Daniel Shailer

The last residents of a coastal Mexican town destroyed by climate change

Flooding has destroyed the Mexican town of El Bosque. It's driven by some of the world's fastest sea-level rise and increasingly brutal winter storms.

Which Lost Species May be Found Again? Huge Study Reveals Clues

There are 856 mammal, bird, amphibian and reptile species currently missing-but researchers continue to search

Tits Out Under the Verrazzano

Leslie Hamilton, an accountant, battled sea lice and rusting garbage barges as she became the first person on record to swim a lap around Staten Island since 1979.

In the N.C. Governor's Race, the GOP Frontrunner Is a Climate Denier, and the Democrat Doesn't...

The state's Republican lieutenant governor and Democratic attorney general are expected to square off in November to replace term-limited Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat. But the Republican legislature, with super-majorities in both houses, now calls the shots on climate.

South Carolina Poised to Transform Former Coal-Fired Plant Into a Gas Utility as Public Service...

Legislature must vote to approve the former coal-fired power station in Canadys to be revamped as a gas facility

U.S. Steel, Clairton settlement: millions for public health and more

A lawsuit over Clairton Coke Works air pollution, sparked by 2018 fire, ends in a settlement with a state record Clean Air Act penalty, awaiting EPA approval.

After rainy season that wasn't, parched Mexico City starts restricting water

The reservoirs that provide Mexico City with much of its water are distressingly low after persistent drought through the summer.

Residents battling a new train line in northern Mexico face a wall of government secrecy

Residents in the northern Mexican state of Sonora are battling a new train line that threatens to displace their homes and cut up the local ecosystem.

'Adopt an axolotl' campaign launches in Mexico to save iconic species

Academics in Mexico City are asking for donations to protect axolotls, an iconic fish-like type of salamander. The campaign asks people for as little as 600 pesos to virtually adopt one of the tiny "water monsters."

NYC mayor to residents of Puebla, Mexico: 'Mi casa es su casa,' but 'there's no more room'

The mayor of New York City is in Puebla, Mexico, thanking migrants for their contributions to his city, but telling them it is already full.

More parks, less money: Advocates say Mexico's new budget doesn't add up for natural protected areas

The administration of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been creating more protected natural areas, but environmentalists accuse it of trying to "greenwash" an image of favoring petroleum in a time of climate change.

Generations of students remember 1968 massacre in march through Mexico City

Students have marched through downtown Mexico City to mark 55 years since the military massacred hundreds of students in Tlatelolco plaza.

As Mexico marks conservation day, advocates say it takes too long to list vulnerable species

Mexico is celebrating national conservation day. Meanwhile, conservationists say the country's list of endangered species is too short and too slow to update.

Hackers attack Guatemalan government webpages in support of pro-democracy protests

Various Guatemalan government webpages have been disabled after hackers launched a cyberattack early Saturday.

Panama's Assembly looks to revoke contract for Canadian mining company after public outcry

Panama's government has nearly approved a new bill revoking a controversial mining contract. A Canadian company's local subsidiary had been approved for at least 20 years more mining two weeks ago.

Chile shuts down a popular glacier, sparking debate over climate change and adventure sports

Chile's National Forestry Corporation has permanently closed a popular glacier, sparking outrage from adventurers and local guides.

Kelp Me, Kelp You

As the corporate clamor for carbon-capturing crops grows louder, a Brooklyn kelp farm tries to find the balance between building community and cashing in.

"This Water Needs Help": Searching for the Source of a River's Chronic Pollution Problem

Imagine a river so dirty it makes the Hudson dirtier: that's the Saw Mill River, which empties in Yonkers. Here's how locals are scientists are getting to the bottom of its pollution problem.

Rooftop gardens pitched for bus stops as cheap remedy to NYC's flood problems

As New York City spends billions of dollars preparing for its next extreme flood, new research suggests a cheaper, greener resource may already be scattered across the five boroughs: bus stop shelters.

'They Lied to All of Us': Ten Years After Hurricane Sandy,...

Staten Island residents who sold their homes to the state as part of one of the country's first major "managed retreats" were promised the land would be returned to nature. Instead, part of it is being turned into a soccer complex.

Gowanus Canal kelp farm celebrates its first commercial harvest

Kelp grown in the canal is too toxic to eat, so the RETI Center will experiment with new, climate-friendly uses for the crop, including making plant-based concrete.

New Research Shows Cost of Flood-Risk Secrecy for New York Home Buyers

"It's shady. We had no idea." Thousands of New Yorkers move into flood-prone homes every year and (because of a decades old loophole) no one warns them. The loophole was nearly closed this year, till real estate lobbyists fought to keep it. Here's how.

Garbology revisited: Tracking trash in the Santa Cruz River

Preliminary findings from a study in the Santa Cruz River suggest floating trash traps could solve a trash problem caused by the whole city.

Volunteers spring to survey water in Patagonia Mountains before mine begins pumping

Australian mining company South32 say they'll begin pumping groundwater and discharging it into the Patagonia Mountains any day now. Sarah Truebe wants to establish a baseline survey of the area's springs before they possibly change forever.

Earthjustice asks federal judge to order Forest Service, mining companies to halt Southern Az...

Earthjustice took two mining companies to court, seeking to halt exploratory drilling in the Patagonia Mountains south of Tucson by South32 and Barksdale Resources.

Rio Rico landowner wants rezoning for Hermosa Mine processing plant

Santa Cruz County officials have insisted a rezoning in Rio Rico has nothing to do with mining. But leaked letter from landowner Andrew Jackson shows he explicitly supports South32 building a processing plant on the land.

Bloom night at last: After long hurry up & wait, Queen of the Night set to flower Sunday

Greenwashing a dump?: Los Reales 'Sustainability Campus' turns 2

Two years ago, the city's new "sustainability campus" promised to get Tucson waste-free by 2050. What's changed since then? The old landfill has a new sign out front and plenty of plans, some of which local advocates call greenwashing.

Cleaning Tohono O'odham water polluted by copper mine will take 30 years, $126 million

The EPA has finalized a 30-year plan to clean drinking water in a Tohono O'odham village polluted by decades of copper mining. Meanwhile, a different EPA department is negotiating to reopen the mine with the same company first responsible for the waste.

Kew Gardens Is Undergoing a Big, Steamy Change

Fitted PJs, new glasses, and a good drilling will keep this Victorian icon hot.

Cows, collars and a fake wolf: How to rewild in a very human landscape

On a Dorset peninsula, a massive effort is underway to restore the ecological processes of prehistory.

Paddling towards a new relationship with wildness

Elizabeth Jane-Burnet wrote that upturning earth is a way of listening to the ground speak. If that’s true, then for almost a century Arne Peninsula, on the south coast of Dorset, has been screaming. A kayak in search of wild-ness.

I quit my job at a top law firm because the stress gave me a heart attack at 38. I'm now a...

Anthony Chamberlain rose up the ranks at the London law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. After 13 years of hard work and partying, he experienced a heart attack at 38 years old and quit. This is his story of leaving the corporate world to become a lifeguard, as told to Daniel Shailer.

The Murky Waters of Netflix's Seaspriacy

An in-depth review of the science and presentation of hit Netflix documentary, Seaspiracy. What does director Tabrizi get right and where does his sensationalism tell the wrong story? As public consumers, what can we take from the film into our daily lives and politics?

The Future of Beavers Depends on Learning Lessons From the Past

In May 2019, the Eurasian beaver was officially declared a native species in Scotland. Since then, over 200 have been killed. What's more, each of those deaths was licensed by NatureScot, the official agency charged with " inspir[ing] everyone to care more" about Scottish wildlife.

How Meaningful are Formula 1's New 'Sustainably-Fuelled' Engines?

Formula 1's flagship sustainability promise doesn't add up. The inside story from an ex-commercial director and factory engineer.

In Praise of the Greatest Book About Swimming Ever Written

I was introduced to Haunts of the Black Masseur in a Carnaby Street café. From octopus porn to the Victorian seaside, it is ceaselessly curious, kind and fluid. Last month marked it's 30th birthday: a strange, cult swim-y book by Charles Sprawson.

"Swimming is a part of who I am. I don't think I'll ever walk away"

Despite being the best ultra-marathon swimmer in the world, let alone her country, Swim Australia refuse to recognise her achievements: ostensibly because each record was 'not a race'. Swimming, Surviving DV and Media with the World's Greatest open water swimmer.

The Big Swim

"So Daniel, we've got a plan." Swimming the Channel: 15 hours, 60 kilometres and plenty of jellyfish.

How has COVID-19 affected English Channel swims this year?

Channel swimmers are used to uncertainty but this year, more than ever, has frayed the patience of athletes and those helping them across alike. Daniel Shailer investigates how this unique community is adapting to unusual circumstances. With restrictions changing on a weekly basis, all that is certain is that any swimmers lucky enough to leave Dover this year will have plenty of stories to tell.

The Varsity Channel Race and its legendary history

Since Captain Matthew Webb made the first crossing in 1875, the English Channel has been a personal testing ground for open-water swimmers around the world. Thought of as the 'Mount Everest' of endurance swimming, the idea of racing across might seem at best pointless and at worst dangerous: 21 miles of unpredictable tides, tankers and jellyfish.

"The Self Is a Collaborative Thing": A Conversation with David Baker

IF A WHALE falls in the ocean, does it make a sound? What parasites, abyssal crustaceans, and scavenger hagfish will come to call it home? Will marine particles aggregate on its body "like snow," forming "the merest blueprint of whale"?

La bohème

The sun is rising on Act IV of La bohème at the Colliseum. A set which has rotated through Parisian cafes and bohemian flats is now being silently, slowly shunted back to where it began by a troupe of stage-hands. ‘That looks difficult’ someone whispers. They’re not wrong. In a way, much of this production (the fifth English National Opera revival of Jonathan Miller’s original) looks more difficult than it needs too.

The Animal Kingdom at Hampstead Theatre

What happens if you put all the awkwardness, discomfort and pain of family therapy through the sausage grinder of a drawing-room drama? No punning repartee, shady affairs or mysterious characters appearing in the night - just difficult conversations, long pauses and jugs of tap water.

Osman Yousefzada's 'The Go-Between'

Yousefzada's memoir is a compelling story of fluid identity in modern Britain - a tale of constant personal reinvention and self-made success in one of the world's most competitive industries.

After the Apology @ The Barbican Cinema

'The decision is made at a higher management level': the chilling words of a government agent removing a daughter from her mother.