Earther

Don’t Get Too Excited Over Japan’s New ‘Semi-Infinite’ Rare Earth Stash

Modern technology wouldn’t work without trace amounts of bizarrely-named metals that occupy obscure positions on the periodic table. They’re called rare earths, but there’s a near-limitless supply on the ocean floor—if only we could access it. This week, Japanese scientists are reigniting hopes that we’ll be able to soon, but major hurdles remain. In 2013, deep…

Earth Science Maddie Stone Apr 12

Hurricane Maria Caused the Second-Longest Blackout Ever

As the sun came up on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands after Hurricane Maria, it was clear life would be forever different. Weak, old electric grids reliant on outdated infrastructure were basically wiped out by Category 4 winds, and the replacement process dragged on to the point that it became the worst blackout…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn Apr 12

Satellites Show How Major Reservoirs Are Drying Up Around the World

Climate change could make drought a way of life in certain parts of the world. Though the prospect of “Day Zero” in Cape Town is being staved off, it’s far from the only city to suffer through a water crisis right now. In a new report, the World Resources Institute (WRI) highlighted four other regions…

Climate Change Brian Kahn Apr 12

The War Against Grizzly Bears Is Now a Fight to Save Them

Late last month, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke left Northwest wildlife advocates pleasantly surprised when he reignited an environmental impact study on the reintroduction of grizzly bears into Washington’s North Cascades National Park, putting his enthusiastic support behind the regional recovery of what he termed “the great bear.” Resuming the project is, frankly, a…

Conservation Jake Buehler Apr 12

Here Are Some Ideas For Scott Pruitt’s Challenge Coin

Noted scandal magnet and fearful Environmental Protection Agency leader Scott Pruitt reportedly wants to change his agency’s challenge coin—a souvenir that cabinet members and other high-ranking officials make to give out for special occasions and to guests. Pruitt would like the new EPA challenge coin to be bigger and be, in the words of the…

Environmental Justice Earther Staff Apr 11

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…

Conservation Yessenia Funes Apr 11

The EPA Is Finally Cleaning Up a Superfund Site Damaged by Hurricane Harvey

When Hurricane Harvey hit Houston last August, the area’s most polluted sites immediately became vulnerable. Now, the Environmental Protection Agency is finally starting to clean up the first of 13 Superfund sites damaged and flooded by the storm. The EPA announced Tuesday it’s reached an agreement with the San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund’s former…

Environmental Justice Yessenia Funes Apr 11

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…

Conservation Maddie Stone Apr 11

So, About Apple’s 100 Percent Renewable Energy Announcement

Apple made some huge waves this week when it announced the company is now powered 100 percent renewably. Good, great. Now your iPhone doubles as a virtue signal. Except there’s just one little issue. Apple the company runs on 100 percent renewable energy. The subcontractors Apple works with throughout its supply chain do not. This…

Energy Brian Kahn Apr 11

Chemtrails Aren’t the Geoengineering Debate We Should Be Having (Because They Aren’t Real)

Solar geoengineering is controversial, and for good reason. It describes a set of technologies that seeks to reflect a small fraction of sunlight back into space to cool the planet. The most prominent such technology involves deliberately injecting tiny reflective particles into the stratosphere. There’s a serious debate worth having, both on the science and…

Climate Change Gernot Wagner Apr 11

Even the EPA Can’t Defend Scott Pruitt’s Expensive Travel and Security

Turns out Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt may not have needed to travel in luxury to escape threats, according to, uh, the EPA. This is awkward! Two Senate Democrats released a letter on Tuesday contradicting the EPA administrator’s claim that he needed round-the-clock security and first class seats because he had received death threats,…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn Apr 10

This ‘Spiritual, Mythical, Fictional’ Art Exhibit Explores Our Connection to the Earth

Sometimes, the silence of a piece of art can leave your mind running—in a good way. Other times, you need some music, some prose, or some sound. Art lovers can meet all these needs at the Whitney Museum’s new “Between the Waters” exhibit, which explores the (often fraught) relationship between land and people. The best…

Environmental Justice Yessenia Funes Apr 10

Just How Big Is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is greater than we ever thought. And by greater, I mean worse. According to research published last month, it’s “increasing exponentially and at a faster rate than in surrounding waters.” The slurry of trash and seawater loosely held together by Pacific currents spans 617,762 square miles, roughly twice the size…

Conservation Brian Kahn Apr 10

Antarctica Is Getting Snowier

The world’s largest hunk of ice, the Antarctic ice sheet, holds enough frozen water to put cities like Miami several hundred feet under. How much Antarctica shrinks in the future will depend on the balance between what’s melting away, and what’s being added when it snows. A new study published in the journal Climate of…

Earth Science Maddie Stone Apr 9

Whoops, That Keystone Pipeline Spill Was Twice as Big as Everyone Thought

Remember that huge Keystone pipeline spill in South Dakota last year? Well, it turns out it was about twice as big as folks originally thought. Here’s a quick video we made about the incident involving Keystone (not to be confused with Keystone XL, which still isn’t constructed) back in November: That video is now outdated…

Environmental Justice Yessenia Funes Apr 9

No More Free Water Bottles For Flint Residents

If residents in Flint, Michigan, need some bottled water, they can’t rely on the state anymore. The city of nearly 100,000 is still reeling—nearly four years later—from a crisis that left residents (and their children) exposed to dangerous levels of lead in their water supply. However, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality announced Friday everything…

Environmental Justice Yessenia Funes Apr 9

Activists Score a Victory as Canada’s Biggest Pipeline Project Goes on Hold

After weeks of intense opposition, Kinder Morgan announced it was halting all non-essential work on its Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion on Sunday. The move throws one of Canada’s biggest fossil fuel infrastructure projects into doubt, with the company setting May 31 as a deadline to resolve issues around the project. If that deadline isn’t met,…

Environmental Justice Brian Kahn Apr 9

The Colombian Amazon Is Now a ‘Person’, and You Can Thank Actual People

The Colombian Amazon is now legally a person, and a group of Colombian youth—ages 6 to 26—made it happen. Camila Bustos is one of them. She was in high school when she realized the severity of climate change. Now, Bustos is 25 and doing legal research for Dejusticia, an international human rights organization that’s made…

Environmental Justice Yessenia Funes Apr 9

Millennials Can’t Buy Homes, But Can They Buy That the Earth Is Flat?

Hey, there’s another reason to shake our collective heads at everyone’s favorite generational punching bag. A recently-published YouGov poll that surveyed 8,215 adults online found that a only two-thirds of young millennials, aged 18-24, are totally sure the Earth is round. Look, I love shitting on millennials to compensate for my fear of growing old…

Earth Science Brian Kahn Apr 6

Let’s Meet Scott Pruitt’s Potential Replacements

Scott Pruitt has racked up an immense number of scandals in his tenure leading the Environmental Protection Agency. But they exploded like a supernova this week, leading to questions of if he will keep his job. While he’s certainly in better standing than other administration officials canned in recent weeks, Pruitt has also done himself…

Climate Change Brian Kahn Apr 6

Don’t Get Too Excited Over Japan’s New ‘Semi-Infinite’ Rare Earth Stash

Hurricane Maria Caused the Second-Longest Blackout Ever

Satellites Show How Major Reservoirs Are Drying Up Around the World

The War Against Grizzly Bears Is Now a Fight to Save Them

Here Are Some Ideas For Scott Pruitt’s Challenge Coin

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

The EPA Is Finally Cleaning Up a Superfund Site Damaged by Hurricane Harvey

Bad News For Fans of the Endangered Species Act

So, About Apple’s 100 Percent Renewable Energy Announcement

Chemtrails Aren’t the Geoengineering Debate We Should Be Having (Because They Aren’t Real)

Even the EPA Can’t Defend Scott Pruitt’s Expensive Travel and Security

This ‘Spiritual, Mythical, Fictional’ Art Exhibit Explores Our Connection to the Earth

Just How Big Is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

Antarctica Is Getting Snowier

Whoops, That Keystone Pipeline Spill Was Twice as Big as Everyone Thought

No More Free Water Bottles For Flint Residents

Activists Score a Victory as Canada’s Biggest Pipeline Project Goes on Hold

The Colombian Amazon Is Now a ‘Person’, and You Can Thank Actual People

Millennials Can’t Buy Homes, But Can They Buy That the Earth Is Flat?

Let’s Meet Scott Pruitt’s Potential Replacements

FCC Exempts Netgear from Foreign-Made Router Ban for Some Reason

Jamie Dornan Is Your New Aragorn in ‘The Hunt for Gollum’

Trump’s Fed Pick Is Knee Deep in Tech and Crypto Investments

The First Trailer for ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Takes Terror Stateside

The Trump Phone Still Looks Like Total Trash

‘Masters of the Universe’ Really, Really Wants to Be the Next ‘Barbie’

Samsung’s Micro RGB TVs Provide So Much Color It May Be Too Much

The Crypto Bros Want to Get Their Hands on Anthropic’s ‘Super Dangerous’ Model

Sony Inzone H6 Air Review: A Perfect Case for Open-Back Gaming Headsets

Anker’s EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages

The Soundboks Mix Is Going to Make You the Most Popular Guy at the Park

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

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