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Earther
There May Be a Lot More Lead-Contaminated Candy in Stores Than We Realized
You might want to wait on that candy bar. A new study out of California has found that the state’s public health department issued more alerts for lead-contaminated candy than any other food-borne contaminant between 2001 and 2014. Of the 164 California Department of Public Health food contamination alerts issued over 14 years, 42 percent … Continued
By Ari Phillips -
Earther
Your Good Boy Can Be an Eco-Friendly Good Boy
Dogs and cats are the best and I just can’t get enough of them. For months, my Facebook feed has been chock full of posts from every cat and dog-oriented page you could possibly dream up. It’s been a great way to pretend that the world isn’t burning down around us! There’s no better coping … Continued
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Earther
Why Environmentalists Should Be Furious About Trumpcare
Healthcare is set to change dramatically under President Donald Trump. While he couldn’t get the Affordable Care Act repealed or replaced, he found a way to undermine it instead. Hello, Trumpcare. On Oct. 12, the president issued an executive order to help promote “healthcare choice and competition.” In reality, this order will lead to disastrous … Continued
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EartherEnvironmental Justice
Energy Company Accuses Anti-Pipeline Video Game of Eco-Terrorism
A video game has got an energy industry group riled up and accusing the game’s creators of eco-terrorism. “Thunderbird Strike” is a Windows PC game that allows players to take the form of a thunderbird. The mythological creature, rooted in indigenous culture, flies from the Alberta’s tar sands to the Great Lakes, where environmentalists are … Continued
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Earther
Nurses Mobilize to Lead the Fight Against Climate Change
Climate change and global health are inextricably woven together. And as climate change worsens health problems around the world, nurses are often left to pick up the pieces in hospitals and clinics. And they are. But in addition to helping the victims of natural disasters today, nurses are thinking about how to protect the most … Continued
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Earther
Trump Plans to Lease a Staggering Amount of Alaskan Land to Oil Companies
As Congressional Republicans draft a tax bill that could open a portion of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife to drilling, the Trump administration is moving to aggressively expand fossil fuel production elsewhere in the state. On Wednesday, the Bureau of Land Management announced that in December, it will begin selling oil and gas leases on 900 … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Earther
Satellite Images Show the Horror That the Wine Country Fires Wrought on the Landscape
The wildfires have been mostly squelched in Northern California but the long road to recovery still stands ahead. New satellite imagery reveals just how far the damage extends from the destructive firestorm that rocked the region earlier this month. As of Wednesday, the fires were 93% contained according to CALFIRE, but they’ve left a heartbreaking … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
Earther
We’re Strangling the Planet With Roads
Throughout the Brazilian Amazon, more than 95% of deforestation occurs within a few miles of a road. If no roads were built through these areas, the ecosystems would be far more intact, and biodiversity would be more likely to thrive. But roads have been built—and disconcertingly, a lot more are going to be built. A … Continued
By Ari Phillips -
Earther
Puerto Rico’s Blackout Is Now the Worst in U.S. History
It’s been 36 days since Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico. Yet 74% of the island’s 3.4 million residents still don’t have power. According to a new analysis, this is now “a blackout without rival” in U.S. history. The island, along with the U.S. Virgin Islands, has lost a staggering 1.25 billion hours of electrical service, … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherConservation
How a Tiny Bird Unknown to Science Helped Protect a Vast Rainforest
Stepping into the Cordillera Azul is like traveling into a prehistoric time. A patchwork of mountain crests, ridges, slopes and valleys blanketed by cloud-covered canopies and ringed by dramatic rock escarpments, its forests hum with the songs of birds and frogs and the screeches of spider monkeys. The existence of this extraordinary Andean ecosystem is … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Earther
What the Hell Happened to the March for Science?
April 22nd was supposed to be a victory lap and the birth of a new movement. That day, the March for Science saw a million scientists and science lovers descend on Washington, D.C. and cities and hamlets around the world, the physical manifestation of a viral online campaign. It was the first time scientists had … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
Earther
Trump Wants to Open the Gulf to Oil Companies Weeks After a 16,000 Barrel Spill
The Gulf of Mexico will soon be open for the taking. Secretary Ryan Zinke announced on Tuesday that the Interior Department is proposing the largest oil and gas lease sale in U.S. history. In March 2018, nearly 77 million acres of federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico will go up for lease—an area that … Continued
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Earther
Polar Bears Drive Hundreds of Walruses Off Cliff in Siberian Bloodbath
Climate change is having all sorts of bizarre and terrifying consequences in Siberia. Outbreaks of zombie anthrax, massive methane blowouts, that sort of thing. But the latest freak incident—in which hundreds of walruses hauled out on a shoreline, before tumbling off a cliff in terror at the sight of approaching polar bears—reminds us how changes … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Earther
It Could Cost You a Shit Ton to Visit America’s Most Popular National Parks Next Summer
The National Park Service wants to raise peak-season entrance fees at 17 of its busiest national parks starting in 2018. According to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, who announced the proposal on Tuesday, the price hikes are needed to help improve aging infrastructure and facilities that are already overburdened by record numbers of … Continued
By Ari Phillips -
Earther
Heartbreaking Video Shows Island-Wide Damage to Puerto Rico From Hurricane Maria
Across the globe, people have heard about the damage Hurricane Maria caused in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean when it swept through the region a month ago, but few have actually witnessed it. Much of the island remains unreachable by land as bridges and roads remain blocked or inaccessible. The only option left is to … Continued
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Earther
The Ocean Could Swallow New York Sooner Than We Realized
Hurricane Sandy was a seminal event in New York—its floodwaters and destruction left an imprint on a generation. But the future of flooding in the city isn’t just storms. It’s storms combined with inexorable rise of seas if we continue polluting the atmosphere with carbon. New research published this week in the Proceedings of the … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
Earther
A New Bill Could Create Stronger Environmental Protections for People of Color
Low-income communities, communities of color, and indigenous peoples suffer disproportionately from pollution, but a bill introduced Monday by Sen. Cory Booker could solidify environmental protections for these groups—if it passes. With zero Republican sponsors, the Environmental Justice Act of 2017 feels like a long shot, but Booker is hopeful. “Many communities across the country are … Continued
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Earther
Tesla Just Installed a Solar Panel and Batteries For Puerto Rico’s Children’s Hospital
Tesla just took a major step in Puerto Rico, installing its first solar power system with storage at Hospital del Niño in San Juan. In a country where the power is still out for more than 2.5 million, doctors have performed surgery by cell phone light and the hum of diesel generators is a near … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherClimate Change
Geostorm’s Weather Control Tech Is Exceptionally Bogus, Scientists Explain
For a movie about a global weather apocalypse, Geostorm is disastrously boring, but its weather control technology deserves your brief attention. It is uniquely ridiculous! Sadly, the premise is more relevant than ever. In Geostorm, humanity never got its shit together to address global warming, but thankfully, scientists figured out how to build a network … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Earther
Congress Just Got a Harsh Reminder of How Much Climate Change is Going to Cost [Updated]
Back in November 2015, a Republican senator and a Democratic senator jointly requested a report on the costs and risks to the US government from climate change, to be completed by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO). Little did they know their report, which was released Tuesday and found that costs may rise to as … Continued
By Ari Phillips