Maddie Stone

EartherEnvironmental Justice

Nuns Stand With Native Alaskans to Oppose Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

If you don’t often associate nuns with environmental activism, you probably haven’t met the Sisters of Mercy. The Roman Catholic women’s organization strives to “act in harmony and interdependence with all of creation” by advocating action on climate change and standing in solidarity with pipeline protestors. This week, the Sisters reaffirmed their commitment to protecting … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Greenland’s Bedrock Is Unexpectedly Deep, Which Is Really Bad for Ice Melt

It’s well known that Greenland contains a ton of frozen water—enough to raise sea levels by nearly 25 feet were it all to melt. Unfortunately, new research suggests melting may occur faster than we thought as the Earth warms, because of how Greenland’s glaciers are anchored to bedrock. A study published this week in Geophysical … Continued

Earther

Trump’s NASA Pick Says Human-Caused Climate Change Depends ‘On a Whole Lot of Factors’

The White House’s effort to head every science-adjacent agency with science skeptics continued apace today, when the Senate held a confirmation hearing for Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), Trump’s pick to lead NASA. You’ll be shocked to learn that his views on climate change do not exactly comport with the overwhelming scientific consensus on the issue. NASA … Continued

EartherConservation

Tropical Protected Areas Are Keeping a Huge Amount of Carbon Out of the Air 

Tropical protected areas aren’t just havens for wildlife. They’re playing a major, and majorly under-appreciated role in mitigating climate change. A new study estimates that on a global scale, tropical protected areas reduced carbon emissions associated with deforestation by nearly 5 billion tons, or 30%, between 2000 and 2012. That’s about half as much carbon … Continued

Earther

‘Halloween Crack’ on an Antarctic Ice Shelf Prompts Research Station to Close For Winter

A legitimately spooky crack on an Antarctic ice sheet that was first discovered last Halloween is prompting a scientific research station to cancel its 2018 winter field season. Citing the “power and unpredictability of nature,” British Antarctic Survey director Dame Jane Francis announced today that the Halley VI Research Station will be closed from March … Continued

Earther

How a Single Fallen Tree Can Reshape a Rainforest

In 1996, a tree fell in the Bolivian Amazon, jamming up a river like a chicken bone lodged in a drain. 119,000 acres of forest died in the catastrophic flooding that ensued. Twenty years later, new research has concluded that this wasn’t a one-off event: So-called ‘logjams’ are constantly reshaping vast swaths of western Amazonia. … Continued

Earther

A Software Engineer Is Using Drone Footage to Map Puerto Rico for Relief Efforts

Ever since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, a grassroots network of volunteers has been helping the island get back on its feet in an unexpected way. They’re using satellite images to create digital maps of buildings and roads that relief workers with FEMA and the Red Cross are using to reach those in need. Most … Continued

Earther

Trump Plans to Lease a Staggering Amount of Alaskan Land to Oil Companies

As Congressional Republicans draft a tax bill that could open a portion of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife to drilling, the Trump administration is moving to aggressively expand fossil fuel production elsewhere in the state. On Wednesday, the Bureau of Land Management announced that in December, it will begin selling oil and gas leases on 900 … Continued

EartherConservation

How a Tiny Bird Unknown to Science Helped Protect a Vast Rainforest

Stepping into the Cordillera Azul is like traveling into a prehistoric time. A patchwork of mountain crests, ridges, slopes and valleys blanketed by cloud-covered canopies and ringed by dramatic rock escarpments, its forests hum with the songs of birds and frogs and the screeches of spider monkeys. The existence of this extraordinary Andean ecosystem is … Continued

Earther

Polar Bears Drive Hundreds of Walruses Off Cliff in Siberian Bloodbath

Climate change is having all sorts of bizarre and terrifying consequences in Siberia. Outbreaks of zombie anthrax, massive methane blowouts, that sort of thing. But the latest freak incident—in which hundreds of walruses hauled out on a shoreline, before tumbling off a cliff in terror at the sight of approaching polar bears—reminds us how changes … Continued

EartherClimate Change

Geostorm’s Weather Control Tech Is Exceptionally Bogus, Scientists Explain

For a movie about a global weather apocalypse, Geostorm is disastrously boring, but its weather control technology deserves your brief attention. It is uniquely ridiculous! Sadly, the premise is more relevant than ever. In Geostorm, humanity never got its shit together to address global warming, but thankfully, scientists figured out how to build a network … Continued

Earther

Report Pollution in Your Neighborhood and Check Out Global Trends With a New Interactive Map

A major analysis out last week in The Lancet finds that pollution is responsible for 9 million deaths each year. It’s a mind-boggling number that can be hard to make sense of without some sort of visual aid. Helpfully, the authors of the 56-page pollution report have released a tool for exactly that purpose—an interactive … Continued

Earther

Congress Takes Another Step Toward Opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to Drilling

Congressional Republicans are one step closer to opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling, a goal that proponents of fossil fuel energy development in Alaska have been chasing for decades. On Thursday, the Senate struck down an amendment to the 2018 federal budget that would have removed a provision to raise an … Continued

Earther

Portugal’s Tornado of Fire Reminds Us Earth Is Now Hell

The Book of Revelation, arguably humanity’s ultimate authority on the End Times, speaks of “flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and rolls of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm,” as God unleashed his wrath upon the Earth’s unruly children. But despite vividly-imagined plagues of locusts and seas of blood, the authors of the Bible … Continued

Earther

Could the World Be in For a Rapid Burst of Sea Level Rise?

When one thinks about sea level rise, as one does in 2017, the tendency is to picture the oceans creeping steadily upward toward some catastrophic spillover. But that’s not really how it works. Sea level is rising in fits and starts, at different rates all over the world. Even on a global scale, some scientists … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

What Ecuador’s Zika Outbreak Tells Us About Natural Disasters and Disease

2017 has brought a seemingly endless string of natural disasters, from devastating hurricanes in the Caribbean to raging wildfires out West to destructive earthquakes in Mexico. And if the fallout from one of last year’s worst natural disasters—the 2016 Ecuadorean earthquake—is any indicator, health officials need to be on high alert for disease outbreaks. That, … Continued

EartherConservation

A Stunning Marine Monument off the Coast of Texas Faces New Threats After Hurricane Harvey

A hundred miles south of the Texas-Louisiana border lies one of the smallest yet most remarkable Marine National Sanctuaries in US waters—and scientists are worried that its vibrant reefs could be devastated as floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey start to spill in. A ‘secret garden’ situated along the edge of the continental shelf, the Flower Garden … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Why a Bizarre Ex-Hurricane Is Pounding Ireland

The extraordinary 2017 hurricane season continues apace this week, as Ireland braces against the remnants of hurricane—yes, hurricane—Ophelia, whose fierce winds reached the country’s southern coast Monday morning. Ophelia astounded meteorologists on Saturday when it intensified into a Category 3 hurricane farther east than any other major hurricane in history. While Ophelia weakened as it … Continued

EartherConservation

How to Get Rid of Your Old Electronics Without Ruining the Planet

Your childhood NES that hasn’t booted up in a decade. Your stash of old flip phones that you’ve kept in a shoebox in the closet for “sentimental” value. That gallon bag of used batteries that you know you’re not supposed to toss in the dumpster, but after five years of carting them around from apartment … Continued

Earther

Earth’s Tropical Forests Sprung a Major CO2 Leak During Last Year’s El Niño

Earth’s tropical forests hoard huge amounts of carbon, but as temperatures rise and weather patterns shift due to climate change, scientists worry that their lush green canopies will start leaking more CO2. That concern got some serious validation this week, when a new study concluded that the recent El Niño period caused the tropics to … Continued