Category: Climate

Once a year, typically after sunset in the late summer, the coral baby-making process begins. Large colonies of coral spawn, spewing out sperm and eggs, often in pea-size bundles, that drift around until they encounter the spawn of other corals. Fertilized eggs turn into coral larvae — tiny and squishy free-swimming organisms — which eventually…

Shreya Vinodh, a habitat intern, collects plankton samples during a research cruise to study right whales with the Center for Coastal Studies in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts on April 1, 2024. | Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images Tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired recently, and more may be in danger of being let go….

The US Fish and Wildlife Service is working to revive populations of endangered black-footed ferrets, an integral part of the prairie ecosystem. | Kathryn Scott Osler/The Denver Post via Getty Images President Donald Trump says he wants the US to have the cleanest air and water on the planet — a desire, unsurprisingly, shared by all…

A crowd of visitors at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. | George Rose/Getty Images America’s beloved national parks face a problem that could, in a matter of weeks, grow into a full-blown crisis.  The number of people visiting areas managed by the National Park Service — which includes national parks, monuments, and other sites…

A family of African savanna elephants in Mikumi National Park in Tanzania. This elephant is listed as endangered. | Andy Soloman/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images The US Fish and Wildlife Service, the nation’s only government agency dedicated to conserving plants and animals, has frozen its vast portfolio of international conservation grants, Vox has learned….

Southern California experienced an exceptionally hot and dry start to winter this year, setting the stage for wildfires. | Kevin Carter/Getty Images Another round of snowy, chilly weather is gripping the United States this week, extending the frigid start to the year across much of North America. Yet despite the cold temperatures over the continent,…

An Eaton wildfire victim Windy Crick, left, hugs her neighbor Liz Oh, after they searched for keepsakes and valuables amid the rubble of their homes in Altadena. | Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images We’re making this story accessible to all readers as a public service. At Vox, our mission is to help…

A rare dunes sagebrush lizard. | Courtesy of Lee Fitzgerald While President Donald Trump has caused chaos and confusion in his first few weeks in office, he’s made one thing very clear: His administration will do everything in its power to supercharge oil and gas production. That agenda is unwelcome news for a small lizard…

Sisters Lesly and Rose Garrido-Lopez view the remains of their home which burned in the Eaton Fire. At their peak, the devastating wildfires that ignited around Los Angeles in January forced upward of 200,000 people to evacuate and torched more than 16,000 homes, offices, and shops. The total economic losses may reach as high as…

Due to the battery’s design, it’s impossible to charge your phone without killing it a little in the process. I used to think I was good at charging stuff. My phone, for instance, almost never dies because I charge it wirelessly overnight, and then, if it’s running low in the afternoon, I blast it with…