2016 September/October

2016 September/October

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Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in 2016.

Feature

The Pope's Climate-Change Blind Spot: Women's Rights

When women are empowered to make decisions about their lives, it's a win-win for people and the planet

By Cally Carswell

July 28, 2016

Departments

Sisters Abril and Ariss Cosino fight environmental racism in South Tower Estates, Texas.

Do-Gooder

Making a Stink

Two sisters use social media to draw attention to wastewater lagoons across the street from their house

By Daniel Blue Tyx

July 29, 2016

Coal ash from the bottom of the Dan River near the site of Duke Energy's spill in Eden, North Carolina.

Notes from Here & There

Unlike its neighbors, North Carolina has a soft spot for toxic coal ash

North Carolina is worried about bathrooms. Toxic coal ash, not so much.

By Tristram Korten

July 28, 2016

Fatma Muzo, Tanzania country manager for Solar Sister.

Faces of Clean Energy

Africa's Solar Sisters help women earn money by distributing energy-efficient lighting and cooking equipment

It's like Amway, except with solar-powered lights and ovens in the African bush

July 28, 2016

Eliana Osborn knows that getting kids out hiking is worth the trouble.

Eyewitness

Fueled by Nature

A mom on vacation sees her kids thrive when they leave the city and head for the hills

By Eliana Osborn

July 29, 2016

Members of the Lummi Nation protest the proposed coal export terminal at Cherry Point, Washington, in 2012.

Bulletin

The Lummi Nation Fends off Big Coal

Last May, the tribe stopped a coal terminal from being built on sacred land

By Catherine Schuknecht

July 29, 2016

Bear watching is part of the package at the Knight Inlet Lodge in British Columbia.

Escape

Where to see great bears in the Great Bear Rainforest

Sierra visits a floating lodge in British Columbia, in the heart of where the wild things are

By Paul Rauber

July 28, 2016

A Maasai man in the Naimina Enkiyio Forest in southern Kenya.

Field Trip

Walking with the Maasai

A lion or buffalo could easily kill you, but not as easily as we're killing them

By Stuart Butler

July 28, 2016

Dr. Sampson wants kids to go outside and make their own discoveries.

Critic’s Notebook

In Conversation with Dinosaur Train’s Scott Sampson

Dr. Sampson wants kids to go outside and make their own discoveries

By Wendy Becktold

August 31, 2016

Door to Door by Edward Humes (Harper, 2016)

Critic’s Notebook

Planes, Trains, and Self-Driving Automobiles

In Door to Door, Edward Humes takes us through the complex system of transportation in the United States

By Kyle Boelte

July 28, 2016

Paleontologist Scott Sampson (from the TV show Dinosaur Train) wants kids to go outside.

Critic’s Notebook

Scott Sampson Wants Parents to Rewild their Kids

The paleontologist from the PBS series Dinosaur Train worries that outdoor playtime is going extinct

By Wendy Becktold

July 28, 2016

In Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?, Frans de Waal argues that our fellow creatures deserve more credit.

Critic’s Notebook

The Brains of Beasts

In the book Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?, Frans de Waal argues that our fellow creatures deserve more credit

By Michael Berry

July 28, 2016

A baby white-bellied pangolin clings to its mother's back.

Critter

The pangolin is the weirdest animal on Earth

A mash-up of a roly-poly, armadillo, and small dinosaur. Why do so many people want to eat it?

By Rachel Nuwer

July 28, 2016

Fermentation is enjoying a resurgence thanks to new research on the benefits of having a healthy gut biome.

Taste Test

It's Alive: A Guide to Some of the Best Fermented Food and Drink on the Market

Fermentation is in, thanks to new research on the benefits of having a healthy gut biome

By Chelsea Leu

July 29, 2016

Aardvark Sea Turtle Eco-Flex paper straws

Green Goods

Two Words: No. Plastic.

A roundup of alternatives to single-use plastics

By Rosie Spinks

July 29, 2016

Green Life

Seize the Grid Seizes the Moment in Puerto Rico

Student activists like Natalia Martínez-Torres see clean energy as a homegrown solution to Puerto Rico’s ever-worsening debt crisis

By Sarah Robertson

September 23, 2016

Green Life

The Not-So-Smart Solar Amendment

By Hannah Norman

October 20, 2016

Green Life

3 Recipes to Help You Ward Off the Sniffles

Got a cold? Or just trying not to get one? These three recipes will bolster your immune system naturally

By Hannah Norman

October 25, 2016

Green Life

4 Astronomical Highlights in October

By Kelly Kizer Whitt

October 1, 2016

Green Life

5 Innovations for Tackling 5 Years of California Drought

Cities across the state find creative solutions to prolong the water supply

By Karen Hao

September 23, 2016

Green Life

5 Ways To Participate in International Coastal Cleanup Day Without Going to the Beach

By Emily Malter

September 16, 2016

Green Life

A Call to Protect the Oceans

An international coalition votes to protect almost a third of the world’s marine areas

By Joe Spring

September 9, 2016

Green Life

A Grand Mistake at Grand Canyon National Park

A proposal to reduce the size of backcountry groups could end up keeping away the canyon’s most important defenders

By Bert Fingerhut

October 5, 2016

Green Life

A Model of World Food Day

How a grassroots leader in Cape Town combats hunger—and climate change—through urban gardens

By Hannah Norman

October 14, 2016

Green Life

A Slicker, Sneakier Wave of GMOs Goes to Market

Advocates release the first guide to educate consumers on the synthetic biology within food and personal products

By Katie O'Reilly

October 4, 2016

Green Life

Building a Solar School in North Carolina

By Aaron Reuben

October 18, 2016

Green Life

Contemplating De-Extinction

Some scientists think the era of reviving and returning extinct species to the wild is closing in fast. But which animals should come back?

By Jason Daley

September 2, 2016

Green Life

Desolate In Name Only

Photos from a rafting trip through Desolation and Gray Canyons in eastern Utah show us a place worth preserving

By Michael Benanav

September 16, 2016

Green Life

Elephant Populations Decline by 30 Percent

A new survey by the Great Elephant Census shows a dramatic drop in savanna elephant numbers in Africa

By Joe Spring

September 1, 2016

Green Life

Every (Fourth Grade) Kid in a Park

The Department of the Interior wants 10-year-olds to get off the screen and get into a national park

By Suki Gear

October 1, 2016

Green Life

Fall’s 5 Best Wildlife Webcams

By Hannah Norman

October 13, 2016

Green Life

Farm to Food Bank

A St. Louis high school student is changing the way her city thinks about food and sustainability

By Melissa Walker

September 21, 2016

Green Life

FreeHouse Helps You Heed the Call of the Wild

The vacation-rental booking service lists off-the-grid properties where travelers can truly unplug

By Wendy Becktold

October 28, 2016

Green Life

From Seed to Skillet

Five new books to get you gardening, cooking, and thinking sustainably

By Lela Nargi

September 26, 2016

Green Life

Funhogs and Treehuggers, Together at Last

An effort is underway to form a stronger conservation movement from the disparate strands of the outdoor recreation community

By Jason Mark

October 11, 2016

Green Life

Harvesting the Sky

A California distiller is turning San Francisco’s fog into sustainable vodka

By Katie O'Reilly

October 15, 2016

Green Life

Homage to Andalusia

Slow down on a guided bicycle tour through the south of Spain

By Jill K. Robinson

September 29, 2016

Green Life

How Amateur Scientists Are Unlocking the Secrets of California’s Redwood Forests

An excerpt from the new book Citizen Scientist

By Mary Ellen Hannibal

October 3, 2016

Green Life

How Bats Survive in An Increasingly Noisy World

New research shows some bats can switch to echolocation in noisy environments

By Jason Daley

September 27, 2016

Green Life

It’s A Wash

Three ways to make your laundry routine easier on your clothes, your pocketbook, and the planet

By Sofia Jeremias

September 18, 2016

Green Life

Keeping It Clean

Looking back at 44 years of the Clean Water Act

By Sofia Jeremias

October 18, 2016

Green Life

Kick off World Vegetarian Month with 5 Vegan-Vetted Food Services

Get “veducated” with these simple tips on green living

By Karen Hao

October 2, 2016

Green Life

Meet Baba Brinkman, a Science Educator with a Beat

A Canadian rapper shows audiences the rhythm and rhyme of climate change

By Karen Hao

October 24, 2016

Green Life

Need for Seeds

Cary Fowler, the visionary behind the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, talks about his new book—and why biodiversity is a key component of world peace

By Katie O'Reilly

October 6, 2016

Green Life

Obama Creates the Atlantic Ocean’s First Marine National Monument

The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument will be a haven for cold-water corals, sea turtles, and endangered whales

By Joe Spring

September 15, 2016

Green Life

September Observing Highlight: Fall Constellations

By Kelly Kizer Whitt

September 1, 2016

Green Life

Student Environmental Video Contest Inspires Solutions

Kids and teens create shorts that tackle some of the world’s biggest environmental problems

By Meiling Bedard

September 17, 2016

Green Life

The Art of Saving Oceans

Artist Angela Pozzi builds sculptures from washed-up plastic in order to cast more light on the problem of marine debris

By Menachem Wecker

September 10, 2016

Green Life

The Art of the Dry Garden

15 ways to conserve outdoor water use—without sacrificing the beauty of your home garden

By Katie O'Reilly

September 28, 2016

Green Life

The Paradox of “Last Chance Tourism”

A new study shows travelers are flocking to those destinations most ravaged by climate change

By Katie O'Reilly

September 22, 2016

Green Life

Whooping Crane Migration Changes Course

After 15 years of using crane costumes and ultralight aircraft, researchers are taking a more naturalistic approach to restoring crane populations in the eastern United States

By Jason Daley

October 8, 2016

Green Life

Wildlife Spectacle

A seasoned zoologist offers a unique take on North American wildlife

By Sofia Jeremias

October 16, 2016

Green Life

Wolf Haven

Annie Marie Musselman’s new photo book captures the intimate lives of wolves

By Joe Spring

October 7, 2016

Volcanic eruptions attract lightning. Here's what it looks like.

Photo

Volcano Storm

Volcanic eruptions attract lightning. Here's what it looks like.

July 28, 2016

During orientation, first-year students in the College of Environmental Science and Forestry at the State University of New York (SUNY) participate in the Campus Day of Service, volunteering on an array of projects, including improving city parks.

Cool Schools 2016

2016 Cool Schools Full Ranking

August 6, 2016

Budding chefs participate in Berkeley, California's Growing Leaders program.

Cool Schools 2016

Berkeley Middle Schoolers Keep Their Cooking Program Afloat

To save their school's garden, these kids became online entrepreneurs

By Sarah Henry

September 6, 2016

Teacher Eryn Norton Moland used a Sierra Club grant to build wind turbines at Perry Lecompton High School in Kansas.

Cool Schools 2016

Teaching Students About Real-World Wind Power

A Kansas science instructor focuses on wind turbines

By Wendy Becktold

September 6, 2016

Cool Schools 2016

The 10 Coolest Schools, 10 Years On

Sierra's 2016 rankings of the most environmentally sustainable colleges and universities in the United States

By Avital Andrews

August 1, 2016

A teacher and students in the garden at L.S. Rugg Elementary School in Alexandria, Louisiana.

Cool Schools 2016

The Greening of K–12 Cafeterias

School cafeterias are improving how and what they serve their students

By Chelsea Leu

September 6, 2016

Top 20 colleges working hardest to protect the planet in 2016

Cool Schools 2016

The Top 20 Coolest Schools 2016

These are the colleges working hardest to protect the planet in 2016

By Avital Andrews

September 6, 2016

The Our Children's Trust plaintiffs and allies at the federal courthouse in Eugene, Oregon.

Cool Schools 2016

Young People Wage Unprecedented Lawsuit Over Climate Change

Government inaction on climate change violates young people's constitutional rights

By Jason Mark

September 6, 2016

Arizona has the perfect climate for solar power, so why aren't there more panels on rooftops?

Money + Politics

In Arizona, dark money is eclipsing the rooftop solar industry

Threatened by the rise of rooftop solar, Arizona utilities try to pack a state commission with their hand-picked candidates

By Osha Gray Davidson

August 1, 2016

Big Coal may be dying, but it's still trying to strangle clean energy in the cradle

Money + Politics

Rigging the system to keep us using dirty energy forever

Big Coal may be dying, but it's still trying to strangle clean energy in the cradle

By Dashka Slater

July 29, 2016

The Voting Rights Act no longer protects all U.S. citizens.

Money + Politics

Right to Vote? Wrong.

2016 is the first presidential election in 50 years during which citizens won't have the full protections of the Voting Rights Act

By Ari Berman

August 1, 2016

The cleanup of our polluted political ecosystem will require all citizens

Money + Politics

The cleanup of our polluted political ecosystem will require the energy of citizens across the political spectrum

How campaign finance corruption undermines policies to protect the environment

By Lawrence Lessig

August 1, 2016

Ask Mr. Green

Hey Mr. Green! Do Alien Bees Threaten Native Species?

Busy Mr. Green gets to the bottom of the question

By Bob Schildgen

August 30, 2016

Ask Mr. Green

Hey Mr. Green! What's the Best Way to Keep Plastic Lids Out of the Ocean?

By Bob Schildgen

October 6, 2016

Ask Mr. Green

Is It More Energy-Efficient to Air Condition Your House While You’re Away or Turn It Off Altogether?

By Bob Schildgen

September 1, 2016

Ask Mr. Green

What Creates a Bigger Carbon Footprint, Having a Dog or Traveling?

By Bob Schildgen

October 13, 2016

Coral bleaching, caused by unnaturally warm water temperatures, is killing reefs in the equatorial Pacific, including as much as half of the Great Barrier Reef.

ICYMI

All the environmental news ICYMI

The busy enviro's cheat sheet to what's happening on our planet

By Paul Rauber

July 28, 2016