Here’s How NYC Is Storm-Proofing Its Parks
Vistiors at the Brooklyn Bridge ParkMary Altaffer/AP This story was originally published by CityLab and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. New York City’s parks are green oases amid glass, concrete, and steel. But though they feel transportive, they’re often not far away from the city’s edge—and particularly those parts of the city’s silhouette that are…
Trump’s War on the Environment Is a Civil Rights Emergency
Children play basketball in Port Arthur, Tex. neighborhoodDavid Goldman/AP This story was originally published by The Guardian and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The Trump administration’s dismantling of environmental regulations has intensified a growing civil rights battle over the deadly burden of pollution on minorities and low-income people. Black, Latino, and disadvantaged people have…
2 Million Stunning Images of Earth’s Biodiversity Are Now Available for Free
This story was originally published by Slate and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. There are thought to be about 10 million distinct species of plants and animals on Earth. That number is incomprehensibly large, not least because most species are still undiscovered. But now the Biodiversity Heritage Library, an open-access repository for some of the most stunning…
Scientists Are Desperately Trying to Figure Out How Long We Have Until “Doomsday Glaciers” Melt
The Getz Ice Shelf in West AntarcticaNASA/Jeremy Harbeck This story was originally published by Grist appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. In a remote region of Antarctica known as Pine Island Bay, 2,500 miles from the tip of South America, two glaciers hold human civilization hostage. Stretching across a frozen plain more than 150 miles long,…
The Turkey Industry Is Very Thankful for Donald Trump
Ron Sachs/CNP/Zuma In keeping with a longstanding pre-Thanksgiving presidential tradition, President Trump on Tuesday spared the lives of two turkeys—Wishbone and Drumstick. “I have been very active in overturning a number of executive actions by my predecessor,” he said. “However, I have been informed by the White House Counsel’s Office that Tater and Tot’s [Obama-era]…
This Isn’t Over Yet. The Keystone Pipeline Can Still Be Stopped.
Oliver Contreras/ZUMA The Nebraska Public Service Commission removed a major regulatory roadblock to the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline on Monday. Though that might seem like the final judgement in the nine-year battle waged by the US environmental movement against it, nothing about the fate of the once-dead, then-revived pipeline has ever been certain. Even though the commission…