earth notes

The American pika is a small mammal that inhabits the highest elevations in the western mountains. Members of the rabbit family, pikas are approximately 7 inches long, characterized by outsized ears, short legs and a chunky, furry body.

CO₂ levels topped a record high of 430 ppm in May. It’s bad news for ecosystems, but could mean wetter summers for some regions.

Rain comes when water molecules in the atmosphere clump together to form ice crystals or water droplets that are heavy enough to fall to the ground. But what causes that clumping to happen?

Monsoon season is underway. Meteorologists have identified a pattern that brings hope to those longing for a lush summer this year.

The Las Vegas bearpoppy is incredibly rare and found in scattered locations in northwestern Arizona and near Las Vegas.

Wet meadows are small but crucial landscape elements among the pines above the Mogollon Rim. They benefit plant diversity, wildlife and watershed health.

Across the vast landscapes of the Colorado Plateau, one resilient plant has profoundly shaped people and land for many centuries: Indian ricegrass.

Loggers worked nonstop during the Great Depression. One of the longest-standing logging communities was a place called Apex along the Grand Canyon Railway, north of Williams and near the Canyon’s South Rim.

A cactus no bigger than a paperclip grows across the rocky eastern slopes of the Kaibab Plateau. Its thin, long spines protrude from its rotund body like a plump hedgehog.

The Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee has a unique life cycle. Like cuckoo birds, they lay their eggs in the nests of other species instead of rearing their own young.