Ensia is a magazine showcasing solutions to Earth's biggest environmental challenges.
Latest posts by Ensia
How an Indian professor is turning plastic trash into highways
After seeing plastic waste was a growing problem throughout the country, Dr. Vasudevan devised a method for converting recycled, shredded plastic waste into flexible, long-lasting roadways.
Are Hazardous Vapors Seeping Into Basements Across the United States?
The movement of underground contaminants into buildings is attracting increased scrutiny from health experts, advocates and agencies.
Paddling Against Pollution: One Man’s Mission to Protect Iraq’s Rivers for Future Generations
For the past seven years, Nabil Musa has been traveling around Iraq on a one-man mission to promote the importance of clean waterways for current and future generations.
One Palestinian Man’s Mission to Make Urban Agriculture More Sustainable
Meet Said Salim Abu Naser, a proponent of sustainable agriculture living and working in Gaza City, Palestine, along the Mediterranean Coast.
How California’s Greenhouse Gas Laws Can Better Serve Disadvantaged Communities
Environmental justice advocates are working to ensure the state’s efforts to combat climate change benefit everyone — and the lessons can be applied elsewhere.
How a Kurdish Conservationist Is Protecting the Persian Leopard in War-Torn Iraq (Video)
In the mountains of northeastern Iraq’s Kurdistan region, wildlife conservationist Hana Ahmed Raza and a team of researchers with Nature Iraq are working to protect the ghost-like Persian leopard.
Africa’s Green Energy Challenge: Mega Projects, Off-Grid or Somewhere in Between?
South of the Sahara, getting electricity to 620 million people may require an all-of-the-above strategy.
How ‘Open Source’ Seed Producers From the US to India Are Changing Global Food Production
Around the world, plant breeders are resisting what they see as corporate control of the food supply by making seeds available for other breeders to use.
These East African Countries Show How Teamwork and Technology Can Thwart Illegal Fishing
Innovation sparks success as nations collaborate to identify and take action against fishing vessels suspected of illegal fishing.
Conservationists in Madagascar Race to Exterminate Troubling Toad
Conservationists seek to eradicate a deadly Asian invader, but finding the necessary funds is proving difficult.
Upscale Chocolate Could Help Turn the Tide on Haiti’s Devastating Deforestation
When a tiny Quebec chocolate maker won a gold at this year’s premier International Chocolate Awards for a bar made with Haitian cocoa beans, it rocked the specialty chocolate world.
Endangered Tigers Versus Endangered People
As government works to save big cats from extinction, indigenous forest dwellers pursue peaceful coexistence for man and beast.
Israel, One of the World’s Driest Countries, Is Now Overflowing With Water
Scientists and others are looking to desalination as a way to unite longtime enemies in a common cause.
Will Outrage Over Recent Murders Help Honduran Environmental Activists Achieve Their Goal?
Recent murders are affecting indigenous people’s efforts to protect the environment.
The Number One Thing We Can Do to Protect the Earth’s Oceans
Marine governance favors consumption and commerce over conservation. Here's what we can do about it.
Researchers Around the World Are Learning From Indigenous Communities. Here’s Why That’s a Good Thing.
“The hardest thing is to sit in a room with scientists who think they’ve discovered something, but their scientific discovery just confirms what our oral histories have talked about forever.”
Baobab and Moringa, Two ‘Superfoods’ With the Potential of Boosting the Planet's Health
As demand for African and Asian tree-based superfoods grows, researchers and entrepreneurs eye ways to maximize benefits for the environment.
This New Data Set Is Poised to Revolutionize Climate Adaptation
By combining satellite and on-ground weather information, scientists are improving our ability to bring resilience to extreme weather for the world’s poorest people.
Can Low-Income Housing in the US Be Energy Efficient and Affordable?
Residents of low-income housing need energy efficiency more than others, but are less likely to be able to afford it. How to escape the Catch-22?
The Newest Strategy for Saving Bees Is Really, Really Old
With pollinators in decline around the world, conservationists are turning to traditional farmers for answers.
Can Mountains of Animal Bones Boost Food Security in Ethiopia?
By turning a wasted resource into fertilizer, researchers aim to help a hungry nation replenish depleted soils
