By Adrianna C. Foster 16 July 2018 This summer a team of scientists from NASA Goddard, American University, and the Forest Service are conducting joint field work and flights with Goddard’s LiDAR, Hyperspectral, and Thermal Imager (G-LiHT) within south-central Alaska to study the ongoing spruce beetle outbreak and develop methods for early detection of beetle […]
By Taran Volckhausen 21 June 2018 (Mongabay) – The large-scale expansion of oil palm has been a major driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss in many areas of the tropics. In Malaysia and Indonesia, where 85 percent of the world’s oil palm is cultivated, rampant industry growth over the past several decades has replaced rainforest […]
By Kashmira Gander 18 June 2018 (Newsweek) – “Giant hogweed makes poison ivy look like a walk in the park,” officials warned. Officials have warned the public against touching giant hogweed, which can burn the skin and cause blindness, after it was spotted for the first time in Virginia.Also known as Heracleum mantegazzianum, giant hogweed […]
17 May 2018 (University of Waterloo) – More Canadian cities will experience damage from the emerald ash borer than previously thought. As a result of climate change and fewer days of extreme cold, the beetle may eat its way further north than originally estimated. Kim Cuddington, a professor of biology at the University of Waterloo, […]
By Jenny Staletovich 3 March 2018 MIAMI (Miami Herald) – The grasshopper sparrow, a tiny Florida prairie bird perched on the verge of extinction for the last decade, may have encountered a final, unconquerable foe: an invasive new disease quickly killing off its young. The disease has spread so rapidly that wildlife managers now fear […]
By Peter F. Gammelby 4 April 2018 (Aarhus University) – It is not as lonely at the top as it used to be. At least not for plants which, due to global warming, are increasingly finding habitats on mountain tops that were formerly reserved for only the toughest and most hardy species. A large international […]
1 May 2018 (E360 Digest) – The number of people in the United States infected by mosquito, tick, and flea-transmitted diseases have tripled, increasing from 27,388 cases in 2004 to 96,075 in 2016, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control. Since 2004, nine insect-borne diseases have also been discovered or introduced […]
By Oliver Milman 22 April 2018 Utqiaġvik, Alaska (The Guardian) – Last July, Nagruk Harcharek was savouring a bucolic visit to a cabin that sits on the lip of the Chipp river, deep in the Alaskan Arctic, when something caught his eye. Shimmering on a rack where he hangs his caught whitefish to dry was, […]
23 March 2018 (IPBES) – Biodiversity – the essential variety of life forms on Earth – continues to decline in every region of the world, significantly reducing nature’s capacity to contribute to people’s well-being. This alarming trend endangers economies, livelihoods, food security and the quality of life of people everywhere, according to four landmark science […]
By Lynda V. Mapes 2 March 2018 (The Seattle Times) – Atlantic salmon net-pen farming will be phased out in Washington by 2025 under legislation passed by the state Senate on Friday after a tough floor fight and fancy parliamentary footwork. With at least six lobbyists in a last-minute campaign, Cooke Aquaculture Pacific worked hard […]
