EartherEnvironmental Justice

This Story About Lions Killing Poachers Is Brutal

I think we can all agree that hunting rhinos is a bad idea, but at least two suspected poachers learned that the hard way earlier this week. In a showcase of nature’s brutality, the BBC reports rangers at the Shibuya game reserve in South Africa stumbled on a pretty gruesome find on Tuesday: the mangled … Continued

EartherEarth Science

You Should Visit a Rainforest

I’m as hopelessly plugged in as the next person, but every so often I dream of giving up Twitter and Amazon Prime for good, and getting lost in a tropical rainforest. My love affair with the tropics began at age 19, when I jetted off to Ecuador for a summer paid for with my saved-up … Continued

EartherConservation

How a Winter With Elk Changed My Life

Before Kanye slapped an iPhone shot of the Tetons on his new album, but after we ruined Niagara Falls, in part prompting the creation of an entire system of protected federal land, I spent a winter in Jackson, Wyoming working under what I can safely say is the best job title I’ll ever have: sleigh … Continued

EartherConservation

More Shipping in the Arctic Is Bad News for Narwhals

The Northwest Passage—the fabled maritime shortcut from the Bering Straight to the eastern Canadian Arctic—is increasingly becoming a real thing as climate change causes an Arctic meltdown. But as these icy waters become more and more navigable, the marine mammals who call them home face new threats. A study published Monday in the Proceedings of … Continued

EartherConservation

North America’s Largest Coral Reef Is No Longer in Danger

A couple weeks ago, I met some corals for the first time off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. It was pretty rad. Now, I have a newfound appreciation for the animal and any good news about it. So here’s some: The Belize Barrier Reef is no longer on the World Heritage Committee’s List of World … Continued

EartherConservation

Scientists Have Invented Craigslist For Shark Livers

In order to save endangered species, biologists are often forced to take a step that feels counterproductive: sacrificing wild specimens for study. Now, a pair of grad students have devised a virtual tissue bank that could help reduce the number of rare plants and animals killed in the name of science. Tens of millions of … Continued

EartherConservation

Forest Fires and Dank Weed Are Pushing These Cuties Toward Extinction

The Humboldt marten was once a denizen of vast swaths of old growth forests in Northern California and Southern Oregon. But rampant logging has shrunken its habitat, pushing the objectively adorable little predator into small isolated populations and amplifying other threats, like cannabis growth and wildfires. On Tuesday, conservation groups petitioned Oregon for both state … Continued

EartherConservation

Tropical Forests Were Lost at a Near-Record Rate in 2017

Tropical forests had a pretty shitty year in 2017. They were battered by hurricanes, lit up by wildfires, and logged over. All told, 39 million acres of tropical tree cover disappeared in 2017, marking the second largest annual decline in tree cover in the tropics on record. The finding that a Bangladesh-sized hunk of forest … Continued

EartherConservation

Wow, Americans Are Actually Getting Better at Conserving Something

It’s not every day we hear Americans are doing an okay job on the conservation front, but that appears to be the case when it comes to water usage. A new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report finds U.S. water consumption is at its lowest level in more than 45 years. Americans withdrew 322 billion gallons … Continued

EartherConservation

Feral Cats Are Slaughtering Australia’s Reptiles

Feral cats are an ecological scourge, wreaking havoc on wild mammal, bird, and reptile populations. That doesn’t make the impact of these rogue floof monsters on Australia’s reptile population any less astonishing, though. Every year, feral felines kill some 466 million reptiles in Australia’s natural ecosystems, according to a new paper in Wildlife Research. When … Continued

ScienceBiology

Baby Giant Manta Rays Grow up Together in This Newly Discovered Nursery

Marine biologist Joshua Stewart was scuba diving in the Gulf of Mexico when he spotted a baby manta ray—an unexpected find, given that juveniles are extremely rare and seldom observed by humans. After analyzing other divers’ juvenile sightings, he and his colleagues determined a specific section of the Gulf to be a nursery for oceanic … Continued

EartherConservation

First Manta Ray Nursery Ever Discovered Shows Marine Protected Areas Matter

Manta rays are among the most charismatic undersea megafauna, but there’s still a lot we don’t know these flat, ginormous sea-dogs. Now, in trying to understand how their populations are connected in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists have made a wild discovery. In Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, which sits about 110 miles southeast … Continued

EartherEarth Science

Snapchat’s New Coral Lenses Transport You Under the Sea

Snapchat lenses might be considered “fun”—the collection of augmented reality animations you can add to your real-world snap includes a llama falling over and a head-banging cockatoo—but rarely do we think of them as educational. A team of animators is now trying to change that with a new set of lenses that raise awareness about … Continued

EartherConservation

You Need These Award-Winning Nature Photos Right Now

Amid the toxic wasteland that is daily life, it’s important to step back and remember our world is still a place of wonder. And so I implore you to take a moment and do that with the winners of the Nature Conservancy’s annual photo contest. This year’s contest attracted a record-breaking 57,489 photographs taken by … Continued

Tech NewsNews

A Paper Straw Factory Is Opening Up in Britain Before a Planned UK Single-Use Plastics Ban

The first paper straw factory in the “last several decades” in Britain is planning to launch in Wales as fast-food chains prepare for a planned ban on single-use plastic products throughout the UK, the Guardian reported, with some chains already preparing their own plans to phase out plastic in favor of paper. The plant, run … Continued

EartherConservation

Canadian Oil Pipeline Could Drive Famous Puget Sound Whales to Extinction

Orcas are one of the Pacific Northwest’s most iconic creatures. But despite their beloved status, the local resident population known as the Southern Resident killer whales are critically endangered, with just 75 known animals left. Now, advocates worry the Trudeau government’s plan to purchase the Trans Mountain Expansion Project may push the whales to the … Continued

EartherConservation

Five New Snail-Slurping Snakes Discovered in Ecuador

Ecuador has five new species of snake, described by science for the first time. But these critters aren’t just any rainforest snakes: the new species have a diet that’s exceptionally weird, eating almost nothing but soft, gooey prey like snails and slugs. The researchers who found them also took the unusual step of auctioning the … Continued

EartherConservation

Scientists Call For Action to Prevent Right Whales’ Extinction

After a year with at least 17 deaths and a dismal breeding season, things are looking bleak for the North Atlantic right whale, one of the world’s most endangered large whales. The whales’ food is moving north and so are the gentle giants, into waters rife with fishing industry activity. According to a new paper … Continued

EartherConservation

Something Is Killing the World’s Oldest Baobabs

The largest baobabs have largely stood alone, bearing witness to history. Radiocarbon dating shows the oldest of these stout-trunked savannah trees have lived for upwards of 2,500 years, surviving the birth of Jesus, the Renaissance, two world wars, and the internet. But they may have met their match in climate change. A new paper published … Continued

EartherConservation

Madagascar’s Toxic Toad Invasion Is Worse Than We Realized

Madagascar has an invasive toad problem, and new research suggests that fears about its ecological consequences are well-deserved. Almost every predator native to the island is likely sensitive to the toads’ dangerous toxins. Asian common toads (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) were only recently introduced to Madagascar. They first turned up at the eastern port city of Toamasina … Continued