Explore 244 Environment Collections - Atlas Obscura
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Wilderness guide and author Sicelo Mbatha observes elephants during one of the excursions he leads in South Africa.
nature

How to Connect With Nature Like a South African Wilderness Guide

Tragedy set Sicelo Mbatha on a course to understand, and make peace with, the wild on its own terms.
Gemma Tarlach March 4, 2022
Sorting chopsticks.
food

This Startup Is Transforming Used Chopsticks Into Beautiful Furniture

Humans throw out more than 80 billion pairs a year.
Diana Hubbell February 25, 2022
Hard may not mean what you think it does.
science

What's the Hardest Wood in the World?

And what does hard mean, anyway?
Dan Nosowitz February 23, 2022
Up the trail to White Mountain Peak (on the left).
Swall Meadows, California

White Mountain Peak

A small research station sits at the summit of this mountain, which is one of the few U.S. peaks higher than 14,000 feet outside of the Sierra Nevada.
During grueling, 12-hour shifts, miners clear large stones from sediment before flooding the area and then pumping the water through filters in search of diamonds.
gold

Inside the Dangerous, 'Wild West' World of Guyana's Pork-Knockers

Deep in the country's interior, the global gold and diamond trade begins with back-breaking labor, environmental destruction, and uncertain profits.
Emiliano Ruprah January 27, 2022
<em>Azteca</em> ants live within cecropia trees.
forests

These Ants in Panama Are Masters of Damage Control

An incident with a slingshot led scientists to a greater understanding of the relationship between the insects and their host trees.
Jonathan Moens January 25, 2022
Display of a claw from the Great Margate Crab
Margate, England

Crab Museum

Europe's "only museum dedicated to the decapod" is full of quirky and absurdist displays, including one featuring the "famous" Giant Crab of Margate.
forests

Podcast: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team January 3, 2022
A satellite image from May 2021 shows Lake Menindee, the largest of a nine-lake system in Australia, refilling after years of drought. By late August, the lake had reached nearly 90 percent capacity.
nature

Our Year's Favorite Scenes Where Nature Gets Abstract

Every one of these pretty pictures holds a complex story about the world we live in.
Winnie Lee December 29, 2021
Researchers found that transporting rhinos upside-down was easier on the animal than moving it on its side.
animals

Flying Rhinos and Divine Tigers: Atlas Obscura’s Year of Awe-Inspiring Critters

Looking back on 2021's stories about amazing animals and the people helping to protect them.
Gemma Tarlach December 23, 2021
Porky The Litter Eater
Bethesda, Maryland

Porky The Litter Eater

This propitious plastic porcine has been petitioning park visitors to pick up after themselves for more than 50 years.
Have your Christmas tree and drink it too!
trees

How to Turn Your Christmas Tree Into Cocktails

Cooking with evergreens has a long history.
Julia Georgallis December 14, 2021
Sea otters, once hunted by humans for their fur and now adored for their cuteness, may be key to saving entire ecosystems.
science

Otter-ly Adorable Climate Change Warriors May Save California's Coastal Ecosystems

Too-cute sea otters are ravenous predators that feast on purple urchins and other destructive species.
Matt Simon November 22, 2021
Nyamunini Island, also known as "Napoleon's Hat"
Rwanda

Nyamunini Island

This breathtaking island on Rwanda’s Lake Kivu is a haven for thousands of fruit bats.
Green-billed toucan
Tapiraí, Brazil

Trilha dos Tucanos

This unique bird reserve sits within an important fragment of Brazil's Atlantic rainforest.
Ceunant Llennyrch National Nature Reserve in Wales is home to one of Britain's few remaining temperate rainforests.
forests

Mapping the Rainforests of Britain

The rainy island is home to some of the world's most diverse woodlands—but they are rapidly disappearing.
Richard Collett November 1, 2021
Bayou Bienvenue
New Orleans, Louisiana

Cypress "Ghost Swamp"

A serene but haunting memorial to protective wetland lost, the absence of which directly damaged the Lower 9th Ward following Hurricane Katrina.
The misty cloud forests of Costa Rica's Cerro de la Muerte are home to several endangered species—including, say locals, spirits charged with protecting the mountain.
mountains

In Search of Nímbulos, Guardians of Costa Rica's Mountain of Death

Believers say the otherworldly protectors of Cerro de la Muerte's cloud forests face an uncertain future.
Trevor Ritland and Priscilla Palavicini October 6, 2021