Healthy ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, and grasslands have an amazing ability to remove planet-warming emissions from the atmosphere and lock them securely underground. Experts call them “nature-based solutions” to climate change. The stories I’ve highlighted below showcase some of these hardworking landscapes. They also explain what we gain when we protect large portions of the Earth, how forests are changing, and where our oceans — two-thirds of our world — fit into the equation.
It’s been 50 years since an international treaty to protect wetlands was created but, around the world, wetlands are still disappearing three times faster than forests. In the lush, bright-green thickets of the Philippine’s Agusan Marsh, nestled in the country’s far south Mindanao island, children …
Images from National Geographic photographer Luján Agusti document “magical” Argentine peatlands. At the southernmost tip of South America, in a region known as Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire), the Andes mountain range and pristine blue lakes create one of the most sought-after destinations for …
Leer en español. The first thing you notice in this fire-scarred forest is the color. Not long ago this square of land south of Yellowstone National Park was a monochrome of ash and burned pines. But last summer, shin-high seedlings and aspen shoots painted the ground an electric green. Purple …
The same forces driving extinction, habitat loss, and climate change will also lead to future pandemics, say an international group of scientists. Absent major policy changes and billions of dollars invested in protecting land and wildlife, the world may see another major pandemic like COVID-19, an …
New science says land conservation must double by 2030 to prevent dangerous warming and unravelling of ecosystems. World leaders must increase their commitments to conserving land and water, and quickly, if a stable climate and high quality of life are to be preserved in the near future, a new …
Our planet would be unrecognizable without the ocean for myriad reasons, not least of which is the key role it plays in keeping our climate in check. …
Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard The upcoming book from Suzanne Simard, the world’s leading forest ecologist who forever changed how people …
Sarah Gibbens is an environmental reporter for National Geographic covering the threat of and solutions to address climate change.
Read all the articles environmental journalist Sarah Gibbens has written for National Geographic.
