earth notes

Fire lookout towers didn't exist in Arizona in the early 1900s. Instead, firefighters use tall ponderosa pines near mountain tops or other strategic viewpoints.

The Four Corners potato fed people 10,000 years ago and now the ancient, nutrient-packed spud is drawing new interest.

No one expects to see trees that look like jewels in the high desert of Arizona. But that’s exactly what visitors find in the Petrified Forest National Park – ancient logs preserved for millennia by a process that transfigured them into rare and beautiful stones.

The mighty saguaro cactus is both a cultural and ecological icon.

If you find a bird feather – how can you tell which species it belongs to? An ornithologist in the Forensic Laboratory at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pondered this question.

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.