People often respond more urgently to problems they can see unfolding immediately than to threats that may take years or decades to fully emerge. In a 2015 interview with The Independent, broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough reflected on this tendency while discussing climate change and the different ways society responds to immediate and long-term dangers….

Acacia Senegal. Image Credit: Wikipedia Planting trees in Sudan’s drylands changed the soil in ways that became clearer as the plantations grew older. Acacia Senegal gradually built up more organic carbon and improved the soil’s ability to hold water for plants. A 2018 study titled ‘Changes in soil hydraulic properties, soil moisture and water balance…

A 16-year-old student from Sarasota, Florida, Sophia Haakman began growing butterflies at just 7. Over the years, her love for nature and its beings has evolved into a serious conservation effort. Haakman sought to find out if the hundreds of hours she spent rehabilitating local ecosystems were truly beneficial to wildlife. So she created her…

Paleontologist John Moretti (left) and caver John Young after exploring Bender’s Cave. Image Credit: John Moretti The discovery beneath Bender’s Cave in central Texas began in an underground stream where fossils lay hidden beneath the water. John A. Moretti, a palaeontologist at the University of Texas in Austin, and caver John Young investigated bones preserved…

Restoring damaged oyster reefs can bring back the small marine animals that depend on them. A study examined restored, living, and dead oyster reefs in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon to track how their macroinvertebrate communities changed after restoration. The researchers collected 20,087 marine invertebrates representing 41 species from 14 families. Over time, the communities on…