Dead Whales Once Saved Polar Bears From Climate Change, But Not This Time
Paul Zinken/picture alliance via Getty Images Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. This story was originally published by Atlas Obscura. It appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Polar bears need ice, because ice leads them to seals, and seals are their favorite. But as soon as 2040, the warming Arctic is going to…
This Amazing True-Crime Story Involves Bees, Thieves, and Almonds
Honeybees return to a hive at an apiary in California’s Central Valley. Bees have become big business in California, as they are an essential ingredient in the state’s yearly almond harvest.Paul Kuroda for Reveal Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. This story was originally published by the Reveal. It appears here as part of…
The Internet Is in Love With These Adorable Fat Bears
Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. At Katmai National Park in Alaska, the bears are getting fat. Really fat. Fat helps brown bears get through hibernation, which can lasts up to six months. “Over the course of winter hibernation in the den, a bear could lose up to one third of…
A New Study Shows How Mushrooms Could Save Bees. Yes, Mushrooms.
Mint/ZUMA Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. Over the past decade, the honeybee story has been the stuff of science fiction. Back in 2006, beekeepers first noticed their honeybees were mysteriously dying off in huge numbers, with no clear cause. For some, a whopping 30 to 90 percent of their colonies were…
Study: 40 Years After They Were Banned, These Toxic Chemicals Are Poised to Wipe Out Killer Whales
Gerard Lacz Images/ZUMA Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. In January 2016, a 20-year-old killer whale known as “Lulu” washed up dead on the shores of Scotland after getting caught in rope. While her grisly death was likely directly caused by the ropes, toxicologists later reported she had extraordinarily high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs—chemicals…
Even Before Florence’s Floods, North Carolina’s Factory Farms Were Deadly to Their Neighbors
Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. While Hurricane Florence’s floodwaters rise on North Carolina’s coastal plane, inundating massive hog and poultry farms, the question arises: Why on earth would the meat industry alight upon such flood-prone territory in the first place? After all, last week’s mega-storm comes hot on the heels of…