Wood thrush. (Photo by Jeff Whitlock.)

Cross-posted from Cool Green Science.

Mercury pollution -- nothing to worry about if I don’t live in the rural Northeast and don’t eat tons of fish, right?

Guess again, says a new report done by the Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy. The report, "Hidden Risk," details the widespread and deep impacts of mercury pollution in terrestrial nature -- particularly on animals such as songbirds and bats. Researchers are discovering how mercury is causing big declines in reproductive success among these species, as well as physiological oddities -- like developmental asymmetries and an inability of some birds to hit high notes.

Photo: Scott PenaCross-posted from Cool Green Science. Let's say the rise in sea level that climate change will bring us -- from melting ice caps and expanding seas -- won't be "all that bad" by, oh, the year 2080. Maybe ... just half a meter (a little under 20 inches). We can deal with half a meter, right? Well, yeah -- if we're ready to "deal with" almost 50 percent more affected people and 73 percent more property losses from a typical Category 3 hurricane -- all because of the higher storm surge that'll come from that additional 20 inches of …

Joanne Wilson surveying coral reefs in Raja Ampat Cross-posted from Cool Green Science. You've probably heard about coral bleaching -- the mass die-off of coral reefs because of warming sea temperatures, a dynamic that can be attributed at least indirectly to climate change. It's a problem of growing concern to the hundreds of millions of people whose lives depend on reefs and the fish they shelter. But as ocean temps continue to rise, is there any hope for coral? Science to the rescue! Researchers are learning tons about which kinds of coral species are either resistant to bleaching or bleach more …

New York City's High Line Park. Nature is everywhere, if you know where to look.Photo: John Dalton.What’s more ecologically valuable -- national parks, or median strips and vacant lots? Could dreaded invasive species actually be more beneficial than native ones? Are environmentalists clinging to a timeless notion of nature that science has thoroughly discredited? Can we actually make nature better than it is in its "natural" state? Emma Marris asks these and other icon-busting questions her new book Rambunctious Garden -- potentially the most optimistic and controversial work about the future of nature to appear in years. Marris, a former …

Cross-posted from Cool Green Science. Want to know how climate change might affect a seashore near you? Look at what it's already done over the past 20 years to a stretch of the Florida Gulf Coast, according to a pathbreaking new study published in the journal Climatic Change. Sea-level rise along the Waccasassa Bay area (90 miles north of Tampa) is already picking winners and losers in nature there -- and the losers include the habitat the iconic Florida black bear and the bald eagle depend upon. People up and down Florida’s Gulf Coast might soon suffer, too, if sea-level …

Pistachios: What shell remain? Photo: PatternedCross-posted from Cool Green Science. What won't climate change affect? Well, cross trail mix and cherry pie off that ever-shrinking list. It turns out that crisp apples, chewy almonds, ripe plums, and a host of other nuts and stone fruits might become much more costly to grow -- or not grown at all in some spots -- because of rising winter temperatures, according to a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS One. The problem, say researchers: The trees that produce these goodies need a certain number of hours at cold temperatures -- or …

The helpful Jerusalem cricket.Photo: Franco FoliniCross-posted from Cool Green Science. There are 1 billion bacteria in a single gram of soil. (Give or take a few million.) But how can you get that army -- and its insect friends, like the two-inch Jerusalem cricket pictured to the right -- to help you grow bigger veggies and prettier flowers? There's nobody better to ask than Nature Conservancy soil ecologist Sophie Parker, who recently turned Grist on to the fascinating (and sometimes scary) world of soil organisms. I asked Sophie to give us some tips to make our gardens grow even better …

Photo: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service -- Pacific RegionCoral reefs are in big trouble worldwide -- and that's not just bad news for snorkelers. It could mean death instead of life for millions of people ... maybe even you. Here's why: Coral already provides the elemental compounds for a growing number of crucial medicines and health products -- ranging from antiviral drugs like Ara-A and AZT to anti-inflammatories, painkillers, and even sunblocks. But science is in a race against time: We've just started to plumb the depths of coral's potential to attack the world's health issues ... only to have …

LEAF participants enjoy an afternoon at the beach after a morning of work at the Conservancy's Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge in the Delaware Bayshores region.Photo: Erika Nortemann/TNCCross-posted from Cool Green Science. Want your kids to become ecologically conscious as adults? Get 'em into nature now -- that's the most reliable way to build their love of the outdoors, according to mountains of research. But in a harried and always-online world (for parents as well as children), what's it going to take to do that? One way: Find a program with mentors who guide them through the wonders (and occasional …

Woman carrying water through the Dharavi slum of Mumbai.Photo: Meena KadriCross-posted from Cool Green Science. Imagine living on less than a bathtub of water for all your daily needs: drinking, cooking, bathing, washing clothes ... and everything else. By 2050, more than 1 billion city dwellers may be doing just that if we don't build new infrastructure or begin new water conservation efforts, according to a new study [PDF] by scientists at The Nature Conservancy and other institutions. And more than 3 billion in cities may suffer similar water shortages at least one month of every year, says the report. …