Environment

Wildlife, oceans, forests, climate and conservation

In Environment, ECOnews covers wildlife and biodiversity, oceans, forests, climate change, pollution, recycling and conservation. Surprising stories from around the planet that explain how nature works and how people are changing it.

A massive 882-pound ocean sunfish washed ashore on the sandy beach of Marina di Ravenna, Italy.

A huge ocean sunfish has washed up at Marina di Ravenna, and the appearance of this elusive creature on the Italian coast has turned a beaching into a biological mystery

By ECONEWS

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May 3, 2026 at 12:30 PM

Illustration of spider webs and insects highlighting spiders’ role in pest control and ecosystem balance

If spiders suddenly disappeared from Earth, the initial relief many people would feel would be short-lived, as the ecological and biological void they would leave behind would be quite severe

By ECONEWS

—

May 2, 2026 at 10:15 AM

Global map visualization showing the seasonal movement and northeast shift of Earth’s vegetation center based on satellite data

The planet’s green belt is shifting, and scientists are concerned: terrestrial vegetation is moving northeast at an accelerating rate

By ECONEWS

—

May 1, 2026 at 10:15 AM

Global weather map showing temperature and rainfall anomalies linked to a potential super El Niño event

Meteorologists are beginning to talk about a possible super El Niño in the coming months, and that combination already points to maps filled with heat, extreme rainfall, and very rare phenomena

By Adrian Villellas

—

April 30, 2026 at 12:30 PM

An aerial view of a coastal city facing encroaching floodwaters due to rising global sea levels.

Sea levels could rise 27 centimeters more than predicted and put an additional 132 million people in the danger zone by 2100, according to a new and alarming estimate

By Adrian Villellas

—

April 29, 2026 at 12:30 PM

Alaska wants to resume helicopter bear “trapping” across an area of nearly 40,000 square miles to save the caribou, but the courts could block the plan before May

By Adrian Villellas

—

April 29, 2026 at 2:43 AM

A scenic view of the Colorado River winding through a dry mountain valley, bordered by lush green riparian vegetation.

The new paradigm of drought on the Colorado River reveals that vegetation consumes groundwater when it is hotter, which could leave less flow for millions of people

By Adrian Villellas

—

April 28, 2026 at 5:00 PM

A $200,000 challenge targets invasive mussels in California as officials race to stop their spread through hidden boat water

Golden mussels in California: a prize of up to $200,000 for ways to stop invasive mussels spreading in boats

By ECONEWS

—

April 28, 2026 at 3:00 PM

Wild boar standing in a grassy field as a 20-year study reveals peak crop damage months

Wild boars have been wreaking havoc on crops for years in what appears to be a random manner, but 9,871 reports of damage now reveal that their incursions follow a surprisingly predictable pattern

By ECONEWS

—

April 28, 2026 at 1:15 PM

Pocket gopher digging in volcanic soil at Mount St. Helens, linked to long-term ecosystem recovery after the 1980 eruption

Forty-three years ago, a few ground squirrels were released into the area devastated by the eruption of Mount St. Helens, and now scientists believe they were the unexpected heroes of the ecosystem’s recovery

By Adrian Villellas

—

April 28, 2026 at 7:00 AM

Snake with red, yellow, and black underside coiled on a log, illustrating snake cannibalism research

From the United States to Australia, via Brazil and India: a world map showing the places where snakes have been observed devouring members of their own species

By ECONEWS

—

April 28, 2026 at 4:39 AM

Underwater view of ocean currents and suspended particles, representing changing sea conditions linked to El Niño patterns

El Niño 2026 forecast: NOAA gives a 61% chance it emerges between May and July

By ECONEWS

—

April 27, 2026 at 6:30 AM

Scientist examining plants and chemicals in a lab during research on pesticide exposure and environmental health

A pesticide that has been in use for decades may be causing wild fish to age from the inside out, even at doses so low that they do not kill the fish immediately

By Adrian Villellas

—

April 27, 2026 at 3:54 AM

Kemp’s ridley sea turtles moving across the sand on Padre Island National Seashore.

No one understood what that strange green creature was that washed up on a Texas beach on March 7, until they discovered it was one of the rarest turtles in the world

By ECONEWS

—

April 26, 2026 at 10:15 AM

Fiddler crabs in Colombian mangroves where researchers found high microplastic accumulation

A study published on December 17, 2025, on mangroves in the Colombian Caribbean reveals that small crabs measuring just 1.2 inches can accumulate up to 13 times more microplastics than the mud and convert some of them into nanoplastics

By ECONEWS

—

April 26, 2026 at 6:18 AM

Galápagos giant tortoise on grassy volcanic terrain in the Galápagos Islands

Between 1997 and 2006, the Galápagos Islands launched an operation that was as extreme as it was surprising to save their giant tortoises: they removed more than 140,000 invasive goats using helicopters, GPS, and a strategy that was as unusual as it was controversial

By ECONEWS

—

April 26, 2026 at 5:05 AM

Basket filled with freshly caught blue crabs showing their blue claws and shells

Cannibalism is decimating blue crab larvae, but shallow waters still offer them a chance

By ECONEWS

—

April 25, 2026 at 3:00 PM

Floodwater surrounds homes in China as rising river levels and coastal flood risks threaten low-lying communities.

Sea levels are rising at a rate not seen in 4,000 years, and China’s major coastal cities are already on the front lines

By ECONEWS

—

April 25, 2026 at 8:45 AM

Ocean surface and atmospheric conditions influencing global drought patterns and climate variability

For more than a century, the ocean has prevented a severe global drought, but almost no one has described it that way

By ECONEWS

—

April 24, 2026 at 6:30 PM

Freshly cut tree stumps in a forest linked to an illegal logging investigation involving unauthorized timber harvesting

An illegal operation is uncovered deep in the forest, and the discovery of trees felled without permission reignites a silent war against the last remaining green lungs

By Adrian Villellas

—

April 24, 2026 at 10:15 AM

Previous Next

Environment

A huge ocean sunfish has washed up at Marina di Ravenna, and the appearance of this elusive creature on the Italian coast has turned a beaching into a biological mystery

If spiders suddenly disappeared from Earth, the initial relief many people would feel would be short-lived, as the ecological and biological void they would leave behind would be quite severe

The planet’s green belt is shifting, and scientists are concerned: terrestrial vegetation is moving northeast at an accelerating rate

Meteorologists are beginning to talk about a possible super El Niño in the coming months, and that combination already points to maps filled with heat, extreme rainfall, and very rare phenomena

Sea levels could rise 27 centimeters more than predicted and put an additional 132 million people in the danger zone by 2100, according to a new and alarming estimate

Alaska wants to resume helicopter bear “trapping” across an area of nearly 40,000 square miles to save the caribou, but the courts could block the plan before May

The new paradigm of drought on the Colorado River reveals that vegetation consumes groundwater when it is hotter, which could leave less flow for millions of people

Golden mussels in California: a prize of up to $200,000 for ways to stop invasive mussels spreading in boats

Wild boars have been wreaking havoc on crops for years in what appears to be a random manner, but 9,871 reports of damage now reveal that their incursions follow a surprisingly predictable pattern

Forty-three years ago, a few ground squirrels were released into the area devastated by the eruption of Mount St. Helens, and now scientists believe they were the unexpected heroes of the ecosystem’s recovery

From the United States to Australia, via Brazil and India: a world map showing the places where snakes have been observed devouring members of their own species

El Niño 2026 forecast: NOAA gives a 61% chance it emerges between May and July

A pesticide that has been in use for decades may be causing wild fish to age from the inside out, even at doses so low that they do not kill the fish immediately

No one understood what that strange green creature was that washed up on a Texas beach on March 7, until they discovered it was one of the rarest turtles in the world

A study published on December 17, 2025, on mangroves in the Colombian Caribbean reveals that small crabs measuring just 1.2 inches can accumulate up to 13 times more microplastics than the mud and convert some of them into nanoplastics

Between 1997 and 2006, the Galápagos Islands launched an operation that was as extreme as it was surprising to save their giant tortoises: they removed more than 140,000 invasive goats using helicopters, GPS, and a strategy that was as unusual as it was controversial

Cannibalism is decimating blue crab larvae, but shallow waters still offer them a chance

Sea levels are rising at a rate not seen in 4,000 years, and China’s major coastal cities are already on the front lines

For more than a century, the ocean has prevented a severe global drought, but almost no one has described it that way

An illegal operation is uncovered deep in the forest, and the discovery of trees felled without permission reignites a silent war against the last remaining green lungs

Chemists are turning ammonia into pure hydrogen at 482°F, far cooler than standard cracking, and the trick is using electricity to pull the gas through a palladium membrane

Roman soldiers guarded a German forest fort for 150 years, and archaeologists digging just inches below the forest floor have found a temple of Mars and a pin hinting at who came after

A volunteer diver picking up trash at the bottom of a Wisconsin lake found a 1,000-year-old dugout canoe, and the Wisconsin Historical Society has decided the safest place for it is exactly where it lies

Czech cave explorers and a robot have measured the Hranice Abyss to 1,476 feet underwater, and a decade after it became the world’s deepest flooded cave, nobody knows where the bottom is

A Hawaiian tree snail vanished from the wild after Hawaii brought in a predator to fight a garden pest, and 33 years later it is back behind walls that keep its hunters out

A Swiss glacier has pulled back far enough to reveal a larch that stopped growing about 10,300 years ago, and its still-attached roots show the tree grew on ground the ice later buried

Chinstrap penguin droppings across Antarctica release an estimated 540,000 tons of methane a year, and the bare ground between the guano patches gives off almost nothing

Twenty family dogs listened to nonstop invented words while wearing electrodes, and scientists found that dog brains lock onto the same hidden detail of speech that human brains rely on from infancy

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