Guide

Giant farms—whether growing crops or animals—often rely heavily on chemicals and produce waste that pollutes the water and air. As a result, the system we’ve designed to feed the planet also takes a serious toll on its health.

Here’s everything you need to know about the most ubiquitous (and avoidable) kind of plastic waste: the kind made to be tossed in mere minutes.

From coastal tide pools and rolling prairies to African savanna and arctic terrain, the earth is home to myriad ecosystems, each one regulated by interlinking parts, including the creatures that call them home.

Ugly, foul-smelling and sometimes toxic, algal blooms are becoming more common in freshwater ecosystems like rivers, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs. Here’s a look at how excess algae can impact the environment—and human health.

Wildlife trade is big business, with wild plants, animals, and products made from them sold around the globe, legally and illegally. It’s also a leading cause of the planet’s accelerating biodiversity crisis and resultant ecosystem collapse.

From fertilizer runoff to methane emissions, large-scale industrial agriculture pollution takes a toll on the environment.

By increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, we’re amplifying the planet’s natural greenhouse effect and turning up the dial on global warming.

Some people tout bioenergy as a solution to our climate crisis. But take a closer look, and this plant and animal power doesn’t actually live up to its promise.

It turns out this controversial renewable hardly lives up to its carbon-cutting reputation.

Hydraulic fracturing has upended the global energy landscape and made fossil fuels big business in the United States. Mounting evidence shows that it poses serious threats to our health, environment, and climate future. Here’s a look at the fracking boom and its increasing risks.