environment

Why Did Obama Make Those Tornadoes? Ask the Tornado Truthers!

Ken Layne · 05/21/13 01:24PM

If our planet's increasingly extreme weather isn't caused by man-made climate change, then it stands to reason that it's actually caused by man-made supervillains using government technology to take American Freedoms with superstorms like Monday's mile-wide monster tornadoes.

Manatees Are Dying Off, and Florida Is Determined to Speed it Up

Adam Weinstein · 05/03/13 10:30AM

Who hates manatees? Sea cows, mermaids, whatever you want to call them—these massive, slow, people-loving warm-water swimmers are naturally adorable and devoid of natural enemies. But hundreds have died already this year, and deregulating Florida lawmakers could doom the rest today.

Tom Scocca · 03/29/13 08:51AM

The overworked and poisoned bee slaves that pollinate the almonds for your vegan milk are still dying en masse.

Did Cocktail Snobs Help Destroy an Antarctic Glacier?

Ryan Tate · 02/02/12 04:43PM

The Antarctic region is losing its glaciers to global warming, but now comes evidence humans are helping erode the ice masses in a more direct way: Chilean authorities arrested an entrepreneur for making off with five and a half tons of the Jorge Montt glacier in Patagonia.

Climategate Hacker Strikes Again

John Cook · 11/23/11 03:16PM

The person or persons behind the so-called "Climategate" email hack two years ago are at it again: A second trove of roughly 5,000 emails to and from climate researchers at Norwich, England's East Anglia University has popped up on the internet.

Obama Delays Decision on Filthy Tar Sands Pipeline

Jim Newell · 11/10/11 05:17PM

Lefty protesters have scored another (temporary) victory: The Obama administration has decided to delay its decision on building the Keystone XL pipeline until, most likely, after the next election.

Upside Down Rhino Was the Last of Its Kind

Seth Abramovitch · 11/10/11 01:42AM

We all gasped in amazement at photos of a black rhinoceros being airlifted upside down to an area of South Africa where it stood a better chance at reproducing. Inconceivably, a new report suggests there's no other rhinos for it to reproduce with.

New Zealand's Penguins in Dire Need of Fabulous Knits

Seth Abramovitch · 10/19/11 11:03PM

The Taurunga oil spill off the coast of New Zealand unleashed 2,500 barrels of heavy fuel into a fragile ecosystem, coating thousands of local seabirds in oil. This puts many of them — particularly the mind-meltingly adorable Little Blue Penguin — at serious risk of freezing and/or being poisoned to death. We know, we know. After today's news from Ohio, there's only so much animal suffering you can take. But you can actually help, particularly if you know how to knit.

The Poop-Powered Toilet Bike of Japan

Maureen O'Connor · 10/06/11 04:05PM

Japanese toilet maker Toto has invented the world's first Toilet Bike, which converts human poop "harvested directly from the driver" into biogas, Treehugger reports.* The seat is a toilet, so if you ride it with your pants down, you could theoretically defecate while you ride, thereby fueling it.

Global Warming Could Make the World's Animals Smaller

Lauri Apple · 09/28/11 06:57AM

Do you sometimes wish you could shrink your pet crocodile just a little, to make it less frightening and threatening to your family's safety? Sadly, you'll have to make do with your oversized pet for now, but the Americans of the future (if there is a future, ha!) might enjoy smaller crocodiles and other cold-blooded pets thanks to global warming (which isn't actually real).

Obama Takes Green Initiative, Snatches Inhalers Out of Asthmatics' Hands

Seth Abramovitch · 09/22/11 11:27PM

The Obama administration may have kneed environmentalists in the nuts with its decision to delay a policy rehaul on air quality standards until 2013. But that doesn't mean that measures aren't being taken to protect what's left of the atmosphere. That's right, folks: The U.S. government is rolling up its sleeves and taking on the real enemy. No, not oil and coal processing plants, but rather the children who had the bad luck to grow up living near them, and face of lifetime of wheezing for doing so. Target: asthma inhalers!

Scientist 'Gobsmacked' At Disappearance of Major Greenland Glacier

Seth Abramovitch · 09/08/11 01:12AM

The great Texas Governor Rick Perry has smartly aligned himself with Galileo Galilei, that Renaissance maverick who famously took on the scourge known as "the scientific community." And we could surely use Galileo's science-debunking savvy now more than ever, huh, Rick? What with Dr. Alun Hubbard — who purports to be a "leading glaciologist" (whatever THAT is) — claiming that Greenland's Petermann Glacier has all but melted away faster than anyone could ever have predicted.