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In the Dead of Night, a Deafening War Our new series on species interconnectedness traverses through a 60-million-year-old grudge match between bats and moths—one that’s led to a rich and diverse biological tapestry.

Deep Ecology

How Humans Are Learning to Speak Whale

How Humans Are Learning to Speak Whale

How Humans Are Learning to Speak Whale Humans, who have long dreamed of interspecies communication, are now working to decode the calls of two whale species. But our efforts to understand our underwater neighbors require more than just scientific investment—they take real empathy.

Science & Nature Ocean Life

In the Amazon, Drums Carry a Message—and a Warning

In the Amazon, Drums Carry a Message—and a Warning

In the Amazon, Drums Carry a Message—and a Warning In Peru, the Indigenous Bora people translated their language into drumbeats. After surviving slavery and colonization, their lifeway and language face a new threat: deforestation.

Environmental Justice Indigeneity

A sea otter floats on its back in the water.

A sea otter floats on its back in the water.

The Mother of Invention Tools have long been utilized throughout the animal kingdom. What can different species teach us about using our innovations to work with mother nature, rather than against her?

The Overview Deep Ecology

Order Volume 08: Rhythm

Nature is an elaborate orchestra of interconnectedness, in which timing is everything.

A faint rainbow shines in the light of a waterfall.

A faint rainbow shines in the light of a waterfall.

Unearthing Queer Joy In a cultural moment where people like me are coming out into a world of pain, it can feel easier to center our hurts rather than our joy, writes Atmos contributor Riley Black.

Queer Ecology Identity & Community

A landscape image of the Colorado River.

A landscape image of the Colorado River.

As She Rises: Poets Pay Tribute to the Colorado River For the third season of climate podcast As She Rises, poets lend their voices to an urgent cause: the rapidly drying Colorado River. Here, read all six poems commissioned for the new season, hosted by activist and Intersectional Environmentalist founder Leah Thomas.

Art & Culture

The Changing of the Seasons

The Changing of the Seasons

The Changing of the Seasons They say that the only constant is change—and nowhere is this more evident than in the seasons and cyclical rhythm of nature. But what happens when even those become undependable?

Anthropocene Well Being

A light green leaf stands on top of green and white fabric.

A light green leaf stands on top of green and white fabric.

Feeding the Revolution: Claudia Serrato On Decolonizing Your Diet In a world where everything is optimized and efficient, Claudia Serrato is slowing down. That starts with decolonizing her diet.

Changemakers Future of Food

ANOHNI On Queer Ecology and Trans Ferality

ANOHNI On Queer Ecology and Trans Ferality

ANOHNI On Queer Ecology and Trans Ferality In the early ’90s, few artists were connecting the dots between queer erasure and ecocide—but ANOHNI was. Four years after her first contribution to Atmos, the transdisciplinary artist reflects on her pioneering work in queer ecology, trans ferality, and moving beyond binary notions of nature.

Art & Culture Earth Sounds

Lourdes Gutiérrez wearing yellow polleras.

Lourdes Gutiérrez wearing yellow polleras.

Dancing to the Beat of Her Drum Photographer Juliette Cassidy captures TikTok sensation Lourdes Gutiérrez in some of her most cherished polleras in her hometown in southern Peru.

Photography Identity & Community

Without Fear

Without Fear

Without Fear As the ocean’s top predator, sharks are fearsome creatures. And yet—much like fear itself—they are deeply misunderstood.

The Overview Deep Ecology

Speaking in Unison

Speaking in Unison

Speaking in Unison The colonial gaze has long discounted oral tradition as primitive, writes Atmos columnist Ruth H. Robertson. But like the written word, oral tradition preserves knowledge, history, and the memory of an entire populace.

Indigeneity Identity & Community

A light brown rocky cliff

A light brown rocky cliff

A Symphony of Evolution in the Nevada Desert Every landscape on Earth contains traces of its past lives. With close attention, we can find in those faint notes the beginnings of a grand evolutionary song, one that sets the tune for all of life today.

Science & Nature

Pride Month 2023

Stories on love, acceptance, community and friendship

ALOK and Munroe Bergdorf on the Power of Trans Imagination

ALOK and Munroe Bergdorf on the Power of Trans Imagination

ALOK and Munroe Bergdorf on the Power of Trans Imagination Who gets to determine another person’s reality? Alok Vaid-Menon has become a global leader in the trans and nonbinary liberation movement. Here, they speak with fellow luminary Munroe Bergdorf about the rise of fascism in the U.S. and U.K., the dangers of dictating what is natural, and the power of trans imagination.

Art & Culture Identity & Community

Redefining Gender in the Amazon

Redefining Gender in the Amazon

Redefining Gender in the Amazon As we celebrate Pride, The Frontline shares the work of Uýra Sodoma, an Indigenous nonbinary performance artist who is dedicated to saving the Brazilian Amazon.

The Frontline Queer Ecology

Uprooting the Tree of Life

Uprooting the Tree of Life

Uprooting the Tree of Life The image of the Tree of Life depicts a world neatly organized by lines of progress. But the living world is much more exciting: it’s a tangled network of relationships, both biological and chosen.

Science & Nature Queer Ecology

Queering the Food System

Queering the Food System

Queering the Food System A new generation of LGBTQIA+ farmers are tending the land through a lens of radical empathy and mutual respect by putting people and planet before profit.

Queer Ecology

Riley Black Reflects on the Power of Growth

Riley Black Reflects on the Power of Growth

Riley Black Reflects on the Power of Growth Over 300 bills have been introduced just this year in an attempt to erase queer people, including a total ban of trans healthcare in, among other places, Texas. Atmos contributor Riley Black explores why planting seeds of hope is essential to the fight against bigotry.

Identity & Community Queer Ecology

For Your Pleasure

For Your Pleasure

For Your Pleasure Battling a grim future, the question becomes: how can we understand activism and social engagement not as separate from, but intertwined with pleasure?

The Overview Queer Ecology

Full Spectrum: Honoring Queerness in Nature

Full Spectrum: Honoring Queerness in Nature

Full Spectrum: Honoring Queerness in Nature For many queer people, nature is a place free of judgment and conformity, where diversity is celebrated and crucial to survival. Here, queer models weighed in on how queerness and nature connect—a reminder that there is nothing more natural than being who you are.

Art & Culture Queer Ecology

Pride Month 2023

Stories on love, acceptance, community and friendship

ALOK and Munroe Bergdorf on the Power of Trans Imagination

ALOK and Munroe Bergdorf on the Power of Trans Imagination

ALOK and Munroe Bergdorf on the Power of Trans Imagination Who gets to determine another person’s reality? Alok Vaid-Menon has become a global leader in the trans and nonbinary liberation movement. Here, they speak with fellow luminary Munroe Bergdorf about the rise of fascism in the U.S. and U.K., the dangers of dictating what is natural, and the power of trans imagination.

Art & Culture Identity & Community

Redefining Gender in the Amazon

Redefining Gender in the Amazon

Redefining Gender in the Amazon As we celebrate Pride, The Frontline shares the work of Uýra Sodoma, an Indigenous nonbinary performance artist who is dedicated to saving the Brazilian Amazon.

The Frontline Queer Ecology

Uprooting the Tree of Life

Uprooting the Tree of Life

Uprooting the Tree of Life The image of the Tree of Life depicts a world neatly organized by lines of progress. But the living world is much more exciting: it’s a tangled network of relationships, both biological and chosen.

Science & Nature Queer Ecology

Queering the Food System

Queering the Food System

Queering the Food System A new generation of LGBTQIA+ farmers are tending the land through a lens of radical empathy and mutual respect by putting people and planet before profit.

Queer Ecology

Riley Black Reflects on the Power of Growth

Riley Black Reflects on the Power of Growth

Riley Black Reflects on the Power of Growth Over 300 bills have been introduced just this year in an attempt to erase queer people, including a total ban of trans healthcare in, among other places, Texas. Atmos contributor Riley Black explores why planting seeds of hope is essential to the fight against bigotry.

Identity & Community Queer Ecology

For Your Pleasure

For Your Pleasure

For Your Pleasure Battling a grim future, the question becomes: how can we understand activism and social engagement not as separate from, but intertwined with pleasure?

The Overview Queer Ecology

Full Spectrum: Honoring Queerness in Nature

Full Spectrum: Honoring Queerness in Nature

Full Spectrum: Honoring Queerness in Nature For many queer people, nature is a place free of judgment and conformity, where diversity is celebrated and crucial to survival. Here, queer models weighed in on how queerness and nature connect—a reminder that there is nothing more natural than being who you are.

Art & Culture Queer Ecology

A wavy stream of pink sits on top of a body of water.

A wavy stream of pink sits on top of a body of water.

Tricia Hersey Wants Us All to Slow Down Almost all animals on this planet require rest in some sense or another, including humans. The Nap Ministry founder and Rest Is Resistance author Tricia Hersey wants to know: why are we the only species that seems to refuse it?

Art & Culture Changemakers

A close up of a pink flower.

A close up of a pink flower.

On the Nose As humans, our sense of smell informs our memories, histories, and futures, playing a crucial role in how we perceive the world.

The Overview Deep Ecology

Bright green liquid makeup is smeared against a black background.

Bright green liquid makeup is smeared against a black background.

Why Are We Still Putting Harmful Chemicals on Our Face? News that the UK government is silently overturning a long-standing ban on animal testing for makeup ingredients has been met with outrage from activists. But the harmful effects of the beauty industry on our ecosystems are far more insidious.

Art & Culture Well Being

A blurry shot of a colorful field of wildflowers.

A blurry shot of a colorful field of wildflowers.

Finding “Blissonance” Amid the California Superbloom California’s historically wet winter has caused a rare superbloom event, but has also led to severe flooding. As climate change exacerbates weather conditions everywhere, how can we learn to honor beauty while confronting destruction?

Anthropocene Deep Ecology

A body of water with ancient forest in the background.

A body of water with ancient forest in the background.

In Meghalaya, India, Ancient Forests and Cultures Intertwine Photographer Bharat Sikka takes us to the trees of Meghalaya. There, he records a sylvan symphony of ancient forests and the cultures that they hold.

Photography Science & Nature

A black and white shot of the center of a large tree trunk.

A black and white shot of the center of a large tree trunk.

What We Lose When We Lose Old-Growth Forests Old-growth trees are living archives. At the Harvard Forest Tree Ring Lab, researchers are coaxing clues from these elders to our planet’s past—and possible future.

Science & Nature Biodiversity

A shot of the amazon forest from the trees above, the cloudy sky in the distance.

A shot of the amazon forest from the trees above, the cloudy sky in the distance.

A Glimpse Inside the Research Station Working to Preserve Lowland Amazon Ecosystems Photographer Christian Cassiel travels to the Ecuadorian Amazon to document the life-saving work of the station, which serves as a platform for the voices of the Amazon, in a series of intimate portraits.

Art & Culture Science & Nature

Honeybees clustered together.

Honeybees clustered together.

The Great Work Honeybees spend their lives in service of others, a powerful reminder of the value of community and working for a larger purpose.

The Overview Deep Ecology

Dark clouds cover white fluffy ones in the blue sky.

Dark clouds cover white fluffy ones in the blue sky.

Life After Loss: The Still and Quieting Voice of Nature I lost a friend to suicide in December last year, writes The Slow Grind’s Georgina Johnson. There isn’t one way to understand the complexities of such loss, but some can be explained. As can modes of healing and care—access to nature is one of them.

Well Being Art & Culture

A young man leans back on a large speaker in a junkyard.

A young man leans back on a large speaker in a junkyard.

Making Music in a Warming World Music is a powerful cultural force, but the current model of touring and streaming harms the Earth. How can music take real action on climate?

Anthropocene Art & Culture

Several butterflies gather together in the shape of a tree.

Several butterflies gather together in the shape of a tree.

Saving the Monarch Butterfly Migration Each fall, clouds of monarchs make their way from the U.S. and Canada down to Mexico, returning north when the weather warms. The beloved butterflies were recently listed as endangered, catalyzing a conservation network across North America.

Science & Nature

A pigeon spreads its wings wide as it soars through the sky.

A pigeon spreads its wings wide as it soars through the sky.

Keeping the Peace Pigeons may be considered commonplace, but they are no less extraordinary.

The Overview Deep Ecology

Three young asian men are sitting near the edge of the ocean. One is taking a photo of the other.

Three young asian men are sitting near the edge of the ocean. One is taking a photo of the other.

Dreaming of the Hudson: Asian Americans and the All-American Landscape It is integral that we start viewing Asian American men as part of this country’s cultural and natural landscape, writes Arthur Tam. After all, this is home now.

Art & Culture Identity & Community

A woman in silver body paint and white feathers is surrounded by a band at carnival in Nigeria

A woman in silver body paint and white feathers is surrounded by a band at carnival in Nigeria

The Way of the Birds: Celebrating Nigeria’s Biggest Carnival At carnival, each band moves like a flock of birds. Outfitted in clothes from Nigerian designers or made from upcycled materials, these dancers and musicians transmit the rhythm of Calabar, home of Nigeria’s biggest carnival.

Identity & Community Ethical Fashion

A young woman wears a white costume.

A young woman wears a white costume.

adrienne maree brown and Prentis Hemphill On Restoring Our Rhythm What does it mean to rewild ourselves? Emergent Strategy and Pleasure Activism author adrienne maree brown and therapist and somatic healer Prentis Hemphill speak with Atmos about embodiment, the power of ease, and restoring our natural rhythm.

Well Being Identity & Community

Six Venezuelan boys stand in line on a beach

Six Venezuelan boys stand in line on a beach

A Tender Glimpse Inside the Lives of Venezuelan Youth As her home country grapples with crisis, photographer Silvana Trevale turns her lens on the nation’s children, many of whom are caught in a state of flux between playful naivety and rigid stoicism.

Photography Art & Culture

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