EartherClimate Change

Update on Our 2020 Climate Summit

On Friday, The New Republic published an offensive, homophobic attack on Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg. The article was swiftly condemned for being inappropriate, and it was taken down from the site Saturday. In light of these events, The New Republic is withdrawing its participation from our recently announced 2020 Democratic presidential forum on climate change, … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Paradise, California, Has Lost More Than 90 Percent of Its Residents Since Last Year’s Deadly Fire

The Camp Fire destroyed the town of Paradise, California, last year. Since then, the community has struggled to rebuild. In fact, more than 90 percent of Paradise residents never returned, according to new numbers from the governor’s office. Now, the town is officially a “rural area,” which opens the door for more federal assistance to … Continued

EartherClimate Change

Your Binge-Watching of Netflix and Porn Is Contributing to Millions of Tons of Emissions a Year

Most days when I get home from work, I kick off my shoes and cozy up with some Netflix. Video streaming is kind of my go-to when I want to relax—and I’m far from alone. Each year, our collective video streaming results in carbon emissions equivalent to the entire country of Spain, a new report … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Greenland Was on Fire This Week Amid ‘Unprecedented’ Arctic Burn

Two years ago, Greenland lit ablaze. It was weird, and a harbinger of things to come on our changing planet. It just didn’t seem like they would come again so soon. Satellites spotted another wildfire in western Greenland this week. The blaze first showed up on Wednesday. Though already out and not on the scale … Continued

Earther

West Coast Residents Seriously Underestimate the Threat of a Catastrophic Earthquake, Survey Finds

As last week’s major earthquakes in Southern California reminded us, we humans are still at the mercy of the geologically-active planet we live on. But despite the ever-present seismic threat, there’s a lot more West Coast cities could be doing to prepare their infrastructure and citizens for disaster, like implementing stricter building codes and restrictions … Continued

Earther

Newly-Discovered ‘Vibranium’ Fish Named in Honor of Wakanda

While SCUBA diving off the coast of Zanzibar, marine biologist Luiz Rocha saw a fish he had never seen before. He sent a photograph to his collaborator Yi-Kai Tea, currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Sydney, who confirmed that it was a new species of fairy wrasse from the genus Cirrhilabrus. As a … Continued

EartherEarth Science

The Science Behind Tropical Storm Barry’s Potentially Catastrophic Flooding

If there is one thing you need to know about Tropical Storm Barry, it is this: The storm bearing down on Louisiana is forecast to be a flooding disaster. Basically every aspect of the setup for Barry is lined up to unleash multiple types of flooding that could last for days on end, potentially placing … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

Controversial Telescope Starts Construction on Sacred Hawaiian Mountain Next Week

The controversial Thirty Meter Telescope is set break ground on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea on the week of July 15, after about a decade of delays due to local opposition. Opponents, who have been mostly Native Hawaiians, argue that Mauna Kea, the mountain where this new state-of-the-art telescope is set to gaze into space, has already … Continued

EartherClimate Change

Why We’re Challenging the 2020 Democrats to a Climate Summit [Updated]

It’s been said before, but it bears repeating: The first round of Democratic presidential debates failed the planet. In a combined 240 minutes of discussion—at an event held in city poised to sink into the ocean—the moderators devoted a combined 15 minutes of airtime to the biggest existential threat humanity faces. We were hardly surprised. … Continued

EartherClimate Change

We Asked Every Member of the House Climate Crisis Committee if They’d Support AOC’s Climate Emergency Resolution

On Tuesday, Representative Earl Blumenauer introduced a resolution in the House calling for a climate emergency. The legislation itself is symbolic in nature but sets out a series of organizing principles for why climate change is an emergency and why Congress should treat it as such. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez immediately threw her support behind it. … Continued

EartherEarth Science

New Orleans Faces a Major Flood Threat as Tropical Storm Barry Approaches [Updating]

Tropical Storm Barry just officially formed this morning, but water is already bearing down on New Orleans. The situation looks bad, to say the least, and we at Earther will be following it closely as the city and state of Louisiana prepare for what is forecasted to become a hurricane by the weekend. New Orleans, … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Alaska’s Wildfire Season Is Exploding, Spreading Smoke Across the State

Historic, record-breaking heat isn’t the only environmental malaise that’s gripped Alaska this summer. So has wildfire smoke. An incredible satellite image taken on July 8 shows smoke spreading far and wide across Alaska as a spate of hot, dry weather causes the state’s wildfire season to kick into high gear. Dense smoke advisories and red … Continued

EartherEarth Science

New Orleans Faces Catastrophic Flooding Ahead of Possible Tropical Storm

Would-be Tropical Storm Barry is still a day or more away from forming, let alone making landfall. But the developing system’s impacts are already being felt on Wednesday morning in New Orleans. Residents of the Big Easy woke up to tornadoes and water spouts touching down in the city and on Lake Pontchartrain, and to … Continued

EartherClimate Change

AOC and Bernie Sanders Are Asking Congress to Declare a Climate Emergency

Governments declaring climate emergencies are all the rage these days. On Tuesday, a resolution slated to be introduced in Congress aims to get the U.S. as a whole to join the growing number of towns, states, and countries recognizing that yes, climate change is an emergency. Representative Earl Blumenauer introduced that resolution along with fellow Representative … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Wild Weather From the Midwest Could Spawn a Tropical Storm in the Gulf of Mexico This Week

The second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season could arrive from an odd source: Missouri. Storms sweeping across the Midwest to start the week have now stalled out on the Gulf Coast, exploding into towering thunderstorms. The National Hurricane Center is forecasting they’re likely to spin further out into the Gulf of Mexico and … Continued

EartherConservation

‘Ghost’ Fishing Gear Is a Bigger Threat to Sharks Than We Realized

Not even the oceans’ top predators can escape the ruinous embrace of humanity’s plastic waste, suggests new research. The study indicates that over recent decades, many hundreds of sharks have been reported falling victim to entanglement in fishing gear and other marine plastic debris. Snarls of plastic waste adrift at sea are a menace for … Continued

EartherEarth Science

That Big California Earthquake Left a Scar That’s Visible From Space

Friday’s magnitude 7.1 earthquake near Ridgecrest, California, was nothing to sneeze at. The shake, which triggered gas leaks, power outages, and fires, was felt from San Diego to Sacramento. And it ripped open a new fissure in the Earth that didn’t escape the notice of humanity’s ever-growing satellite fleet. Before-and-after imagery captured by Planet Labs … Continued

EartherEnergy

China’s Solar Industry Could Get a Nearly $7 Billion Boost From Cleaning Up Air Pollution

Reducing air pollution is objectively good. In addition to providing huge public health benefits, new findings show it would also give China solar generating industry a big boost in productivity. The research published Monday in Nature Energy reveal that decades of increasing air pollution have decreased the potential amount of solar power generated in China … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Swimming Banned at All Mississippi Beaches After Huge Toxic Algae Bloom

An unusually large bloom of toxic blue-green algae has prompted the closure of all beaches along the Mississippi coastline. Officials are attributing the bloom to excessive rainfall and overuse of fertilizers. On Sunday, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, through its Beach Monitoring Program, announced the closure of two more Mississippi beaches, namely Pascagoula Beach … Continued

EartherEarth Science

It’s Raining Inside the Metro as Flash Floods Rage Across Washington, DC

Washington, D.C. commuters came back to work after the long weekend with a bang. Powerful storms swept across the nation’s capital, inundating roadways, unleashing flash floods, and creating at least two waterfalls in the Metro system. Even the White House experienced some flooding. Swamp status: full. The entire Washington, D.C. metro area is under some … Continued