Published

1 year ago

December 24, 2024

Alice Rush

The amount of rain that falls affects our environment in various ways, from river flow to the availability of freshwater, but it can also shape the diversity and distribution of ecosystems within different regions of the globe.

A new long-term study of Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis) on Cousin Island has revealed that rainfall during the breeding season can affect “divorce” rates between the birds, highlighting the complex effects climate change can have on animal reproduction and conservation.

The study, conducted on a closed Seychelles warbler population, uncovered major findings on how rainfall and other environmental factors can negatively affect the stability of pair bonds in birds, a press release from Macquarie University said.

“This instability can occur because of the effects rainfall patterns have on the ecological environment of the warblers, where rainfall influences food availability, and nest/habitat conditions, all of which can affect the health of the birds before and during the breeding season and affect their ability to produce offspring,” A. A. Bentlage, a researcher in the School of Biological Sciences at Australia’s Macquarie University, told EcoWatch in an email.

Seychelles warbler pairs tend to stay together in favorable weather. Charli Davies

For species like the Seychelles warbler, who are socially monogamous, “divorce” refers to the breaking up of a pair bond when both individuals are still living. The mating strategy of pair bonding, observed in various species, has often been associated with lower reproductive success, or the number of offspring they produced as a pair.

Social monogamy implies that birds form a pair bond and spend many years — even lifetimes — with the same partner. Birds in these partnerships typically live and raise their young together, but they are not always sexually monogamous.

The relationship between divorce and environmental factors — especially fluctuations in climate — is still poorly understood.

“We analyzed 16 years of data from a longitudinal dataset to examine the influence of rainfall on the prevalence of divorce and the possible underlying mechanisms. First, we performed climate window analyses to identify the temporal windows of rainfall that best predict reproductive success and divorce. Then, we tested the effects of these temporal windows of rainfall on reproductive success and divorce and the influence of reproductive success on divorce while controlling for covariates using generalized linear mixed models,” Bentlage told EcoWatch.

The study, “Rainfall is associated with divorce in the socially monogamous Seychelles warbler,” was published in the Journal of Animal Ecology.

“We… found a complex, non-linear relationship between rainfall patterns and divorce rates, with divorce being more likely during years of both low and high rainfall,” said Frigg Speelman, a member of the science and engineering faculty at Macquarie University, in the press release. “This relationship was notably influenced by an extreme climatic event — the 1997 El Niño-induced rainfall spike.”

The researchers found a correlation between the extreme rainfall associated with the 1997 El Niño event and divorce rates of the Seychelles warbler. However, when they excluded this exceptional event from their analysis, it became clearer that there was indeed a negative relationship between rainfall amounts and the birds’ divorce rates.

The study did not find any direct link between the reproductive success of the birds and divorce likelihood, however, which suggested that there may be other factors influencing partnership stability.

Bentlage said rainfall extremes have a significant effect on the food sources and habitats of the Seychelles warbler.

“Extreme rainfall can greatly affect the ecological environment of our study population. For example, low rainfall significantly diminishes food availability by disrupting the development of insects that often lay their eggs in water, and heavy rainfall can destroy habitats/nests and make maintaining optimal body temperatures difficult for birds. Therefore, both rainfall extremes can impact the birds’ health and make raising offspring difficult,” Bentlage told EcoWatch.

The researchers found that the highest divorce rates occurred in years with extremely high or low rainfall occurring during breeding season, possibly affecting how the birds viewed their partners.

“Whereas divorce in many species is often correlated with poor reproductive success, our study found no evidence for this in the Seychelles warbler, suggesting that other, more complex factors may be involved. For example, the aforementioned rainfall effects may cause an increase in stress for the birds, increasing the instability of their partnerships as they associate the stressful period – that was caused by extreme weather – with their partner. Thus, extreme rainfall could misinform these birds about the quality of their partner, causing them to reconsider their choice of partner and separate,” Bentlage said.

The study builds on mounting evidence demonstrating how environmental factors — especially those associated with climate change — can have a direct effect on the reproductive strategies and social dynamics of wildlife.

The Seychelles warbler is a native species of the Seychelles islands. The rare birds are already facing a number of conservation challenges, which make the study particularly relevant. The findings of the research suggest the species could experience further stress to population stability and reproductive success due to environmental changes.

“As climate change intensifies, it is critical to understand how fluctuations in environmental conditions, such as rainfall, affect the stability of socially monogamous species,” Speelman said in the press release. “This research not only enhances our understanding of animal behavior in the face of climate variability but also provides valuable insights that could inform conservation efforts for species vulnerable to the effects of climate change.”

What other environmental changes and stressors are Seychelles warblers facing due to climate change?

“The Seychelles warblers are a great conservation success story as they were once on the brink of extinction, with just 26 individuals left in the world. After Cousin Island and the surrounding sea became a nature reserve in the 1960s/70s the population bounced back to stable numbers. Thus, they are doing quite well at the moment. Nevertheless, as a result of climate change, extreme rainfall events are predicted to become more prevalent and alongside them, other stressors such as extreme winds may also become more of an issue. Wind can influence territory quality on Cousin because wind-driven onshore salt spray negatively affects vegetation. Thus, habitat destruction that influences territory quality/food abundance may become more prevalent in a changing world,” Bentlage told EcoWatch.

Bentlage said the research team does not know how divorce driven by rainfall extremes will impact Seychelles warblers in the long-term, but once that is understood it could help improve future conservation efforts.

“We do not yet understand whether rainfall-driven divorce in the Seychelles warbler is adaptive, maladaptive, or has no effect on short/long-term reproductive fitness. As we discuss in our paper, it is essential to investigate the fitness consequences of divorce in the context of these extreme environmental effects to understand to what extent plasticity in breeding behavior may enable socially monogamous species to adapt to a rapidly changing world,” Bentlage explained. “Once that is understood, combined with our current knowledge of the negative effects of extreme rainfall on reproductive success, our findings can greatly inform population modeling and monitoring, such as using environmental indicators as early warning signals for potential declines in population stability. Also, for some species, such knowledge may even inform habitat management and conservation approaches that have specific climate change adaptations in mind. For example, efforts could be made to protect habitats or create refuges that provide optimal conditions during poor climatic periods.”

The post ‘Divorce’ Rates of Seychelles Warblers Linked to Rainfall Fluctuations During Breeding Season appeared first on EcoWatch.

https://www.ecowatch.com/seychelles-warblers-divorce-rainfall-fluctuations.html

Green Living

Earth911 Inspiration: Be True to the Earth — Edward Abbey

Published

3 days ago

May 22, 2026

Alice Rush

This week’s quote is from American novelist and pioneering environmentalist Edward Abbey: “I am not an atheist but an earthiest. Be true to the earth.”

Earth911 inspirations. Post them, share your desire to help people think of the planet first, every day. Click the poster to get a larger image.

This poster was originally published on January 31, 2020.

The post Earth911 Inspiration: Be True to the Earth — Edward Abbey appeared first on Earth911.

https://earth911.com/inspire/earth911-inspiration-be-true-to-the-earth-edward-abbey/

Green Living

10 Books to Counter Consumerism

Published

5 days ago

May 20, 2026

Alice Rush

We are constantly bombarded by messages that tell us we need more stuff to be happy. The average American household contains around 300,000 items. The average home size has roughly tripled since the 1950s, and we still rent self-storage units by the millions to hold the overflow.

If you are rethinking your relationship to consumer culture – whether by choice or necessity – we’ve rounded up a list of books to make breaking up with consumerism and easier to understand which of our purchases are really necessary.

(Amazon links are provided for convenience. Your local library and independent bookstore are excellent first stops.)

Empire of Things

by Frank Trentmann

Trentmann’s sweeping 2016 history follows material culture from late Ming China and Renaissance Italy through to today’s global supply chains. He shows that consumerism is not a recent American export but a centuries-long international phenomenon, one that has reshaped households, cities, and the planet.

Empire of Things is dense but never preachy, and it gives readers the long view needed to understand what we are actually pushing back against.

No Logo – 10th Anniversary Edition

by Naomi Klein

No Logo was a movement manifesto when it appeared in 1999, and its dissection of branding, sweatshop labor, and corporate cultural takeover reads as prescient now that nearly every screen on earth is an ad surface. To take the next step, pair this read with Klein’s more recent argument about capitalism and ecological collapse, How To Change Everything.

The Conscious Closet

by Elizabeth L. Cline

Cline first exposed the human and environmental costs of fast fashion in Overdressed (2012). The Conscious Closet is the practical follow-up: how to clean out, repair, swap, and rebuild a wardrobe without funding the industry that produces an estimated 92 million tons of textile waste each year. It is the most actionable book on this list for anyone with a closet.

The Myths of Happiness

by Sonja Lyubomirsky

Psychology professor Sonja Lyubomirsky brings the receipts. In The Myths of Happiness, she walks through decades of research showing that material milestones — the raise, the upgrade, the bigger house — produce short bursts of satisfaction that fade quickly. What actually sustains wellbeing is rarely for sale. A clarifying read for anyone tempted to outshop their way to contentment.

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

by Jenny Odell

Waste is coming for our minds, too. Odell argues that our scarcest resource is attention — and that the platforms we use have turned it into the raw material of a trillion-dollar industry. How to Do Nothing is not a digital-detox manual; it is a case for reclaiming attention as a political act, with consequences for everything from bird-watching to civic life. More relevant in 2026 than when it was published in 2019.

Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World

by Jason Hickel

Economic anthropologist Jason Hickel makes the case that endless GDP growth is incompatible with a livable planet, and that “green growth” is mostly a marketing exercise. Less Is More (2020) traces 500 years of capitalism and lays out what a degrowth economy could actually look like — one organized around human and ecological flourishing rather than perpetual expansion. The book has helped move degrowth from the margins of academia into the mainstream of the climate debate.

The Day the World Stops Shopping

by J.B. MacKinnon

Journalist J.B. MacKinnon designed The Day the World Stops Shopping (2021) as a thought experiment — what would happen if global consumption dropped by 25%? — and then watched the pandemic run a version of the experiment in real time. He travels from Namibian hunter-gatherer communities to American big-box retail, talking to economists, ecologists, and CEOs. The result is one of the most readable accounts of why we shop, why we cannot easily stop, and what we would gain if we did.

Consumed: The Need for Collective Change

by Aja Barber

Writer and consultant Aja Barber connects fashion, colonialism, and climate in Consumed (2021), a debut that has become a touchstone for the ethical fashion conversation. Where Cline writes as a practitioner, Barber writes as a systems critic, tracing the textile trade’s roots in slavery and racial inequality and asking readers to confront why we fill emotional gaps with purchases. Pointed, generous, and built to be read in two sittings.

Wasteland: The Secret World of Waste and the Urgent Search for a Cleaner Future

by Oliver Franklin-Wallis

If consumerism is the input, waste is the output we work hardest not to see. Award-winning journalist Oliver Franklin-Wallis follows that output across continents in Wasteland (2023) — from New Delhi’s landfills and Ghana’s secondhand clothing markets to nuclear storage sites and the corporate origins of curbside recycling. Named a Best Book of 2023 by The New Yorker, The Guardian, and Kirkus, it is essential reading for anyone who has ever wondered where “away” actually goes.

Fixation: How to Have Stuff Without Breaking the Planet

by Sandra Goldmark

Sandra Goldmark runs a pop-up repair shop in New York and serves as director of sustainability at Barnard College. Fixation (2020) is her plainspoken case for getting things fixed instead of replaced, and for building a circular economy where good design, reuse, and repair are the default. Her five-rule formula — borrowed in spirit from Michael Pollan — is the most quotable advice on this list: “Have good stuff. Not too much. Mostly reclaimed. Care for it. Pass it on.”

What You Can Do

Reading is a start, not a finish. A few next steps:

Start at the library. Most of these titles are available through WorldCat or your local branch. Borrowing keeps a book in circulation and out of a landfill.
Audit one category of stuff before adding to it. Pick clothes, kitchenware, or electronics. Inventory what you already own before the next purchase. Most of us own more than we remember.
Find a repair option in your community. Take the time to locate repair, reuse, and donation outlets near you before tossing anything broken.
Support right-to-repair policy. Several U.S. states have passed right-to-repair laws since 2023; the rest are weighing them. Individual purchasing choices matter more when manufacturers are required to make repair possible.
Read one of these books and talk about it. Anti-consumption is harder alone. Book clubs, mutual-aid groups, and faith communities have all become surprising hubs for this work.

Editor’s Note: Originally authored by Gemma Alexander on June 18, 2020, this article was updated in May 2026.

The post 10 Books to Counter Consumerism appeared first on Earth911.

https://earth911.com/inspire/10-books-to-counter-consumerism/

Green Living

Best of Sustainability In Your Ear: EarthX CEO Peter Simek on Cultivating Bipartisan Climate Strategies

Published

5 days ago

May 20, 2026

Alice Rush

Subscribe to receive transcripts by email. Read along with this episode.

For 15 years, the Dallas-based climate conference the EarthX conference has created space where fossil fuel executives and environmental activists, Republican appropriations chairs and Democratic climate hawks, find common ground. The organization targets three core stakeholders: the corporate world, policymakers, and investors seeking startups where environmental solutions are baked into the bottom line. Peter Simek, EarthX’s CEO, explains how reframing climate action around shared values—stewardship, economic opportunity, and love of the land—unlocks support that crisis messaging alone cannot reach.

The doom story doesn’t sell, Simek explained. “We’re not motivated as a species by doomsday language. It puts people in fight-or-flight mode.” He points out how climate became an identity issue, tangled up in culture-war debates over hamburgers and gas-powered trucks, when the real conversation should center on clean air, clean water, and protecting the places we love. “The EPA and the Clean Air and Clean Water Act were passed during the Nixon administration,” he notes. “There are ways to message this that appeals across lines.”

Peter Simek, CEO of EarthX, is our guest on *Sustainability In Your Ear*.

Simek bets heavily on bottom-up action as EarthX works to build bridges. States, cities, and private capital often move faster than federal mandates, he argues, and they’re harder to reverse with a single executive order. Texas leads the nation in renewable energy deployment because wind and solar make bottom-line sense. “Even as there’s a policy turn against it, there’s still the driving reality that solar and wind are viable energy sources,” he says. A new event in 2026, the EarthX Institute, will focus on two policy priorities: nuclear energy, where bipartisan consensus is growing, and urban biodiversity.

Whether conversations at forums like EarthX translate into policy velocity that matches the pace of climate impacts remains to be seen. Simek says he stays focused on tracking downstream results, specifically the investments funded, the coalitions built, and the policies incubated from the local level up. “It’s about finding those ways in which there’s common sense, common ground, common values,” he says. “Elements to talking about nature and the environment that no one can really disagree with.”

Learn more about EarthX and its upcoming April 2026 conference at earthx.org.