News & Commentary

Why Are Our Waters Turning Green?

March 14, 2016 NRDC in ActionLouisiana, Toledo, Ohio, Des Moines, IowaNicole Greenfield

Toxic algal blooms are suffocating waterways from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Erie.

A Red Flag for Red Colobus

February 8, 2016 Latest NewsAfricaJason Bittel

Hunted by humans and chimps and besieged by civil war and deforestation, Africa’s red colobus monkeys have few reasons to celebrate.

Il Primo Piatto

January 14, 2016 DispatchAfricaClara Chaisson

As the bushmeat trade drives the Bioko drill monkey toward extinction, some West Africans are realizing these animals are worth more in the woods than on the plate.

Life on the Mississippi, Now

January 5, 2016 DispatchMissouri, Illinois, MidwestBarry Yeoman

We've spent billions of dollars on dikes, locks, and levees in a vain attempt to subdue what Mark Twain called "that lawless stream." Is it time to let the river have its way?

Climate Change, Ahoy!

October 13, 2015 Latest NewsAfricaBrian Palmer

A new study says the Horn of Africa is going to get hotter and drier, driving poverty and piracy.

Locking Horns

October 8, 2015 DispatchAfricaAustin Merrill

As poaching pushes the rhino toward extinction, South Africa considers a radical solution: Legalize the very thing that is killing them. It'd make some people very rich. But would it doom the species?

Batten Down the Hatches

October 2, 2015 Latest NewsUnited States, VirginiaBrian Palmer

The world’s largest naval base is a major flood risk in a warming world.

The Closing of Nairobi National Park

September 23, 2015 Latest NewsAfricaBrian Palmer

As fences spring up on all sides, a great wildlife reserve morphs into a glorified zoo.

Not-So-Vacant Lots

August 28, 2015 DispatchNew Orleans, LouisianaAlisa Opar

From birds to trees to rats, post-Katrina New Orleans is a study in “disaster ecology.”

Ocean Defender

August 26, 2015 NRDC in ActionLouisiana, Massachusetts, United StatesAdam Spangler

On daytime TV, in film, and on Capitol Hill, scientist Lisa Suatoni opens people's eyes to the plight of the seas.

Who Should Pay to Restore the Louisiana Coastline?

August 26, 2015 DispatchLouisianaBrian Palmer

The oil and gas industry says, “not it.”

Hang in There, Cousin!

August 25, 2015 Latest NewsAfricaPerrin Ireland

Despite human encroachment, chimpanzees are standing their ground in Uganda.

Going Whole Hog Without Antibiotics

August 13, 2015 DispatchMissouriBarry Estabrook

Farmer Russ Kremer caught a drug-resistant infection from his own pigs. Now he's raising them right.

The Community Farmer That Could

August 13, 2015 DispatchMissouriEmma Marris

Molly Rockamann's 14-acre plot in suburban Missouri could be a model for the nation.

Killing KXL

August 12, 2015 NRDC in ActionCanada, Nebraska, Washington, D.C., United States

How an unlikely coalition of environmental activists stopped the destructive tar sands oil pipeline.

Gone Fishing

April 10, 2015 PerspectivesLouisianaSarah Craig, Rocky Kistner

Come to the best sportfishing resort in the bayou (if only the trout would start biting again).

Empty Nests

April 9, 2015 PerspectivesLouisianaSarah Craig, Rocky Kistner

A Louisiana oysterman wants to pass on his trade to his grandkids—if only there were any oysters left to catch.

Sympathy for the Vulture

April 8, 2015 Latest NewsAfricaJason Bittel

Traditional medicine is threatening Africa’s soaring scavengers.

A Recurring Nightmare

April 7, 2015 PerspectivesLouisianaSarah Craig, Rocky Kistner

After a decade of catastrophes—Katrina, BP—this family is saying good-bye to a beloved bayou home.

Mutated Truths

April 7, 2015 PerspectivesLouisianaSarah Craig, Rocky Kistner

Five years after the BP disaster, the oil company says everything is back to normal. This shrimper begs to differ.