Dharna Noor

EartherEarth Science

It’s Sundress Weather in the Arctic

It’s only May, but it feels like summer has arrived in my hometown of Baltimore. Since I woke up, I’ve been counting the hours until I can drink iced cocktails on my deck while wearing a sundress. Can you blame me? It’s 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.7 degrees Celsius) out. There’s another reason I really need … Continued

EartherConservation

Just 100 Companies Create 90% of Plastic Waste

Plastic producers have tried to make us think that individuals can solve pollution by improving our recycling and shopping habits. A new study makes it clear why that’s their tactic. Just 20 companies are responsible for more than half of the world’s trashed single-use plastic. The Plastic Waste Makers Index, published Tuesday by the Australian … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

The Biggest Climate Trial of the Year Was a Chevron-Fueled ‘Charade’

After a week of proceedings, the criminal trial for attorney Steven Donziger—who won a multibillion-dollar case against Chevron over pollution in the Amazon rainforest—wrapped up on Monday. In his estimation, the trial was a “charade.” And yet he was relatively pleased with the outcome. “Given that we stood no chance to win the actual trial, … Continued

Earther

Children of Shell Employees Sure Seem to Be Embarrassed by Their Parents

At Shell’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, a company executive told a heartwarming story. Shortly before taking the role six years ago, the fossil fuel giant’s outgoing chairman, Charles Holliday, said he had a conversation with one of the company’s employees. “I asked him the very simple question: ‘In three weeks I’ll become chair of … Continued

EartherConservation

Citizen App Set Off Hunt for Person Falsely Accused of Starting California Brush Fire

California’s wildfire season is already underway (well, it may never have actually stopped), and state investigators are looking into what ignited a 1,325-acre brush fire that’s currently burning through Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades and Topanga Canyon neighborhoods. They believe an arsonist may have started the blaze and currently have two suspects detained for questioning. But … Continued

Earther

40,000-Year-Old Rock Art Is Being Destroyed Due to Climate Change

The climate crisis has taken so much away from us that we’ll never get back: people, places, wildlife, even languages. Now, it’s destroying some of the oldest art on Earth, new research led by Griffith University shows. The study focuses on ancient paintings in the limestone caves of southern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Drawn between 20,000 and … Continued

EartherEnergy

Exxon Blames You for Climate Change

Over the past few decades, oil companies have largely shifted away from climate denial. Now, you can see the energy giants openly acknowledge that climate change is happening, but their new messaging tends to leave a bad taste in my mouth. A new, first-of-its-kind study by Harvard researchers Geoffrey Supran and Naomi Oreskes explains why: … Continued

EartherEnergy

New York’s Public Power Bill Could Be a Model for the Rest of the Country

Two years ago, New York enshrined the most ambitious statewide climate targets in the country. The legislation, called the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, requires the state to completely decarbonize its electric grid by 2040 and reduce emissions from all sectors by 85% within the following decade. A bill that’s currently gaining support in … Continued

EartherClimate Change

The Fight to Define What ‘Clean’ Energy Means

After four years of backsliding under former President Donald Trump, the U.S. is back to increasing its climate ambitions. But there’s a fight brewing over what exactly constitutes zero-carbon energy, showing that challenges decarbonization faces. President Joe Biden has proposed a clean electricity standard to reduce emissions, and various proposals and bills would create one … Continued

EartherEnergy

President Joe Biden Approves Nation’s First Major Offshore Wind Farm

On Tuesday, the Biden administration officially green-lit the country’s largest offshore wind farm. It’s slated to be installed off the coast of Massachusetts and is the first step in President Joe Biden’s ambitious push to finally get the U.S. in the offshore wind game. Comprised of up to 84 turbines split between two locations—one near … Continued

EartherClimate Change

Shell’s CEO Thinks We’re Dumb

Big Oil executives want us to know we need them. In an interview with Axios on HBO on Sunday, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said that corporations like his must be an integral part of the transition away from the polluting energy they’ve made billions off of. “What quite often I think is insufficiently understood … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

Alabama Coal Mine Seems to Be Leaking Pollution While Its Workers Are on Strike

It’s sunny and in the mid-70s in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama right now. Normally, that would be prime conditions for a swim in Davis Creek or Texas Creek. But right now, both are running black, full of thick wastewater runoff. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management has been receiving complaints about the pollution in the water … Continued

EartherClimate Change

Melting Ice in the Alps Has Revealed World War I Relics

At a park in the Italian Alps, researchers have unearthed a trove of World War I relics that was previously hidden beneath layers of ice and frost. The fascinating discovery is also a sign of a scary climate future. The team came upon the findings in a cave just below the peak of Mount Scorluzzo … Continued

EartherConservation

We Need 6 Times More Minerals to Meet Our Clean Energy Goals

If the world is going to decarbonize, we’re gonna need a bigger supply of minerals, a new report says. Climate scientists have made it clear that we need to phase out greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, at the absolute latest, to stave off catastrophic levels of global warming. That transition will require us to not … Continued

EartherClimate Change

New Climate Pledges Give Us a 50-50 Shot at Meeting the Paris Agreement

Updated climate pledges the U.S., China, and a dozen other nations have made in recent weeks will likely put the world on track for 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit (2.4 degrees Celsius) of warming by the end of the century, according to a new analysis. This is a modicum of good news, assuming countries actually follow through, … Continued

Earther

Colorful Photos Reveal the Secrets of Australia’s Twilight Zone Coral Gardens

In the depths of the ocean off the northwest Australian coast lie vast, mysterious ecosystems. Until recently, they were completely undocumented by scientists. A team of researchers changed that in mid-April, though, after they boarded an oceanic research vessel known as the R/V Falkor. Equipped with advanced robotic technologies, the boat and its crew set … Continued

EartherClimate Change

NOAA’s New Climate Normals Show the U.S. Has Never Been Hotter

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wants us to know it’s not the 1980s anymore. On Tuesday, it announced new 30-year averages for temperature and precipitation. Unsurprisingly, the “new normal” is hotter. NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information update what it considers average every decade. For the past decade, the U.S. has used normals based on … Continued

EartherClimate Change

The EPA Takes First Step to Reduce Some of the Most Dangerous Greenhouse Gases on Earth

The Biden administration is clamping down on hydrofluorocarbons, an extremely powerful suite of greenhouse gases used in refrigerators, air conditioners, fire extinguishing systems, and building insulation. On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed new rules to ramp down the use of these chemicals by 85% over the next 15 years. It’s the agency’s first rule … Continued

EartherConservation

Florida Introduces ‘Tag Your Reptile Day’ as Iguanas and Pythons Continue Reign of Terror

Florida is banning the practice of keeping invasive reptiles like iguanas and tegus as pets, but those who already own one of these scaly guys need not worry too much. The pets can be grandfathered in if you get them tagged with a microchip. This may sound like a mishmash of Alex Jones conspiracy theories, … Continued

EartherConservation

The Release of 1 Billion Exterminator Mosquitoes Has Begun

Tens of thousands of male mosquitoes are descending on the Florida Keys. But these are no ordinary mosquitoes: They’re genetically modified, and they were planted around the state on purpose. It’s part of a plan to curb disease by releasing 1 billion mosquitoes across two states—but it’s giving some folks the heeby jeebies. Workers placed … Continued