Nature
ArchiveOur planet is still the sweet spot for human existence, but it won't be for long, Bill McKibben warns. We've polluted it drastically. More than 22 years ago, the writer foretold The End of Nature.
An agricultural revolution is in the works in Cuba, aided in part by the scientist and biodiversity researcher Humberto Ríos Labrada. The standard sugarcane monoculture has proven unsustainable, and Labrada saw an alternative: local farms thriving via pre-industrial farming techniques, such as crop…
President Obama began a drive today to both conserve more of America's wild lands, and get Americans to get outside and enjoy it more. It's called the Great Outdoors Initiative. Here is a full transcript of the President's remarks from the conference where…
Ray Zahab is back on the adventure scene. After completing his record run across Lake Baikal with Kevin Vallely to draw attention to the global clean-drinking-water crisis, Zahab will return to Tunisia. The first time around, he starred…
On Friday, President Obama will be speaking at a conference on the status of America's outdoors—addressing “the challenges, opportunities and innovations surrounding modern-day land conservation and the importance of reconnecting Americans and American families to the outdoors.” You can watch live Friday morning at 9 am. Eastern time, on the…
When it comes to training, the key is to find what works best for you. Whetherpreparing for a short-distance race or an endurance paddle, we focus on strengthening our bodies. As important as technique is, we believe physical and mental toughness is even more important. In preparing…
Prayer flags , worn by the wind, strung between trees just outside of Patagonia, Arizona (© Jay Graham / drr.net) Over the coming months, ϳԹ will be posting interviews with adventurers, environmentalists, filmmakers, and others conducted by Mountainfilm. Many of the icons appearing at this…
A unique adventure has launched this week from the Big Island of Hawaii. The dynamic duo of Morgan Hoesterey and Jenny Kalmbach–that's us in the photo above!–will stand-up paddleboard our way through the…
A cousin to the infamous Komodo Dragon has been recently discovered in the Philippines, according to wired.com. Though the reptile (named Varanus Bitatawa) …
Prayer flags , worn by the wind, strung between trees just outside of Patagonia, Arizona (© Jay Graham / drr.net) Over the coming months, ϳԹ will be posting interviews with adventurers, environmentalists, filmmakers, and others conducted by Mountainfilm. Many of the icons appearing at this…
By becoming the youngest person* one of the youngest people to ski to the North Pole, 15-year-old Parker Liautaud hopes to build a digital network of environmentally aware young people. He departed on April 2nd, and hopes others will follow his quest on…
Prayer flags , worn by the wind, strung between trees just outside of Patagonia, Arizona (© Jay Graham / drr.net) Over the coming months, ϳԹ will be posting interviews with adventurers, environmentalists, filmmakers, and others conducted by Mountainfilm. Many of the icons appearing at this…
Prayer flags , worn by the wind, strung between trees just outside of Patagonia, Arizona (© Jay Graham / drr.net) Over the coming months, ϳԹ will be posting interviews with adventurers, environmentalists, filmmakers, and others conducted by Mountainfilm. Many of the icons appearing at this…
Finally. After four years spent designing, re-designing and building a ship like no other, Eco-adventurer David de Rothschild, his crew, and 12,000 plastic bottles set sail on March 20, bound for Sydney, by way of the Eastern Garbage Patch and its vortex of plastic crap. The swirling mass…
Photograph by Kyle Dickman Environmentalists, supported by the U.S., have won a key victory in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, a 175-nation affair held for two weeks in Doha, Qatar. The…
Last Thursday, I had an early morning flight to San Francisco. I left my home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, without my morning coffee but remembered my reusable cup. (I’m patting my back right now, by the way.) The coffee shack at the airport told me if…
Over at The Cleanest Line, Patagonia's do-good blog, you can track the progress of team Rios Libres, a pack of writers (including Greg Childs), photographers, guides and general adventure types who are have traveled to South America in an effort…
Cruise ships and wildlife buses? The tourist staples miss the point of Alaska: It's the last real place to find an epic, crowd-free adventure on American soil. We've scoured the state for the best wilderness lodges, river trips, lonely highways, and DIY escapes. Bear mace not included.
I just returned from Thailand where I spent two weeks working with Trip Jennings, one of the athletes feature in this month’s ϳԹ Issue, on his Elephant Ivory Project. The 27-year-old filmmaker is…
It's a great week for the cycling community. Trifuel.com has reported that the League of American Bicyclists recently awarded TriSports.com with a Silver Level Bicycle Friendly Business (BGB) award. The League,which was created to promote more bike friendly businesses, is paving the…
Last spring, I decided to ride my bike to an event in a distant suburb of San Francisco. So I went to the Internets, plugged in my destination and, voila, my journey was charted. Except, it wasn’t. About 15 miles into the ride, I ran into a…
Prayer flags , worn by the wind, strung between trees just outside of Patagonia, Arizona (© Jay Graham / drr.net) Over the coming months, ϳԹ will be posting interviews with adventurers, environmentalists, filmmakers, and others conducted by Mountainfilm. Many of the icons appearing at this…
After some delay, the Obama administration has decided to back the international fishing ban on bluefin tuna, according to grist.org. Now viewed as a potential endangered species, the big blue fish is garnering support around the globe. Monaco intitially…
Scotland has rediscovered a rare bee called the Cuckoo Bumblebee after 50 years of absence, according to treehugger.com. The bee gets it's name from something called “stranger behavior.” It can neither collect pollen nor socialize in a typical hive manner. The reemergence of this bee…
With all eyes on Vancouver and the Winter Olympics, the Sierra Club is taking an opportunity to call attention to the environmentally destructive practice of oil sands mining. It has launched a campaign called Love Winter, Hate Oil Sands and partnered with three winter athletes–skier (and…
Between now and the end of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, athletes will receive a total of 1014 medals. All that bling represents a goodly amount of the Earth's minerals. But this year, and for the first time, a percentage of the metals used to forge…
The Richmond Olympic Oval, the arena for speed-skating at the Vancouver Olympics, is getting a thumbs up from athletes for its environmentally conscious design and its beauty, Reuters reports. The roof was made from…
The Center for Biological Diversity is distributing 100,000 free Endangered Species Condoms in all 50 states for Valentine's Day to underscore how unsustainable human population growth is driving species extinct at a cataclysmic rate,…
Ever wondered what a day in the life of a polar explorer is like? Watch the video above to see what Eric Larsen and his two traveling buddies do on a typical day trekking in Antarctica. Somehow, the guys find time and energy to…
The Wildlife Conservation Society estimates that there are less than 50 wild tigers left in China, according to Treehugger.com. Habitat destruction, limited food sources, and poaching have contributed to major decreases throughout Asia. Want to help? If your a millionaire you might be able rent a tiger or…
When a young woman is killed by coyotes on a busy trail in broad daylight, how worried should we be?
Q. What is the most powerful species? Wild File Salmon A. You mean like whether a wolverine could take down Nancy Pelosi? Yawn. Today's power animals are the ones bringing in dollars or holding up development. “Endangered species have this ability to crystallize, amplify, and resolve long-standing problems,” says Center…
Q. What is “dead pool?” A. Trouble, that's what. Dead pool is the level at which water can no longer be released from a reservoir. Take Lake Powell, on the Colorado River. Glen Canyon Dam's lowest turbines sit 210 feet below “full pool,” which is when the bathtub is…
The Federal Trade Commission sent letters to Target, Kmart, Wal-Mart, and 74 other retailers warning that rayon clothing should not be labeled as bamboo, according to Reuters. Rayon is made from the cellulose of any plant and it is often produced using harsh chemicals.
Portraits from photographer Michael Lavine of the next generation water conservationist.
Courtesy of Wikimedia E. coli's been the culprit for many a food poisoning, but it turns out the microbe's got some good uses, too. The company LS9, which bills itself as a “renewable petroleum company,” has just made a major breakthrough…
Courtesy of Flickr The West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide Ice Core drilling project, whose goal is to improve scientists understanding of climate change, has just finished pulling up about 75 percent…
By Mary Catherine O'Connor Headed for the hills this weekend? Feeling bad about wheeling up in your A4 Wagon with nothing but your gear and Learn Cantonese audio books? You're in luck: new ride-share and resort-bound bus services have been cropping up, connecting drivers with…
Courtesy of Flickr The U.S. Energy Department has put out a report stating that 20 percent of the electricity demand in homes and businesses in the eastern half of the country could be met with wind…
Wanna stop shark finning? Yao Ming does, too. For a donation of just $100, the organization Stop Shark Finning will put up a billboard in a high-traffic area of China that features Ming and a plea to stop…
Mountaintop removal mining is bad, right? Stephen Colbert doesn't think so. Listen to him argue with Dr. Margaret Palmer, the leading author of an article on the harmful effects of mountaintop removal that appeared in the latest issue of Science.
On December 29th, on the verge of the new decade, the skiing industry lost a legend. Bill Levitt, long-time mayor of Alta, Utah, and owner of the Alta Lodge, passed away after collapsing in the ski area's dining…
Courtesy of Flickr Twenty years after the Exxon Valdez supertanker spilled oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound there is still oil around, Nature Geoscience reports. The massive cleanup effort that took place…
Sanyo has introduced the Eneloop hybrid bike to the U.S. market. It costs $2,300, weighs about 50 pounds, and has a lithium-ion battery and 250-watt motor activated by a button on the left handlebar, according to…
A new study published in Ecological Applications found that cleared ski slopes are more environmentally friendly than graded ones, according to the New York Times. Cleared slopes are created by cutting down trees to open up an…
Here's an update on the collision between the protest ship Ady Gil and the Japanese whaling ship Shonan Maru off Antarctica: The crew of the Ady Gil was rescued and uninjured, thanks to the Bob Barker, a…
The powerboat Ady Gil, run by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, was cut in two when hit by the Japanese whaling ship Shonan Maru, which the Ady Gil was protesting. The incident happened at Commonwealth Bay, East Antarctica, and the six crew…
Photograph by Mike Bowler via Flickr If you happen to live in Bulgaria, you can do something useful with your old Christmas tree–if it came from a forest–instead of throwing it away. You can send it to zoos in the country, where it…
Photograph by Ivan Mlinaric via Flickr The demand for soybeans has grown greatly worldwide–up 14-fold since 1950–which means more of the Amazon rainforest is being cleared to accommodate more crops, EurActiv.com reports. Soybeans are the biggest…
Four Greenpeace activists who crashed a gala dinner for heads of state at the end of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen have been released by Danish police, Reuters…
Winter weekends are short and dark—which means you need to be fast and smart. Beat the blues with one of these surprisingly affordable escapes.
By Mary Catherine O'Connor Late last month, The New York Times' Kate Galbraith reported on a rising employment trend: jobs maintaining wind turbines. When the blades on turbines get stuck or damaged, they need to be quickly fixed, and what better experience could…
If you believe in science, you know that something fishy is going on with the climate and that it could affect the future of snow. TGR and The North Face also believe in science, so they came up with this video to help educate snowboarders and skiers on what could…
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for a climate summit for cities and regions like the one in Copenhagen, AFP reports. He offered to host it in his state. “The world’s national governments cannot make…
Research presented at the latest American Geophysical Union meeting points to carbon emissions from Asian cities as partly responsible for the 20 percent decrease in the Himalayan glaciers since the 1960s, Wired.com reports. The video…
Al Gore addressed the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen today, saying that there's no time to waste in taking action, Grist.org reports. He calls for the U.S. Senate to…
Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister presiding over the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, says that the nations present are acting “just like schoolchildren…If they have a very long deadline to deliver an exercise, they will wait for…
Researchers are MIT have designed a bike wheel that saves the kinetic energy generated by braking and stores it for later use, when the rider needs a boost, The New York Times reports. The energy goes into a battery inside the wheel's hub, a sleek…
What should you do if you are bitten by a rattlesnake? The Editors Santa Fe, New Mexico
What are some good, cheap, tropical eco-trips for a winter break? The Editors Santa Fe, New Mexico
African and other developing countries walked out of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, suspending talks on Monday, Reuters and ENN report. They refused to continue discussion without a guarantee that…
Three U.S. Senators have outlined a compromise climate bill in an attempt to win votes for legislation to be passed in 2010, Reuters reports. The House passed a climate bill in June. Other countries have accused the U.S. of being soft…
More than 300 Nepalis, including 100 climbers, protested in Copenhagen to bring international attention to the effects of climate change on the Himalayas, TakePart reports. “It didn’t snow at all during December, January, and February, when itshould snow heavily, and it…
Danish police have arrested 68 activists who were protesting in street demonstrations in Copenhagen on Friday, Reuters reports. The goal of the protesters was to disrupt corporations and industry lobbyists that they see as “climate criminals” during the…
Last night, mountaineer and philanthropist Greg Mortenson received a standing ovation after a talk in Santa Fe sponsored by Garcia Street Books. We attended and filmed the event (coming soon to outsideonline.com), and left inspired. Perhaps…
The UN defends its stance on the role that humans play in climate change, in response to news of leaked emails that purportedly show scientists suppressing evidence to the contrary, Reuters reports. “Nothing that has come out in the public as…
People give when they know it will buy something tangible. We asked directors at five organizations to tell us what donations from $50 to $50K would accomplish.
He's kinda fat and more than a little rude (and he drinks like a fish). But long-distance swimmer Martin Strel has become the world's most unlikely philanthropist—out to save the world's dirtiest rivers a million awkward strokes at a time.
Want to take an exotic trip and engage in some do-gooding, too? Check out Roadmonkey ϳԹ Philanthropy’s next adventure tour, which combines climbing Kilimanjaro with building a fishpond at a local Tanzanian school (June 12 26, $4,395; roadmonkey.net). And if you can’t make that journey, don’t despair.
Hundreds of people showed up at the extInked event in the UK for a chance to get a tattoo of an endangered species, New Scientist reports. Volunteers had to fill out a form explaining why they should be the one to…
The Endangered Species Coalition has just released America’s Hottest Species, a list of the ten animals and plants most susceptible to extinction from climate change. The list includes: Kaua’i/’Akikiki Creeper…
The Environmental Protection Agency did not approve an industry wide request to add more ethanol to the standard fuel mix, despite the fact that most cars are equipped to handle the new ethanol-to-fuel ratio. The EPA was meant to decide by December 1…
©Daniel Beltrá, courtesy of The Prince’s Rainforests Project and Sony By Mary Catherine O'Connor Some of Daniel Beltrá's photographs are shockingly beautiful, but many are just plain shocking. And…
Yvo de Boer of the UN Climate Change Secretariat says that it will take an initial $10 billion a year from the most economically well-off countries for three years to help developing nations deal with the effects of climate change. “To my…