AP Environmental Science Collection

NASA isn’t the first organization to experiment with living on Mars – in 1991 eight people sealed themselves inside a giant glass biosphere to practice space living. By the time they emerged two years later, they had “suffocated, starved and went mad.” 

In the 1960s, fears of overpopulation sparked talk of population control. So what happened? 

There are now so many wild horses on public land – nearly 100,000 – that they have become caught in a battle between the government, ranchers and environmentalists. 

In the 1990s, the federal government reintroduced the gray wolf to Yellowstone National Park. It was considered a big success. And that’s when the real fight began. 

Ancient methods of collecting and storing rainwater are being used to address severe drought today. 

Plant-based meats may be high tech, but the ideas behind them have been around for decades. 

The increasing scarcity of drinking water is beginning to capture the world’s attention – but surprisingly, an innovative solution might just be found in one of the Earth’s driest places. 

A small South Dakota farm holds lessons for feeding a crowded and less predictable world. 

In the summer of 1981, the Mediterranean fruit fly spread through California’s Santa Clara Valley, infesting backyard fruit trees and threatening the state’s $14 billion agricultural industry. 

Scientists warn that to slow climate change, we need to change how we farm and what we eat. 

A 1993 E. coli outbreak linked to Jack in the Box hamburgers acted as a wake up call about the dangers of food-borne illness. Decades later, how far have we really come in terms of food safety? 

When oil shortages disrupted daily life in the 1970s, Americans were forced to rethink consumption, and the crisis set in motion decisions that continue to shape energy policy today. 

Catastrophic accidents at power plants like Three Mile Island and Fukushima Daiichi have heightened fears about the safety of nuclear energy, but environmentalists and others are giving it renewed attention as a way to fight global warming. 

A disastrous oil spill off the coast of Alaska and a massive explosion of a rig in the Gulf of Mexico revealed a pattern of unsettled standards and inconsistent oversight that cast doubt on the oil industry’s preparedness for future accidents. 

In the 1980s, rising public awareness about waste was fueled by a bizarre news story about a meandering New York City garbage barge. 

Author Rachel Carson’s strike against the pesticide DDT turned her into both an environmental hero and a foil for those who believe regulation has gone too far. That fight is more relevant than ever. 

In 1978, toxic chemicals leaking from a buried landfill in Love Canal, N.Y., forced evacuations, drew national attention and became a defining environmental disaster. The crisis transformed a neighborhood near Niagara Falls, and raised questions about corporate responsibility, government oversight and public health that still resonate today. 

About half a million children have dangerously high lead levels in their blood, mostly from exposure to peeling paint and contaminated dust. The fight over who should clean it up has lasted for decades. 

Debates over development in the world’s largest rainforest have led to deadly conflicts, threats to its indigenous people and harm to the global atmosphere. 

A worldwide effort to heal damage to the ozone layer is showing early progress. 

Honeybees, heroes in the national food supply, are under threat from parasites, exhaustion and a mysterious ailment. Here’s how beekeepers and scientists are fighting back to save the hives. 

Burmese pythons released into the wild by well-meaning pet owners have created a reptilian nightmare in the Everglades. 

Is geo-engineering the climate an answer to global warming? Cold War science has some lessons.