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By JOSHUA ROSE

A few months ago, headlines flared that Peter Kaestner had seen his 10,000th bird species. This could have been anticlimactic, as Kaestner has been renowned for years among birders for traveling worldwide and seeing more species than anyone.However,...

By RACHEL QUIMBY

One of my favorite books from childhood is P.D. Eastman’s “Big Dog, Little Dog,” the story of two bi-pedal pooches who are best friends. But Fred is tall, and Ted is short; Fred drives slowly and Ted drives fast; Ted plays the tuba, and Fred plays the...

By MARGAUX PAINE

As the world grapples with environmental challenges, the Fossil Free Zones initiative, championed by Leave it in the Ground Initiative (LINGO), takes inspiration from the transformative work at The Hitchcock Center for the Environment. The Center...

By LAWRENCE WINSHIP

February in New England brings longer days, uncertain weather … and seed catalogs! We gardeners pour over highly anticipated pages of glossy photos offering the promise of gorgeous fruits and flowers, all for the small price of a seed packet.Seed...

By DAVID SPECTOR

Most vertebrates — the large group of animals that includes humans — have many features in common, but some oddball groups have lost some of those characteristics. For example, snakes have lost their limbs, but they retain most of the other features...

By ALLIE MARTINEAU

Affinity spaces for queer people are essential, to share the things we carry. To meet friends, trade craft and clothing, talk about our lives, how to find doctors and well-sewn binders, how to come out, change a tire, ask for a raise, or cook for a...

By TOM LITWIN

As I concentrated on the computer screen, the news played in the background. A story about the environment got my attention, causing me to sit back and listen more carefully. I played the piece again to be sure I heard it correctly.In summer 2023, the...

By STEVE PFARRER

Even if you don’t know much about art, at some point you’ve almost certainly seen Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” one of the most iconic artworks of the modern era: a strange, skeletal figure clutching its agonized face, its mouth an oval of horror,...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — The cleanliness and health of Nashawannuck Pond will be on the minds of two groups of volunteers on Saturday.While members of Easthampton High School’s National Honor Society will be picking up trash littered along the edges and in the...

By STEVE PFARRER

The climate news seems relentlessly bleak: rising seas and melting glaciers; growing drought and firestorms; increasingly violent storms that destroy everything in their path and unleash terrible flooding.Oh, and let’s not forget more longstanding...

E - The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: How are we going to deal with all the waste when the solar panels everyone is putting up now wear out in 20-30 years? – Paul B., Chevy Chase, Md. When purchasing green alternatives for home power generation, there are many features...

By MEGHADEEPA MAITY

When I look at the news, I’m far more likely to see a Black victim of police brutality than to see a Black birder like Dexter Patterson (a.k.a. The Wisco Birder) singing and laughing in the woods. Today’s mainstream media have shown a necessary,...

By JOSHUA ROSE

’Tis the season of mistletoe, sort of. Mistletoe is evergreen, meaning it’s present year-round. However, winter is the season when we think about mistletoe most often.In the southeastern U.S., where I am writing this piece, mistletoe is hidden among...

By EMILY THURLOW

BOSTON — When 15-year-old Ollie Perrault found herself on the basketball court at the TD Garden, she seized an opportunity she’d never thought she’d have, and she took her shot.And though the Easthampton climate activist wasn’t trying to score any...

By JOSHUA ROSE

Fungi — bane or blessing? Nuisance or nourishing? Delicious or deadly? Answer: Yes, and more.On the plus side, as I explain below, many of Earth’s plant and animal species depend on fungi. On the minus side, fungi have been implicated in widespread...

E — The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: Is encouraging dairy farmers and cattle ranchers to capture methane gas from their livestock’s manure good or bad for the planet? — Phil Onorato, Pittsburgh, PA Methane capture, the process of using the decomposition of livestock...

By DAVID SPECTOR

If you sit on a city park bench you’re likely to see birds, especially house sparrows. This species, native to Europe and Asia, was first introduced into North America in 1851 and is now common where farms or cities provide both grain on the ground...

By NAILA MOREIRA

One of the most popular alternatives to fossil fuels, solar energy, has a problem — it needs land. With that land hunger comes inherent conflict, recently highlighted in Belchertown where a vigorous local fight has sprung up over proposals to build...

By STEPHANIE MURRAY

AMHERST — For a longtime Amherst resident, it is not unusual to wander through a daylong festival dedicated to sustainability, or to watch a protest head down the street with banners waving. But for those who haven’t lived in the Valley as long, like...