Page Updated: Sunday, December 14, 2025 11:35 AM ET

The Conversation - Environment

Sharks and rays get a major win with new international trade limits for 70+ species - Gareth J. Fraser, University of Florida

2 days ago

Data centers need electricity fast, but utilities need years to build power plants – who should pay? -- Theodore J. Kury, University of Florida

2 days ago

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

2 days ago

US oil industry doesn't see profit in Trump's 'pro-petroleum' moves -- Skip York, Rice University

4 days ago

New industry standards and tech advances make pre-owned electronics a viable holiday gift option -- Suvrat Dhanorkar, Georgia Institute of Technology

3 days ago

Polar bears are adapting to climate change at a genetic level – and it could help them avoid extinction -- Alice Godden, University of East Anglia

1 day ago

PFAS in pregnant women's drinking water puts their babies at higher risk, study finds -- Derek Lemoine, University of Arizona; Ashley Langer, University of Arizona, and Bo Guo, University of Arizona

4 days ago

Songbirds swap colorful plumage genes across species lines among their evolutionary neighbors -- David Toews, Penn State

2 days ago

From FIFA to the LA Clippers, carbon offset scandals are exposing the gap between sports teams' green promises and reality -- Brian P. McCullough, University of Michigan and Edward Carrington, University of Michigan

4 days 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

5 days ago

Iran's president calls for moving its drought-stricken capital amid a worsening water crisis – here's how Tehran got into water bankruptcy -- Ali Mirchi, Oklahoma State University; Amir AghaKouchak, University of California, Irvine; Kaveh Madani, United Nations University, and Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; United Nations University

12 days ago

What are small modular reactors, a new type of nuclear power plant sought to feed AI's energy demand? -- Leonel Lagos, Florida International University

6 days ago

Winter storms blanket the East, while the US West is wondering: Where's the snow? -- Adrienne Marshall, Colorado School of Mines

11 days ago

Google plans to power a new data center with fossil fuels, yet release almost no emissions – here's how its carbon capture tech works -- Ramesh Agarwal, Washington University in St. Louis

12 days ago

When the world's largest battery power plant caught fire, toxic metals rained down – wetlands captured the fallout -- Ivano W. Aiello, San José State University

12 days ago

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6 months ago

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1 year ago

Sea level doesn't rise at the same rate everywhere – we mapped where Antarctica's ice melt would have the biggest impact -- Shaina Sadai, Five College Consortium and Ambarish Karmalkar, University of Rhode Island

18 days ago

No time to recover: Hurricane Melissa and the Caribbean's compounding disaster trap as the storms keep coming -- Farah Nibbs, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

1 month ago

4 lessons for Jamaica from Puerto Rico's troubled hurricane recovery, from out-migration to rebuilding for the future -- Ivis García, Texas A&M University

1 month ago

Hurricane Melissa turned sharply to devastate Jamaica − how forecasters knew where it was headed -- Ethan Murray, University of Colorado Boulder

1 month ago

FEMA buyouts vs. risky real estate: New maps reveal post-flood migration patterns across the US -- James R. Elliott, Rice University and Debolina Banerjee, Rice University

1 month ago

Read more about extreme weather

8 months ago

Black families pay more to keep their houses warm than average American families -- George C. Homsy, Binghamton University, State University of New York and Ki Eun Kang, California State University, San Bernardino

25 days ago

Renewable energy is cheaper and healthier – so why isn't it replacing fossil fuels faster? -- Jay Gulledge, University of Notre Dame; University of Tennessee

26 days ago

Supply-chain delays, rising equipment prices threaten electricity grid -- Morgan Bazilian, Colorado School of Mines and Kyri Baker, University of Colorado Boulder

27 days ago

Sulfur-based batteries could offer electric vehicles a greener, longer-range option -- Golareh Jalilvand, University of South Carolina

1 month ago

When coal smoke choked St. Louis, residents fought back − but it took time and money -- Robert Wyss, University of Connecticut

1 month ago

Read more about energy

8 months ago

AI's ballooning energy consumption puts spotlight on data center efficiency -- Divya Mahajan, Georgia Institute of Technology

3 months ago

AI has a hidden water cost − here's how to calculate yours -- Leo S. Lo, University of Virginia

27 days ago

How your electric bill may be paying for big data centers' energy use -- Ari Peskoe, Harvard University and Eliza Martin, Harvard University

27 days ago

Data centers consume massive amounts of water – companies rarely tell the public exactly how much -- Peyton McCauley, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Melissa Scanlan, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

3 months ago

Air quality analysis reveals minimal changes after xAI data center opens in pollution-burdened Memphis neighborhood -- Chunrong Jia, University of Memphis; Abu Mohammed Naser Titu, University of Memphis, and Namuun Batbaatar, University of Memphis

2 months ago

Read more stories about AI

13 days ago

What's at risk for Arctic wildlife as Trump expands oil drilling access in the fragile National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska -- Mariah Meek, Michigan State University

28 days ago

Wildlife recovery means more than just survival of a species -- Benjamin Larue, University of Montana; Jonathan Farr, University of Montana, and Mark Hebblewhite, University of Montana

1 month ago

How sea star wasting disease transformed the West Coast's ecology and economy -- Rebecca Vega Thurber, University of California, Santa Barbara

2 months ago

2 iconic coral species are now functionally extinct off Florida – we witnessed the devastation -- Carly D. Kenkel, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; Jenna Dilworth, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and Maya Gomez, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

1 month ago

From tracking invasive species to water security – what's lost with federal funding cuts at US Climate Adaptation Science Centers -- Bethany Bradley, UMass Amherst; Adrienne Wootten, University of Oklahoma, and Ryan Longman, University of Hawaii

18 days ago

Read more about environmental issues

6 months ago

Want to make America healthy again? Stop fueling climate change -- Jonathan Levy, Boston University; Howard Frumkin, University of Washington; Jonathan Patz, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Vijay Limaye, University of Wisconsin-Madison

1 month ago

How climate finance meant to help poor countries adapt became a global shell game -- Shannon Gibson, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

23 days ago

Global companies are still committing to protect the climate – and they're investing big money in clean tech -- Lily Hsueh, Arizona State 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

10 months ago

How the US cut climate-changing emissions while its economy more than doubled -- Valerie Thomas, Georgia Institute of Technology

1 month ago

Read more about climate change

6 months ago

As US hunger rises, Trump administration's 'efficiency' goals cause massive food waste -- Tevis Garrett Graddy-Lovelace, American University School of International Service

13 days ago

Trump was already cutting low-income energy assistance – shutdown is making things worse as cold weather arrives -- Conor Harrison, University of South Carolina; Elena Louder, University of South Carolina; Nikki Luke, University of Tennessee, and Shelley Welton, University of Pennsylvania

1 month ago

Why higher tariffs on Canadian lumber may not be enough to stimulate long-term investments in US forestry -- Andrew Muhammad, University of Tennessee and Adam Taylor, University of Tennessee

1 month ago

Refinery fires, other chemical disasters may no longer get safety investigations -- Philip Steenstra, University of Michigan; Rachel O'Brien, University of Michigan, and Stuart Batterman, University of Michigan

2 months ago

Trump administration is on track to cut 1 in 3 EPA staffers by the end of 2025, slashing agency's ability to keep pollution out of air and water -- Elizabeth Blum, Troy University and Chris Sellers, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York)

2 months ago

Read more about environmental regulation

6 months ago

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

4 months ago

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

3 months ago

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

4 months ago

Why protecting wildland is crucial to American freedom and identity -- Leisl Carr Childers, Colorado State University and Michael Childers, Colorado State University

7 months ago

From Greenland to Fort Bragg, America is caught in a name game where place names become political tools -- Seth T. Kannarr, University of Tennessee; Derek H. Alderman, University of Tennessee, and Jordan Brasher, Macalester College

5 months ago

Read more about national parks

5 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

2 months ago

Are people at the South Pole upside down? -- Abigail Bishop, University of Wisconsin-Madison

5 months ago

US and Russia squabble over Arctic security as melting ice opens up shipping routes -- Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham

4 months ago

As mountain glaciers melt, risk of catastrophic flash floods rises for millions -- Suzanne OConnell, Wesleyan University and Alton C. Byers, University of Colorado Boulder

4 months ago

At Antarctica's midwinter, a look back at the frozen continent's long history of dark behavior -- Daniella McCahey, Texas Tech University

5 months ago

Industrial facilities owned by profitable companies release more of their toxic waste into the environment -- Mahelet G Fikru, Missouri University of Science and Technology and Jennifer Brodmann, California State University, Dominguez Hills

1 month ago

Solving the world's microplastics problem: 4 solutions cities and states are trying after global treaty talks collapsed -- Sarah J. Morath, Wake Forest University

2 months ago

You can be exposed to PFAS through food, water, even swimming in lakes – new maps show how risk from 'forever chemicals' varies -- Ruohao Zhang, Penn State; Jiameng Zheng, Louisiana State University ; Wendong Zhang, Cornell University, and Xibo Wan, University of Connecticut

3 months ago

A red meat allergy from tick bites is spreading – and the lone star tick isn't the only alpha-gal carrier to worry about -- Lee Rafuse Haines, University of Notre Dame

4 months ago

Read more about environmental health

8 months ago

Farmers – long Trump backers – bear the costs of new tariffs, restricted immigration and slashed renewable energy subsidies -- Kee Hyun Park, Nanyang Technological University; Institute for Humane Studies and Shannon P. Carcelli, University of Maryland

20 days ago

What is Fusarium graminearum, the fungus a Chinese scientist pleaded guilty to smuggling into the US? -- Tom W. Allen, Mississippi State University

1 month ago

2 WAYS YOU CAN CONSERVE THE WATER USED TO MAKE YOUR FOOD -- Huma Tariq Malik, Colorado State University and Thomas Borch, Colorado State University

1 month ago

Agricultural drones are taking off globally, saving farmers time and money -- Ben Belton, Michigan State University and Leo Baldiga, Michigan State University

1 month ago

How Europe's deforestation law could change the global coffee trade -- Paul Mwebaze, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

24 days ago

Read more about food and agriculture

24 days ago

How the US can mine its own critical minerals − without digging new holes -- Yuanzhi Tang, Georgia Institute of Technology and Scott McWhorter, Georgia Institute of Technology

7 months ago

Critical minerals don't belong in landfills – microwave tech offers a cleaner way to reclaim them from e-waste -- Terence Musho, West Virginia University

6 months ago

US, Ukraine sign 'economic partnership' centered on Ukraine's wealth of critical minerals – but extracting them isn't so simple -- Scott L. Montgomery, University of Washington

7 months ago

Deep-sea mining threatens sea life in a way no one is thinking about, and Trump's order could clear the way for operations soon -- Alexus Cazares-Nuesser, University of Hawaii

7 months ago

Greenland's rapidly melting ice and landslide-prone fjords make the oil and minerals Trump covets dangerous to extract -- Paul Bierman, University of Vermont

9 months ago

Read more about critical minerals

6 months ago

Measuring Colorado's mountains one hike at a time -- Eric Gilbertson, Seattle University

10 days ago

Florida's 1,100 natural springs are under threat – a geographer explains how to restore them -- Christopher F. Meindl, University of South Florida

2 months ago

How a devastating grape pest is reshaping vineyards across Colorado's Western Slope -- Charlotte Oliver, Colorado State University

1 month ago

Many Colorado homeowners are underinsured − here's what to do before the next fire -- Tony Cookson, University of Colorado Boulder and Emily Gallagher, University of Colorado Boulder

1 month ago