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Keep Looking Forward: 20 Instagram Accounts for Environmental Inspiration

The Revelator
Nov. 03, 2020 01:44PM EST Popular
Keep Looking Forward: 20 Instagram Accounts for Environmental Inspiration
A person stands on a cliff overlooking Geiranger, Norway. Marco Bottigelli / Getty Images

By John R. Platt

These days many of us have a natural inclination to "doomscroll" — that constant refreshing of social media so we can gnash our teeth at the most recent bad news.

There's an alternative. Let's call it hopescrolling — the art and act of looking for beautiful things and important information to keep us inspired.

With the pandemic and election results still looming over our heads, here are 20 of our favorite nature- and environment-related Instagram accounts. May they fill your days with beauty and drive you to fight for the planet.

iNaturalist

Some of the best photos from the app that helps scientists and everyday citizens keep track of the natural world.

Joel Sartore

The famed National Geographic photographer is on a mission to capture the world's biodiversity before it disappears.

Everyday Climate Change

Six photographers team up to showcase the very real effects of climate change around the world.

View this post on Instagram

This is Amanda Perobelli @amandamperobelli taking over @everydayclimatechange Instagram this week and sharing my work about the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland on fire, on assignment for Reuters with journalist Jake Spring Dorvalino Conceicao Camargo, 56, who works on a ranch, attempts to put out a fire with a tree branch Sweating from the effort, Camargo said he had never seen fires this bad. "Everything is suffering," he said. Camargo recalled navigating the waters as a child in boxy canoes. Back on the ranch where he works, he showed the farm's high-water mark - 70 centimeters (2.3 feet) off the ground - hewn into the post of a cattle corral. Even in a dry year it's typically about half that, he said. This year, the floods never came. Only a little bit of water pooled in a ditch nearby, he said. Now as water evaporates in the dry season, the Paraguay River that traverses the Pantanal has receded to its lowest point since 1973, according to Julia Arieira, a climate researcher at Brazil's Federal University of Espirito Santo. With Jake Spring, for Reuters Link for the full text and story in my bio @amandamperobelli #climatechange #globalwarming #climatecrisis #pantanal

A post shared by Everyday Climate Change (@everydayclimatechange) on

Virunga National Park

This park is famously home to mountain gorillas, but its account shows so much more.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

All birds, all the time.

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#BirdsOfHalloween

A post shared by Cornell Lab of Ornithology (@cornellbirds) on

BBC Earth

We've all seen the documentaries, but there's a lot more photos and videos to enjoy through this account.

Zoe Keller Art

One of The Revelator's favorite nature artists. (Check out our interview with Keller here.)

Alex Wild

Among the world's best insect photographers — and an important entomologist to boot.

Carls of Ohio

A groundhog that lives in a friend's backyard. Hey — urban biodiversity matters.

The Caterpillar Lab

So much color, plus background on some species (and body stages) that we tend to overlook.

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Caterpillar-of-the-Day Follow Along: Day 286⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Like Some Heavy Fruit:⁠⠀ Big Poplar Sphinx⁠⠀ Pachysphinx modesta⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Three poplar trees stand isolated in a large field in Gardner, Massachusetts. Like some heavy fruit or nut, the sphinx, clasping to remnant leaf petioles, dangle precariously in the wind. Far below, in the late July heat, I discover their frass and bits of discarded leaves. The big poplar sphinx is always out of my reach.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ -------⁠⠀ • Caterpillar: Pachysphinx modesta - Big Poplar Sphinx⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ • Range: Eastern and Central North America
, west across the Northern US and Canada.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ • Host Plants: A specialist feeder on poplars and willows. Seems to show a preference for Cottonwood here in the Northeast.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ • Season: Caterpillars active in the Summer⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ • Where are they now: Pachysphinx overwinter as pupa in soil.⁠⠀ -------⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ If you would like to follow along with us this year you can find posts like this one here on Instagram, follow us on Facebook, or just visit the front page of our website to see our expanded calendar graphic. For the best experience, order one of our physical Caterpillar-A-Day calendars so you can follow along, add notes, and learn more, as we go.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #moths #mothsofinstagram #thecaterpillarlab #caterpillar #caterpillars #nature #naturephotography #science #entomology #lepidoptera #scienceeducation #naturalhistory #art #artandscience #buglife #exciting #insects #bugs #insectsofinstagram #followalong #lifecycle #2020 #macrophotography #insectphotography

A post shared by The Caterpillar Lab (@the_caterpillar_lab) on

David Attenborough

The conservation icon doesn't plan to be on Instagram very long — hey, he's in his nineties — but this account is gold.

Drone the Whales

Amazing aerial footage of cetaceans around the world.

Roger Peet

This amazing artist/activist frequently works with our parent organization, the Center for Biological Diversity, but that's just a fraction of his inspirational output.

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This work, "Make it Through", was the first artwork I made this year, all the way back in January, what seems like a lifetime ago. I was trying to rework the idea that inspired "Face It" (second slide) to get at something that I missed the first time. The bird in Face It is a Scrub Jay, enduring the storm in the black walnut tree that grew in behind my house in 2009. The bird in Make it Through is a Wandering Albatross- great pelagic voyagers, crossing vast oceans with hardly a wingbeat. That was something more of the endurance that I wanted to convey, and goddamn it has taken a lot of endurance to get through this year up to this point- and it's not over yet. No matter how you are engaging with this experience I wish you the strength to go all the way through it and arrive, sunlit and with gentler winds, on the other side. . . . Make It a Through is available, send a DM. #art #print #printmaking #reliefprint #linocutprint #linoleumprint #reliefprint #blockprint #albatross #makeitthrough #justseeds

A post shared by Roger Peet (@toosphexy) on

National Park Service

Not only does this agency help protect amazing landscapes, it also employs some incredibly talented photographers. And they share great tips.

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“How to recognize different trees from quite a long way away. No. 1 The Larch”⁣ ⁣ Larix occidentalis, the Western larch, turns a luminescent yellow in the fall, lighting up slopes in golden patches. As the days grow shorter and temperatures drop, photosynthesis becomes more difficult. The tree saves nutrients by ceasing the process. Larch needles change color as chlorophyll (the light-absorbing pigment that provides energy for photosynthesis) is absorbed back into the tree, leaving behind a yellow pigment, xanthophyll. Eventually the needles drop off the tree, leaving it bare-limbed until spring.⁣ ⁣ Image: Larch trees in the western and southern portions of Glacier National Park turn bright yellow during the mid-to-late October.⁣ ⁣ #findyourpark #nationalparkservice #larch #glacier #fallcolors

A post shared by National Park Service (@nationalparkservice) on

Winona LaDuke

The famed Native American activist is a source of constant inspiration.

Public Lands Hate You

See what certain people do wrong when they try to celebrate the natural world — and remind yourself not to follow in their footsteps.

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The number of people who defend their off-trail travels as not having an impact is astounding. The thing is, humans are inherently lazy. We tend to take the path of least resistance. So, if someone wants to travel to the other side of a field, and they see a slightly beaten path that may have been taken by one or two people before them, they take it. This is how new trails are formed. The hiking community calls these “social trails”. They are unofficial trails that people use as the path of least resistance from Point A to Point B.⁣ ⁣ The problem with social trails is that as they become more frequently used, they become permanent. First the vegetation is slightly disturbed. The people that follow then beat the vegetation flat. Continued use compacts soils to the point that they won’t support new growth. This breaks up what was previously homogenous habit into small fractured pieces. It's not good for vegetation. It’s not good for wildlife. And it certainly doesn’t make for good pictures.⁣ ⁣ The 1st picture was taken by @waterproject. The 2nd is a Google Earth satellite image of the same location taken a few years prior. Notice the difference? How can someone look at these two photos side by side and say that there hasn’t been an impact? How much longer do you think this area can withstand this amount of abuse before it comes a dirt hillside with a couple of flower patches protected behind wooden fences?⁣ ⁣ The next photos are close up views of what these new social trails look like, progressing from slightly disturbed vegetation, to fully flattened and dead vegetation, to fully compacted soils and new dirt "trails" that will require either human intervention or decades of natural forces to recover. This is the progression that we want to avoid. Resist the temptation to use social trails. Stick to the official dirt trails. They are obvious. They are generally wide enough for two or more people to walk side by side. They are a fully dirt surface with no vegetation present. You don’t need to create new trails for beautiful pictures that others will love, as seen in the last two photos.⁣ ⁣ #leavenotrace #poppy #wildflowers #ethics #mindfulness #publiclands

A post shared by RESPECT OUR PUBLIC LANDS (@publiclandshateyou) on

United Nations Environment Programme

This great account frequently features world-saving initiatives both large and small.

NASA Climate Change

Images and science about the planet. Expect lots of photos of melting icebergs.

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Study: If greenhouse gas emissions continue, Greenland and Antarctica’s ice sheets could contribute more than 15 inches (38 centimeters) of global sea level rise by 2100 – which is beyond the amount that has already been set in motion by Earth’s warming climate. • Full story: https://sealevel.nasa.gov/news/194/emissions-could-add-15-inches-to-sea-level-by-2100-nasa-led-study-finds • 📸: Ice shelves in Antarctica, such as the Getz Ice Shelf seen above, are sensitive to warming ocean temperatures. Ocean and atmospheric conditions are some of the drivers of ice sheet loss that scientists considered in a new study estimating additional global sea level rise by 2100. Credit: NASA/Jeremy Harbeck • #nasa #globalwarming #climatechange #sealevelrise #sealevelchange #greenland #antarctica #greenhousegas #fossilfuels #humanactivity #humanactivities #science #study #icemelt #iceloss #icesheet #water #ocean #carbon

A post shared by NASA Climate Change (@nasaclimatechange) on

International Dark-Sky Association

This organization is devoted to protecting us from light pollution, and these photos will inspire you to look up into the night.

The Center for Biological Diversity

Our parent organization's Instagram account will both entertain you and keep you engaged in important activism. Just when you're needed most.

John R. Platt is the editor of The Revelator. An award-winning environmental journalist, his work has appeared in Scientific American, Audubon, Motherboard, and numerous other magazines and publications. His "Extinction Countdown" column has run continuously since 2004 and has covered news and science related to more than 1,000 endangered species. He is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and the National Association of Science Writers. John lives on the outskirts of Portland, Ore., where he finds himself surrounded by animals and cartoonists.

http://twitter.com/johnrplatt
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Reposted with permission from The Revelator.

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