By Kelly April Tyrrell21 March 2016 (University of Wisconsin-Madison) – A changing climate is altering the ability of Rocky Mountain forests to recover from wildfire, according to a new study published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography. When warm, dry conditions lead to drought in the years following fires, it impedes the growth and […]
By Claire Marshall23 March 2016 (BBC News) – The ash tree is likely to be wiped out in Europe, according to a review of the evidence. The trees are being killed off by the fungal disease ash-dieback along with an invasive beetle called the emerald ash borer. According to the research, published in the Journal […]
By Michael Slezak18 March 2016 (The Guardian) – The latest federal government carbon emissions inventory shows Australia has increased its emissions and has come under fire for allegedly vastly underestimating the amount of land clearing that has occurred, and its associated emissions. The Quarterly Update of the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report, which counts emissions […]
[Looks like it’s open season on environmental and indigenous rights defenders in Central America. – Des] 19 March 2016 (teleSUR) – Rights organizations in Guatemala condemned the killing of Walter Mendez Barrios, a prominent activist fighting against deforestation and hydroelectric projects in the Central American country. Mendez, leader of the Association of Forest Communities of […]
[It appears that U.S.-sponsored death squads have returned to Honduras, this time targeting environmental and indigenous-rights activists. – Des] By Nina Lakhani16 March 2016 MEXICO CITY (The Guardian) – Another indigenous activist has been murdered in Honduras amid an escalating wave of repression against the relatives and colleagues of renowned campaigner Berta Cáceres, who was […]
18 March 2016 (UN) – An independent United Nations expert on the situation of human rights defenders today urged the Government of Honduras “to take immediate and concrete actions, or risk turning the country into a lawless killing zone for human rights defenders.” UN Special Rapporteur Michel Forst’s appeal came after the killing of yet […]
By Morgan Erickson-Davis29 February 2016 (mongabay.com) – The northeastern Australian state of Queensland is home to lush tropical forests, unique wildlife, and rivers that feed into the largest reef system in the world. But researchers write that Queensland’s wilderness is under increasing strain, with data showing a big ramp-up in deforestation over the last two […]
By Don Dahler4 March 2016 (CBS News) – The Arctic Ocean is six million square miles, most of it covered in ice. But last month the top of the world was up to 14 degrees above normal, and broke the record for the lowest amount of ice in February — more than 400,000 square miles […]
By Morgan Erickson-Davis4 March 2016 (mongabay.com) – The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has one of the world’s biggest remaining tracts of rainforest (second only to the Amazon in size), home to unique and threatened species like okapis and bonobos. In effort to protect its forests, the DRC implemented a moratorium in 2002 that […]
By Tara Martin and James Watson 11 February 2016 (The Conversation) – When we think about adapting humanity to the challenges of climate change, it’s tempting to reach for technological solutions. We talk about seeding our oceans and clouds with compounds designed to trigger rain or increasing carbon uptake. We talk about building grand structures […]
