Special Report

Our Sustainable Future

A hub dedicated to the latest on how global change affects life on Earth today and on what solutions scientists, including those at the Smithsonian, are researching to build a more sustainable planet

Hiroshi Watanabe/Getty Images

Dairy farms like this one run by the Barstow family in Hadley, Massachusetts, make smart use of a substance cows produce in abundance.

How Dairy Farmers Are Turning Manure Into Money

Cacao growing on a tree at Zorzal Cacao, the first farm certified by Smithsonian's new Bird Friendly cocoa program.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Why Buying ‘Bird Friendly Cocoa’ Is a Sweet Deal

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WATCH

What Does It Mean to Live on a Sustainable Planet?

Sustainability at the Smithsonian

Table with one folded newspaper, one unfolded newspaper and a pencil

Smithsonian Education

A New Smithsonian Guide for How You Can Make Your Daily Routine More Sustainable

Ashley Naranjo & Erika Novak

When people come together to find solutions to environmental problems, we have a better chance to find sustainable and equitable solutions! Photo courtesy of Anacostia Community Museum.

Why Environmental Justice is Key to Life on a Sustainable Planet

How to Celebrate Earth Day Every Day

Sarah Grace Wheedleton

A pair of silhouetted people stargaze

Stars, Seas and Other Scientific Successes

Sarah Grace Wheedleton

Map of Panama MPAs

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Bigger Is Better: Panama Expands MPA to Protect More Than 54 Percent of Its Oceans

A view of an island with a wave revealing a coral reef underwater. Photo courtesy of Ishan on Unsplash.

Science from Sea to Sky

Sarah Grace Wheedleton

Office of Academic Appointments and Internships

Using Drones to Monitor Tropical Forests in 3 Dimensions

Sustainability News From Smithsonian Magazine

Electric cars from Tesla, photographed in 2018

EPA Proposes Tightest-Ever Emissions Limits for Cars

Driver-optional e-tractors promise to increase efficiency while cutting emissions.

Could Electric Tractors Revolutionize Farming?

Naoki Nitta, Modern Farmer

Dairy farms like this one run by the Barstow family in Hadley, Massachusetts, make smart use of a substance cows produce in abundance.

How Dairy Farmers Are Turning Manure Into Money

By Rachael Moeller Gorman
Photographs by David Degner

Solar panels float on a mountain lake in Switzerland. The first such system was installed in 2008.

Are Floating Solar Panels the Future of Clean Energy Production?

The hydrogen-powered train will travel between Parc de la Chute-Montmorency and Baie-Saint-Paul.

North America's First Hydrogen-Powered Train Will Debut This Summer

Climate Change News

The submersible Alvin collects samples from rocky outcrop in the newly discovered coral reef.

See the Pristine Coral Reefs Found off the Galápagos Islands

Margaret Osborne

Electric cars from Tesla, photographed in 2018

EPA Proposes Tightest-Ever Emissions Limits for Cars

Despite making up roughly 14 percent of Cape Town's population, the wealthiest residents used 51 percent of the city's water—often for non-essential uses like swimming pools, gardens and car-washing.

Wealthy Residents' Pools and Gardens Are Driving Water Crises

Records of lunar eclipses that appeared unusually dark are telling scientists when volcanic eruptions might have occurred in the past.

Medieval Eclipse Records Help Scientists Understand Volcanic Eruptions

Lake Mead in July 2021—the lighter colored rocks indicate how high water levels used to be. Last summer, the lake was filled to just 27 percent of capacity, its lowest water levels since 1937.

U.S. Proposes Cuts to Colorado River Water Usage

The Smithsonian's podcast Sidedoor uncovers the climate change insights hidden in old paintings (above: Shivalal, Maharana Fateh Singh Crossing a River During the Monsoon (detail), c. 1893).

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

What Centuries-Old Indian Court Paintings Tell Us About Climate Change

A person clears snow off their car in February 2023 after a snowstorm in Provo, Utah.

Utah Shatters Snowpack Records, but Its Drought Remains

Margaret Osborne