EartherEarth Science

Baseball Is a Winter Sport Now, Apparently

Spring baseball is always a bit of a crapshoot weather-wise, but this year has been especially shitty. And we can thank the freaking polar vortex. Frigid weather and repeated bouts of snow have caused games to be postponed from Chicago to Boston. Other games have been played in the cold and even while the flakes … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Marauding Tumbleweeds Have Invaded California

Humanity’s run as the dominant force on the Earth nearly came to an end on Tuesday, when a tumbleweed uprising gave the 120,000 residents of Victorville, California quite a scare. Stirred by swift winds and a desire to unleash great vengeance and furious anger, tumbleweed poured into the city for a battle royale. The dead, … Continued

EartherEarth Science

This Experiment With Shrimp and Lasers Could Unlock the Ocean’s Secrets

For years, shrimp and their other tiny, uncharismatic brethren collectively known as zooplankton were deemed too inconsequential to alter the oceans. Sure, they’re important food sources but it’s not like they could actually churn the high seas, right? Wrong, according to the new research published in Nature on Wednesday. To see if tiny creatures—which the … Continued

EartherConservation

Global Warming Has Permanently Transformed the Great Barrier Reef, Study Finds

Back-to-back bleaching events in 2016 and 2017 killed one in every two corals on the Great Barrier Reef. Now, looking just at that first year of heat-inducted death, a team of Australian researchers has concluded that the character of the northern Great Barrier Reef has been forever altered. The study, published today in Nature, places … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

The Entire Island of Puerto Rico Just Lost Power [Update: Power’s Coming Back]

Darkness has fallen on the island of Puerto Rico. All 1.5 million customers of the Puerto Rican Electric Power Authority are currently without power. This is according to the authority itself, which informed the public via Twitter Wednesday. As far as we know, power isn’t expected to return for another 24 to 36 hours. The … Continued

EartherConservation

Bull Sharks Are Heading North Thanks to Climate Change

Climate change is creating a battle of survival of the fittest. And it appears bull sharks are winning. Research published this week in Scientific Reports documents a new bull shark nursery in Pamlico Sound, just off the shores of North Carolina. It’s basically 500 miles north of the previous northernmost nursery off Florida’s east coast, representing … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

Colorado Is the Latest to Sue the Oil Industry

I dare say 2018 will be the year of climate litigation. In Colorado, the city of Boulder, as well as San Miguel and Boulder counties, filed a joint lawsuit Tuesday against ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy. It’s the first such litigation to come from a non-coastal state. Why? For the corporations’ alleged role in “causing, contributing … Continued

EartherEnergy

Red States Are Leading the Wind Energy Charge

Republicans may be lukewarm on climate policy, but they’re all about that wind energy, according to a report on the state of wind power in the U.S. released Tuesday by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). Overall, Texas is the largest wind producer in the country. The five states that got the largest share of … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

Report: Basically No One Is Safe From Air Pollution

Just about every human on this planet is breathing unhealthy air, according to a new report from the Health Effects Institute, a nonprofit independent research organization. While the report’s central claim—that 95 percent of the world’s population is exposed to air that doesn’t meet the World Health Organization’s guidelines—sounds startling, in reality, this is a … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Everything About This Newly-Discovered Octopus Nursery Is Wild

Scientists have made a truly bizarre discovery on an expanse of cooled lava 150 miles west of Costa Rica and nearly two miles underwater. There, they laid eyes on more than a hundred female octopuses, tending to eggs that didn’t seem to be growing in water that seemed too warm for their liking. Deep sea … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

As Landowners Sue the Keystone XL Developer, It Tries to Buy Off Others

The past six years have been intense for Art Tanderup. The 66-year-old farmer’s property in Neligh, Nebraska, sits directly in the path of the Keystone XL Pipeline. He’s opposed the 1,179-mile long proposed crude oil pipeline since 2012, when developer TransCanada first approached him and his wife, Helen, about purchasing an easement on their land. … Continued

EartherEarth Science

New Research Shows the Everglades Are Still Hurting Months After Irma

Hurricane Irma may be a fading memory for those who didn’t experience its heavy rains or ferocious winds. But in the Everglades, the damage is still visible—and its ripple effects could last for years. Aerial surveys led by NASA in December have revealed Hurricane Irma’s striking impact on remote swaths of Florida’s river of grass, … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

Kids Are Trying to Force Rick Scott to Face Climate Change in Court

Those meddling kids are at it again—this time, in Florida. A group of eight young people—ages 10 to 20—announced a lawsuit Monday against their sunshine state of Florida, so that Gov. Rick Scott takes action on climate change, according to The Miami Herald. Mind you, Scott is the same dude who pulled the “I’m not … Continued

EartherConservation

Scientists Need Your Help Spotting Seals in Antarctica

Michelle LaRue has a problem: She only has one set of eyes. That’s a big issue when you’re an ecologist who uses satellite imagery to understand what’s going on with Weddell Seals, the southernmost mammal on the planet. The seals can help us unlock secrets about how coastal ecosystems and fisheries function in Antarctica, as … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

Embattled Telescope Delays Decision on Whether to Remain in Hawaii

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is deferring a decision on whether to stay in Hawaii or move to a back-up location in the Canary Islands while it waits to secure permits in either, the telescope’s board announced Friday. A year ago, Gizmodo reported that the board for the TMT—slated to become the world’s most powerful … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

What Happened to the $8 Million People Raised For Standing Rock?

The uprising seen at Standing Rock in 2016 was historic. But the moment when a Native American tribe tried to stop a crude oil pipeline in the name of water and sovereignty has largely slipped out of the public consciousness. So, apparently, have the millions of dollars in GoFundMe donations people poured into it—nearly $8 … Continued

EartherEnergy

New Jersey’s New Climate Plan Includes More Nuclear Power

Move over, California, there’s a new climate heartthrob state in town. After years of backward climate policies under Chris Christie’s leadership, the Garden State’s new governor Phil Murphy is overseeing a rapid transformation. The latest example of this? Two bills passed by wide margins on Thursday that include sweeping renewable energy goals, enhanced energy efficiency, … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Well Great, Even Our Beer Has Microplastic in it Now

Plastic’s everywhere these days: in seal bellies, dead whale bellies, our bottled water, and now our freaking beer, man. You heard that right: Not even our sacred beer is safe from plastic anymore. That’s according to a new study published in the Public Library of Science’s open access journal this week. The three-person team specializes … Continued

EartherEnvironmental Justice

A Texas River Is Now Endangered Because of Trump’s Stupid Wall

I’ve heard rivers called polluted. I’ve even written about them becoming legal persons. But the idea of a river that’s endangered is new to me. Advocacy group American Rivers has been putting out a list of the most endangered rivers in the U.S. for 33 years now. This year, the list of 10 includes the … Continued

EartherConservation

Zinke Abandons Plan to Make National Parks Outrageously Expensive

Another wildly unpopular Ryan Zinke proposal bites the dust. Last November, the Department of Interior floated the idea of major fee hikes at some of the most popular parks in the national park system during the high season. The public spoke during a comment period, and it was not happy. On Thursday, in a rare … Continued