The Riddle of the Roaming Plastics

It is one of the modern world’s biggest mysteries—99 percent of the plastics that enter the ocean are missing.

Dec 4, 2018 | 2,500 words, about 12 minutes

Rules Are Tightening on Scottish Salmon Aquaculture

After years of regulating with a light touch, Scottish parliamentarians move toward more government oversight of fish farms.

Dec 3, 2018 | 800 words, about 4 minutes

An Oasis of Open Water

Inuit in Canada and Greenland want to protect an ecological wonder—a massive Arctic polynya—at the center of their world.

Nov 27, 2018 | 3,400 words, about 17 minutes

The Cavernous World under the Woods

On Vancouver Island, karst researchers hustle to save one of Earth’s most underappreciated—and fragile—ecosystems: an ecosystem hidden in plain sight.

Nov 20, 2018 | 5,400 words, about 27 minutes

Instant Ocean

Originally built as a gateway to space colonization, Biosphere 2 has a new purpose: to breed supercorals strong enough to survive swiftly changing seas. First, scientists must revive the simulated ocean.

Nov 13, 2018 | 1,900 words, about 10 minutes

A Scientist Found a Kelp on a Worm in a Hole in the Mud on the Bottom of the Sea

A novel ecological relationship lets kelp grow where it otherwise couldn’t.

Nov 2, 2018 | 450 words, about 2 minutes

The Unexpected Upsides of the Hole in Fire Island

On Long Island, some of the damage done by Superstorm Sandy wound up being an environmental boon. Years later, residents are wondering how to prevent things going back to the way they were.

Oct 29, 2018 | 850 words, about 4 minutes

Baaaaad News for Fish

In the Wadden Sea salt marshes, a heavily grazed landscape offers less food for fish.

Oct 15, 2018 | 550 words, about 2 minutes