Cartwheels on the beach, climbing trees and wading in creeks in the open space of the Marin hills, camping among the redwoods, biking to school along the bay, and my father’s vegetable garden made up a major part of the time I spent growing up in northern California.

A Nature Conservancy marine scientist has co-authored a new study that isolates the effects of human-generated carbon pollution from seasonal and regional variations in ocean chemistry. The findings indicate that the oceans are rapidly becoming more acidic, and in some regions, the man-made rate of change since the Industrial Revolution is 100 times greater than the natural variations since the last ice age.

Mercury pollution — nothing to worry about if I don’t live in the rural Northeast and don’t eat tons of fish, right?

Guess again, says a new report done by the Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy. The report, “Hidden Risk,” details the wide spread and deep impacts of mercury pollution in terrestrial nature — particularly on animals such as songbirds and bats.

Five times that nature left me speechless at the theater. I know that many of you out there have your own favorites: we’d love to know what they are!

REDD+ is a critical piece of the climate-change puzzle, and this forest solution also has the potential to be transformative in benefiting communities, ecosystems, and biodiversity.

I was selected to participate in the first Renewable Energy Expedition to Antarctica.

During the marathon two weeks of meetings during the COP 17 United Nations climate change talks late last year, members of The Nature Conservancy’s delegation took time out to talk with local students who were attending the conference. Planet Change shares a few snapshots from Durban, South Africa.

A new book, “A Great Aridness,” takes a closer look at the changes underway in North America’s Southwestern landscapes and what lessons this region’s experiences offer for the future.

As people in the United States seem intent on arguing whether or not climate change is real, islanders are seeing sea levels rise and land disappear.

We have created a natural wild perimeter around the edge of our property which serves not only as natural privacy fencing but also as a carbon depository, oxygen production system and habitat for deer, fox, birds, rabbits, and other critters that we share the space with.

Frank Lowenstein, The Nature Conservancy’s climate adaptation strategy leader, discusses how people are preparing for a changing planet – from drought and wildfires to rising seas – on Public Radio International’s Living on Earth. Check out the full interview.

Tomorrow, The Nature Conservancy and The New York Academy of Sciences launch a four-part “Discourses on Nature and Society” event series with a moderated panel discussion Energy for the Next 20 Years: Protecting the Environment and Meeting Our Demands from 6:30p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The New York Academy of Sciences.

A new study in the journal Natural Hazards co-authored by Conservancy fellow Christine Shepard (left) takes a look at how people and property on the southern shores of Long Island might be affected with an increase in sea levels about as high as an English Springer Spaniel is tall. This scenario suggests 73 percent more property losses from a mid-sized hurricane — and this is a conservative estimate of what may lie ahead. Damages per property rises with the depth of water, but mapping future sea levels can help people to prepare.

Unfortunately for me and people that share my seasonal obsessions, while soup and chili are comforting traditions, winter is a downtime for fresh fruit. But I have found a way to relive the memories of fun family outings for fresh-picked fruit by having them make an encore in my holiday plans.

As a film about the life and legacy of Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai continues to air on television, Planet Change shares a memorial tribute to the Green Belt Movement founder from The Nature Conservancy’s Duncan Marsh.

How did the United Nations climate talks in Durban, South Africa, leave work on the details of global climate policy, such as adaptation, reducing deforestation and climate finance? Read updates on promising decisions, and some that will require much more work, from the Conservancy’s climate policy experts.

If you live in the American Southwest, 2011 indeed was the year of fire for you. Arizona, New Mexico and Texas all had record fires. The “mega-fires” in these states burned an area larger than New Jersey.