This week, thousands of scientists, policymakers, executives and activists have gathered in London for a week of climate events. The climate showed up, too. A heat dome has gripped much of Europe for days, sending temperatures across the continent and Britain soaring to deeply uncomfortable levels. Temperatures have reached 36.4 Celsius, or 97.5 Fahrenheit, in…
As spiking ocean temperatures are devastating reefs around the world, a handful of scientists have found a reason for cautious optimism. They’ve used artificial intelligence to detect sheltered pockets where cool currents, reduced exposure to sunlight and locations outside cyclone paths mean corals are more likely to survive. The study, presented at the Our Ocean…
The critically endangered Tapanuli orangutans found on the Indonesian island of Sumatra are a step closer to extinction, scientists found, after landslides last year that were fueled by climate change. More than 50 of the rare animals were estimated to have died in the landslides, out of a population of around 800. The findings, published…
We humans are capable of enormous devastation, but every now and then, we’re able to agree to stop the worst of our transgressions. We no longer regularly scour the oceans for the great whales only to boil them down for margarine and pet food. We’ve stopped killing wild birds en masse to make hats out…
In today’s edition, we’ll explain what climate science can tell us about Europe’s heat wave. But first, let’s get caught up: National park entrance fees are paying for Trump’s D.C. projects: The National Park Service is using at least $67 million worth of park entrance fees to help fund President Trump’s beautification projects in Washington,…
Trackers that ping satellites every time a whale surfaces for air. Thermal cameras that can detect the animals day and night. Acoustic devices that monitor their calls. These and other emerging technologies could help protect the world’s last surviving North Atlantic right whales from collisions with vessels, a leading threat to their survival. And the…
In the turquoise waters off La Ventana, a sleepy coastal town on Mexico’s Baja peninsula, Claudio Rios, 41, monitored the radio of a fishing boat. It was late March. His eyes scanned the horizon, one hand loose on the wheel as the Sea of Cortez swayed beneath him. “It smells like orcas,” he said: pungent…
Dirk Kempthorne, the personable former governor of Idaho who later served as President George W. Bush’s second interior secretary, died on Friday in Boise. He was 74. His family confirmed his death in a statement, but did not specify a cause. He said last year that he was undergoing chemotherapy for colon cancer. Mr. Kempthorne,…
A big-game hunter from California was killed on April 17 by an elephant after his hunting party stumbled on a small herd of the animals in the dense forests of Gabon in central Africa, according to the Sacramento Safari Club and a former hunting partner. The hunter, Ernie Dosio, 75, and two professional hunters were…
As Miriam Horn writes in her engaging, often lyrical account of his life, “Homesick for a World Unknown,” Schaller “transformed scientific practice,” achieving an extraordinary intimacy with his animal subjects by “assimilating to their rhythms and rules, endeavoring to see the universe through their eyes.” He also became a relentless advocate for conservation, fighting to…
