Erik Hoffner

Snow gnome

Nonstop wintry weather & wall to wall Olympics coverage makes me as happy as this XC ski area gnome

Two Mongabay films screen at California film festival, February 19-23, 2026 - Environmental Journalism and Education Two projects produced by freelance filmmakers and Mongabay’s video team will be shown at a popular film festival in northern California, The Wild & Scenic Film Festival, during the third weekend of Fe...

Next Saturday in California see two Mongabay films at the always great @wildscenicfilms.bsky.social Film Festival (2/21) hosted by the #conservation leaders at @yubariverpeople.bsky.social

Come see these powerful #films and many others & meet some of our #California based staff:

Glyphosate use in B.C. forests continues, despite NDP promise | The Narwhal The use of glyphosate in B.C. forestry has declined, but a group advocating for a ban says spraying even small areas can have an outsized impact

Herbicide use is B.C. forests has declined, but some companies are still using chemicals, including glyphosate, to clear away vegetation that might compete with planted trees. thenarwhal.ca/bc-glyphosat...

China Could Reach Peak Greenhouse Gas Emissions Sooner Than Beijing Planned, New Report Suggests - Inside Climate News Falling emissions from the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter could mean a global turning point.

"If the trend continues, China’s emissions from energy production could peak in the next two years, representing a major structural change in global fossil fuel use and a critical milestone in the effort to slow atmospheric warming."
insideclimatenews.org/news/1102202...

China Starts Sea Trials for Largest Electric-Powered Containership China’s first 10,000-ton electric containership is beginning sea trials. The shipyard is billing the ship as the largest of its kind and a further bre...

Large electric powered container ships are already a reality.

When posting about this 2 years ago the so-called “experts” said it is impossible.

Can people stop listening to oil and gas “experts” soon?

White people are so superior that their culture will be entirely erased if it isn’t subsidized & mandated by constant state violence? This seems smart.

On Martyrdom Minneapolis, Dorothy Stang, and The Stranger

Sr Dorothy Stang was murdered for defending the climate, the Amazon, and the people she helped sustainably farm within it, on this day 21 years ago. She should not be forgotten.

Farmers fear displacement, drought, flooding tied to Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal This is the second of two stories about the potential impact of Cambodia’s planned Funan Techo Canal. Read part one, about consequences for coastal communities and wildlife, here. TAKEO, Cambodia — Th...

Part 2 of our Funan Techo Canal coverage for @mongabay.com - me and @vantha.bsky.social interviewed 50+ people across 4 provinces where the canal will be built between 2024 and 2026. Most still have no idea whether their homes or farms will be lost to the canal, some 18 months after it broke ground.

I, Cupid, Resign As Mascot of Valentine’s Day Because I’m a Baby and It’s Creepy I Cupid, officially announce my retirement as the mascot of Saint Valentine’s Day. Given this is an occasion to celebrate romantic love, as a chubb...

"Frankly, I’m embarrassed it took me this long to figure it out. But given the current climate, I think we should’ve collectively realized it wasn’t appropriate for a baby to be the patron saint of fucking."

The most telling photo of the day:

Epstein survivors raise their hands when asked by a House member to signal if they've been ignored by Trump's Justice Department.

AG Pam Bondi refuses to even look at them.

Risk-taking comes earlier in chimpanzees than in humans, study finds Chimpanzees appear to be the biggest daredevils when they’re infants. Humans tend to take more chances and put themselves in the most danger in adolescence, so the expectation has been that…

Wild chimps are boldest in infancy, not adolescence like humans, according to a recent study. Young chimps take the biggest physical risks in trees, then mellow with age, hinting that human caregiving may delay risk-taking. Read more from @mongabay.com.

🎉 Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science 🔬

On 11 February, we celebrate the important contributions of women to the STEM disciplines.

Find out more about CERN’s #WomenInScience2026, where we feature six scientists: home.cern/news/news/kn...

Cambodia’s canal mega-project threatens coastal communities and marine life This is the first of two stories about the potential impact of Cambodia’s planned Funan Techo Canal. Part two, about consequences for inland communities and wildlife, will be published soon. KEP, Camb...

Latest for @mongabay.com w. @vantha.bsky.social looks at #Cambodia's controversial Funan Techo Canal - specifically, at the impacts the canal will have on coastal communities and marine habitats when it reaches the sea, threatening conservation efforts.

Great job reporting this, guys, the circumstances are def bittersweet though

The U.S. Fire Map Is Changing — And These Researchers Want to Get Ahead of It Wildfires are moving east.

Western-style forest fires have come to the east. "There were 77,850 US wildfires in 2025, and nearly half—49%—ignited east of the Mississippi... Over the past 40 years, the [east and southeast have] seen a 10-fold jump in the frequency of large burns." Nice piece by @jeva.bsky.social

To save humanity and nature we must tackle wealth inequality, says Cambridge researcher Wealth inequality is a primary culprit behind the ecological and environmental collapse of societies over the past 12,000 years, which have come to be dominated by a small circle of elites hoarding re...

We crack into much of Luke Kemp’s thesis with him for this episode

That’s a mouthful but my favorite news of the past week is Massachusetts moving to team up with Canada to build out a regional renewable energy supply

Trump receives 5th straight loss in offshore wind fight A federal judge sided with Sunrise Wind on Monday in its bid to lift the administration’s freeze on construction of the project.

Last week a federal judge handed the trumps another loss in its effort to halt offshore wind construction on the East Coast:

Massachusetts, Nova Scotia partner on offshore wind development The two governments will develop offshore wind in their respective areas and share knowledge, workforce, ports and potentially energy itself.

‘Whatever actions are coming out of Washington, here in Massachusetts, we’re moving forward in any which way to bring more energy into this region,’ said Governor Maura Healey

The plan calls for at least 40 GW of offshore wind energy via an interregional transmission system @ctmirror.org reports:

FCC opens Musk’s 1M-satellite DC plan for public comment : The FCC is taking public comments - now’s your chance to tell them this plan is bonkers

More from the annals of 'no one asked for this' ~

SpaceX adding a *million* satellites & data centers to orbit means seeing oligarchs' mess even in the heavens

That's a 6800% increase in #astronomy (& beauty) -killing space junk from today's < 15,000 satellites

Public comment period is open:

From bad omen to national treasure: The rare bone-swallower stork saved by a female army Once known as a bird of ill omen, India's endangered hargila has gained an army of protectors. Now it's beginning to bounce back.

Nice BBC update by @kamal-t.bsky.social on this #birds conservation effort that @mongabay.com covered a decade ago (news.mongabay.com/2016/12/from...)

At this point, Purnima Devi Barman has assembled an actual army of 20,000 women to protect India's iconic & misunderstood greater adjutant storks:

Rio de Janeiro State Bans Shark Meat for School Meals After Pulitzer Center Journalists' Investigation The government of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state has banned shark meat for meals in most of the schools it manages, after pressure from conservationists and school meal advisers raising health and...

Rio de Janeiro state banned shark meat in 1,200 schools after a @mongabay.com investigation found 10 Brazilian states procured more than 5,400 tons of shark meat since 2004.

Environmental and health concerns drove the ban.

Impact by @bykarlamendes.bsky.social reporting. bit.ly/3OkgKDP

Philippines hosts new Asia-Pacific hub for sustainable agriculture, cuisine BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — For five days last November, the city of Bacolod in the central Philippine province of Negros Occidental became a crossroads of food cultures from across Asia and the Pacif...

Sent a freelance journalist for @mongabay.com to this event & his report is delicious

I'm seriously jealous ~ from forest honey to Taiwanese teas, he sampled so much goodness from around the Asia & Pacific region, which now has an #agroecology based @slowfoodhq.bsky.social hub in the #Philippines:

journalism award

My team has won this prize before, sad to see it idled, sign of the times:

'Given the extraordinary pressure on investigative #journalism TRACE Foundation will shift its focus in from rewarding past journalism to supporting future efforts with grants' ~ www.traceinternational.org/investigativ...

Full ‘snow moon’ time lapse, newly captured

2 hour movement of oak shadow on 20” of snow

Enjoy its brilliance tonight 🌕

Living on Earth: Ice Visions As winter settles in over the northern hemisphere people find creative ways to get outside and enjoy nature. For environmental journalist and photographer Erik Hoffner, winter is a time for ice skatin...

I love this. A beautiful elegy for ice in a warming world.
@erikhoffner.bsky.social

www.loe.org/shows/segmen...

How to Grow Old: Bertrand Russell on What Makes a Fulfilling Life “Make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life.”

"Make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life."

Bertrand Russell on how to grow old and what makes life worth living:

European Countries Plan Offshore Wind Buildout in the North Sea, Defying Trump The deal to deliver 100 gigawatts of clean power through cooperative projects is a key step towards enhancing energy security and reducing fossil fuel dependency.

As Trump continues to try to shut down wind energy here at home while maligning it on the world stage, Europe is embracing it as a key instrument for not only decarbonization, but energy security at a time of rising geopolitical instability

www.oneearthnow.org/p/european-c...

Also, your Friday reminder that some birds are parasites (!) and just say no to parenting—but can teach us a lot about how species recognition works

AI fake camera trap image of a tiger

Warnings about realistic but inaccurate #AI wildlife images & videos aren't slowing their spread which also provoke fear, panic & hostility, beside clicks: news.mongabay.com/2026/01/wild...

Almost worse, gen AI is also invading the value of camera trapping images, as many fakes are now surfacing: