Ari Phillips
Earther
Washington, DC, United States
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Past articles by Ari:
Report: One Third of America’s Wildlife Is Now Under Threat
On Thursday, the National Wildlife Federation, the American Fisheries Society, and The Wildlife Society released a report finding that up to a third of America’s wildlife species are vulnerable because of human activity. A fifth of all U.S. species are “imperiled and at high risk of extinction.” → Read More
Everything Is Going Wrong for North Atlantic Right Whales This Year
North Atlantic right whales are living the plot of a science fiction story: They are not having any babies. With the end of the winter calving season just around the corner, so far zero newborns have been spotted. With fewer than 450 of the whales remaining, and around 100 breeding females, this reproductive drought is the worst-case scenario for the imperiled species. → Read More
Orange Snow Turns Europe Into a Martian Landscape
The fact that snow is white seems like a pretty basic truth. But over the weekend in parts of eastern Europe, the snow turned orange. → Read More
Now There’s a Starbucks in Yosemite Because Nothing Is Sacred
You could be excused for believing there’s no new ground for Starbucks to break in the U.S. The Seattle-based coffee chain has around 14,000 outlets spread across the country. Sadly, you are wrong. You just need to open your mind, and start imagining coffee shops in places more known for their extraordinary natural beauty than their foot traffic. → Read More
Idaho Wants to Allow the Hunting of a Single Grizzly Bear
For grizzly bears, leaving national park boundaries could soon be a life-or-death decision. → Read More
New Zealand Just Exterminated 200,000 Mice From a Single Island
It’s not often conservationists celebrate the mass killing of animals, but managing our relationship with nature these days requires creative, and often compromising, solutions. Such is the case in New Zealand, where leaders are determined to get rid of all rats, possums, stoats, and other invasive predators by 2050. A major step towards this goal was just achieved on one of the country’s… → Read More
Palm Trees Are Moving North
Washington, D.C. is famous for its cherry blossoms, but someday it could also be renowned for its palm trees. That’s according to a new study looking at how palm trees are expanding into northern parts of the world that have long been too cold for the iconic tropical trees. → Read More
The Last Male Northern White Rhino Is Dead
Death did not sneak up on Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, who was put to sleep on Monday after a months-long battle with a number of health complications. He was 45, and there will never be another animal quite like him. → Read More
These Are the Worst Invasive Species in the West
The Western Governors’ Association published its first-ever list of the 50 worst invasive species inhabiting that region of the country on Thursday, and some of the culprits may surprise you. → Read More
Stephen Hawking Was Terrified of Climate Change
Stephen Hawking, renowned theoretical physicist and one of the brightest scientific minds of the last half century, died at age 76 this week. In a career spanning 50 years—and challenged by a crippling disease—Hawking set his mind to understanding the Universe. After decades of investigating everything from black holes to the Big Bang, he recently turned his attention to something more Earthly… → Read More
We’re Building Millions of Homes in the Line of Wildfires
Last year was a very bad year for wildfire damage across the U.S., and it’s only going to get worse. One way to counteract this increasing danger is to build smarter. A new study shows just how bad the problem has gotten, and suggests building smarter means being more intentional about where we build. → Read More
The Way This Dutch Designer Dealt With Light Pollution Is Ingenious
The Afsluitdijk is a 20-mile dam that has been protecting the low-lying Netherlands from the force of the ocean for decades. According to Daan Roosegaarde, a Dutch artist who works in urban environments, it’s quite famous in the country because “basically, it protects us from drowning.” → Read More
Why I Will Never Run and Pick Up Trash
There’s a new trend sweeping the nation—the world actually—and it’s called plogging. No, not blogging on platforms (that “plogging” came and went three years ago) but running while picking up trash. Plogging comes from the Swedish phrase “plocka upp,” which means to pick up, and publications from The Washington Post to Men’s Health are picking up on the frenzy. I, for one, never will. → Read More
In Japan, It’s ‘Super Monster Wolf’ Versus Wild Boars
Only in Japan would the solution to an ecological problem involve a robotic wolf. But when that problem is the proliferation of wild boars, the furry, fanged, red-eyed “Super Monster Wolf” might actually do the trick. → Read More
Tech Companies Are Finally Becoming Aware of Their Wildlife Trafficking Problem
Illegal wildlife trafficking tends to evoke images of harshly lit ports and dingy warehouses, but in reality a lot of it takes place in front of a screen. For those dealing in the illicit trade of rhino horns or pangolin scales, the anonymity and global reach of the internet are obvious draws. → Read More
The Trump Administration Can’t Seem to Stop the Climate Kids' Lawsuit
It’s not often you celebrate going to court, but 21 kids are doing just that after a federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to halt a landmark climate change lawsuit on Wednesday. → Read More
Dangerous Heat Is Coming to Cities Very Soon
Fleeing the sweltering, cement jungles of many urban centers during the dog days of summer is going to become even more critical in coming years as temperatures continue to rise. → Read More
What We Can Learn From the Demise of the Northern White Rhino
The health of the world’s last male northern white rhino, Sudan, is rapidly declining, bringing the subspecies’ inevitable extinction closer to a reality. Even as scientists and conservationists work on an ambitious in vitro fertilization effort, there’s little reason for hope that the 45-year-old Sudan and his two female companions—the last of the entire subspecies—will leave any offspring… → Read More
The Bee(tle)s Are Dying at an Alarming Rate
Beetles that depend on dead or decaying wood, often with weighty frames and photogenic jaws—called saproxylic beetles—are fascinating insects, and often kids’ favorites (think stag beetles). According to a new report, they are also some of the most threatened, with nearly one-fifth of Europe’s saproxylic beetles at risk of extinction due to major declines in old trees. The International Union… → Read More
Why It’s a Big Deal That Washington State Almost Passed a Carbon Tax
Washington State just came within a few votes of passing the first statewide carbon tax in the country, a near accomplishment that’s both disappointing and promising. → Read More