Maddie Stone

Earther

Just Put Cheetahs on the Damn Endangered List Already

For the second time in the span of a year, scientists are calling for cheetahs to be placed on the IUCN’s endangered species Red List, after a new survey found that the world’s largest population of cheetahs is probably smaller, and more vulnerable, than previously recognized. Almost exactly a year ago, a major analysis sounded … Continued

EartherClimate Change

Climate Change Is Erasing Human History

UTQIAĠVIK, ALASKA—On a crumbling heap of thousand-year-old garbage overlooking a leaden sea, Anne Jensen shakes her head disapprovingly. A gust of Arctic air whips her hair around her face as she scrutinizes the beige house perched sixty feet above us, atop an Iñupiat archaeological site that’s fast eroding into the ocean. “We have buried in … Continued

Earther

Searching for Puerto Rico’s Endangered Parrots After Hurricane Maria

It’s been two and a half months since Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, but Tom White hasn’t stopped searching. Wild Puerto Rican Parrots were a rare sight in the El Yunque National Forest before the hurricane, but since Maria’s 155 mile-per-hour winds tore through, there have only been glimmers. A bird call here, a fleeting … Continued

Earther

Trump’s Decision to Shrink Utah’s Monuments Really Pissed Off Paleontologists

Native American tribes, outdoors associations, and everyone else who does not want to see America’s national monuments shrunk found an unlikely ally this week: folks who study dinosaurs. On Dec. 4, hours after Trump announced his decision to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by 1.1 million and 800,000 acres, respectively, the Society … Continued

Earther

Dramatic Iceberg Breakup in Antarctica Has Scientists Even More Worried

Two months ago, a giant iceberg snapped off West Antarctica’s imperiled Pine Island Glacier. Scientists have been tracking the iceberg via satellites, and they’ve witnessed something rather bizarre. Very soon after calving, the ‘berg began shattering into lots of smaller pieces. Some are interpreting this at yet another sign that the ice shelf buttressing Pine … Continued

Earther

Congress Moves to Open Arctic Refuge to Drilling—But the Fight Isn’t Over

It isn’t just the super-rich who are pleased with the GOP tax bill. Proponents of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling are the closest they’ve been in decades to achieving that controversial goal. Included in the tax overhaul package that cleared the Senate in a 51-49 vote over the weekend was a bill … Continued

EartherClimate Change

Rare Manuscript Exhibit Explores How Climate Disasters Create Monsters

In April 1815, a volcano in the East Indies erupted with cataclysmic force, releasing a plume of ash that circled the entire globe. In the weeks and months that followed, the skies grew dim and global temperatures plummeted. Crop failures, famine, disease, and death ensued. It was one of the darkest chapters in human history—so … Continued

Earther

These Maps Show Our Dramatically Changing View of Earth’s Interior 

To you, an educated person living in 2017, it may seem obvious that the world beneath your feet consists of rock, rock, and more rock, some molten rock, then a bunch of hot iron and nickel down at the core. But long before eighth grade Earth science classes existed to share this worldview, people were … Continued

EartherConservation

The Great Barrier Reef May Be More Resilient Than We Thought

Over the past two years, the Great Barrier Reef experienced unprecedented bleaching events that left hundreds of square miles of coral dead and dying. Events like this are only expected to continue as the planet’s temperature continues to rise. But amidst all the gloom and doom, a team of scientists are now offering a glimmer … Continued

Earther

How Mollusk DNA Could Reveal the Future of Antarctica’s Most Vulnerable Ice Sheet

Your DNA isn’t just a blueprint of who you are—it’s an archive of where you came from. Same goes for the DNA of all life on Earth, including the mollusks—snails, slugs, clams, and cephalopods—wriggling around on the Southern Ocean’s seafloor. It was only a matter of time before someone realized the genetic code of these … Continued

Earther

This May Be Why So Many Bats Are Getting Killed By Wind Turbines

Wind may be the clean energy source of the future, but even renewables take an environmental toll. Wind turbines, for instance, are bat death machines, and a new study offers clues as to why: Bats may be flocking to the whirling steel towers to catch a meal. The finding is preliminary, focusing on a single … Continued

Earther

Beneath Antarctica’s Sea Ice, Scientists Discover a Rapidly Changing World

Whoever you are, whatever you do, your job is almost certainly boring as hell compared with the researchers who spent the last six weeks diving beneath Antarctica’s sea ice to study alien life forms on the ocean floor. The scientists, from New Zealand and Finland, call themselves Science Under the Ice, and their mission is … Continued

Earther

Should You Really Be Keeping a Pet Reptile?

Reptiles and amphibians are incredible creatures, but should we be keeping them as pets? A debate that’s been swirling in conservation and animal welfare circles was brought to the forefront recently, when a review paper and several responses called out some of the alarming realities of the exotic pet industry. The review, led by veterinarians … Continued

EartherConservation

Two Months After Maria, Puerto Rico’s Rainforest Is Bouncing Back

Puerto Rico’s El Yunque National Forest—the only rainforest in the U.S. National Forest Network—took a beating from Hurricane Maria. The photos that emerged after the storm, of downed trees, defoliated canopies, and battered infrastructure, painted a bleak, almost apocalyptic picture. But scientists expected the forest to bounce back, and eight weeks later, that appears to … Continued

Earther

Urban Trees Grow Differently Than Rural Trees

If you’re familiar with the urban heat island effect, chances are you’re not a fan. It’s that oppressive quality to the air in the Target parking lot that can only be combatted by a trip to the nearest park. But the trees growing in that park may actually be benefitting from the heat. Sometimes. A … Continued

Earther

Scientists: Maybe We Should Stop Ruining the Earth

More than 15,000 scientists from 184 nations have penned an open letter to humanity, politely asking their fellow bipedal primates to maybe stop destroying the planet, if that’s chill. What a curious thought. “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice” is, as its name would suggest, a follow up to a similar notice issued … Continued

EartherConservation

Scientists Slam Republican Plan to Drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

When Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski re-ignited a decades-old push to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, she tried to make the case that science was on her side. Thanks to technological improvements, the Republican senator argued, drilling on ANWR’s oil-rich coastal plain will have a much smaller footprint in 2017 than it would’ve 30 … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Algae Are Making Greenland Darker, and That’s Probably a Bad Thing

The Greenland ice sheet is getting darker, and that’s bad news for the Arctic thermostat, since darker surfaces absorb more heat. Now, a pair of scientists have concluded that in at least one section of Greenland, tiny algae play an outsized role in giving the ice its surprising shade. Every summer, a dark area appears … Continued

EartherConservation

North Atlantic Right Whales Can’t Handle More Years Like 2017, Scientists Warn

North Atlantic right whales had very a rough year, and they can’t take many more years like it. A new study warns that if we don’t enact tougher and more flexible conservation policies in the face of climate change, the species may be doomed. After centuries of commercial whaling, there are only about 500 North … Continued

Earther

This Timelapse of the Night Sky Over Old West Ghost Towns Will Leave You Misty Eyed

There’s an existential beauty in the fact that everything on this Earth will eventually fall into decay; that our vibrant world is littered with the abandoned husks of past life, past ecosystems, and past civilizations. Even relics that speak to humanity’s exploitation of the natural world can take on a quiet elegance with the passage … Continued