EartherClimate Change

An Alarming Number of Arctic Reindeer Starved to Death Last Winter, Likely Due to Climate Change

More than 200 reindeer starved to death this past winter on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. The scientists who made the grim discovery say climate change is the likely culprit. A team of researchers from the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) have completed their annual survey of reindeer populations on Svalbard, and the results are not … Continued

EartherEnergy

Campaign Aides Let the UAE Screen Trump’s ‘America First’ Energy Speech, Made Changes at Their Request

Aides to now-President Donald Trump let senior United Arab Emirates officials look at and edit a 2016 campaign trail speech in which he laid out his “America First” energy policy, ABC News reported on Monday. According to ABC News, House Oversight Committee officials found during an investigation that Thomas Barrack, a “California investment tycoon with … Continued

EartherClimate Change

Why We’re Not Moving Forward With Our Climate Summit

A good story has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and the climate summit Gizmodo has been in the process of planning for months is one of those stories. It began in April with behind the scenes discussions, had a middle in which we announced it in partnership with the New Republic and then … Continued

EartherClimate Change

Greta Thunberg Is Sailing Carbon-Free to the UN Climate Summit, But What About Youth Activists of Color?

Youth activist Greta Thunberg is hopping on a carbon-free racing boat to make the United Nations Climate Summit in New York on September 23. The Swedish founder of Fridays for Future—a now-global effort where youth skip school on Fridays to protest in the name of climate change and their future—figured out how to make it … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

Jay Inslee Has a Plan to Spend $1.2 Trillion to Fight Climate Change and Inequality

In the 1970s, environmentalism rose the forefront of the American consciousness, culminating in the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and a slew of laws to curb pollution. But despite the push to clean up air and water, low income communities and communities of colors have still had to disproportionately bear the impacts of pollution … Continued

Earther

Vietnam Seizes 275-Pound Haul of Rhino Horns, Seven Frozen Tiger Carcasses

In a single day, Vietnamese authorities reportedly busted efforts to smuggle roughly 275 pounds worth of rhino horns as well as seven frozen tiger carcasses into its capital city of Hanoi, according to reports from multiple outlets. Officials discovered the 55 pieces of rhino horn concealed in plaster among cargo at Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport … Continued

Earther

Las Vegas is Literally Crawling with Grasshoppers

As cool as it’d be to report that a swarm of locusts has descended upon Sin City like some kind of biblical retribution straight out of Exodus, that simply isn’t true. Technically, they’re pallid-winged grasshoppers. At least that’s what a Nevada state entomologist called them Thursday as he explained why hordes and hordes of the … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

North Dakota’s First Solar Farm Opens on Standing Rock Tribal Land

In 2016, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe launched a battle against an oil pipeline running across their ancestral lands. Despite their efforts gaining international attention, the 1,172 mile-long Dakota Access Pipeline was built anyway. The tribe lost that battle—but its members didn’t let that defeat stop them from tackling the greater issue at hand: climate … Continued

EartherClimate Change

Europe’s Heat Wave Threatens Record Melting of Greenland Ice Sheet

A heat wave has shot up temperatures in Europe to new highs. Now, it’s set to continue moving north to Greenland. And that’s bad news for the ice sheets, the World Meteorological Organization reports. This dangerous heat—which brought temperatures close to 110 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of France—was caused by warm air entering the atmosphere … Continued

Earther

‘We Need Responsible Consumerism’: Designer Tracy Reese Speaks on Sustainable Fashion

Designer Tracy Reese has been a leader in the fashion industry. Long before diversity and inclusion were moves designers made for clicks, Reese was making it happen. In the early 2000s, she featured black women of all complexions on the runway. That’s no surprise: She was one of the first black women to truly make … Continued

Earther

I Am Absolutely Here for Dunkin’s Fake-Ass Sausage Sandwiches

Meat lovers and breakfast enthusiasts, we have some news. Dunkin’ announced this week that it’s teamed up with Beyond Meat to introduce a new sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich sans the meat, which is both great news for the planet as well as your stomach. And I, my friends, am fucking pumped for this fake-ass … Continued

EartherConservation

16 Endangered Black Rhinos Successfully Relocated to Eswatini

Conservationists have successfully moved 16 endangered black rhinos to the tiny—but “ideal”—African country of Eswatini, after removing them last year from a poaching hotspot in South Africa. The 16 rhinos include mature breeding bulls and cows, plus some juveniles and calves, according to a statement issued by Big Game Parks, Eswatini’s national wildlife authority. The … Continued

EartherClimate Change

Don’t Go Looking for Geoengineering Info on YouTube—It’s Mostly Lies, Study Finds

If you’re trying to understand geoengineering, don’t go looking for answers on YouTube. A new study suggests that conspiracy theorists dominate the site when it comes to certain scientific terms. Published Thursday in the journal Frontiers in Communication, the study found that fewer than half of videos found on the site when searching terms related … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Brutal Heat Wave Breaks Temperature Records Across Europe

Europe is burning. A heat wave—the second in roughly a month—is taking over the continent, and it’s already breaking records. Again. And these are some of the world’s oldest temperature records. The heat’s gotten so bad that zookeepers in Belgium fed their tigers chickens frozen in giant ice cubes and gave their bears frozen watermelons, … Continued

Earther

Did Nike Not Get the Memo on Plastic Beads?

For the longest time, pockets of nothing but air were Nike’s secret to making comfortable shoes. But today the company revealed its new Joyride technology, which instead fills shoe soles with thousands of tiny foam beads. Nike promises the new design increases shock absorption, but the new design comes at a time when beads and … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Enter the Microscopic World of Bugs With These Award-Winning Garden Photos

Who doesn’t love to spend time in garden? Some people love it so much, though, that they stake out for hours, camera in hand, waiting for an insect to land on a flower petal to capture the perfect shot. These are the kind of people who submit their photography to the annual International Garden Photographer … Continued

EartherClimate Change

Climate Shifts of the Past 2,000 Years Were Nothing Like What’s Happening Today

The global reach of human-caused climate change, and the breakneck speed at which it’s happening, is unparalleled within the last 2,000 years, according to new research. Climate change as we observe it today cannot be compared to other climatic epochs of the past 2,000 years, according to two new studies led by paleoclimatologist Raphael Neukom … Continued

EartherClimate Change

House Dems Try to Squash Green New Deal With Bogus Alternative

A federal Green New Deal has remained a dream-like idea since Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ed Markey introduced a proposal to do just that in February (and since the Senate shot it down in March). Other Green New Deals have taken hold on the local and state level—I’m looking … Continued

Earther

Sorry, The Lion King’s ‘Circle of Life’ Doesn’t Exist in the Natural World

The Lion King offers a number of lessons around innocence, deception, and love. However, one of my favorite takeaways from the movie—both the original and the remake—is the so-called Circle of Life. We all know the term, made famous by the classic song by the same title. In the movie, Mufasa, the king of the … Continued

Earther

U.S. Beaches Are So Full of Sewage Pollution, They’re Often Unsafe for Swimming, New Report Finds

I don’t go to the beach for the sand or the sun. I go for the waves. There’s nothing like splashing in the water after lugging your cooler, chair, and beach umbrella to your designated spot. Unfortunately, I may need to think twice about going for a swim at the beach. And so should you. … Continued