Are pristine rainforests the only ones that matter?  We know that forests do change as they age, developing some unique characteristics when mature, and that some species cannot live outside of large swaths of ancient tropical forests. But what about the rest of tropical forests- the... [More]

It is incorrect to think that something is not possible when considering how remote sensing tools and technology can be used to improve our understanding of local, regional and global landscapes.  Publications and texts from just 15 years ago assert that remote sensing technology was not being ... [More]

Even if we manage to slash our carbon emissions, planet earth is going to get a whole lot warmer this century.  But maybe we can just chill the planet!  For more than a decade, Ken Caldeira and many others have been discussing geoengineering solutions to global warming by cooling the plane... [More]

A new global “accessibility” map further demonstrates that humans now have easy access to almost all of Earth’s land.  Using global data for roads and other transportation systems, researchers at the European Commission and the World Bank developed a map of access time, in min... [More]

The Biosphere is home to all life on Earth.  Now that we humans are living in and/or using almost all of it, the future of the biosphere is in our hands.  Keeping human influence out of the biosphere is no longer a relevant conservation strategy.  At this point in history, the only ... [More]

What is the best way to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere?   We all know that reducing global warming will require reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.  But there are so many ways to do this- by reducing our energy use (driving a fuel efficient&... [More]

Conservation of biodiversity requires the conservation of habitat, and for a long time, this has meant preserving the largest possible "pristine" habitats and excluding humans.  Now that humans have fragmented most of earth's landscapes into mosaics that combine cro... [More]

Humans have been using fire since prehistory- indeed, it is one of our defining characteristics -distinguishing us from all other species. There is little doubt that burning of forests to attract game and later, to clear land for agriculture have had long-term global impacts on climate and... [More]