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Tag: biodiversity
The new study showed a significant increase in emissions from boreal fires over the past two decades. Things were particularly dramatic in 2021, when they comprised a record 23%…Continue readingExtreme wildfires are turning the world’s largest forest ecosystem from carbon sink into net-emitter
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said: “Since the source of energy is green, the products that will be produced later in the Industrial Park Area are also green products,…Continue readingIndonesia breaks ground on $2.6bn Mentarang Induk hydropower project
Natural History Museum scientists say plasticosis, which scars digestive tract, likely to affect other types of bird too.Continue readingNew disease caused by plastics discovered in seabirds
Oil companies plan to pump crude oil from Lake Albert, Uganda to the coast of neighbouring Tanzania, with the goal of producing 1.4bn barrels over the next two decades.…Continue readingCounting the cost of Uganda’s east Africa oil pipeline – in pictures
Scientists studying the Permian-Triassic mass extinction find ecosystems can suddenly tip over.Continue readingEcosystem collapse ‘inevitable’ unless wildlife losses reversed
Analysis says hundreds of animals are contaminated with dangerous compounds linked to cancer and other health problems.Continue readingAlarming toxic ‘forever chemicals’ found in animals’ blood – study
Oxford University-led study detects 26 types of PFAS compounds in ice around Svalbard, threatening downstream ecosystems.Continue readingAlarming levels of PFAS in Norwegian Arctic ice pose new risk to wildlife
Australian scientists say the animals unlikely to be able to change nesting behaviour enough to mitigate temperature rises.Continue readingSea turtles under threat from warming seas and hotter beaches, research suggests
Fires, land conversion, logging and water shortages have weakened resilience of 2.5 million square kilometres of forest, says study.Continue readingHuman activity and drought ‘degrading more than a third of Amazon rainforest’
Dead whales and tough economics bedevil Biden’s massive wind energy push.Continue readingDead whales and tough economics bedevil Biden’s massive wind energy push
The people of the Hawizeh marshes of southern Iraq have an ancient history living in the world’s most unique and biodiverse wetlands. The region has been reduced to near-desert…Continue reading‘It used to be like heaven’: the Iraq wetlands decimated by the climate crisis – in pictures
Environment ministers’ decisions spanning 15 years made no difference to amount of habitat destroyed, researchers say.Continue readingSystem to protect Australia’s threatened species from development ‘more or less worthless’, study finds
Investigation into Verra carbon standard finds most are ‘phantom credits’ and may worsen global heating.Continue readingRevealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest provider are worthless, analysis shows
Study also says eating one serving of fish with PFAS could be equivalent to drinking contaminated water every day for a month.Continue readingFreshwater fish more contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’ than in oceans
Almost two-thirds of sharks and rays living on world’s coral reefs at risk, with 14 of 134 species reviewed critically endangered. “These sharks and rays have evolved over 450m…Continue reading‘Extinction crisis’ of sharks and rays to have devastating effect on other species, study finds
It’s lost 73% of its water and is unable to sustain some wildlife – and could soon negatively affect human health.Continue reading‘Last nail in the coffin’: Utah’s Great Salt Lake on verge of collapse
Fewer and fewer migrant species, which used to be seasonal fixtures, are flying to our shores as the climate crisis takes its toll on their habitat.Continue readingEmpty nests: why UK’s winter bird numbers are in sharp decline
Researchers say there has been a dramatic drop in particular in the number of female bears and cubs in Hudson Bay.Continue readingCanada polar bears declining at alarming rate, study finds
Scientists say loss may be as significant as ‘insectaggedon’ in terms of impact on soil, birds and ecosystems.Continue readingEarthworms may have declined by a third in UK, study reveals
Scientists behind car number plate study say ‘potentially catastrophic’ decline must be reversed.Continue readingFlying insect numbers plunge 64% since 2004, UK survey finds
Conservation groups warn not enough is being done to protect ecosystems as state government data shows more than 400,000ha of land was cleared in 2019-20.Continue readingCalls for tougher regulations as Queensland, Australia records highest rate of land clearing in country
Almost one fourth of Sweden’s last unprotected old-growth forest was logged between 2003 and 2019. At this rate, all of these ecologically unique and valuable forests will be lost…Continue readingStudy uncovers widespread and ongoing clearcutting of Swedish old forests
Scientists attempting to replicate a 1964 survey of freshwater bivalves in a stretch of the Thames near Reading found striking results, as native mussel populations had crashed by almost…Continue readingNative mussel numbers down almost 95% since 1960s
Illegal and unsustainable fishing, fossil fuel exploration, the climate crisis and disease are pushing marine species to the brink of extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of…Continue readingMarine life hit by ‘perfect storm’ as red list reveals species close to extinction
At least 8 coalmining projects in Great Barrier Reef catchments and floodplains have been exempted from requiring environmental impact statements (EIS) by the Queensland government, with 6 already gaining…Continue readingCoal projects in Great Barrier Reef catchments approved without environmental impact statements
“At the moment,” writes Warren Hern, “we are the most misnamed species on the planet: Homo sapiens sapiens—’wise, wise man.’ Not.” Hern, 84, physician and adjunct professor of anthropology…Continue readingHumanity devouring itself and the planet
At the bottom of a crater in southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, 20,000 people work at a cobalt mine, in shifts of 5,000 at a time.Continue readingDR Congo’s faltering fight against illegal cobalt mines
The heart-shaped Lake Eyre Basin covers about one-sixth of Australia. It contains one of the few remaining pristine river systems in the world. The Lake Eyre Basin is probably…Continue readingThe magnificent Lake Eyre Basin is threatened by 831 oil and gas wells, and more are planned
The stresses of warming temperatures and forest losses are driving dozens of species of monkeys and lemurs that normally shelter and feed high in the tree canopy to spend…Continue readingAnthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions driving monkeys and lemurs from trees to the ground
“We are getting hotter, drier summers and wetter winters and that is making trees more susceptible to disease. Climate change is already having some really significant effects”, said Rob…Continue readingDisease ravages UK’s fragile woodlands
Earth’s wildlife populations have plunged by an average of 69% in just under 50 years, according to a leading scientific assessment, as humans continue to clear forests, consume beyond…Continue readingAlmost 70% of animal populations wiped out since 1970, report reveals
Everybody likes trees. There is no anti-tree lobby. A global push to go beyond conservation of existing forests and start creating new ones goes back to 2011, when many…Continue readingPhantom Forests: Why Ambitious Tree Planting Projects Are Failing
Despite decades of social and environmental campaigns aimed at protecting the Amazon, the threats now are greater than they have ever been, thanks to the relentless expansion of activities…Continue readingLast stand in the Amazon
Some of the world’s biggest central banks are unwittingly helping to finance agri-business giants engaged in the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon. The banks buy corporate bonds issued by…Continue readingWorld’s central banks financing destruction of the rainforest
Nearly half of the planet’s bird species are in decline, according to a definitive report that paints the grimmest picture yet of the destruction of avian life. The State…Continue readingHalf of world’s bird species in decline as destruction of avian life intensifies
In 2014, Los Angeles cut its annual carbon emissions by 43% and saved $9 million in energy costs by replacing the bulbs in more than half of the city’s…Continue readingHow an effort to reduce fossil fuel use led to another environmental problem: Light pollution
The waters of the EU are in a “dismal” state, with only a third of fish populations studied in the north-east Atlantic considered to be in good condition, according…Continue readingEU slammed over failure to protect marine life from ‘destructive’ fishing
Out of 26 countries, Indonesia accounted for 58.2% of the tropical deforestation directly caused by industrial mining activities. The data covered 26 countries representing 76.7% of the total tropical…Continue readingIndustrial mining in Indonesia accounts for 45% of global tropical deforestation
Smoke from hundreds of wildfires has darkened skies over the Alaskan interior this summer with the state experiencing its fastest start to the fire season on record amid hot…Continue reading‘Nothing left to burn’: Wildfires blaze through the Arctic
Avian flu is a highly pathogenic strain of the H5N1 virus. Since its early detections in poultry and wild birds in the spring of 2021, this new strain has…Continue readingA new strain of avian flu is decimating wild birds. Humans should worry
One argument against deep seabed mining is the existence of previously unknown species in the deep sea, including the recently discovered pom-pom-like Biremis spaghetti worm and the delightfully weird…Continue readingTwo-year countdown for deep seabed mining
The number of forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon hit a nearly 15-year high this week, according to official figures that provided the latest warning on the advancing destruction…Continue readingBrazil records worst day for Amazon fires in 15 years
A giant, gentle sea creature that belongs to the manatee family is now “functionally extinct” in China with no sightings recorded since 2008, a new study said. The dugong,…Continue reading‘Charismatic’ dugong sea mammal declared functionally extinct in China
Researchers found that a typical forest fire season now burns 3 million more hectares (7.4 million more acres) than in 2001. Forest fires accounted for a quarter of global…Continue readingForest fires burn twice as many trees as two decades ago
An international team of researchers looked specifically at 25,000 species, including fish, bacteria, plants and protozoans living in the top 100 meters of the world’s oceans. They found that…Continue reading90% of marine species at risk of extinction by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are not curbed
Bumblebee populations have dropped throughout the United States and Europe as Earth has heated up. Research from 2020 found that the number of areas populated by the insects had…Continue readingBumblebee species stressed by climate change
Forest fires supercharged by climate change are burning twice as much global tree cover as 20 years ago. The equivalent of 16 football pitches are now lost every minute.…Continue readingClimate change driving unprecedented forest fire loss
The reputed home of the biblical Garden of Eden, Iraq’s swamplands have been battered by 3 years of drought and low rainfall, as well as reduced water flows along…Continue readingIraq’s Garden of Eden now ‘like a desert’
Forests from the Arctic to the Amazon are transforming at a “shocking” rate due to the climate crisis, with trees advancing into previously barren tundra in the north while…Continue readingGlobal heating has caused ‘shocking’ changes in forests across the Americas
Nearly every sea turtle born on the beaches of Florida in the past four years has been female. The spike in female baby turtles comes as a result of…Continue readingGlobal heating means almost every sea turtle in Florida now born female