nature

Health care providers in four Canadian provinces — British Columbia (BC), Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario — can now prescribe time in nature, and even a Parks Canada Discovery Pass, to their patients to help improve their physical and mental health through the country’s national nature prescription program, A Prescription for Nature (PaRx). The passes are being offered through a partnership between Parks Canada and the British Columbia Parks Foundation.

The Geminid meteor shower, one of the most reliable and active meteor showers of the year, will peak on the night of December 13 into the early morning of December 14. The Geminids display can produce over 100 meteors per hour under ideal conditions. “The Geminids, which stem in name from the constellation Gemini, are […]

We’re all familiar with rainbows, tornados, and shooting stars. Maybe you’ve been lucky enough to see Aurora Borealis, or even bioluminescent waves rolling in from the ocean. Our planet exhibits such awe-inspiring natural phenomena wherever we look: at its highest peaks, deepest ice formations, or right in our own backyards. Here are a few amazing […]

By Derrick Z. Jackson I am the very accidental Black nature lover. I was a typical urban boy in Milwaukee and a rabid sports fan in the 1960s. The most significant eagles to me played football in Philadelphia. The first cardinal I ever paid attention to was Bob Gibson throwing fastballs for St. Louis. My […]

Getting a breath of fresh air is much more important than it might seem. A 2019 study found that spending two hours in nature a week notably benefits health and overall well-being. Time outdoors is associated with reduced stress, better concentration and mood, enhanced immune system function, and both better social interactions and higher standardized […]

By Alistair Walsh Henrique Miguel Pereira likes to tell the story of a grandmother in the northern mountains of Portugal who had never in her life seen a wild boar. She had spent her life in the village of Castro Laboreiro, nestled in the remote peaks of what is now Peneda-Geres National Park. It should […]

When I stepped onto the tarmac in Durango, I was hit with a dry wall of air. The 4 p.m. sun felt like it was dialed up – brighter, hotter, and harsher. I blinked enough dust out of my eyes to scan the parking lot for the red Dodge pickup truck that had come to […]

By Charles C. Chester The Appalachian Trail, North America’s most famous hiking route, stretches over 2,189 mountainous miles (3,520 kilometers) from Georgia to Maine. In any given year, some 3 million people hike on it, including more than 3,000 “thru-hikers” who go the entire distance, either in one stretch or in segments over multiple years. […]