Congress Wants to Ban the Shark Fin Trade, But Conservationists Say It Could Backfire
In recent decades, many shark populations have been decimated by overfishing. Often this is the result of those looking to make a buck off the gruesome process of shark finning—which involves bringing a shark on board a boat, slicing off its fins, and tossing it back into the sea and to certain death. But according…
What America’s First Offshore Wind Farm Can Teach Us About Saving Birds
After a long era of reckless fossil fuel energy development, humans are finally learning how to harness cleaner resources like wind and solar. However, just as their forebears, solar and wind projects can pose threats to local ecosystems. Researchers at the the Block Island wind farm—the United States’ first offshore wind farm, which started producing…
Solar Developers are Transforming Vast Energy Farms Into Pollinator Habitats
The wildflowers tickling the underside of solar panels on a site in Ramsey, Minnesota, are not just for decoration. They represent a new trend in photovoltaics: seeding industrial-sized solar power installations with native, pollinator-friendly plants, instead of using gravel or grass. Not only are the fields beautiful, but solar planners say the flowers lower maintenance…
How Camera Traps Are Revealing a Rich, Hidden World of Wildlife
The jaguar sits in profile, glowing like a ghost in the night vision footage. Insects croak and chirp around him, but his eyes are laser-focused on his surroundings—looking for prey, cautious of human predators. When he blinks and turns his head, it’s as though a rumor has come to life. And then the big cat…
Listen to the Haunting Sounds of Antarctica’s Disintegrating Ice Sheets
Climate change is existentially terrifying and also frustratingly abstract—a combination that makes it really hard for many people to connect with in a personal way, as one does with say, a work of art. Enter the Chicago-based duo Luftwerk—Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero—who have bridged that disconnect with their latest public art installation, White Wanderer,…