ago

Fertilizers carry a hidden cost for soil's crucial microbes – using less as prices rise might pay off for farms in unexpected ways -- Esther Ndumi Ngumbi, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

2 days ago

Electric companies don't need to black out customers to prevent wildfires – here are 3 relatively fast, affordable solutions -- Jasmine Garland, University of Colorado Boulder

2 days ago

Fishing for DNA – how a cup of river water can reveal secrets about human health, pollution and biodiversity -- Jenny Whilde, University of Florida

3 days ago

It may be almost impossible to make data centers pay their 'fair share' of electricity costs -- Theodore J. Kury, University of Florida

3 days ago

Climate change means an earlier spring, which can be disorienting and threatening for migrating birds -- Morgan Tingley, University of California, Los Angeles

4 days ago

Supreme Court bars states from protecting consumers if federal agencies won't -- Sarah J. Morath, Wake Forest University

4 days ago

As a major heat wave grips the eastern US, here's how to stay safe – and the heat stroke warning signs to watch for -- Brian Bossak, College of Charleston

9 days ago

You've never heard of these glaciers, but they're becoming critical climate havens as America's iconic mountain glaciers and their water fade -- Dan McGrath, Colorado State University; Ashlesha Khatiwada, Colorado State University, and Scott Hotaling, Utah State University

8 days ago

Data center fights pit social values, democracy and capitalism against each other -- Lauren Mullenbach, University of Michigan

9 days ago

Research about global fishing shows value of detailed environmental data, which the Trump administration seeks to limit -- Mark Axelrod, Michigan State University

9 days ago

Venezuela's deadly earthquakes happened on a fault similar to the San Andreas, and the risks aren't over yet – a geophysicist explains -- Sylvain Barbot, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

10 days ago

When your local reflecting pool or pond turns green with algae, don't reach for chemicals – nature has better solutions -- Eric Palkovacs, University of California, Santa Cruz

14 days ago

We designed the turf for soccer's biggest World Cup ever – here's how we created the same playing experience across 3 countries -- John N. Trey Rogers, Michigan State University; Jackie Lyn A. Guevara, Michigan State University; John Sorochan, University of Tennessee, and Ryan Bearss, Michigan State University

1 month ago

Island life changed how Brazil's Noronha skink reproduces, but the lizard's strategy might be failing in a rapidly evolving world -- Henrique B. Braz, Instituto Butantan; Selma Maria Almeida-Santos, Instituto Butantan, and Serena Najara Migliore, Instituto Butantan

3 days ago

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1 year ago

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2 years ago

Soaring US beef prices likely to rise further thanks to trade tensions and disease outbreaks -- Andrew Muhammad, University of Tennessee and Charles Martinez, University of Tennessee

16 days ago

Suspending federal gas tax wouldn't save drivers as much as they might hope – here's what goes into the price of a gallon of gas -- Robert I. Harris, Georgia Institute of Technology

1 month ago

When oil prices spike, where does the money go? -- Matthew E. Oliver, Georgia Institute of Technology and Tibor Besedeš, Georgia Institute of Technology

2 months ago

Why the Persian Gulf has more oil and gas than anywhere else on Earth -- Scott L. Montgomery, University of Washington

3 months ago

Hormuz closure threatens the global food supply – why grocery price hikes are coming -- Aya S. Chacar, Florida International University

3 months ago

Read more about war and energy

3 months ago

Heat waves can leave homes dangerously hot – even for young, healthy adults -- Zoltan Nagy, Eindhoven University of Technology

16 days ago

Heat waves increase wildfire risk – a new study explains how much, and it's not a small number -- Dmitri Kalashnikov, University of California, Merced; Cong Yin, University of California, Merced; Madhulika Gurazada, University of California, Merced, and Mukesh Kumar, University of California, Merced

22 days ago

El Niño is back, and ocean temperatures are already near record highs – that can spell disaster for fish and corals -- Dillon Amaya, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

25 days ago

The US is seeing stronger storms, so why are droughts getting worse? -- David Boutt, UMass Amherst

1 month ago

Blackout risks are rising – why neighboring power grids can't just send extra electricity where it's needed -- Sufan Jiang, University of Tennessee; Nanyang Technological University and Fangxing Fran Li, University of Tennessee

1 month ago

Read more about extreme weather

1 year ago

Energy costs are high and unaffordable – what utilities, governments, communities and you can do to help save consumers money -- Sanya Carley, University of Pennsylvania; Alexandra Klass, University of Michigan; Alison L. Knasin, University of Pennsylvania; David Konisky, Indiana University, and Shelley Welton, University of Pennsylvania

23 days ago

How Wall Street is shifting electric utilities toward consolidation and profit -- Conor Harrison, University of South Carolina

24 days ago

How window-mounted heat pumps can give tenants efficient heating and cooling -- Moncef Krarti, University of Colorado Boulder

25 days ago

How the development of solar and wind farms on the Tibetan Plateau is affecting local communities -- Sanggay Tashi, University of Colorado Boulder

28 days ago

Even with $700 million in funding and Trump's support, coal power remains expensive – and dangerous -- Hannah Wiseman, Penn State and Seth Blumsack, Penn State

1 month ago

Read more about energy

6 months ago

How local communities are challenging Big Tech data centers' noise, pollution and rising electricity bills -- Rachel Mural, Harvard Kennedy School

18 days ago

5 WAYS DATA CENTERS ENDANGER THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND THE COUNTRY AS A WHOLE -- Neha Gour, George Mason University; Ed Maibach, George Mason University, and Luis Ortiz, George Mason University

1 month ago

Using diesel generators to power the AI revolution would kill hundreds of Americans a year -- Peter Adams, Carnegie Mellon University

2 months ago

Data centers don't have to be a burden on local communities – and can even support them by generating power and repurposing waste heat -- Gregor Henze, University of Colorado Boulder and Sean Shaheen, University of Colorado Boulder

2 months ago

Despite its steep environmental costs, AI might also help save the planet -- Nir Kshetri, University of North Carolina – Greensboro

5 months ago

Read more stories about AI

7 months ago

The world agreed to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030 – but marine protection can't be judged by area alone -- Kirsten Grorud-Colvert, Oregon State University and Ana K. Spalding, Smithsonian Institution

23 days ago

Life after death: From burned trees to bleached corals, how dead organisms live on as the building blocks of new life -- Kai Kopecky, University of Colorado Boulder and John Kominoski, Florida International University

29 days ago

Bison restoration efforts and grazing rights hinge on one question: Are bison wildlife? -- Madison Stevens, Montana State University and Elizabeth (Libby) Lunstrum, Boise State University

1 month ago

What to do if a bat gets in your house: Here's how to remove it safely -- Tara Hohoff, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

26 days ago

California's salmon fishery is reopening after a population crash led to a 3-year closure, but that doesn't mean all is well -- Eric Palkovacs, University of California, Santa Cruz and Steven T. Lindley, University of California, Santa Cruz

1 month ago

Read more about environmental issues

1 year ago

Longtime Exxon CEO Lee Raymond's legacy of climate denial and misinformation lives on – a psychologist offers ways to counter it -- Joe Árvai, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

17 days ago

A huge landslide tsunami in Alaska sent a wave 1,580 feet up the fjord walls – and left clues for building a warning system -- Michael E. West, University of Alaska Fairbanks and Ezgi Karasözen, University of Alaska Fairbanks

2 months ago

Efforts to combat climate change often exclude Indigenous people – and they may not have any recourse -- Buket Altınçelep, UMass Boston

28 days ago

Formula 1 racing shows the hard part of reaching net-zero carbon emissions isn't the engineering -- Caitlin Grady, George Washington University and Sachi Nandurkar, George Washington University

1 month ago

How the oil industry and growing political divides turned climate change into a partisan issue -- Joe Árvai, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

1 year ago

Read more about climate change

1 year ago

Paving paradise: Dismantling the US Roadless Rule threatens to disrupt wildlife, water and peace in the last quiet places in America -- Mariah Meek, Michigan State University and Travis Belote, Montana State University

24 days ago

Why states are walking back their own climate and energy laws, and what they might do instead -- Andres Clarens, University of Virginia

14 days ago

This successful Arctic fishing treaty has kept Russia, China, the US and others working together for 5 years – it could be a model for future diplomacy -- David Balton, Harvard Kennedy School

25 days ago

Who is allowed to walk on the beach? It depends on where you live -- Melissa Scanlan, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Will Matuska, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

1 month ago

When you don't have the facts, argue the law: How Trump's EPA is limiting its own ability to protect public health far into the future -- Janet McCabe, Indiana University

1 month ago

Read more about environmental regulation

1 year ago

Wildfires are reversing America's progress on ozone pollution, the main ingredient in smog -- Weizhi Deng, University of Iowa; Jun Wang, University of Iowa, and Meng Zhou, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

1 month ago

Firefighters face a higher risk of skin cancer – nano fabrics with tiny, rough fibers can help keep them safer -- Sumit Mandal, Oklahoma State University

1 month ago

PFAS in ski wax: Despite bans, these forever chemicals linger in wax rooms, study shows – so does their health risk -- Kathryn Crawford, Middlebury College

1 month ago

A lot of 'recycled' plastic is being burned overseas – and causing widespread pollution linked to health problems -- Ellen M. Considine, University of Colorado Boulder

1 month ago

EPA is sidelining its independent chemical referee – and that endangers public health -- H. Christopher Frey, North Carolina State University

1 month ago

Read more about environmental health

1 year ago

War-induced fertilizer shortage may be reducing US soil and water pollution -- Kimberly Van Meter, Penn State and Nandita Basu, University of Waterloo

15 days ago

How everyone pays the cost for patents on seeds, and private companies get rich from keeping them secret -- Julie Dawson, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Kiki Hubbard, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Paulina Jenney, University of Wisconsin-Madison

17 days ago

Shutting down federal bee labs threatens bees, beekeepers and the US food system -- Jennie L. Durant, University of California, Davis

1 month ago

Rice feeds billions of people – but its role in fueling climate change is growing -- Hanqin Tian, Boston College; Jingting Zhang, Boston College; Pep Canadell, CSIRO, and Shufen (Susan) Pan, Boston College

1 month ago

Why Corpus Christi faces a looming water shortage, and what might help -- Michelle Hummel, University of Texas at Arlington

1 month ago

Read more about food and agriculture

7 months ago

Alaska's glacial lakes are expanding, increasing the risk of destructive outburst floods -- Dan McGrath, Colorado State University

4 months ago

A walk across Alaska's Arctic sea ice brings to life the losses that appear in climate data -- Alexandra Jahn, University of Colorado Boulder

5 months ago

US military has a long history in Greenland, from mining during WWII to a nuclear-powered Army base built into the ice -- Paul Bierman, University of Vermont

5 months ago

West Antarctica's history of rapid melting foretells sudden shifts in continent's 'catastrophic' geology -- Christine Siddoway, Colorado College; Anna Ruth (Ruthie) Halberstadt, The University of Texas at Austin, and Keiji Horikawa, University of Toyama

6 months ago

From record warming to rusting rivers, 2025 Arctic Report Card shows a region transforming faster than expected -- Matthew L. Druckenmiller, University of Colorado Boulder; Rick Thoman, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Twila A. Moon, University of Colorado Boulder

6 months ago

The missing link in America's critical minerals push isn't mining – it's processing expertise -- Hélène Nguemgaing, University of Maryland and Alan Collins, West Virginia University

1 month ago

The race to mine critical minerals for AI and clean energy is creating 'sacrifice zones' that harm water and health of world's poor -- Abraham Nunbogu, United Nations University and Kaveh Madani, United Nations University

2 months ago

In its hunt for critical minerals, the US is misconstruing what is and is not America's -- Coalter G Lathrop, Duke University

3 months ago

Mining the ocean floor: 5 deep-sea sources of critical minerals essential to technology, and the fragile marine life at risk -- Leonardo Macelloni, University of Mississippi

4 months ago

America's next big critical minerals source could be coal mine pollution – if we can agree on who owns it -- Hélène Nguemgaing, University of Maryland and Alan Collins, West Virginia University

2 months ago

Read more about critical minerals

1 year ago

You're not going to be alone in national parks this summer – enjoy the company -- Will Rice, University of Montana and Bing Pan, Penn State

3 months ago

What does it mean to be a new national park? Ocmulgee Mounds in Georgia may soon find out -- Seth T. Kannarr, University of Tennessee

7 months ago

Yosemite embodies the long war over US national park privatization -- Michael Childers, Colorado State University

11 months ago

Hidden treasures of America's national parks are closer than you might think -- Jeffrey C. Hallo, Clemson University

10 months ago

National parks are key conservation areas for wildlife and natural resources -- Sarah Diaz, Coastal Carolina University and Linda Lane, Coastal Carolina University

11 months ago

Read more about national parks

1 year ago

Should you swim in Pittsburgh's rivers? A water researcher breaks down the answer -- Daniel Bain, University of Pittsburgh

18 days ago

Microplastics are everywhere in Pennsylvania's water – but the tide may be turning -- Nathaniel Warner, Penn State; Lisa Emili, Penn State, and Raymond Najjar, Penn State

24 days ago

How Pennsylvania towns are protecting themselves from the noise, heat and utility costs of massive data centers -- Michael Helbing, Penn State

29 days ago

Home insurance and the unraveling of Florida communities -- Zac Taylor, Delft University of Technology

1 month ago