The Year That Was and Wasn’t
We asked some of our favorite journalists, writers, and thinkers: What were the most important events of 2019, and what were the least?
environment
A collection of 16 issues
The Year That Was and Wasn’t
We asked more than two dozen of our favorite journalists, writers, and thinkers: What were the most important events of 2018, and what were the least?
El Lobo Returns Home
The battle over America’s wolves goes back centuries. In an excerpt from the forthcoming “Wolf Nation,” a journalist follows the release of a single family into the wild.
Reconsider the Oyster
Tracking a single oyster from the Gulf to Bourbon Street, to a 1,300-ton pile of shells, provides a tour through Louisiana’s precarious coastal economy.
Save the Humans
Environmentalists are increasingly hugging people, not trees. Can solving climate change and achieving “climate justice” become the same thing?
Honeymoon Sandy
A Manhattan wedding, a cancer scan, and the largest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded.
Big Water
The California Dream is made possible by old water and big water. Unfortunately, the former doesn’t care about us, and the latter’s running dry. A native reports from the wine country, where fires loom.
Invasion of the Bayou Snatchers
Not all oil-soaked animals in Louisiana deserve saving. Our writer attends fashion shows, braises venison, and heads into the bayou to understand the varmint of New Orleans: nutria.
Water Fight!
Around the world, water stirs up unexpected conflicts. Here's a dip into the latest headlines, and finds that beyond the haves and the have-nots are the want-mores and the take-yours.
Police and Thieves
Having biked with the protesters, drank with the locals, and trained in a battalion to fight riot police, Mike Deri Smith sums up the clusterfail that was Copenhagen.
Cleaning Up
In May, things got messy. Really messy. Garbage everywhere, and cities and states struggled to figure out a place to stow the trash.
Playing With Fire
In August, fires large and small swept through homes around the world. And whether dousing flames, solving domestic disputes, or posing shirtless, firefighters were there.
Garbage Night
Every night, another bag goes in the garbage, more waste goes in the landfill. A startling look at America’s capacity for garbage-making.
Night Noise
The West Nile virus attacked Boise this summer, and now planes spray the city with a supposedly harmless pesticide. But when facts are muddy and even the anchormen don't know what's safe, is it wise to let your sons play outside?
Insects Will Not Take Over The World (They Already Own It)
As winter approaches, the insects go underground. What we will miss? Moths that can smell sex a mile away. Butterflies with tongues on their feet. Centipedes able to kill birds. Our man in Idaho reports from the pastoral.
Life Goes On?
The Gulf Coast is in ruins, but that won't stop the political machine from running--in fact, it means it's only getting revved up. Our writer watches the waves of disaster that just won't stop.