Compared to ecosystems in many other parts of the world, the blanket bogs of the Flow Country in northern Scotland are unassuming—soggy, treeless landscapes dominated by hummocky mosses, grasses, and heathers. Yet, to ecologists, the seemingly desolate areas are nothing short of extraordinary. The bogs store tremendous quantities of carbon. That’s because their soils are
As North America rode out a summer of remarkable heat, fall foliage and cool, crisp weather still seemed like distant, alien concepts across much of the continent in early September 2026. But fall comes early in the tundra and subarctic ecosystems of Nunavut, in far northern Canada. Vivid signs of the season were already sweeping
The coastal dune system in Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in northeastern Brazil is among the most surreal landscapes on Earth. At first glance, the park looks like a desert, but it is far from it. This place receives about 125 centimeters (50 inches) of rain per year—slightly more than Seattle and double what falls in
