13 November 2013 (NWF) – Minnesota’s northwest moose population, one of only two populations in the state, was essentially gone by 2008, numbering fewer than 100 animals, down from a population of about 4,000 just 25 years earlier. In the four decades during which the population plummeted, summer temperatures increased 3 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit, […]
31 January 2014 (BBC News) – Australian authorities have approved a project to dump dredged sediment in the Great Barrier Reef marine park as part of a project to create one of the world’s biggest coal ports. The decision was made by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). Scientists had urged it not […]
By Katie Rucke23 January 2014 (MintPress News) – The nonprofit organization Amazon Watch on Monday released a satirical video to draw attention to the threats Chevron has made to environmentalists, journalists, scientists and locals who have asked for the company to be held accountable for its destructive actions, and the company’s attempts to criminalize environmental […]
By John R. Platt 8 January 2014 (Scientific American) – Physically and emotionally demanding. That’s how Philipp Henschel, Lion Program Survey Coordinator for the big-cat conservation organization Panthera, describes the six years he and other researchers spent combing the wilds of 17 nations looking for the elusive and rarely studied West African lion. The results […]
By Adam Withnall16 December 2013 (The Independent) – The world’s supply of bananas is under threat from plagues of bugs and fungal infections which could be disastrous if they continue to spread, researchers say. The government in Costa Rica, one of the biggest suppliers of the fruit, has already declared a “national emergency” over the […]
9 January 2014 (Press Association) – Emperor penguins are having to struggle up 100-foot walls of ice as warmer temperatures force them out of their traditional breeding grounds, a study has shown. The gravity-defying march of the penguins was spotted by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists in satellite images of four colonies. The birds normally […]
By Matt McGrath, Environment correspondent9 January 2014 (BBC News) – Three quarters of the world’s big carnivores – including lions, wolves and bears – are in decline, says a new study. A majority now occupy less than half their former ranges according to data published in the journal, Science. The loss of this habitat and […]
[“We were all sitting around having lunch, and it flew into the tree next to the back deck, and it took its last breath and screamed and fell on the deck in front of everybody.” Desdemona remembers when thousands of birds fell from the sky in Australia during the record heatwave of 2009.] By Josh […]
By Bethany Horne3 January 2013 (Newsweek) – As two military-style helicopters touch down in a remote village in the jungles of Ecuador, masked men with guns hop out and scurry into a one-room schoolhouse. Inside they capture their target: a 6-year-old girl who doesn’t speak their language and can’t even guess why they are kidnapping […]
By Rhett A. Butler26 December 2013 (mongabay.com) – 2013 was full of developments in efforts to understand and protect the world’s tropical rainforests. The following is a review of some of the major tropical forest-related news stories for the year. As a review, this post will not cover everything that transpired during 2013 in the […]
