EartherClimate Change

The Arabian Sea’s Suffocating ‘Dead Zone’ Is Even Larger Than We Imagined

Since the early 1960s, scientists have known about the so-called “dead zone” in the Gulf of Oman, a patch of water practically devoid of all oxygen. As anyone who has ever owned an aquarium knows, even fish require oxygen, but as a surprising new survey shows, the Arabian Sea features an oxygen-starved aquarium the size … Continued

EartherConservation

Meet the Oil and Gas Chum Now In Charge of Our Nation’s Wildlife

Last month, to little fanfare, Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke placed Susan Combs, a vociferous critic of the Endangered Species Act, in charge of its enforcement. Combs is a former Texas politician and longtime friend of the oil and gas industry. Because Zinke couldn’t push her nomination for assistant secretary for policy, management and budget … Continued

EartherConservation

EU Bans Controversial Pesticide in the Name of Bees

Let’s pop some champagne this weekend: The European Union decided Friday to ban all outdoor use of neonicotinoids, insecticides that have been linked to wild bee population declines and stunted colony growth. Neonicotinoids are the most widely used group of insecticides in the world, and the European Union’s been studying their impacts on bees since 2012. … Continued

EartherConservation

Some Very Good News on Gorillas (and Some Bad News)

In the realm of Good News Thursday, gorillas are faring better than scientists previously thought—much better, in fact. A new study published in Science Advances shows that the giant ape’s numbers throughout western equatorial Africa could be twice as large as researchers believed. A team of researchers from around the world—including organizations like The Jane … Continued

EartherConservation

Hurricanes Bring Invasive Species, and These Maps Preview Where

Pollution isn’t the only thing the 2017 hurricane season spread far and wide. Plants and animals were sloshed around by the storms too, and some wound up far from home, setting the stage for new ecological invasions. That’s why the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has spent the past six months putting together a series of … Continued

EartherConservation

Read an Excerpt from the New Book That Will Make Anyone a Plant Person

Not everyone imagines plants to be much fun. But for Spanish horticulturist Carlos Magdalena, also known as the Plant Messiah, the secret lives of plants are fascinating. After reading his new book The Plant Messiah, you might be inclined to agree. In the book, Magdalena takes readers along on his quest to save some of … Continued

ScienceBiology

How a Massive Effort to Sequence Genomes of 1.5 Million Species Could Help Preserve Life on Earth

In what will undoubtedly be the largest genomic sequencing effort of all time, an international consortium of researchers is organizing a massive effort to collect and sequence the DNA of Earth’s 1.5 million known eukaryotes, the domain of organisms that includes animals, plants, and fungi. It is a historically ambitious undertaking, akin to the Human … Continued

EartherConservation

Oregon’s Cutest Predator Is on the Verge of Extinction

Oregon’s coastal martens (Martes caurina humboldtensis) are adorable, fierce, and extremely rare. Sadly, new research suggests that if something doesn’t change soon for these secretive, enchanting mammals, they may become extinct in the state within a few decades. Martens are “mustelids,” small carnivores like weasels and otters. Coastal martens—only about the size of a ten … Continued

EartherConservation

The National Park System Just Got Its First Dark Sky Sanctuary

The U.S. National Park Service can add “top-notch, internationally-accredited views of the Milky Way” to its long list of attractions. On April 16, Utah’s Rainbow Bridge National Monument became the world’s fourth International Dark Sky Sanctuary, an exclusive club consisting of some of the most remote, light pollution-free places in the world. Even better? It … Continued

EartherConservation

We’re Vastly Underestimating the Impact of Deep Sea Fishing

Industrial fishing is rife with examples of wild over-exploitation, but even by commercial standards, deep sea trawling is wasteful and damaging. It’s also much more prevalent than we thought, according to a recent study in Frontiers in Marine Science, which finds that the poorly-studied practice has extracted some 25 million tonnes of fish from the … Continued

Tech NewsNews

Despite Denials, Turns Out Scott Pruitt Did Meet With the Lobbyist Who Gave Him a Sweetheart Rental Deal

Scott Pruitt, the increasingly scandal-mired, climate change-denying chief of the Environmental Protection Agency, met personally at the agency’s headquarters with a lobbyist who later gave him a sweetheart deal on an apartment, despite denials to the contrary. Per the Guardian, admission that Pruitt and lobbyist Steven Hart had met for official EPA business comes after … Continued

EartherConservation

This Video of a Monk Seal Wielding a Knife Is An Emotional Rollercoaster

Hawaii’s Department of Natural Resources released footage this week of a monk seal pup brandishing a knife. It’s equal parts menacing, adorable, and depressing as hell. The video was shot on the island of Hawaii, and features a recently-weaned monk seal pup, named Manu‘iwa by locals. On first viewing, my heart fluttered a bit because … 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

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

ScienceBiology

Oh My God, Check Out This Amazing Baby Gorilla

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo celebrated the birth of a male baby western lowland gorilla on Sunday—the first time in nine years that staff at the zoo have managed to get the critically endangered species to breed in captivity, the institution wrote in a blog post. According to the zoo, the baby is named “Moke,” which … Continued

EartherConservation

This Turtle Is a Little Emo, a Little Punk, and Very Endangered

We at Earther are having some disagreements about whether to label this turtle emo, punk, or metal. What none of us can dispute, however, is that it’s endangered. The green-haired Mary River turtle placed No. 29 on the Zoological Society of London’s Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered Species reptiles list released Wednesday. The list takes … Continued

EartherConservation

Bad News For Fans of the Endangered Species Act

Susan Combs, a longtime Texas politician and cattle rancher who once referred to endangered species listings as “incoming Scud missiles,” has quietly been put in charge of our nation’s parks and wildlife, including enforcing the Endangered Species Act. Let’s learn more! Combs was nominated months ago to become assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget … Continued

EartherConservation

An Acoustic Ecologist Has Recreated the Sounds of John Muir’s World

Gordon Hempton is the type of person who gets into something and doesn’t let it go. As an acoustic ecologist, most of his obsessions are sounds. Specifically, natural ones. Hempton’s been on a crusade for years to highlight the sonic beauty of the natural world, and draw attention to the fact that we’re slowly letting … Continued

EartherConservation

Report: One Third of America’s Wildlife Is Now Under Threat

On Thursday, the National Wildlife Federation, the American Fisheries Society, and The Wildlife Society released a report finding that up to a third of America’s wildlife species are vulnerable because of human activity. A fifth of all U.S. species are “imperiled and at high risk of extinction.” It sounds dire, but there are also solutions … Continued