Blog Posts by Subject: Earth Sciences

Environmental thinking should go beyond Earth Day. One holiday a year isn't enough time to celebrate the beauty of nature, help improve the planet or find out more about climate change and other environmental issues.

Allow the Library to help you sift through the world of artificial intelligence, climate change, and even the phone in your pocket.

Here are some links to online environmental resources.

Looking for an encyclopedia of bugs you can get at home, or an idea for a chemistry experiment for a middle-schooler, or a citation to a research article in astrophysics or news of the latest trends in biotechnology? You can find most of this and more right at your local branch of The New York Public Library, or sometimes even at home.

When we asked people to share books related to the theme of nature at our recent Open Book Night, we heard about titles related to both the natural world and to human nature, with an emphasis on humankind’s relationship to nature.

In response to rising concerns about the environment, a tremendous outpouring of fiction, nonfiction, movies, and music that tackle the issue both directly and indirectly have infiltrated our daily rosters of cultural consumption.

From rising sea levels worsening the storm surge during Superstorm Sandy to the increase in extreme weather events, effects of anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change are being deeply felt around the world with every passing day. But far from feeling helpless about a global situation, there are positive actions you can take, from the political to the personal, to point us in a better direction. In light of two New York City events, the U.N. Climate Summit this September 23 and the People’s Climate March on September 21, here is a consolidation of some resources on the topic.

Guest post by Elin Øyen Vister.

For those researchers who need to look up past weather information for New York City, one way to do so is to use a historical newspaper database, such as ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2009) with Index (1851-1993) which is accessible at any New York Public Library location.

In this case, since it is not weather forecast information that one is interested in, but 

The centrality of sunshine… the most fascinating New York Times obits of the year… the riddle of the

I have been anticipating for a long time the arrival of the cicadas that were laid as eggs in the year 1996. I can still remember the wall of white noise that their parents produced 17 years ago. Most people complained that it sounded like a jet engine revving up for takeoff but to me it sounded like a gorgeous and intricate symphony.

I was ecstatic to learn that the cicadas would be returning this year and filling the air with a 7 kHz mating buzz. Predictions stated that cicadas would outnumber people 600 to 1. I couldn't be happier. As time passed though I 

Green Medicine of the Year: Healing Plants

Going outside for a spring stroll? Watch where you step! That dandelion you're walking on has a distinguished medicinal history dating back centuries. Why not increase your appreciation of nature by learning about the amazing healing properties of plants and how many of our medicines, such as aspirin, originated from plants.

Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places

Ever since I was young, spurred on by my Recycling Queen aunt, my brother and I become very conscious of recycling and our global footprints. I started recycling papers, cans, bottles and reusing anything that could possibly be reused. I bought natural cotton clothing and started shopping at the Goodwill. I do not buy overpackaged products or waste water or electricity. Below are some earth-friendly libraries and museums that I found.

Special Libraries

from the

As New Yorkers get ready for Back to School this week, I'll be loading the trunk of my car with library books and heading off with my family for our own version of school.

We call it "homeschooling at the library." With a library card and our library books, we can take our school anywhere. Next week it will be to New Hampshire and

In New York City, there is a lot to celebrate during the month of April, National Poetry Month. It feels like poems fill the air as the weather warms, flowers bloom, animals come out of hiding, and, of course, Earth Day arrives!  No worries if you missed it yesterday, this post will help you and your children celebrate our Earth (and her fantastic creatures!) with a few recommendations from NYPL's vast collection of poetry for young people. 

Outside Your Window: A First Book of 

Charles Darwin died 130 years ago today, leaving an intellectual legacy which has profoundly influenced the general course of Western thought. He is best known for his work On the Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871), both of which introduced radical new ideas for the time concerning the origins of humans and all life. Darwin's 

We kicked off our Family Science series at the Children’s Center at 42nd Street by building our very own “tornado” in a bottle. It was a sell-out show with 30 children and their accompanying adults in attendance. But, if you were unable to join us, you can still make your own “tornado” at home.

So, what is a tornado?  A tornado is a spinning column of air between a storm cloud and the ground. Tornadoes form inside a very strong thunderstorm cloud. When two drafts of warm air coming from opposite directions meet the cold air in a storm cloud, they 

Romeyn Hough (1857-1924) was single-minded in his devotion to trees. He was also a New Yorker, and when he embarked on The American Woods, he turned to the trees of his state first in what would eventually grow to be a 14-volume masterwork. The American Woods remains invaluable today due to the range and age of the tree samples Hough included, and the Library's Rare Book Division holds a complete set of this delicate and 

Dazzling minerals and talking worms are only some of what's in store on this "rockin" book list! Get your second graders ready to learn all about what our world is made of. Below, you'll find great resources on dirt, sand, rocks, and other earthly materials. Feedback is greatly appreciated — please leave comments and suggestions below!

Nonfiction

Steve Tomecek’s Rocks and Minerals is a rock-solid read aloud. Lots of student-friendly illustrations assist in