Brian Kahn, Author at Gizmodo

There’s Now a National Campaign to Oust EPA Head Scott Pruitt

To say Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt doesn’t have many fans in the environmental justice, conservation, or climate communities is an understatement. On Wednesday, ten major environmental groups announced they’re totally done with Pruitt by launching a coordinated campaign to oust him under the monicker of #BootPruitt. It includes high-profile opinion pieces and projecting…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn

Americans’ Views on Global Warming Are a Hot Mess

There’s been a partisan split on climate change among Americans for a while now. But a new Gallup poll shows that the gap is growing. At the same time, Americans (those who believe in climate change, at least) have never been more sure global warming will pose a risk in the near(ish) future. All this…

Climate Change Brian Kahn

National Parks Are About to Get a Bunch of Birds They Didn’t Ask For

Acadia National Park is warbler heaven. During the summer, you can hear everything from the rising call of the black-throated blue warbler to the tinkling bell-like call of the black-and-white warbler. Keep your eyes on the underbrush for tell-tale the yellow breast of the Canada warbler, or heavy thickets for the mourning warbler. In all,…

Conservation Brian Kahn

Oil Companies Conveniently Think Climate Science Stopped in 2013

Good news! Oil companies are woke to the reality of climate change. There’s just one small hitch. They only care about outdated science that serves their agenda of not paying billions to fix the mess they helped create. So it went at the climate science trial on Wednesday in a San Francisco courtroom. Well, more…

Climate Change Brian Kahn

The Melting Arctic Is Messing With Shipping

Arctic sea ice is like a living, breathing organism. Each winter, it inhales cold air and causes a freeze up, then in the summer, it exhales a breath of older sea ice from the high Arctic into the seas on its southern edge. New research shows that the region is starting to hyperventilate, though. Warming…

Climate Change Brian Kahn

Six Months After Maria, It’s Clear Puerto Rico’s Terrible Grid Will Be a Lasting Legacy

It’s been six months since Hurricane Maria tore apart Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Island’s electrical grids and turned life on the islands upside down. In those six months, murders surged, the U.S. government continually bungled the response, more than 135,000 residents left the island for the mainland, and we still don’t know how…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn

Yao Ming Loved Sudan the Rhino, Too

The death of Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, has Earther’s staff really bummed. His death at age 45 was a major loss for the conservation community and the fate of his species now rests on in vitro fertilization. But we’re far from the only Sudan admirers. Notable enormous human and former NBA player…

Conservation Brian Kahn

People Are Already Evacuating as California’s Storm of the Year Approaches

Turns out the East Coast doesn’t have a lock on butt weather. A Pineapple Express storm will mainline tropical moisture into Southern California starting on Tuesday. Up to ten inches of rain could fall this week, but this is no regular March Miracle. The deluge could trigger mudslides on the parched and charred slopes left…

Earth Science Brian Kahn

There’s Another Nor’easter Coming Because This Is Our Life Now

I want to be writing this as little as you want to be reading it: We’re in for another nor’easter this week. If you live in the Northeast, you’re surely sick of the snow. If live anywhere else, you’re surely sick of hearing about it. And yet here we are, with a fourth nor’easter lining…

Earth Science Brian Kahn

Australia Had Itself a Weekend of Wild Weather

The Land Down Under was just a plague of locusts short of going full biblical this weekend. Unusual heat, destructive fires, a raging tropical cyclone, and powerful winds all swept across Australia in the span of 48 hours. Oh, and it snowed in Tasmania. The weird weather was the result of an active trough of…

Earth Science Brian Kahn

The Battle Over Canada’s Most Controversial Pipeline Is Heating Up

BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA—Led by a coalition of First Nations tribes, thousands of protestors took to the streets on Saturday in Canada’s latest pipeline battle. The fight is over the 715-mile Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which would allow energy company Kinder Morgan to send 890,000 barrels—nearly three times its current capacity—of diluted bitumen oil from Alberta’s…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn

God’s Reps Are Not Into Offshore Drilling

Since its January roll out, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s offshore drilling plan has come under fire from all quarters. First Florida Governor Rick Scott asked for a waiver. Then other governors jumped on board. Now the good Lord has weighed in through earthly representatives to register opposition to the Interior Department’s plans to drill large…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn

Future Bay Area Flooding Could Be Even Worse Than We Thought

If you think the housing crunch is bad in the Bay Area now, just wait. New findings show that more land is sinking into San Francisco Bay than previously thought. Factoring that along with sea level rise projections means even more real estate in harm’s way. The research, published in Science Advances on Wednesday, uses…

Earth Science Brian Kahn

It’s Thundersnowing

Thundersnow, folks. It’s happening. As Wednesday’s nor’easter cranked up and pushed into the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, rumbles of thunder rang out as flakes flew. It’s one of the most wonderful meteorological phenomena out there, and you should count yourself lucky if you got to experience it Wednesday afternoon (I know I did). Meteorologists have…

Earth Science Brian Kahn

This New AMNH Exhibit Takes You Under the Sea and You Won’t Want to Come Up for Air

NEW YORK—From the moment you step from the cacophonous, bright halls of the American Natural History Museum into its new ocean exhibit, it’s clear how disorienting life under the sea is. The door to Unseen Oceans, a new exhibit, opens onto a foyer awash in digital waves projected on the floor. You literally have to…

Conservation Brian Kahn

America’s Next Big Climate March Will Be Led by Teens

Whether it’s increasing gun violence or rising inequality, leaders are failing future generations. That’s no more true than with climate change, basically the biggest intergenerational debt that’s ever been passed on. That debt has inspired a group of teenagers across the country to plan a march on Washington, D.C. on July 21 to kickstart a…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn

A Wave of Dead Sea Creatures Has Turned England’s Beaches Into a Horror Show

Pour one out for the sea creatures along the English coast. First, cold waters ushered in by the “Beast from the East” storm last week weakened aquatic life. Then stormy weather finished them off, turning North Sea beaches into a scene out of an aquatic Dunkirk. Beachgoers reported ankle-deep pileups of dead starfish, crabs, and…

Conservation Brian Kahn

Cool, Cool; Another Nor’easter Is Going to Hit the East Coast This Week

Coastal communities in Massachusetts are still cleaning up from last week’s potent nor’easter. They may want to put those efforts on hold, though. Another storm is set to impact the region by midweek. The coastal flooding won’t be nearly as bad, but colder air means snow is expected to pile up across the Mid-Atlantic and…

Earth Science Brian Kahn

The Nor’easter Is as Ferocious as Advertised

Rain, snow, wind, flooding, waves, vomit. This nor’easter has it all, and the worst is yet to come. Winds have already topped out above hurricane force along Cape Cod. The most powerful gusts topped out at 78 mph in Wellfleet out near the tip of the Cape. According to local meteorologist Eric Fisher, these winds…

Earth Science Brian Kahn

Report: ‘Pretty Much Every One Threw Up’ on a Flight Through the Nor’easter

Flying in the nor’easter: maybe don’t do it. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, everyone barfed on a flight out of Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. earlier today. Even the pilots were on the brink of puking. This is even more nightmarish than snakes on a plane. The storm that’s bringing near-record…

Earth Science Brian Kahn

Brian Kahn

There’s Now a National Campaign to Oust EPA Head Scott Pruitt

Americans’ Views on Global Warming Are a Hot Mess

National Parks Are About to Get a Bunch of Birds They Didn’t Ask For

Oil Companies Conveniently Think Climate Science Stopped in 2013

The Melting Arctic Is Messing With Shipping

Six Months After Maria, It’s Clear Puerto Rico’s Terrible Grid Will Be a Lasting Legacy

Yao Ming Loved Sudan the Rhino, Too

People Are Already Evacuating as California’s Storm of the Year Approaches

There’s Another Nor’easter Coming Because This Is Our Life Now

Australia Had Itself a Weekend of Wild Weather

The Battle Over Canada’s Most Controversial Pipeline Is Heating Up

God’s Reps Are Not Into Offshore Drilling

Future Bay Area Flooding Could Be Even Worse Than We Thought

It’s Thundersnowing

This New AMNH Exhibit Takes You Under the Sea and You Won’t Want to Come Up for Air

America’s Next Big Climate March Will Be Led by Teens

A Wave of Dead Sea Creatures Has Turned England’s Beaches Into a Horror Show

Cool, Cool; Another Nor’easter Is Going to Hit the East Coast This Week

The Nor’easter Is as Ferocious as Advertised

Report: ‘Pretty Much Every One Threw Up’ on a Flight Through the Nor’easter

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia Adds ‘Succulent Chinese Meal’ Guy

Feds Sniffing Around Polymarket After Suspicious Bets

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Don’t Get Too Attached to Any AI App

‘Paradise’ Writer Teases What’s Coming in Season 3 After That Huge Twist

Trump’s New White House App Is Mildly Concerning and Weird for a Lot of Reasons

Bloodsucking Ticks Can Survive Inside Your Home Longer Than You Might Think

The Best New Toys of March 2026

Judge Denies Liking LinkedIn Post Critical of Elon Musk But Reassigns His Cases Anyway

Amazon Slashes 50% Off Keurig K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker, Now a Budget Alternative to Breville and Nespresso Espresso Machines

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets