Walz, K., Wilson, D., Byrne, K. A., & Renou-Wilson, F. (2026). A national peatland database for the Republic of Ireland. Data in Brief, 67, 112965. Abstract This article presents a national peatland database for the Republic of Ireland, covering not only undrained, near-intact bogs with absent land use and management at present but also peatlands that have been reclaimed for grassland, forestry and peat extraction (industrial and domestic) land uses.

Read the full story at R Open Sci. Population censuses are a key source of information for understanding the composition of populations and how they change across regions within a country. They provide essential evidence for research, the design and evaluation of public policies, and informed decision-making. Working with census data typically involves several preliminary steps: identifying what information is available, downloading the data, organizing it, and preparing it for analysis.

Read the full story at Inside Climate News. The tools the environmental justice movement spent decades building are being pulled apart. The Biden administration’s Justice40 initiative—meant to steer 40 percent of the benefits of federal climate spending toward “disadvantaged” communities—has been unwound, and the Trump administration has moved to terminate environmental justice grants, some mid-project. Lemir Teron’s timing could hardly be sharper.

Read the full story in The Guardian. At this point of the crisis in our relations with the natural world, we’ve got to protect these creatures – and we are running out of time

Read the full story in The Guardian. Crustaceans are the subject of tests to see if alkalis added to seawater, so it absorbs more CO2, harm marine life. But Trump’s halt to funding threatens to scupper the research. See also Woods Hole Ocenanographic Institute. (2026, February 25). Preliminary results from the first EPA-permitted ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) field trial .

Read the full story from the University of California Davis. Honeybee queens exposed to pesticides can shift some of the contamination into their eggs, revealing a previously unknown survival strategy. The process may protect the queen while putting developing offspring, and potentially the entire colony, at risk. See also Encerrado-Manriquez, A. M., Fine, J. D., Litsey, E., Baliu-Rodriguez, D., Leonard, S.

Read the full story at Inside Climate News. Some of the largest fossil fuel companies on Earth are disproportionately responsible for the water crisis in the American West, according to a first-of-its-kind study published Tuesday. From 2014 to 2024, climate change sapped over a third of the region’s typical annual snowpack and decreased streamflows by about 13 percent, the authors found in the…

Read the full story at Grist. The United States has never been one of the most ambitious countries when it comes to tackling climate change, but it has long maintained a program that funds innovative clean energy technology. This program is known as the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, or ARPA-E, and over the past 15 years it has doled out more than $4 billion to universities and startups that are trying to change the way we produce energy.

Read the full story from Harvest Public Media. Researchers at the University of Missouri say purple corn could offer a natural alternative to artificial food dyes and new opportunities for farmers in the region. Their latest study comes as food and drug manufacturers face mounting pressure from consumers and state and federal agencies to phase out petroleum-based dyes. Previous research…

Read the full story at Grist. Ancient Egyptian civilization blossomed in the scorching desert thanks to the Nile River, which delivered fresh water and annual dumps of nutrient-rich sediment. Clever engineering moved H2O so efficiently that farmers were able to churn out huge surpluses of staple crops like wheat, which fed the Roman Empire. Thousands of years later, the African nation’s farmers — like so many others around the world — are grappling with water shortages and ever-fiercer temperatures, which threaten to wilt their crops.

Read the full story from Virginia Tech. Glyphosate was long thought to be safe for honeybees because they lack the enzyme the chemical targets in weeds. However, researchers found that exposed bees foraged 13 percent less after only three days and showed changes in brain chemicals linked to behavior. Across a whole hive, that decline could reduce honey production, weaken pollination, and threaten long-term survival.

Read the full story from California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations. Southern California Current waters have the reputation of being among the most well monitored stretch of ocean on earth. But just how well do we monitor the Southern California Current Ecosystem? Until recently, no one created a comprehensive inventory of ocean monitoring programs off of California. However, a group of ten recently graduated UCLA Environmental Science seniors worked with CalCOFI to create this inventory with a robust metadata attribute table and produce an interactive GIS map of monitoring programs within 13.4 miles from the coast, including state waters (3 nautical miles offshore) plus an additional ten miles.

Read the full story at Canary Media. Rules published Thursday essentially end federal grants that thousands of American farmers have long relied on to build revenue-generating solar systems on their land. The Trump administration’s changes to the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) are its latest attempt to block solar development even as the nation’s energy demands skyrocket. Started by the 2008 Farm Bill, REAP helps farmers and rural small businesses install renewable energy and make efficiency improvements.

Read the full story at Inside Climate News. A majority of coastal wetlands are on track to shift inland or disappear in the coming decades without intervention. That will have major consequences.

Read the full story at Inside Climate News. As farmers balk at skyrocketing fertilizer costs and runoff threatens drinking water sources in Iowa, North American manufacturers are raking in cash. Illinois-based CF Industries and Canadian company Nutrien dominate the domestic market for nitrogen-based fertilizers. Together, the two corporations are responsible for 55 percent of U.S. fertilizer production. In recent years, they have seen massive increases in their profits, an analysis of their annual reports by environmental advocacy group Food & Water Watch notes.

Read the full story at Canary Media. Last month, Virginia became the first state in the country to launch a bulk-purchasing campaign for rooftop solar — a move that promises to bring down the cost of installing panels for households across Old Dominion. The idea behind the program, called Switch Together, is simple: Solar panels come cheaper by the dozen. Trusted solar installers can pool demand to purchase equipment in bulk and pass the discounts on to participants.

Read the full story from Illinois Public Media. Farm Manager John Williams walks through a greenhouse at Sola Gratia Farm surrounded by tomato plants that tower over him. He points to the curled leaves on one of the plants that he says was damaged by dicamba. “Often, the plants response to that, getting hit with that pesticide is aborting fruit, just aborting flowers before they get pollinated,” he said.

Read the full story at Grist. As utilities switch to renewables, you'll get paid to send battery power back into the system, making it stronger and cheaper for everyone.

Read the full story at The Nation. A conversation with Stormwater and Water Resource Engineer OPEYEMI ALAMUTU on why keeping America’s drainage infrastructure ahead of the climate is now a matter of public safety.

Read the full story at Anthropocene Magazine. Politicians overestimate opposition to climate action, as well as how polarized the public is on the issue, according to a new study. The findings suggest that a “spiral of silence” may dampen politicians’ willingness to go to bat for climate policies that are actually quite popular. See also Tanase, L.-M., Reisch, L. A., Dewies, M., & de-Wit, L. (2026). Perception gaps in the British Parliament reveal a possible pathway to stronger climate policy action. Communications Sustainability, 1(1), 127.

Read the full story at Inside Climate News. The California coastline winds more than 800 miles along the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Oregon, with over 1,500 public access points leading to rugged cliffs and sandy beaches ideal for fishing, surfing, swimming and simply enjoying the ocean. But how—or even whether—Californians can access this natural resource often comes down to factors like race, gender, geography and socioeconomic status, according to a new…

Read the full story at the Washington Sun. The Supreme Court grappled Monday over the future of state lawsuits seeking to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for the costs of climate change. In nearly two hours of oral arguments in the case, Suncor vs. Boulder, the justices focused on a procedural question over whether fossil fuel companies must face lawsuits over climate damages in state court, or if federal law precludes them. Climate change itself was not front and center, but the case could be one of the biggest of the new term.

Read the five-part series in The Regulatory Review. During his first term, President Donald J. Trump professed a strong distaste for regulation, and his Administration took limited steps to roll back certain regulations. But after taking office for his second term in January 2025, the President and his Administration moved quickly, led in part by the efforts of the Elon Musk-led…

Read the full story at Inside Climate News. Europe’s wetlands are scattered throughout the continent, hiding in valleys and along coastlines or dried and buried under crop fields. Europe was once full of peatlands and marshes, areas that set the foundation for life and slow the effects of climate change. But people drained 80 percent of them in the last century for agriculture and rapid industrialization.

Read the full story at Inside Climate News. Building trades spent the past five years preparing for an offshore wind boom that went bust. Now, U.S. workers mourn the well-paying careers they don’t see coming back.

A restaurant owner looks at a tank for collecting used cooking oil. Steve Pfost/Newsday RM via Getty Images by Edward D. Melillo, Amherst College Federal prosecutors recently described an interstate criminal enterprise with all the trappings of organized crime: clandestine warehouses, money laundering and stolen goods transported across state lines. The mid-September 2026 announcement stated that 19 defendants faced charges; two had just pleaded guilty, while the remainder are slated for trial in April 2027.

Read the full story from the University of South Florida. As Florida enters the peak of hurricane season, Sarasota County transportation engineer Wafa Mahmoud is prepared for a worst-case scenario. For the past decade, she has joined teams driving county roads after hurricanes, documenting flooded streets, damaged traffic signals and other hazards to determine where help is needed most. "Sarasota County experienced significant impacts from Hurricane Milton, and our teams faced the enormous task of assessing damage across hundreds of miles of roadway," said Mahmoud, who is also a USF doctoral student.

Read the full story at Anthropocene Magazine. Wetland plants grown on the surface of wastewater treatment lagoons can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from these water bodies by more than one-quarter, according to a new study. These so-called “floating wetlands” may be an elegant solution that works with existing infrastructure to address a growing emissions hotspot. See also Schuster, L., Macreadie, P.

Read the full story at Inside Climate News. Growing up with dirty air harms kids’ health. But reducing pollution can help reverse the damage. In London, an effort to combat traffic emissions led to measured improvements in kids whose lung growth was previously stunted compared to their peers outside the city. In New York City, policies that lowered prenatal exposure to air pollution helped kids perform better on cognitive tests than previous cohorts.

Zhang, L., Arunachalam, M., & Feng, Z. (2026). Unlocking the relationship between corporate environmental performance and financial outcomes under national environmental policy framework: Panel evidence from China. Business Strategy and the Environment, e71476. Abstract This study examines the relationship between corporate environmental performance (CEP) and corporate financial performance (CFP) under China’s evolving environmental policy regime. Using a panel dataset of 1,312 Chinese A‐share listed firms from 2010 to 2023, we find a significant negative association between CEP and CFP.

Read the full story in the New York Times. Coral reefs around the world, struggling as climate change drives more frequent and more intense marine heat waves, are running out of time for recovery, according to a sweeping new report on the state of the world’s corals published on Monday. The comprehensive global assessment builds on decades of research and coral monitoring, and highlights the devastating effects of warming on one of Earth’s most delicate and diverse ecosystems.

Read the full story from Elsevier. Tiny pollution particles from smoke, soot, and dust may worsen rheumatoid arthritis and raise the risk of painful flares, particularly after prolonged exposure. The findings suggest that avoiding poor air quality could become an important part of managing the disease. See also Jung, S. C., Curtis, J. R., Yang, S., Choi, Y., Lim, M. H., Lee, S., Cho, S.

Read the full story from Capitol News Illinois. A new study predicts data centers expected to be built in Illinois over the next decade would create thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in new property tax revenue. But many are skeptical the touted benefits will live up to their promises or outweigh the environmental and energy burdens. The study by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute projected that $57 billion worth of new data center investments through 2035 will create 121,000 jobs.

Read the full story from Iowa Public Radio. New research from the U.S. Geological Survey shows nutrient pollution increased in many streams and rivers across the country between 2000 and 2020. The dominant source was the release of old nitrogen and phosphorus stored in soil and groundwater. See also Miller, O. L., Schmadel, N. M., Ator, S. W., Miller, M. P., Robertson, D.

Read the full story from the Associated Press. A federal court in Texas on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from building a border wall and other infrastructure across the state’s Big Bend region, in a victory for opponents who have pushed back against a key campaign promise by President Donald Trump. Landowners, businesses and environmentalists in the region have united to oppose the planned projects, …

Read the full story from the Associated Press. Oatly, the world’s largest producer of oat milk, is sending a new message to its consumers: Most people want their governments to take action on climate change. Splashed on the side of the Swedish company’s cartons is messaging from the “89 Percent Project,” a campaign launched by Covering Climate Now, a global journalism nonprofit.

Read the full story from the University of Hawaiʻi. Marine mammal research has attained new heights as scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa are deploying noninvasive suction-cup tags onto humpback whales using drones. Traditionally, researchers from the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP) in the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology approached animals closely via boats, deploying tags using a seven-meter carbon fiber pole.

by Lucy McGowan, Wake Forest University The instinct to “do your own research” when it comes to your health is a good one. The challenge often is not lack of information, but the opposite. People are surrounded by studies, headlines, forums, family and friends, often all speaking at once in different directions and with different levels of reliability. How do you move through this…

Read the full story in the New York Times (gift article). The frenzy started on a single street in Lahore, Pakistan, where a half-dozen showrooms sprang up selling the same thing — electric motorcycles — and still couldn’t keep up with demand. As gasoline prices soared this year a seventh store opened, followed by an eighth. Another two are doing business just around the corner.

Read the full story from the University of Kentucky. “Oral history is one of the greatest documents that can be created,” said Doug Boyd, Ph.D., director of the University of Kentucky Libraries Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History. “It puts individuals on the historical record, and that is really a remarkable thing.” Boyd has been reimagining how those historical records are accessed.

Read the full story at Bridge Michigan. Southeast Michigan libraries are expanding services beyond books and traditional programming. Some libraries are building StoryWalks, outdoor spaces and community-focused services. Libraries are adapting as reading habits and visitation patterns change

Read the full story from Google. Explore over 60 national parks on Google Arts & Culture and a new AI storytelling experiment about Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia.

Archive of Archives is a curated collection of digital archives developed by SHAPE. All are welcome to contribute to the project. Archive submission guidelines can be found on GitHub. Some of environmental related archives include: #Govbins, a project to photograph wheelie bins in every UK local council. National Park Service History's collection of park brochures, site bulletins, and trading cards…

Read the full story from NOAA Fisheries. On a typical Tuesday, NOAA biologists were deep into their standard routine—analyzing data on sharks and studying fish populations. Then, staff heard an unmistakable tapping sound at the building's glass entryway. Standing on the stoop was a brown pelican, repeatedly rapping its beak against the door. The bird seemed to be looking for help.

Read the full story from the Westmont Public Library. Recently, the Westmont Public Library’s Giving Garden project was nominated for and awarded the State Master Gardener Teamwork Award. The purpose of the State Master Gardener Teamwork Award is to recognize Master Gardener projects that are collaborative, impactful, innovative, and replicable. The Westmont Public Library (WPL) Giving Garden, which used to be called the Westmont Straw Bale Garden, began as an experimental project by Westmont resident and Master Gardener Pat Miller.

Read the full story in the New York Times (gift article). Many cities across the country, including New York, have been planting trees in neighborhoods where cooling shade has been sparse because of neglect in decades past. But a new study has found that simply adding trees is not enough: To get the most from tree cover, communities also have to preserve older ones.

Read the full story from NPR. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben speaks with Jørgen Hollesen, a Senior Researcher at the National Museum of Denmark, about how climate change is impacting the study of archaeology.

Read the full story at Gothamist. A week after announcing his camera trap had captured the first otter in the Bronx River in a century, a local wildlife researcher was surprised to see a new face in his lens: an American mink.

MLB backed away from this idea really fast, thank goodness (see my post from Monday if you missed the initial story). Well done to everyone who pressured them to reconsider. The Associated Press has the full update. Major League Baseball won’t consider staging a game in western Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred sent a letter Thursday to Teton County Commissioner Chair Mark Newcomb, Jackson Mayor Arne Jorgensen and Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce President Rick Howe, who wrote to Manfred voicing objections on Monday following a report in The Washington Post that…

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket carrying an all-female crew, including musician Katy Perry, lifted off in 2025. Justin Hamel/Getty Images by Marissa E. Yingling, University of Louisville From launchpads to low Earth orbit and beyond, space companies and their affiliates are deploying a familiar marketing tactic – with a new twist. In a space economy projected to reach US$1.8 trillion…