The four-day global challenge runs Friday through Monday and encourages people to record their observations of local plants and wildlife in what’s known as a “bioblitz.” Chicago just missed out on a Top 20 finish in 2021.
Science & Nature


A trio of measures introduced at Wednesday’s Chicago City Council meeting would allocate a total of $2.5 million toward habitat and open space improvement projects.

More than 1 in 5 species of reptiles worldwide are threatened with extinction, according to a comprehensive new assessment of thousands of species published Wednesday in the journal Nature. Work on the reptile study – which involved nearly 1,000 scientists and 52 co-authors – started in 2005.

In honor of Frederick Law Olmsted Sr.’s bicentennial, The Cultural Landscape Foundation has released “What’s Out There Olmsted,” a digital guide to hundreds of landscapes designed by Olmsted and his successor firms — a legacy that stretches from coast to coast.

The cherry tree blossoms in Jackson Park are quickly becoming a beloved springtime tradition in Chicago and they’re about to hit their peak.

"Energy Revolution," a new exhibit at the Chicago Architecture Center, looks at climate change through the lens of architecture, with an emphasis on energy consumption. When it comes to energy efficient insulation, less is not more.

Chicago’s environmental justice advocates are working to address the systematic structures that created these inequities. They say a greener future is possible as long as the city and industry are willing to do the work.

Pennsylvania on Saturday becomes the first major fossil fuel-producing state in the U.S. to adopt a carbon pricing policy to address climate change. It joins 11 states where coal, oil and natural gas power plants must buy credits for every ton of carbon dioxide they emit.

The enthusiasm for the beloved duo is heartwarming but it’s also overwhelming and potentially dangerous for the birds, according to plover monitors. People should keep a distance of at least 30 feet from the plovers.

Joe Biden’s most sweeping proposals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions remain stalled on Capitol Hill despite renewed warnings from scientists that the world is hurtling toward a dangerous future marked by extreme heat, drought and weather.

Monty the piping plover has once again seemingly defied physics and returned to Chicago a mere day after reportedly leaving his wintering grounds in Texas.

Piping plovers are winging their way north and one has already been spotted at Rainbow Beach. Word is that Monty could be en route to Chicago.

The DuPage Forest Preserve District board, which operates and funds the center, approved a plan for a new clinic that meets 21st century needs and standards and promises to be the district's first net-zero building.

In the Chicago region, there are scores of ways for people to take part in the global movement not just April 22 but throughout Earth Week and beyond.

A rule finalized Tuesday will restore key provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, a bedrock environmental law designed to ensure community safeguards during environmental reviews for a wide range of federal projects and decisions, the White House said.

Chicago-area birds are nesting and laying eggs earlier than ever before. A mysterious meteor burns up over Papua New Guinea. A fossil could rewrite the history of the evolution of life on Earth. And a disturbing finding about microplastics.