-
EartherClimate Change
How to Keep Your Home Cool Without Wrecking the Planet
Summertime is officially here, baby. You know what that means: long days, beach tans, and wild ass energy bills. Keeping cool don’t come cheap—not for your pocket and definitely not for the planet. That doesn’t have to be the case, though. This summer can be your moment to flex your green muscle. You don’t have … Continued
-
EartherConservation
Calculation Shows We Could Add a U.S.-Sized Forest to the Planet to Fight Climate Change
Trees are good for all sorts of things, like providing shade for picnics and habitat for animals. But they’re also a huge part of the efforts to combat climate change by sucking carbon dioxide out of the air. New findings were published on Thursday in Science show just how important a role they could play … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherExtreme Weather
More Than a Million Ordered to Evacuate as Southern Japan Braces for a Month of Rain in a Single Day
More than 1 million people are being ordered to evacuate from southern Japan as an onslaught of rain threatens their safety. Nearly 6 inches of rain that fell Wednesday is set to cause mudslides and deadly floods, reports the Japan Times. And that amount is set to increase big time in the coming days. As … Continued
-
EartherEarth Science
Extremely Rare Lava Lake Discovered on Remote British Island
Satellite images have confirmed the presence of a persistent lava lake within the crater of Mount Michael—an active volcano located on a remote island in the Southern Ocean. Despite frequently appearing in films and video games, lava lakes are actually quite rare as far as geological features go. Of the approximately 1,500 potentially active terrestrial … Continued
-
Earther
Austria on the Verge of Becoming First EU Country to Ban Controversial Roundup Herbicide
A popular herbicide currently in use worldwide, but controversially linked to cancer, is on the verge of being outlawed in Austria—the first European Union country to attempt an outright ban. Citing what the leader of the country’s Social Democratic party, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, called increasing “scientific evidence,” Austria’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday passed a … Continued
By Dell Cameron -
EartherClimate Change
The World’s Second-Largest Rainforest Is Losing the Carbon It’s Held for a Thousand Years
The Congo Basin is the second-largest rainforest on Earth, and like most tropical forests, it’s getting chewed up by humans. That’s a problem for the climate, and not just because trees are a natural sponge helping to mop up humanity’s ever-rising carbon emissions. New research suggests that as trees are replaced with fields for agriculture, … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherEnvironmental Policy
Americans Love Their Trash and Hate to Recycle, Report Finds
The world has a trash problem, and a new report out Tuesday reminds us just how much Americans contribute. Turns out that while we create the most waste in the world, we’re one of the worst countries at recycling it. The report—published by Verisk Maplecroft, a global risk analysis group—looks at the waste generation and … Continued
-
EartherEarth Science
Eclipsecane! Solar Eclipse Photobombs Hurricane in Stunning Satellite Shots
Earth had itself a day yesterday. Chile and Argentina got a prime look at a total solar eclipse while the Pacific Ocean played host to Hurricane Barbara, the strongest storm on Earth at the moment. It’s a double feature eclipsecane nobody on the ground would have any hope of capturing in a day, but satellites … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
Last Month Was the Hottest June Ever Recorded, European Satellite Data Shows
The planetary heat bender we’re on just hit a new milestone. Fueled by relentless heat in Europe to end the month, this June was the hottest June ever recorded, according to data analyzed by Europe’s space agency. The planet was more than 1 degrees Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the pre-industrial average and Europe … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
The Alaska Governor’s Proposed Budget Cuts Would Be a Disaster for U.S. Climate Research
It’s not just the Alaskan landscape that’s on fire right now. The university system could also go up in smoke if the Governor Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget cuts go through. That includes crucial research into how the U.S. Arctic is shifting as temperatures rapidly rise. Last week, Dunleavy took a red pen to a budget … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
Earther
Meet the People Risking Their Lives to Study Our Dying Mountain Glaciers
When geoscientist and mountaineer John All started studying the impacts of climate change on world’s highest mountain glaciers over a decade ago, he said it was like monitoring a sick patient. Now, it’s more like doing an autopsy. “We’re just watching the glaciers decay, effectively,” All told Earther. And yet All, who directs Western Washington … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherExtreme Weather
Worst Monsoon Rains in 14 Years Swamp Mumbai, Killing at Least 35
Monsoon season has already overwhelmed parts of India, including Mumbai. As of Tuesday, heavy rains have left some 35 people dead in the state of Maharashtra where the city of 18 million is located, according to the Times of India. Though torrential rains are always expected during the monsoon season, which begins in June and … Continued
-
EartherConservation
Defying International Community, Japan Resumes Commercial Whaling
Six months after announcing it would be breaking with the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Japan has officially resumed commercial whaling. Hundreds of whales will now be permitted to be hunted commercially each year in defiance of the IWC’s moratorium on the practice. It’s been more than three decades since Japan permitted commercial whaling, although it … Continued
By Catie Keck -
EartherClimate Change
Alaska Is Hot and on Fire
Europe isn’t the only part of the world that’s been roasting and burning of late. So is Alaska. Record and near-record heat swept the Last Frontier over the weekend, with stations across the state’s interior recording daily highs of close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday. On Sunday, temperatures rose to 92 degrees in Northway … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherExtreme Weather
A Freak Storm Buried Parts of Guadalajara in Nearly Five Feet of Hail This Weekend
Guadalajara’s streets became rivers briefly over the weekend. A powerful storm dumped rain and hail over the central Mexico city, and when the slurry finally settled, parts of it were buried up to five feet deep in hail. The scenes on Sunday and Monday as the city’s work crews dug out looked like ones that … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherExtreme Weather
France Just Obliterated Its All-Time Heat Record
France has never been hotter. The intense dome of high pressure sitting over Europe has shattered heat records across the continent. At least five countries set June heat records on Thursday and on Friday, France smashed its all-time temperature record at at least a dozen weather stations. Heat has built across Western Europe all week … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
Earther
Scientists Find Dozens of Lakes Buried Far Below Greenland’s Ice
For decades, scientists working in Antarctica have been documenting subglacial lakes, bodies of water buried miles beneath the ice. They’ve spotted more than 400 of them, and even drilled into a few and found evidence for both living and long-dead lifeforms. But despite their ubiquity at the bottom of the world, no one had really … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherClimate Change
Everyone Flopped on Climate Change During the First Democratic Debates
If there is one thing glaring clear from this week’s Democratic debates, it is this: We need a goddamn climate debate. Wednesday and Thursday were like an SOS flare fired into the night sky, showing that the political journalists asking the questions and the politicians answering are not prepared to discuss the most serious existential … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
Wildfire Explodes in Spain as Europe Reels From Record Heat
Fanned by fierce winds and searing temperatures, a wildfire is exploding in size in the Catalonia region of northeastern Spain. According to the Catalan interior minister, it could be the worst blaze the region has seen in 20 years. The fire, which began on Wednesday, spread rapidly and has consumed at least 5,169 hectares (12,773 … Continued
By Maddie Stone