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EartherConservation
Florida Gov. Rick Scott Is Pretending to Care About the Environment Again
Florida governor and environmental savior Rick Scott has done it again—made a decision based primarily on his concern for the environment. Actually, strike that and replace with the opposite. Politically expedient and climate change denying Gov. Scott made a calculation that pushing back against offshore drilling along Florida’s coastlines—which the Trump administration threatens to do … Continued
By Ari Phillips -
EartherConservation
Other States Ask Zinke to Give Them Offshore Drilling Waivers, Too
Being a lackey of the Trump administration proved it’s worth something last night, when Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced that Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s state would be exempt from a new plan to open nearly all U.S. coastal waters to oil and gas exploration. Naturally, other states quickly began to wonder: Did their drilling waivers … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherEnvironmental Justice
House GOP Begins Quest to Lock in Trump’s Bears Ears Reduction Permanently
When former President Barack Obama designated 1.35 million acres in Utah as the Bears Ears National Monument in December 2016, there’s no way he could have guessed Congress would be debating a reworked version of the monument’s lands just a year later. But the Trump administration’s attempt to rescind Bears Ears in southern Utah has … Continued
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EartherEarth Science
This Is What Nuclear War Would Mean for Life on Earth
We haven’t been this close to nuclear war in decades. So while you’re brushing up on how to duck and cover, why not also brush up on how a few nukes could turn the planet into a wasteland of suffering for humans, and the rest of life on Earth? There are roughly 15,000 nuclear bombs … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherConservation
Mudslides Are California’s Latest Apocalyptic Hazard
When it rains it mudslides. That, at least, is the saying in California this week, as the aftermath of one of the state’s worst fire seasons converges with some of the state’s first big rains in nearly a year. After experiencing a record-low 0.69 inches of rain between March and December 2017, the area between … Continued
By Ari Phillips -
EartherClimate Change
Future El Niños Could Spell Trouble For the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
There’s a mad scramble underway in the scientific community to learn everything possible about the imperiled West Antarctic ice sheet, whose glaciers hold back enough water to raise global sea levels by 10 feet or more. The latest troubling climate factor to keep an eye on? El Niño. A team of researchers has learned that … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherEnvironmental Justice
Trump Is Kicking Out 200,000 Salvadoran Earthquake Refugees After Nearly 20 Years
My parents came to the United States from El Salvador after the Civil War left their home in shambles. Dead bodies littered the streets, work was nonexistent, and human rights were a thing of the past. War throughout Central America led the U.S. Congress to pass the 1980 Refugee Act, and almost one million Salvadorans … Continued
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EartherEarth Science
It Snowed in the Sahara and the Photos Are Breathtaking
Look, I know we cover a lot of the bad types of weather here. Wildfires, droughts, extreme cold, hurricanes. But allow me to make it up to you with some Good Weather. Snow in Sahara? Yes, please. On Sunday, snow fell in one of the most unlikely places on Earth. Ain Sefra, an Algerian town … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEnvironmental Justice
The EPA Is Still Warning Puerto Ricans About Sewage-Laced Water Nearly Four Months After Maria
At this point, Puerto Rico’s water troubles sound like a broken record. The Environmental Protection Agency’s latest update on the island post-Hurricane Maria, released on Friday, warned residents to be careful when playing in or touching the water in Puerto Rico’s rivers, streams, and oceans, because raw sewage could be entering it. More than 100 … Continued
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EartherExtreme Weather
Weather Disasters Cost America a Record $306 Billion in 2017
That 2017 was a bad year for disasters in the U.S. is a given. Now the federal government has classified it not just as a bad year, but the worst. Data released on Monday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that 2017 saw $306 billion in weather- and climate-related costs, the highest total … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherExtreme Weather
It’s So Hot In Australia Roads Are Melting and Bats Are Falling Out of the Sky
In what’s becoming an annual rite of passage each summer, a monster heat wave has blanketed nearly all of Australia. Bats boiling alive, crews scrambling to combat brush fires, roads melting, and cricket players keeling over are just a handful of the apocalyptic-sounding impacts. Heat has always been a part of Australian life. But scientists … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth Science
Our Best Evidence Yet That Humans Are Fixing the Ozone Hole
The ozone hole feels like the quintessential ‘80s problem, but unlike car phones and mullets, it remains relevant in a number of ways. For starters, it’s still there, chilling over Antartica. More importantly, it’s slowly healing, and a new study offers some of the best evidence yet that sound environmental policy is responsible. It’s been … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherClimate Change
NASA Is Flying Over Greenland to Predict the Future of Our Coastlines
If we don’t pump the brakes on climate change, all of Greenland could eventually melt, adding about 24 feet to global sea levels. Add in the West Antarctic ice sheet, and we’re looking at a total of about 40 feet of potential sea level rise from these two ice sheets alone. The question is, when … Continued
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EartherEnvironmental Justice
Natural Disasters Cost Insurers a Record $135 Billion Last Year
A deadly earthquake in Mexico, Hurricane Maria, and South Asia’s fatal monsoon season are just a few of the natural disasters to strike the globe in 2017. And they inflicted a hell of a lot of damage—so much that last year’s natural disaster-related insurance claims totaled a record $135 billion, according to numbers released Thursday. … Continued
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EartherConservation
Ryan Zinke Is Wiping Out the Department of Interior’s Climate Change Policies
Preparing for anything climate change-related is officially out at the Department of Interior. Noted personal flag lover and helicopter commandeerer Ryan Zinke quietly issued an order just before the holidays erasing a number of climate chapters in the department and Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—which the department oversees—handbooks. Those chapters provided guidance about how the … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherConservation
Florida’s Wildlife Hates This Cold Weather as Much as You Do
Things have been even weirder than usual in Florida this week, with freezing temperatures sweeping across the Sunshine State as part of the same winter storm system that recently “exploded” over the Northeast. Like Florida’s human population, the animals are not happy about it. In Tampa Bay, manatees have congregated near a power station discharge … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherEnvironmental Justice
Environmentalists Just Scored a Big Pipeline Victory In Pennsylvania
Throughout Pennsylvania, a minor celebration is underway. In a rare and unexpected move on Wednesday, the Department of Environmental Protection issued a temporary halt on construction of the Mariner East 2 natural gas project, citing violations of two different permits. “Everyone really needs to take a deep breath, feel good about this, and acknowledge that … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
In Hawaii, Sea Level Rise Could Displace Thousands and Cost $19 Billion
Sea level rise could mean paradise lost in Hawaii. The only island state in the union could face widespread displacement, endangered species habitat destruction, and monster economic losses if oceans rise roughly three feet. A new report released by the state last month offers an in-depth look at the fate of six islands from Kauai … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEnvironmental Justice
Trump Suggests We Just Drill Everywhere
Just about all U.S. waters will soon be open for drilling if the Trump administration has its way. On Thursday, Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced the draft National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. The proposed program covers the next five years, starting in 2019. In short? Zinke wants fossil fuel … Continued
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EartherConservation
New Study Shows ‘No Coral Reef on Earth Is Safe’ From Climate Change
You’ve heard it before: Climate change is killing coral reefs. I’m sorry to say this sad fact remains true and just got some additional confirmation. A new analysis, which appears Thursday in the journal Science, looked at how 100 coral reefs have been faring as temperatures have risen over the last 35 years. And the … Continued
By Maddie Stone