The Hidden Galapagos

The Archipelago’s Most Fascinating Spots Are the Ones Humans Can’t Visit

If you are fortunate enough to visit, the Galapagos is the sort of place that stays with you forever. In the 10 years since I first went there, I have written two books about these islands and hardly a day has gone by when I haven’t thought about them. I still visit them often in my imagination. But where do I go?

In the Galapagos, there are around 70 dedicated sites accessible to visitors, neat trails that weave through this extraordinary landscape. I have been to some of them, but the …

Humans May Be Just What the Earth Needs

We’re a Destructive Species, But We’re Also the Only Species with the Power to Reverse Climate Change

After millions of years of gloriously successful life on Earth, a dangerous new organism arose and spread rapidly across the planet. With unprecedented efficiency this revolutionary life-form pumped noxious fumes …

The Lost Savannas of Arizona

Until about 100 Years Ago, Grasses Up to 2 Feet High Blanketed Swaths of the Sonoran Desert

In the Santa Cruz Flats in southern Arizona, the beige of sandy plains, dunes, and clay-filled basins alternate with green swaths of irrigated cotton fields. Save for a rare jackrabbit, …

A World That’s Overdeveloped, Fatter, and Sadder

Telling Our Way to the Sea: A Voyage of Discovery in the Sea of Cortez by Aaron Hirsh

The nutshell: For years, University of Colorado–Boulder and Vermilion Sea Institute biologist Hirsh …