Follow your nose: the importance of odor for stress relief in urban green spaces

As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are experiencing increased stress and anxiety. Although social distancing is in practice, most recommendations say it’s still okay to take a walk outside (just keep your distance from others!). In fact, spending time in nature can help reduce stress. Researchers examined how sights, smells, and sounds affect stress recovery in urban natural areas.

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T.G.I…M.? Why Wildlife Wants Your Vacation to End Sooner

When the workweek ends and the weekend arrives, many people leave their office life to visit the great outdoors. From birdwatching to biking, spending time in nature may be a positive experience for you, but your presence may make the animals living in the natural spaces you visit on the weekend wish it was Monday already.

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Double trouble: how floods after bushfire affect the health of our rivers

Between Christmas 2019 and the  2020 New Year, forested mountain ranges across drought-stricken areas in Eastern Australia came alight, with fires ravaging 11 million hectares of bush (Eucalyptus woodlands and rainforests) – a size comparable to England’s land area. These megafires threw the states of New South Wales and Victoria into a state of emergency. The bushfire crisis took a sudden turn when heavy rainfall flooded the scorched land in the span of just two weeks. Unfortunately, while rainfall might appear to be a blessing in light of the megafires, the resulting floods were ultimately not sweet relief for rivers. 

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