The Revelator

6 days ago | therevelator.org | John R. Platt

Every morning, at this time of year, a red-winged blackbird greets me as I walk down the street. He’s become a familiar sight and sound, and I watch for the flash of black and red that tells me he’s landed on a branch above my head and is about to speak up. But how many less flashy birds do I miss while looking for those blackbirds? Chances are, quite a few — just like the scientific community, according to new research published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

2 weeks ago | therevelator.org | John R. Platt

Tom Toro is among the rare cartoonists whose work has become an internet meme. His most famous cartoon, which you’ve probably seen more than once, shows some raggedy survivors huddled around a post-apocalyptic fire:Toro has tackled other environmental issues in his cartoons for The New Yorker, Yale Climate Connections, and other publications, his own syndicated comic strip, “Home Free,” as well as his children’s picture books.

2 weeks ago | therevelator.org | Madeline Bodin

For decades I observed the paradox. The landscape around the coastal North Carolina home where my parents retired was being developed at a rate that I have never seen anywhere. Yet right across a frenetic, four-lane state highway from my parents’ house sat a 63,000-acre state refuge — a little gem of native habitat supporting a longleaf pine savanna and a unique wetland called pocosin or Carolina bay.

4 weeks ago | therevelator.org | Laurel Neme

On the shores of Lake Baringo in Kenya’s Rift Valley, an unusual common denominator has helped bring peace to two warring communities after generations of fighting: the love of giraffes. Clashes between the two pastoral communities — the Pokot and Il-Chamus (also known as Njemps) — had ebbed and flowed over decades, with most of the conflicts revolving around access to land, water or cattle.

1 month ago | therevelator.org | Laurel Neme

In a world that feels increasingly at odds, Kenya’s Baringo giraffes showcase how a common cause can unite communities. In a world that feels increasingly at odds, Kenya’s Baringo giraffes showcase how a common cause can unite communities.