Donate

Butterfly

Monarch butterflies at the Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove in California.

‘The situation is desperate’ for monarch butterflies, but here’s the plan to save them

Environment

A new plan announced by the US government would restore seven million acres of lost habitat for the monarch butterfly and other pollinating insects like honeybees, and scientists says the plan comes not a moment too soon for the troubled insects.

Monarch butterfly

After years on the brink, it might be comeback time for monarch butterflies

Environment
Monarch butterfly (Photo: Karen First)

The monarchs were missing this summer … and we and weather were to blame

Environment

Monarch butterflies threatened by loss of habitat

Environment

Scientists turn to natural world for clues of shifting seasons

Environment

Monarch Migration

Monarch butterflies famously migrate from Mexico to the northern US each spring. New research suggests that temperature plays a large role in signaling the butterflies to get moving.

Ugandan Butterflies Indicate Change

In Uganda, butterfly numbers are down dramatically. We profile one scientist trying to find out why. Also what butterflies say about a changing landscape and climate.

Looking for Consequences of Shifting Seasons

Environment

The shifting of the seasons as the world warms up is putting a new focus on the field of phenology. As The World’s Clark Boyd reports, scientists are trying to track winners, losers and ecological relationships that are getting out of whack.

The Living on Earth Almanac

This week, facts about… the annual migration of Monarch butterflies — millions of them.

The World

Monarch’s Winter Home Threatened by Logging

Bob Carty reports from Mexico on the threat to the winter home of the migratory monarch butterfly. The monarchs migrate 3000 miles a year between Canada and central Mexico, but the mountain forests which harbor them during the winter are slowly being felled by logging.