2020 has been a tough year. Starting with Australia’s devastating wildfires, followed up by the death of beloved basketball star Kobe Bryant and his young daughter Gigi, and then, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic. Let’s not forget about the murder hornets, the locusts in east Africa, the wildfires in Siberia, and the arctic circle reaching...
Forests are a vitally important part of our environment. They stabilize the climate by removing excess carbon from the atmosphere, protect biodiversity by providing a home for countless animal and insect species, and support livelihoods [1]. One 2019 study found that the Earth’s ecosystems could support an additional 0.9 billion hectares of continuous forest, which...
The first half of 2020 has been a challenging one, and for many countries, it’s only getting started. On top of the coronavirus pandemic, East Africa is now dealing with a massive locust plague that is threatening the economies of those countries along with the health and livelihoods of the people who live there. If...
The ocean is possibly the most mysterious place on our planet, and somehow manages to continuously surprise even the most veteran biological and environmental scientists. Its latest curveball? Walking sharks. Admittedly, these creatures are not a brand-new discovery, but a twelve-year-long study by Conservation International, the CSIRO, Florida Museum of Natural History, the Indonesian Institute...
Many of us dream of winning the lottery and becoming instant millionaires overnight. One man in Tanzania did almost exactly that. Not by winning the lottery, but by finding two of the largest pieces of Tanzanite in the world. From Miner to Millionaire Saniniu Laizer is a small-scale mining boss in Tanzania. Through his mining...
Bird’s nests are often found inconvenient places, but with 55% of the world’s population living in urban areas, birds are losing spots to build nests. That’s how we end up finding nests on statues, streetlamps, windowsills, alleys, shoes left outside, and even on car tires. To no one’s surprise, bird populations are suffering. Fortunately, one company initiated...
Some classes won’t have an official graduation ceremony this year because of the current pandemic. The classes in safer areas must be thrilled to have the experience of officially graduating and celebrating their academic accomplishments. However, a graduation can become miserable if your family doesn’t bother to show up. That’s what happened to one teenager...
After 55 years spent away from home, these giant tortoises have finally made their triumphant return back to their home on the Galapagos Islands. Their survival as a species is all thanks to one of the world’s most successful captive breeding programs. Giant Tortoises Return to Española Island In the mid-1960s, the giant Española tortoise...
By now I’m sure we’ve all seen the viral photo of that ‘human-sized bat’ in the Philippines. Most of us probably had the same thought: There’s no way giant bats like that are real! Like it or not, giant bats are real, but they aren’t quite what that viral post says they are. This is...
Lightning is extraordinary, beautiful, and awe-inspiring to see. It can also be incredibly scary, particularly if you’ve ever had a close encounter with these potentially deadly bolts. Recently in South America, the world’s largest-ever recorded megaflash occurred. The expanse of it will blow your mind. World-Record Setting Megaflash in South America The World Meteorological Organization...
In this day and age, it’s easy to think that we’ve seen everything nature could possibly have to offer- we’ve got blood moons, bioluminescent water, thundereggs, the Northern Lights, volcanic lightning– the list goes on and on. Despite this, nature still manages to surprise and amaze us, and continues to produce natural phenomena that baffle...
By the year 2050, the world’s population is expected to reach nearly ten billion. This means that in that time, global food production must increase by fifty percent [1]. Could small farms offer a potential solution? Large-scale agricultural production is often purported as the solution to feeding the world, however bringing more land under agricultural...
