Map shows tracks and strength of Atlantic tropical cyclones in 2020. Blues are tropical depressions and tropical storms; yellow through red show hurricanes, darker shades meaning stronger ones. Master0Garfield / Wikimedia Commons
By Astrid Caldas
As we reach the official end of hurricane season, 2020 will be one for the record books. Looking back at these long, surprising, sometimes downright crazy past six months (seven if you count when the first named storms actually started forming), there are many noteworthy statistics and patterns that drive home the significance of this hurricane season, and the ways climate change may have contributed to it.
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<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0NzU0Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTk3NzI3M30.nuos3jK9lDTK2Y7lsUuwGwoYLSDW0lvEYLwvBPs60OM/img.jpg?width=980" id="8e32e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="56d35cc370ede3d2f965a897182686ca" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
NOAA
<p>Hurricane activity this year <a href="https://twitter.com/philklotzbach/status/1329930734635630593" target="_blank">broke some records</a>. As of today, we have had a record 30 named storms, of which 13 turned into hurricanes. The first two, Arthur and Bertha, even formed before June 1, the official start of hurricane season. The third formed on June 1 itself.</p><p>This is also only the second time in tropical storm naming history, the first time being in 2005, that the National Hurricane Center <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml" target="_blank">had to use the Greek alphabet letters</a> to name storms after the regular list of names was exhausted. As the season progressed, storms generally got stronger – the image below gives a good idea of this progression. While a pattern like this is not unseen, it certainly is not usually this striking (for instance, see timelines of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2005_Atlantic_hurricane_season" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2005</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2017_Atlantic_hurricane_season" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2017</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2018_Atlantic_hurricane_season" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2018</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2019_Atlantic_hurricane_season" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2019</a>).</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0NzU2MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTAyMDY3Nn0.BhJhN_ErgAy_w5VzMcYKPf9KHfLF6NvhQqJS8cj3HEY/img.png?width=980" id="e8972" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ea63282304cdf72c8bf095c11469abf9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>Fortunately, the high level of activity did not translate into a higher number of major hurricanes this season. The August <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/extremely-active-hurricane-season-possible-for-atlantic-basin" target="_blank">updated forecast</a> from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had called for 19-25 named storms, with 7-11 turning into hurricanes, 3-6 of which would be major (Category 3 or higher). The total number of named storms and hurricanes went up, but the latter prediction did not change from the <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/busy-atlantic-hurricane-season-predicted-for-2020" target="_blank">original forecast released in May</a> (see infographics below).</p><p>So, even though 2020 surpassed the predicted number of named storms and hurricanes, as of today, six of the 13 hurricanes were major, still (barely) within the prediction. Of all the named storms, 12 made landfall in the U.S., six as hurricanes. As of today, the season was record-setting for named storms. It ranks <a href="https://twitter.com/philklotzbach/status/1329930734635630593" target="_blank">second</a> for hurricanes & major hurricanes.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0NzU2NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDQwNzE4OH0.BqYImnv3vRtvgqZvRcIk8ESQX7eOePgn1Vp4RHivhT0/img.png?width=980" id="dc297" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="68446095682eb5c2bd085d14e6f920b7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A summary infographic showing hurricane season probability and numbers of named storms predicted from NOAA's 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook. NOAA
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0NzU2NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NTkxMzk3OX0.a7NktMsiV-68Dtwf8uURYvGtByvjbcvPIxbS-itZz4E/img.png?width=980" id="d2ccc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9a1b178bc5490c39407c8b0d2293ed16" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The updated 2020 Atlantic hurricane season probability and numbers of named storms. NOAA
<p>Both Gulf and East Coast states were affected by landfalling hurricanes, and, strikingly, very <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/11/16/tropical-storm-winds-lower-48/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">few coastal counties have not been affected</a> by tropical storm winds this season. Many of the 2020 storms formed in the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico, hence nine out of the 12 U.S. landfalling storms targeting the Gulf states. Louisiana, for example, suffered five landfalls starting in May with TS Bertha.</p><p>This is the 6th year in a row that named storms formed before the official start of the season, and the 5th season in a row with at least one category 5 hurricane. It was also the first year to have two major hurricanes in the month of November (Eta and Iota, a Category 4 and 5 respectively), and September 2020 alone had 10 storms – almost equal to the number of total storms for the entirety of an average season, which is currently 12.</p><p>The 2020 season also had 27 named storms that hold the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Atlantic_hurricane_records" target="_blank">record for earliest formation by initial letter</a> – most of the previous records were set in 2005.</p>
<h3>A Bit of Science</h3><p>One characteristic of the 2020 season that will be discussed for quite a while is the <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutgloss.shtml#r" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rapid intensification</a> of storms. <a href="https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2020-11-15-atlantic-hurricane-season-ten-storms-rapidly-intensify" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ten storms</a> so far this year have seen sustained winds gain 35 mph or more in speed within 24 hours or less, with Eta and Iota beating all records with 80 mph increases as they neared landfall on the coast of Nicaragua. The <a href="https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2020-11-15-atlantic-hurricane-season-ten-storms-rapidly-intensify" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1995 season also had 10 rapidly intensifying storms</a> – but not at the same rate. Some scientists <a href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/bams/article/98/3/495/70036/Will-Global-Warming-Make-Hurricane-Forecasting" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">argue</a> that rapid intensification is likely to become a more common feature of future storms, making forecasting trickier. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08471-z.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Research has shown</a> that rapid intensification, observed over the past 40 years, has become more frequent, a pattern that is not supported by models of internal climate variation alone, suggesting that human-caused global warming might be a factor. <a href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/jcli/article/31/20/8281/92614/Projected-Response-of-Tropical-Cyclone-Intensity" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Another study</a> determined that the chance of a hurricane intensifying went from 1 in 100 in the early 80s to 1 in 20 by mid-2005.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0NzU2OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMjI2NjM3MX0.753Urx0au33Hqz3vy1bTqOWf4rZLyp3JPPGCF-nZ4Co/img.jpg?width=980" id="3d54a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="021f4862a8df4f5a055d450e7a7b0522" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>What we are seeing in the U.S. is also being seen across the globe. Rapidly intensifying <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/10/07/tropical-storm-category-hours-super-typhoon-hagibis-intensifies-one-fastest-rates-record/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">typhoons</a> have wreaked havoc in Asia this year, and we saw storms crossing the Caribbean and hitting Central American countries as major hurricanes formed in less than 24 hours. Nicaragua was hit by two category 4 hurricanes in two weeks, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/11/17/nicaragua-eta-iota-landfalls/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">something never seen before</a>.</p><p>I have <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/astrid-caldas/dangerous-hurricane-season-to-open-amidst-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">previously written</a> that hurricanes are becoming <a href="https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00382-013-1713-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stronger</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0673-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wetter</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-019-0074-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">slower</a>, and <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/48/23942" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more destructive</a>, and all these trends have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/climate/climate-change-hurricanes.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">linked to anthropogenic global warming</a> in one way or another. <a href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/link-between-heat-and-hurricanes" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New studies</a> since have also pointed to the fact that the link between heat and the intensity of tropical cyclones is becoming clearer, and that their <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/22/11975" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">intensity over the past four decades</a> has increased.</p><p>Another new characteristic of Atlantic hurricanes determined in a study is that they are losing strength more slowly. Whereas in the 60's hurricanes lost 75 percent of their strength within 24 hours of making landfall, today they lose only 50 percent in the same amount of time. That certainly contributes to a higher impact from rainfall and winds.</p><p>The very active forecast released in August by NOAA was based on some variables that historically affect Atlantic tropical cyclone activity. In addition to the <a href="https://climatereanalyzer.org/wx/DailySummary/#sst" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">abnormally warm sea surface temperatures</a>, which act as a type of "fuel" to the formation of storms, there were other factors at play.</p><p>The establishment of a <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">La Niña</a> pattern, which historically affects high winds in the Atlantic, tends to diminish the vertical wind shear that could help prevent the formation of a tropical cyclone. Also, according to <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/extremely-active-hurricane-season-possible-for-atlantic-basin" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NOAA</a>, a large-scale climate pattern called the <a href="https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data/atlantic-multi-decadal-oscillation-amo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation</a> has also been favoring more active hurricane seasons since 1995 by making wind conditions in the tropics more conducive to tropical cyclone formation. This favors weaker tropical Atlantic trade winds and an enhanced west African monsoon, which also affect Atlantic tropical cyclone formation.</p>
<h3>Costs and Future of Hurricanes</h3><p>Tropical cyclones are the <a href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/calculating-cost-weather-and-climate-disasters" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">costliest of weather and climate disasters</a>, no doubt due to their widespread impacts: storm surge, wind, rain, all come together to create compound risks in the areas affected. In addition, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/nyregion/rebuild-home-hurricane.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hurricane recovery</a> – ecological, structural, economic – tends to last for years, and <a href="https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/Looking-lingering-health-effects-Hurricane/96/i37" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">health impacts</a> add to the costs.</p><p>The trend in rapid intensification, especially as a storm approaches landfall, can make preparations and evacuations more difficult, if not impossible, and is bound to increase the danger to people and the costs of these disasters. Plus, we cannot forget that storms are more consistently forming before and after the official hurricane season, and that extension can signify a longer period of disaster recovery, as well as a longer period during which communities will have to stay in a state of preparedness.</p><p>Especially costly and worrisome from the point of view of preparedness and recovery is when storms hit the same area successively. Hurricane Laura hit the Louisiana Lake Charles area in August as a Category 4, one of the strongest storms to hit the state. Then Hurricane Delta hit the same general area only six weeks later, while many houses still <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/10/10/922637167/hundreds-of-thousands-without-power-after-hurricane-delta-sweeps-through-south" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had tarps covering their roofs</a>, and people in the region, especially low-income segments of the population, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/10/10/922637167/hundreds-of-thousands-without-power-after-hurricane-delta-sweeps-through-south" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">were far from recovered</a>.</p><p>Last but certainly not least, we are dealing with a pandemic that added to the <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/kristy-dahl/as-hurricane-laura-bears-down-on-gulf-coast-data-shows-how-covid-19-may-affect-evacuations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">challenges of evacuations, sheltering, and recovery</a>. Because of the unprecedented confluence of hurricane season and the pandemic, many emergency preparedness officials <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/astrid-caldas/real-time-lessons-on-covid-19-and-us-hurricane-response-what-weve-learned-from-hanna-and-isaias" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">learned on the fly</a> how to best accommodate evacuees while trying to contain spread of the novel coronavirus.</p><p>The economic crisis from the pandemic is also leading to a lack of resources for both the people and the authorities to deal effectively with the disaster and take suitable action, something that could take years to resolve. The pandemic is of course a concern around the world, and everywhere people are scrambling to deal with these compound risks.</p>
<h3>The Need for Action</h3><p>There is an urgent need for policies and funding for equitable pre-disaster preparedness to help curtail post-disaster costs and recovery. Resources and technical assistance also must be allocated equitably so that those most in need and with the least capability of rebounding have the means to do so.</p><p>We know that human-induced global warming is making storms worse and bringing more destruction with them. We also know we have a path to reduce the carbon emissions that are driving our temperatures up. It is imperative that countries – including the U.S. – continue to increase the ambition of their pledges to reduce global warming emissions and cap warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, as promised in the Paris Agreement. Only by keeping the worst of climate change at bay will we also limit the wrath of hurricanes, saving lives, property, and resources.</p><p>But for now, any way you look at it, the unprecedented 2020 season is one for the history books.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/astrid-caldas/rapid-intensification-unprecedented-number-of-storms-make-2020-a-record-hurricane-season" target="_blank">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Tropical Storm Theta Is Record-Breaking 29th Storm of 2020 ... ›
- Hurricane Delta Breaks Record for Earliest 25th Named Storm ... ›
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Protesters shouting slogans on megaphones during the climate strike on September 25 in Lisbon, Portugal. Hugo Amaral / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images
By Dana Drugmand
An unprecedented climate lawsuit brought by six Portuguese youths is to be fast-tracked at Europe's highest court, it was announced today.
The European Court of Human Rights said the case, which accuses 33 European nations of violating the applicants' right to life by disregarding the climate emergency, would be granted priority status due to the "importance and urgency of the issues raised."
<p>This is the first climate lawsuit to be filed with the <a href="https://www.echr.coe.int/Pages/home.aspx?p=home&c=" target="_blank">international court in Strasbourg, France</a>, and campaigners say the decision represents a major step towards a potential landmark judgment.</p>
‘Protect Our Future’
<p>Cláudia Agostinho (21), Catarina Mota (20), Martim Agostinho (17), Sofia Oliveira (15), André Oliveira (12) and Mariana Agostinho (8) are <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/09/03/youth-climate-lawsuit-portugal-33-european-countries" target="_blank">bringing the case</a> with nonprofit law firm Global Legal Action Network (<span style="background-color: initial;">GLAN</span>), arguing that none of the countries have sufficiently ambitious targets to cut their emissions.</p><p>Portugal recently sweltered through its <a href="https://www.ipma.pt/pt/media/noticias/news.detail.jsp?f=/pt/media/noticias/textos/resumo-clima-julho-20.html" target="_blank">hottest July in 90 years</a> and has seen a rise in devastating heatwaves and wildfires over recent years due to rising temperatures. Four of the applicants live in Leiria, one of the regions worst-hit by the forest fires that killed more than 120 people in 2017. </p><p>Responding to the development, André Oliveira, 12, said: "It gives me lots of hope to know that the judges in the European Court of Human Rights recognise the urgency of our case." </p><p>"But what I'd like the most would be for European governments to immediately do what the scientists say is necessary to protect our future. Until they do this, we will keep on fighting with more determination than ever."</p>‘Highly Significant'
<p>The decision represents a "highly significant" step, <a href="https://www.glanlaw.org/about-us" target="_blank">GLAN</a> Director Dr. Gearóid Ó Cuinn said in a <a href="https://youth4climatejustice.org/" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p><p>"This is an appropriate response from the Court given the scale and imminence of the threat these young people face from the climate emergency," he added. </p><p>By suing the 33 countries all together, the youths aim to compel these national governments to act more aggressively on climate through a single court order, which would potentially be more effective than pursuing separate lawsuits or lobbying policymakers in each country.</p><p>If successful, the defendant countries would be legally bound not only to ramp up emissions cuts, but also to tackle overseas contributions to climate change including those of their multinational enterprises.</p>‘Major Hurdle’
<p>The <a href="https://youth4climatejustice.org/the-case/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">countries targeted</a> include all of the European Union member states as well as Norway, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, none of which are currently aligned with <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a> target to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) and pursue a limit of 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F).<a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a></p><p><a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Climate Action Tracker rates</a> most of Europe as "insufficient" in terms of its emissions reduction policies based on the Paris target, while Ukraine, Turkey and Russia are assessed as "critically insufficient" – meaning they are on track for a warming of 4 degrees C or higher.</p><p>The European Union has pledged to slash its emissions by <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/eu-climate-action/2030_ctp_en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">at least 55 percent by 2030</a>. But the Portuguese youth plaintiffs are calling for cuts of at least 65 percent by 2030, a level that <a href="http://www.caneurope.org/energy/climate-energy-targets" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">European climate campaigners say</a> is necessary to meet the 1.5 degrees warming limit.</p><p> The 33 countries must each respond to the youths' complaint by the end of February, before lawyers representing the plaintiffs will respond to the points of defense. </p><p>"Nothing less than a 65 percent reduction by 2030 will be enough for the EU member states to comply with their obligations to the youth-applicants and indeed countless others," Gerry Liston, legal officer with GLAN, said in a press release.</p><p>"These brave young people have cleared a major hurdle in their pursuit of a judgment which compels European governments to accelerate their climate mitigation efforts."</p><p><span></span><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/11/29/court-advances-landmark-youth-climate-lawsuit-against-33-european-nations" target="_blank">DeSmog</a>. </em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Like many other plant-based foods and products, CBD oil is one dietary supplement where "organic" labels are very important to consumers. However, there are little to no regulations within the hemp industry when it comes to deeming a product as organic, which makes it increasingly difficult for shoppers to find the best CBD oil products available on the market.
<p>Here you can learn about the importance of organic hemp oil, why it's better for the environment, and which CBD companies actually make trustworthy products with sustainable farming processes. origins which weigh heavily on many consumers who want to buy a product that's produced in the best way possible for not only themselves to ingest, but for the environment as well through sustainable farming methods. </p><h2>What Is CBD Oil?</h2><p>First things first, CBD stands for cannabidiol, and it's a cannabinoid found within cannabis sativa plants. This plant compound is believed to have many potential benefits, and it is primarily derived from hemp plants via a CO2 extraction process. </p><p>Since CBD is extracted from industrial hemp, which contains only trace amounts of THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis plants), this means that CBD won't make you feel high like marijuana, which has much higher levels of THC that causes psychoactive effects. Instead, the effects of CBD are much more subtle and promote a general sense of calm and relaxation in most users.</p><h2>What Makes a CBD Oil Organic?</h2><p>In terms of organic labels, perhaps the most important (and prominent) certification comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This government organization has been labeling foods as "organic" for many years, but what exactly does this certification entail? Essentially, a label indicating that a product is "USDA Organic" or "Certified Organic" means that at least 95% of the ingredients are obtained from organic sources.</p><p>For a crop to be considered organic by the USDA, it must be grown without the use of industrial solvents, irradiation, genetic engineering (GMOs), synthetic pesticides, or chemical fertilizer. Instead, farmers rely on natural substances and <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mechanical, physical, or biologically based farming</a> techniques to cultivate healthy and organic crops.</p><p>Before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, no hemp-derived products could be dubbed as "certified organic" since the hemp plant and its extracts were still categorized as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. However, it's still difficult for CBD companies to obtain a USDA certified organic label for their products due to the legal grey area that still surrounds CBD extracts. </p><p>Because of these challenges, and due to the fact that industrial hemp has only recently become an agricultural crop, very few CBD oils are USDA certified organic. Rather, many CBD products contain hemp extracts from plants that were grown in organic conditions but may not be federally certified.</p><h2>What are the Best Organic CBD Oil Brands?</h2><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p>
<h2>Why Organic Hemp Oil Matters</h2><p>Hemp is a unique plant, not only for its rich cannabinoid content, but also for its ability to absorb a wide variety of components in soil. But this trait poses great risks when it comes to the creation of CBD products derived from hemp.</p><p>Because hemp has a high capacity for compound uptake, this means that the plants can retain <a href="https://www.remedyreview.com/industry/lab-test-results/" target="_blank">harmful chemicals like pesticides</a>, heavy metals, and other residual solvents. This is especially true when it comes to synthetic chemicals that are more toxic to humans, and difficult to remove once they have been absorbed by the hemp plant.</p><p>Organic farming practices help reduce the risk of hemp crops absorbing harsh chemicals that may later end up in CBD oil after extraction. When you're taking CBD as a wellness supplement to help alleviate your symptoms or improve your overall well-being, the last thing you want is to ingest compounds that might negatively outweigh the benefits of CBD. This is an important reason to look for third party lab test results when shopping for CBD products since these certificates of analysis can show the full cannabinoid and terpene profile of a hemp extract, as well as test results that search for the presence of any residual solvents.</p><p>In addition to creating a better end product, organic farming practices are also better for the environment. Sustainable and organic farming methods may <a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy</a>. The use of natural pest deterrents as opposed to chemical pesticides is also better for nearby animal populations and ecosystems.</p><h3>Organic vs. Natural</h3><p>While there are only a select few companies offering certified organic ingredients in their products, almost every brand in the CBD market creates "natural" products. The term "all-natural" or "plant-based" does not mean that a product is organic, and since hemp oil is a natural derivative of hemp plants, these products are often referred to as all-natural. However, there are some synthetic CBD oils that should be avoided because they are chemically constructed and may produce unwanted side effects that are not caused by naturally derived CBD extracts.</p><h2>What are the Benefits of Organic CBD Oil?</h2><p>There's a long list of potential CBD oil health benefits, and some of the most common wellness advantages include:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/" target="_blank">Chronic pain relief</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/" target="_blank">Anti-anxiety effects</a></li><li>Better sleep</li><li><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inner-source/201901/cbd-oil-mental-health-should-you-take-it-too" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improvements in mood</a></li><li>Internal balance and regulation</li></ul><p>When dealing with pain, inflammation, sleep issues, and mental health struggles, it can be hard to find sufficient treatment options. The use of certain prescriptions can cause unwanted side effects, yet they are often the only solution for patients with these medical conditions. In search of other therapies, people have started to flock towards CBD oil as an alternative remedy for a variety of conditions. However, it should be noted that CBD products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and you should seek your doctor's advice before using CBD if you have a serious medical condition.</p><h2>Look at the Labels Before You Buy CBD Oil</h2><p>When you go online to buy CBD oil, you'll quickly realize there is an overwhelming number of brands that are saturating the market. It can be difficult to determine which products are truly as good as they make themselves out to be. Always look for up-to-date third-party lab tests so you know you are getting a great product, and don't hesitate to contact the brand if you have any additional questions. And if you're intent on purchasing 100% organic CBD oil, it's best to look for certified products or brands that are held to strict regulatory standards.</p><p><strong>Melena Gurganus </strong>is the Reviews Editor at EcoWatch. She is passionate health and wellness and her writing aims to help others find products they can trust. Her work has been featured in publications such as Health, Shape, Huffington Post, Cannabis Business Times, and Bustle.<br></p>
Spruce
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjI3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTM2NzgzOX0.axY0HjeqRctJsR_KmDLctzDpUBLBN-oNIdqaXDb4caQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="774be" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8379f35b1ca8a86d0e61b7d4bfc8b46e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="spruce organic cbd oil" /><p>As one of the best brands in the business, Spruce CBD is well-known for its potent CBD oils that feature many additional beneficial phytocannabinoids. This brand works with two family-owned, sustainably focused farms in the USA (one located in Kentucky and one in North Carolina) to create its organic, small product batches. The max potency Spruce CBD oil contains 2400mg of full-spectrum CBD extract, but the brand also offers a lower strength tincture with 750mg of CBD in total.</p>
$89
CBDistillery
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjkzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTU4OTM4Nn0.ypRdeDSBcE87slYrFfVrRwtJ2qGIK6FD5jBB4pndTMo/img.jpg?width=980" id="b473b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9930b53c9d58cb49774640a61c3e3e75" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="cbdistillery cbd oil" /><p>All of the products from CBDistillery are <a href="https://ushempauthority.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Hemp Authority Certified</a>, and for good reason. The company only uses non-GMO and pesticide-free industrial hemp that's grown organically on Colorado farms. Its hemp oils are some of the most affordable CBD products on the market, yet they still maintain a high standard of quality. CBDistillery has a wide variety of CBD potencies across its product line (ranging from 500mg to 5000mg per bottle) and offers both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils to give customers a completely thc-free option.</p>
$35
FAB CBD
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDIwOTEyMn0.MlTjz096FJ0ev_-soK7_Z-FeQeJczWoeh9Qi9SSkHsY/img.jpg?width=980" id="04b26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="76aa4862f44603242e318982acea6646" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="fab cbd oil" /><p>For an organic CBD oil that has it all, FAB CBD offers plenty of variety for any type of consumer. All of its products are made with zero pesticides and extracted from organically grown Colorado industrial hemp. FAB CBD oil comes in five all-natural flavors (mint, vanilla, berry, citrus, and natural) and is also available in four strengths (300, 600, 1200, and 2400mg per bottle).</p>
$39
NuLeaf Naturals
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzExNTgyMX0.D6qMGYllKTsVhEkQ-L_GzpDHVu60a-tJKcio7M1Ssmc/img.jpg?width=980" id="94e4a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3609a52479675730893a45a82a03c71d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="nuleaf naturals organic cbd oil" /><p>As an industry-leading brand, it comes as no surprise that NuLeaf Naturals sources its CBD extract from organic hemp plants grown on licensed farms in Colorado. The comany's CBD oils only contain two ingredients: USDA certified organic hemp seed oil and full spectrum hemp extract.</p><p>NuLeaf Naturals uses one proprietary CBD oil formula for all of its products, so you will get the same CBD potency in each tincture (60mg per mL), but can purchase different bottle sizes depending on how much you intend to use.</p>
$38.50
Charlotte's Web
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjk3NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQ0NjM4N30.SaQ85SK10-MWjN3PwHo2RqpiUBdjhD0IRnHKTqKaU7Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="84700" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2174067dcc0c4094be25b3472ce08c8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="charlottes web cbd oil" /><p>Perhaps one of the most well-known brands in the CBD landscape, Charlotte's Web has been growing sustainable hemp plants for several years. The company is currently in the process of achieving official USDA Organic Certification, but it already practices organic and sustainable cultivation techniques to enhance the overall health of the soil and the hemp plants themselves, which creates some of the highest quality CBD extracts. Charlotte's Web offers CBD oils in a range of different concentration options, and some even come in a few flavor options such as chocolate mint, orange blossom, and lemon twist.</p>
$60
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A child plays with a planet Earth ball during the Extinction Rebellion Strike in London on Apr. 18, 2019. Brais G. Rouco / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images
Will concern over the climate crisis stop people from having children?
<p>A first-of-its-kind academic study suggests that it already has. The study, published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-020-02923-y" target="_blank">Climate Change</a> this month, found that 96.5 percent of respondents were "very" or "extremely concerned" about what the lives of their current or hypothetical children would look like in a future they see as overwhelmingly bleak.</p><p>"[C]limate change is the sole factor for me in deciding not to have biological children," a 31-year-old study participant from Washington said. "I don't want to birth children into a dying world. I dearly want to be a mother, but climate change is accelerating so quickly, and creating such horror already, that bringing a child into this mess is something I can't do."</p><p>The question of whether it is right or desirable to have children in the context of the climate crisis has been <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/overpopulation-children-climate-crisis-2648533200.html">raised</a> in recent years. New York Representative and Green New Deal champion Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in 2019 that it was legitimate to ask whether it was "OK to still have children" given scientific predictions for what the world could look like if industrial societies do not rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. </p><p>A 2018 poll found that 11 percent of 20-to-45 year olds in the U.S. who either did not want children or were unsure about having them cited being "worried about climate change" as one reason. Another 2020 poll found that 14.3 percent of 18-to-44 year olds in the U.S. without children cited climate change as a "major reason" and a further 20.7 percent cited it as a "minor reason."</p>
<p>"This suggests that approximately 12.5 million Americans of what is traditionally considered childbearing age were not having children at least partially because of their climate concerns," the study authors wrote.</p><p>However, the new research is the first time an academic, peer-reviewed study has examined how the climate crisis is influencing reproductive choice. Most academic research has focused on the ethics of having children in countries with large environmental footprints. One <a href="https://today.oregonstate.edu/archives/2009/jul/family-planning-major-environmental-emphasis" target="_blank">2009 study</a> found that having one less child as a U.S. resident was 20 times more effective at reducing one's carbon footprint than other lifestyle choices such as driving more fuel-efficient cars.</p><p>Ethical concerns did partly motivate the study respondents. When asked, "How concerned were/are you about your (potential) child's lifetime carbon footprint?" 59.8 percent of respondents said they were "very" or "extremely concerned."</p>
<p>"I really didn't think a lot about the carbon footprint of having another child, until I read something saying that the best thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint is not reproduce," a 38-year-old teacher and mother from Minnesota said in the study. "Thinking about that has influenced my decision not to have a third child."</p><p>However, respondents were more concerned with their hypothetical or actual children's futures than the environmental impact of reproducing.</p><p>"The fears about the carbon footprint of having kids tended to be abstract and dry," study leader Matthew Schneider-Mayerson of Yale-NUS College in Singapore told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/27/climate-apocalypse-fears-stopping-people-having-children-study" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "But the fears about the lives of existing or potential children were really deep and emotional. It was often heartbreaking to pore through the responses — a lot of people really poured their hearts out."</p>
<p>Six percent of respondents even admitted to feeling regret for having children. "I was surprised," Schneider-Mayerson told The Guardian. "For parents, this is an extremely difficult statement to make."</p><p>Schneider-Mayerson noted that more research is needed using a wider and more diverse group of respondents. This particular study questioned 607 U.S. adults aged 27 to 45, and they tended to be white, liberal and living in urban areas, Schneider-Mayerson told The Guardian.</p><p>The study respondents were also motivated by an overwhelmingly negative view of the future. Of the 400 who offered their opinions, 92.3 percent predicted a negative future, 5.6 percent thought it would be mixed and only 0.6 percent were positive.</p>
<p>But some climate scientists have argued that having children despite these concerns can bring hope.</p><p>"Personally, I can't advocate for people not to have children in order to fix climate change because why am I fixing climate change? I'm doing it because of my child and because of everybody else's children," atmospheric scientist and Texas Tech University political science professor Katharine Hayhoe told the Canadian Press in 2019, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7490799/climate-change-apocalypse-study/" target="_blank">Global News reported</a>. "So that's what gives us hope."</p><p>Ultimately, Schneider-Mayerson saw the data as another reason to act on climate. "To address this, we really need to act immediately to address the root cause, which is climate change itself," he said.</p>
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By Liz Kimbrough
Six grassroots environmental activists will receive the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in a virtual ceremony this year. Dubbed the "Green Nobel Prize," this award is given annually to environmental heroes from each of the world's six inhabited continents.
<p>This year's winners include an Indigenous Mayan beekeeper who led a coalition to ban genetically modified soy in seven Mexican states, a French activist who pressured France's three largest banks to stop financing coal, a woman who harnessed youth activism to enact a ban on single-use plastics in the Bahamas, an Indigenous Waorani woman who organized legal action preventing oil extraction in a huge expanse of Amazon rainforest, an Indigenous Karen organizer who spearheaded the formation of the world's first peace park in an active conflict zone, and an activist who prevented the construction of what would have been the first coal-fired power plant in Ghana.</p><p>"These six environmental champions reflect the powerful impact that one person can have on many," John Goldman, president of the Goldman Environmental Foundation, said in a statement. "Even in the face of the unending onslaught and destruction upon our natural world, there are countless individuals and communities fighting every day to protect our planet. These are six of those environmental heroes, and they deserve the honor and recognition the Prize offers them — for taking a stand, risking their lives and livelihoods, and inspiring us with real, lasting environmental progress."</p><p>The prize ceremony, typically held in April each year was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/goldmanprize/" target="_blank">ceremony</a> will take place virtually today, Nov. 30, at 4 p.m. PST and will be hosted by Sigourney Weaver, with musical appearances by Jack Johnson, Michael Franti, Danni Washington and Lenny Kravitz.</p><p>Here are the winners of the 2020 Goldman Environmental Prize:</p>
Kristal Ambrose, the Bahamas
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0NzI3MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MDM5NTk5MX0.fdMrrUqf0HvWq0Uh0Ii3mXxJczHPyN1jcnSsQoXoerE/img.jpg?width=980" id="b9e66" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b8b8777f7964bb7100672b3be0abf3fe" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Kristal Ambrose. Goldman Environmental Prize
<p><em>Kristal Ambrose started a youth movement that convinced the government of the Bahamas to enact a ban on single-use plastic bags, plastic cutlery, straws, and Styrofoam cups and containers.</em></p><p>Millions of tourists travel to the Bahamas each year to see the islands' famed beaches and diverse marine life. However, plastic waste has increasingly polluted beaches and coral reefs, harming marine life and the economy. Worldwide, at least <a href="https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/marine-plastics" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">8 million tons</a> of plastic end up in the ocean each year. By some estimates, <a href="https://plasticoceans.org/the-facts/#:~:text=The%20Facts%20Are%20Overwhelming&text=We%20are%20producing%20over%20300,into%20our%20oceans%20every%20year." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more than half</a> of all plastic produced are for single-use purposes.</p><p>Ambrose, a 29-year-old Bahamian woman, says she once witnessed the removal of plastic lodged internally in a sea turtle and, according to a statement, vowed, "I'll never drop a piece of plastic on the ground again." She went on to join an expedition to study the western garbage patch in the Pacific and, upon returning home, founded the Bahamas Plastic Movement in 2013. The goal: develop solutions and educate the youth. Ambrose created a free camp to train youth leaders and researchers who spent their days surveying beaches for plastic, measuring microplastics from boats, and dissecting fish to find plastic within.</p><p>Ambrose drafted legislation to ban single-use plastics on the islands and organized outreach and advocacy campaigns around the issue. In January 2018, Ambrose and students from her camp met with the environment minister to discuss the economic and environmental impacts of plastic waste. Three months later, the environment minister officially announced a ban on single-use plastic bags, straws, food utensils, and Styrofoam cups and containers. The ban was enacted in January this year.</p>
Chibeze Ezekiel, Ghana
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0NzM2MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTgzOTE3OX0.KoEZr3oMPKbeG2uT8q-ZsGPOGtIZ3l6V6NXEK5U90FU/img.jpg?width=980" id="65224" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6ec640a8ba56a4db22b57e4f8734a7a4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Chibeze Ezekiel. Goldman Environmental Prize
<p><em>Chibeze Ezekiel </em><em>led a four-year grassroots campaign to cancel the construction of the first coal-fired power plant in Ghana, changing the trajectory of Ghana's energy future</em>.</p><p>Ghana has faced energy shortages and blackouts. Increasing droughts have made hydroelectric projects less reliable. Searching for solutions, the government of Ghana proposed the construction of a 700-megawatt coal-fired power plant and an industry-ready shipping port in Ekumfi district, a coastal fishing community where fresh water resources are limited.</p><p>Knowing that wastewater and mercury emissions from the coal plant could threaten the health and safety of the districts, Chibeze "Chi" Ezekiel, 40, got to work. As national coordinator of <a href="https://gofossilfree.org/" target="_blank">350 Ghana Reducing Our Carbon</a> and an experienced youth organizer, he launched an awareness campaign around the dangers of coal plants. When the coal company pitched the plant to local communities and community leaders, the latter were prepared to ask tough questions and provide contrary evidence to their claims.</p><p>In 2016, Ghana's environment minister announced the coal plant would not move forward, and in 2017 the country's president said all new power projects would be renewable energy-based. Ghana has now released a Renewable Energy Master Plan, signaling its commitment to a renewable energy future. Ezekiel's work prevented the coal industry from gaining access to Ghana, and he now works toward a cleaner energy future for the country.</p>
Nemonte Nenquimo, Ecuador
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0NzM2Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNzYxODYwM30.cys5ZsFGd75UcjybADGBPFt20jrzgrsFujoj_qMTK4E/img.jpg?width=980" id="96b5a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0778ab7334e3297e0ead52d5fd1499e5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Nemonte Nenquimo. Goldman Environmental Prize
<p><em>Nemonte Nenquimo filed a lawsuit against the Ecuadoran government and successfully </em><em>safeguarded 202,000 hectares of Indigenous territories and Amazon rainforest from oil exploration and extraction.</em></p><p>Nenquimo, 33, is an Indigenous Waorani woman from the Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador. In 2015, she co-founded an Indigenous-led coalition called the <a href="https://www.alianzaceibo.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ceibo Alliance</a> and was elected president of an organization that represents the Waorani of Ecuador's Pastaza province.</p><p>Ecuador is among the most biodiverse places in the world, but its forests and people have been increasingly threatened by logging, road construction, oil exploration and other extractive industries. In 2018, in an effort to bring oil company investments into the nation<em>, </em>Ecuador's minister of hydrocarbons announced 2.8 million hectares (7 million acres) of land constituting primary rainforest would be auctioned off for oil concessions.</p><p>In 2019, Nenquimo and other Waorani leaders filed a lawsuit against three government ministries in Ecuador for falsely claiming they had consent from the Waorani to sell their lands at auction. She also bolstered Indigenous community independence by installing solar and rainwater catchment systems in villages and supporting cottage industries such as chocolate production. Nenquimo helped secure funds for Indigenous filmmakers to tell their stories and played a lead role in a community mapping project charting the Waoroni territory around 16 communities.</p><p>In April 2019, Nenquimo and the Waorani won the court case against the Ecuadoran ministries, and the ruling was upheld in the court of appeals, safeguarding 202,000 hectares of Indigenous territories and Amazon rainforest from oil exploration and extraction. This case set an important legal precedent for Indigenous rights in Ecuador.</p><p>Nenquimo was named one of <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/times-list-of-100-most-influential-people-in-2020-includes-indigenous-waorani-leader/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TIME magazine's list of 100 most influential people of 2020</a>, and continues to work as a leader of her people and the environmental movement in Ecuador.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d65efe06ca7f2b92ef7e1feb233c9c55"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RBb-UETVbGA?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p><em>Nemonte Nenquimo filed a lawsuit against the Ecuadoran government and successfully </em><em>safeguarded 202,000 hectares of Indigenous territories and Amazon rainforest from oil exploration and extraction.</em><em> </em></p><p>Nenquimo, 33, is an Indigenous Waorani woman from the Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador. In 2015, she co-founded an Indigenous-led coalition called the <a href="https://www.alianzaceibo.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ceibo Alliance</a> and was elected president of an organization that represents the Waorani of Ecuador's Pastaza province.</p><p>Ecuador is among the most biodiverse places in the world, but its forests and people have been increasingly threatened by logging, road construction, oil exploration and other extractive industries. In 2018, in an effort to bring oil company investments into the nation<em>, </em>Ecuador's minister of hydrocarbons announced 2.8 million hectares (7 million acres) of land constituting primary rainforest would be auctioned off for oil concessions.</p><p>In 2019, Nenquimo and other Waorani leaders filed a lawsuit against three government ministries in Ecuador for falsely claiming they had consent from the Waorani to sell their lands at auction. She also bolstered Indigenous community independence by installing solar and rainwater catchment systems in villages and supporting cottage industries such as chocolate production. Nenquimo helped secure funds for Indigenous filmmakers to tell their stories and played a lead role in a community mapping project charting the Waoroni territory around 16 communities.</p><p>In April 2019, Nenquimo and the Waorani won the court case against the Ecuadoran ministries, and the ruling was upheld in the court of appeals, safeguarding 202,000 hectares of Indigenous territories and Amazon rainforest from oil exploration and extraction. This case set an important legal precedent for Indigenous rights in Ecuador.</p><p>Nenquimo was named one of <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/times-list-of-100-most-influential-people-in-2020-includes-indigenous-waorani-leader/" target="_blank"><em>Time </em>magazine's list of 100 most influential people of 2020</a>, and continues to work as a leader of her people and the environmental movement in Ecuador.</p>
Leydy Pech, Mexico
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0NzQwNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzkzOTYzOH0.uHlN2FQoJJ_KFJWTn4oL__lDyjA0-HDnxewBhwgQRVg/img.jpg?width=980" id="9ab07" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ccc347126d4ce9ddbb3b9c1b4673391b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Leydy Pech. Goldman Environmental Prize
<p><em>Leydy Pech, a Mayan beekeeper, spearheaded a coalition that prevented Monsanto from planting genetically modified "Roundup ready" soybeans in seven states in southern Mexico.</em></p><p>Pech, a 55-year-old Indigenous woman from the state of Campeche in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, works with a rare, stingless, native bee species (<em>Melipona beecheii</em>) that has been cultivated by the Mayans since pre-Columbian times. Beekeeping is a key part of Mayan culture, and quite important economically. In Campeche, an estimated 25,000 families, many Indigenous, rely on the honey trade for their livelihoods, and Mexico is the sixth-largest producer of honey worldwide.</p><p>In 2012, after failing to consult with local and Indigenous communities, the Mexican government granted Monsanto permission to plant genetically modified soybeans in seven Mexican states, including Campeche. Pech formed a coalition of NGOs, beekeepers and activists who filed a lawsuit against the Mexican government. Her coalition advocated for research into the effects of the GM plots, resulting in evidence that GM soy pollen was present in local honey, and that glyphosate, a chemical best known from the widely used pesticide Roundup, was found in the water supply and urine of people in Pech's hometown of Hopelchén.</p><p>In 2015, the Supreme Court of Mexico ruled unanimously that Indigenous communities must be consulted before the planting of GM soy. Monsanto's permits were canceled in Campeche and Yucatán states. Further organizing by Pech led to Mexico's Food and Agricultural Service revoking Monsanto's permits to grow GM soy in seven states.</p>
Lucie Pinson, France
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0NzQxMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NzE0NTU1NX0.OutmX3sfl4pMaoYssTQ4zk7Y14_hans7-Z-0B0xsjfM/img.jpg?width=980" id="4bcd7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4bff14750dc0a70fc79e9484ea2bdbd4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Lucie Pinson. Goldman Environmental Prize
<p><em>Lucie Pinson used a variety of methods to pressure banks and insurers to cease support of coal development. Now, 17 insurers and 22 global banks have pledged to no longer fund coal projects.</em></p><p>Nearly half of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions, as well many other harmful toxins, come from the burning coal. Yet new coal projects are still popping up, all of them reliant on financing from banks and investors. France's three largest banks gave out more than $32 billion in loans to coal companies between 2007 and 2013.</p><p>Lucie Pinson, a 36-year-old French climate activist, used a multifaceted approach to persuade French banks to stop investing in coal. As a campaigner for the <a href="http://www.sunrisemovement.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sunrise Movement,</a> she and her team threatened the banks' reputations through media campaigns and handed out flyers to bank customers. Pinson cultivated relationships with journalists, making clear to them the links between French finance and coal through documentation. She also worked from within, purchasing shares in the banks so she could attend shareholder meetings and develop relationships with professionals within the banks.</p><p>Her work was fruitful. By 2017, none of the French banks were financing new coal projects. With that done, she focused on insurers of banks with similar tactics. Now, 17 insurers and 22 global banks have ceased support of coal development. Pinson is now working to stop all financial institutions from investing in coal.</p>
Paul Sein Twa, Myanmar
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0NzQxNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDAyNjU0MH0.DHrKykngmcJyJ5rn4r91ANH7FmQ7Us6ZMEOis8yAzGY/img.jpg?width=980" id="8fa36" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0e703d62288df00931cd678c861c6e0b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Paul Sein Twa. Goldman Environmental Prize
<p><em>Paul Sein Twa worked to establish a 546,000-hectare (1.35-million-acre) peace park to safeguard biodiversity and culture in the Salween River Basin in Myanmar, the first in a conflict zone.</em></p><p>Paul Sein Twa, 47, is a member of the Karen Indigenous group in Myanmar. The Karen sought independence from Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) after World War II, leading to what has been described as the world's longest ongoing civil war, displacing hundreds of thousands to camps along the Thai border.</p><p>The Salween River Basin, home to the Karen people, holds the longest dam-free river in Asia. This basin, largely undeveloped due to decades of conflict, is a biodiversity hotspot with large, intact teak forests home to iconic species such as tigers, clouded leopards, gibbons, sun bears, Asiatic black bears, and Sunda pangolins. Agribusiness, extractive industries, deforestation, and mining are on the rise in the region, and in 1998, a mega dam was proposed within the Karen territory in the Salween River Basin.</p><p>Sein Twa began exploring community-driven approaches to conservation and decided to work proactively to protect Karen territory by advocating for the creation of a transboundary protected area, also known as a peace park. He worked with NGOs, government and Karen civil society to rally support and to educate people from 348 villages about the process of forming the park. He also worked with the forest department in Karen state to transition forestry practices back to Indigenous methods and to map the territory to show Karen ownership of land.</p><p>The idea of the park gained widespread support, and in December of 2018, the 546,000-hectare Salween Peace Park was formed. It includes 27 community forests and three wildlife sanctuaries. It is the first peace park to be established in a conflict zone.</p><p>Sein Twa continues to work with communities in the still-volatile region to develop plans for land management, document changes in biodiversity, and resist development.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/meet-the-2020-goldman-environmental-prize-winners/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p><div><strong><div><strong><strong><div><strong><div><strong><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div></strong></div></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div></strong></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div></strong></div><div><strong></strong></div>From Your Site Articles
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Mount Ili Lewotolok spews ash during a volcanic eruption in Lembata, East Nusa Tenggara on November 29, 2020. Joy Christian / AFP / Getty Images
A large volcano in Indonesia erupted Sunday, sending a plume of smoke and ash miles into the air and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate the region.
<p>Mount Ili Lewotolok's eruption in Lembata, East Nusa Tenggara caused the local airport to shut down and created panic among locals. East Nusa Tenggara province is located in a remote section about 1,615 miles east of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/29/indonesian-volcano-erupts-forcing-residents-to-flee" target="_blank">Al Jazeera </a>reported.</p><p>Raditya Jati, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, said no deaths or injuries have been reported, but about 2,780 residents from 26 villages have sought refuge, according to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/29/indonesian-volcano-erupts-forcing-residents-to-flee" target="_blank">Al Jazeera</a>.</p><p>Local Muhammad Ilham, a 17 year old who captured video of the eruption, told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-volcano/indonesian-volcano-erupts-forcing-residents-to-flee-idUSKBN2890I2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a> people were "panicked and they're still looking for refuge and in need of money right now." </p>
<p>Reuters reported that Indonesia has raised its threat level to the second-highest on a four-tier alert system. <a href="https://magma.vsi.esdm.go.id/" target="_blank">Three</a> other volcanoes in Indonesia are currently at the second-highest level as well.</p><p>Indonesia's Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (CVGHM) website warned that "hot clouds, lava stream, lava avalanche and poisonous gas" would impact the immediate area around the volcano, Al Jazeera reported.</p><p>There are approximately 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia, Reuters reported, the most in the world. According to the CVGHM, 79 have erupted in the last 400 years. </p>
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Kaavan in Islamabad, Pakistan on Sept. 4, 2020. Arne Immanuel Bänsch / picture alliance via Getty Images
With help from music icon Cher, the "world's loneliest elephant" has found a new home and, hopefully, a new family.
<p>The elephant, a 36-year-old male named Kaavan, has lived alone in a controversial zoo in Islamabad, Pakistan since his partner Saheli died in 2012, according to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/animal-welfare" target="_self">animal welfare</a> group <a href="https://www.four-paws.org/our-stories/press-releases/from-the-loneliest-to-the-luckiest-elephant-kaavan-takes-off-for-cambodia" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Four Paws International</a>. But now, thanks to the efforts of Four Paws, Cher and her NGO <a href="https://www.freethewild.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Free the Wild</a>, the Pakistani government and American businessman Eric S. Margolis, Kaavan has landed in Cambodia after a 10-hour flight, where he will enjoy a new life in a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> sanctuary.</p><p>"Kaavan was eating, was not stressed and he even slept a little bit whilst leaning on the wall of the crate!" Four Paws <a href="https://twitter.com/fourpawsint/status/1333328774507728896" target="_blank">tweeted Monday</a> of the successful flight. "He behaves like a 'Frequent Flyer.'"</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vbWVkaWEucmJsLm1zL2ltYWdlP3U9JTJGbWVkaWElMkZFb0R2QmtYVzRBQThsbHouanBnJTNBbWVkaXVtJmhvPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGcGJzLnR3aW1nLmNvbSZzPTE2MyZoPTE1NzMzNWNiNmNlMTdjZDJjODAxYTJlMWVlMzFlMWI3YTQ4MWQ3YWFlOTA1YzE0NWQwZWVlOTgxNDRjOWUyNzcmc2l6ZT05ODB4JmM9MTM5MjE2MDk0MSIsImV4cGlyZXNfYXQiOjE2MTUyNzQ3MzF9.w7gpcbinIUQ1CD4qc6dxKjSVdVMRRSuM3Ewtpn_OtvU/img.jpg" id="da326" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8f24f0149444c92249de4a8988f61309" />Twitter
<p>But Kaavan's journey to Cambodia was much longer than the 10 hour flight. Kaavan, an Asian elephant, was first gifted to Pakistan from Sri Lanka in 1985 and found his first home at the Marghazar Zoo, according to Four Paws. From 1990 until 2012, he shared his enclosure with Saheli. But then she died after an infection turned gangrenous, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-animals-elephants-islamabad-animal-welfare-4c002d8b04544388b065f0500ac9e306" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>. Her body was left in the enclosure for several days after she passed away, Four Paws veterinarian Dr. Amir Khalil said Kaavan was heartbroken by the experience.</p><p>Even before Saheli's death, the Marghazar Zoo was not a pleasant place to live. Kaavan spent most of his 35 years there in chains. But his condition deteriorated after his partner passed away, and wildlife advocates dubbed him the "world's loneliest elephant."</p>
<p>Cher learned about his case on Twitter and decided to get involved, according to <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/cher-pakistan-elephant-kaavan-intl-hnk-scli/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>"I thought, 'how can I fix this? How can I save an elephant who's been shackled to a shed for 17 years and who is a thousand miles away?'" Cher told CNN.</p><p>Kaavan's relocation to Cambodia marks the first big rescue for Free the Wild, which Cher co-founded. It is also the first time Four Paws has moved an elephant by plane, the organization said.</p><p>Khalil spent three months preparing Kaavan for the journey, The Associated Press reported. At the start of the process, Kaavan was both malnourished and overweight, and suffered from behavioral problems because of his time spent alone. He started shaking his head for hours, and his nails are cracked and overgrown because the flooring in his enclosure harmed his feet.</p>
<p>Khalil put Kaavan on a diet of fruit and vegetables and helped him to lose a ton before the flight. He also helped him to get more relaxed before the journey, which Kaavan undertook with only mild sedation, according to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CIMBkLoAbjX/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Free the Wild</a>.</p><p>"Kaavan quickly gained confidence in us and made great progress in a short time. In his case it not only took a village but a whole country to transfer Kaavan to Cambodia," Khalil told Four Paws.</p><p>Cher was both in Pakistan to see Kaavan off and in Cambodia to greet him on his arrival. She sang "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes," to him before he left, according to CNN. In Pakistan, she also met with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday, according to The Associated Press.</p><p>"Just Came From Meeting To Thank Prime Minister Imran Kahn For Making It Possible For Me To Take Kaavan To Cambodia," she <a href="https://twitter.com/cher/status/1332296298989580288" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tweeted Friday</a>.</p><p>She also said that Kaavan's story would be told in a Smithsonian documentary.</p>
<div id="66bbe" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b2be63265ec60d2bb78c8e758bee8144"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1332440451517845504" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🐘Kaavan's journey to freedom from captivity in Islamabad to Cambodia will be a 2021 @SmithsonianChan documentary ❤️… https://t.co/zgESUUzD9x</div> — Cher (@Cher)<a href="https://twitter.com/cher/statuses/1332440451517845504">1606513533.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In Cambodia, Kaavan will live in the <a href="https://www.cambodiawildlifesanctuary.com/#:~:text=The%20Cambodia%20Wildlife%20Sanctuary%20was,and%20remarkable%20habitat%20of%20Cambodia.&text=The%20sanctuary%20is%20located%20in,covers%20approximately%20One%20million%20acres." target="_blank">Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary</a>, where there are three other female elephants to keep him company, Four Paws spokesperson Martin Bauer told <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/27/939509981/worlds-loneliest-elephant-moving-to-sanctuary-with-help-from-cher" target="_blank">NPR</a>.</p><p>"The goal is to socialize him," Bauer said. "It will take a while because he has lived on his own for such a long time. But yes, ultimately the goal is to bring him together with other animals because that's what elephants want. They're herd animals, they always form families, and that's also what we plan for him."</p>Kaavan is not the only animal who suffered at the Marghazar Zoo. The Islamabad High Court ordered its closure in May because of cruel conditions. Four Paws is also helping to relocate other zoo animals. It has found new homes for three wolves, some monkeys and all of the zoo's rabbits, the organization said. It will rehome two Himalayan brown bears in December. Margolis, the U.S. businessman, is helping to fund the rescue of the animals, including the bears, and paid for half of Kaavan's flight.
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Climate change is causing leaves to change color and fall earlier in the year. Pxfuel
By Philip James
As the days shorten and temperatures drop in the northern hemisphere, leaves begin to turn. We can enjoy glorious autumnal colors while the leaves are still on the trees and, later, kicking through a red, brown and gold carpet when out walking.
<p>When temperatures rise again in spring, the growing season for trees resumes. Throughout the warmer months, trees take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in complex molecules, releasing oxygen as a byproduct. This, in a nutshell, is the process of photosynthesis. The more photosynthesis, the more carbon is locked away.</p><p>We know that carbon dioxide is a major driver of climate change, so the more that can be taken out of the atmosphere by plants, the better. With the warmer climate leading to a longer growing season, some researchers have <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/jrnl/2014/nrs_2014_keenan_001.pdf" target="_blank">suggested</a> that more carbon dioxide would be absorbed by trees and other plants than in previous times. But <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.abd8911" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a new study</a> has turned this theory on its head and could have profound effects on how we adapt to climate change.</p>
Reaching the Limit
<p>The researchers, led by Deborah Zani at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, studied the degree to which the timing of color changes in autumn tree leaves was determined by the growth of the plant in the preceding spring and summer.</p><p>Temperature and day length were traditionally accepted as the main determinants of when leaves changed color and fell, leading <a href="http://max2.ese.u-psud.fr/publications/Delpierre_2009_AFM.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">some scientists</a> to assume that warming temperatures would delay this process until later in the season. Studying deciduous European tree species, including horse chestnut, silver birch and English oak, the authors of the new study recorded how much carbon each tree absorbed per season and how that ultimately affected when the leaves fell.</p><p>Using data from the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Barbara_Templ/publication/323254030_Pan_European_Phenological_database_PEP725_a_single_point_of_access_for_European_data/links/5a8bf0dba6fdcc6b1a442ef2/Pan-European-Phenological-database-PEP725-a-single-point-of-access-for-European-data.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pan European Phenology Project</a>, which has tracked some trees for as long as 65 years, the researchers found in their long-term observational study that as the rate of photosynthesis increased, leaves changed color and fell earlier in the year. For every 10% increase in photosynthetic activity over the spring and summer growing season, trees shed their leaves, on average, eight days earlier.</p><p>Climate-controlled experiments on five-year-old European beech and Japanese meadowsweet trees suggest what could be behind this unexpected result. In these trials, the trees were exposed to full sun, half shade or full shade. The results show that there is a limit to the amount of photosynthesis that a tree can carry out over a growing season. Think of it like filling a bucket with water. It can be done slowly or quickly, but once the bucket is full, there is nowhere for any more water to go.</p><p>This research shows that deciduous trees can only absorb a set amount of carbon each year and once that limit is reached, no more can be absorbed. At that point, leaves begin to change color. This limit is set by the availability of nutrients, particularly nitrogen, and the physical structure of the plant itself, particularly the inner vessels which move water and dissolved nutrients around. Nitrogen is a key nutrient which plants need in order to grow, and it's often the amount of available nitrogen that limits total growth. This is why farmers and gardeners use nitrogen fertilizers, to overcome this limitation.</p><p>Together, these constraints mean that carbon uptake during the growing season is a self-regulating mechanism in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/111/20/7355" target="_blank">trees</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31158300/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">herbaceous plants</a>. Only so much carbon can be taken up.</p>
Earlier Autumn Colors
<p>In a world with increasing levels of <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/carbon-dioxide-levels-continue-record-levels-despite-covid-19-lockdown#:%7E:text=The%20annual%20globally%20averaged%20level,per%20million%20benchmark%20in%202015." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">carbon in the atmosphere</a>, these new findings imply that warmer weather and longer growing seasons will not allow temperate deciduous trees to take up more carbon dioxide. The study's predictive model suggests that by 2100, when tree growing seasons are expected to be between 22 and 34 days longer, leaves will fall from trees between three and six days earlier than they do now.</p><p>This has significant implications for climate change modeling. If we accept that the amount of carbon taken up by deciduous trees in temperature countries like the UK will remain the same each year regardless of the growing season, carbon dioxide levels will rise more quickly than was previously expected. The only way to change this will be to increase the capacity of trees to absorb carbon.</p><p>Plants that aren't limited by the amount of nitrogen available may be able to grow for longer in the warming climate. These are the trees which can take nitrogen from the air, such as <a href="https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/a-z-of-british-trees/alder/" target="_blank">alder</a>. But these species will still lose their leaves at roughly the same time as always, thanks to less daylight and colder temperatures.</p><p>But on the upside, with the prospect of some trees losing their leaves earlier and others losing them at the time they do now, there might be the prospect of prolonged autumnal colors – and more time for us to kick through the leaves.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Kevin Russ / Moment / Getty Images
By Kang-Chun Cheng
Modoc County lies in the far northeast corner of California, and most of its 10,000 residents rely on cattle herding, logging, or government jobs for employment. Rodeos and 4-H programs fill most families' calendars; massive belt buckles, blue jeans, and cowboy hats are common attire. Modoc's niche brand of American individualism stems from a free-spirited cowboy culture that imbues the local ranching conflict with wild horses.
<p>To many, wild horses are icons of freedom and independence. While prevailing science says they are an invasive species that arrived with the Spanish conquistadors nearly a half-millennium ago, <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2020/04/27/native-horses-indigenous-history/" target="_blank">some say they are Indigenous to this continent</a>. Regardless of their origins, more than 95,000 wild horses are roaming across public lands in the West. The <a href="http://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/WHB-Report-2020-NewCover-051920-508.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">population goal</a>, based on available forage and water, is closer to 27,000. With no effective natural predators, unmanaged populations can double in four to five years (and triple in six to eight years).</p>
<p>These growing numbers have instigated and intensified <a href="http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1455&context=hwi" target="_blank">ecological and social challenges</a> in rural Western communities: Wild horses destroy fences, compete with cattle for grazing, alter native plant communities, affect wildlife behavior, and challenge watershed function.</p><p>They also cost the U.S. a lot of money. To manage wild horses, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have to cover both on-range populations and off-range holding costs. The estimated lifetime cost of keeping a wild horse in off-range pastures or holding facilities is $50,000 per animal. In 2019 alone, the bureau spent nearly $50 million caring for wild horses.</p>
<p>National wild horse advocates often love their equines from a distance; many are convinced that any sort of wild horse management is inhumane. But locals, including Native American populations, will tell you that they have struggled to coexist with the proliferation of horses for generations and that management is necessary. Ranchers insist that unchecked propagation of wild horses overruns the sagebrush landscape that their cattle graze on and share with various native and migratory animals and birds. At the same time, wild horse supporters push back against cattle ranchers' powerful economic interests.</p><p>Tensions over the management and allocation of resources in these regions run high. But solutions for assuaging these conflicts are already in play, including fertility control, roundups to adopt wild horses, and land acquisition. Long-term resolution will likely depend on a strategic combination of all three, along with a shared understanding among community members, public servants, and advocacy groups about what a healthy ecological balance looks like across the sagebrush landscape of the West.</p>
The History of Horse Management
<p>Before the 1950s, feral horses were largely unregulated in the U.S. They were released, grazed, captured, killed, sold, and otherwise <a href="http://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/WHB-Report-2020-NewCover-051920-508.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">managed by local inhabitants</a> as they saw fit. Around that time, Velma Bronn Johnston, aka "Wild Horse Annie," started raising public awareness of the "perceived inhumane capture and treatment of free-ranging herds."</p><p>Thanks in part to Johnston's efforts, the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was signed into law by President Nixon in 1971. It declared that the animals "shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this, they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands."</p><p><a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/341/6148/847.full" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">This act</a> has been amended four times since its conception to accommodate the fluctuating opinions and conditions around maintaining a "thriving natural ecological balance on the public lands"—an admirable although highly subjective goal. Achieving it involves juggling competing interests: those of local residents, permanent grazers, hunters and fishers, advocacy groups, conservationists, and Indigenous tribes.</p><p>The Bureau of Land Management must manage these many conflicting interests. Modoc County's <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/wild-horse-burro/territories/DevilsGardenPlateau.shtml" target="_blank">Devil's Garden Plateau Wild Horse Territory</a> epitomizes the challenges of this task. Officially deemed wild horse territory, the garden consists of 258,000 acres and is wholly within permitted livestock allotments. It is also home to wildlife such as cougar, antelope, migratory birds, and aquatic species dependent on delicate high-desert riparian areas.</p><p>The presence of wild horses has been shown to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014019631530094X" target="_blank">decrease native wildlife species diversity</a> for both birds and mammals. Pronghorn antelope are an icon in Western grasslands, known for their annual 350-mile migration along historic routes estimated to be 5,800 years old. This awe-inspiring trek is one of the longest large-mammal migration corridors remaining in North America, but 75% of <a href="http://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2004.00548.x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pronghorn migration routes</a> have already been lost because of disturbances from the accelerated leasing of public lands and energy development. Horses also affect the pronghorn's yearly migrations by <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014019631630218X" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">monopolizing watering holes</a>, thus preventing native species from drinking.</p>Indigenous Support for Ecological Balance
<p>Ken Sandusky, a public information officer who has worked for the Forest Service in Modoc County for 13 years, lives by his station's mission statement: "Caring for the Land and Serving People." In his work, Sandusky aims to include the broad range of stakeholders and often acts as a tribal liaison. Sandusky himself is a member of the Choctaw tribe of Oklahoma, but as a Modoc native, is more culturally in touch with the local Klamath tribe.</p><p>When it comes to rangeland health, he says, there's a tangible split in what that actually means. "It depends on what you are measuring the outcome against," Sandusky explains. Range managers may perceive progress from a year-to-year basis, but to many Indigenous tribes, the baseline for "progress" goes back generations, to pre-contact times. "They have long memories," he says. "Tribes see damage that is a hundred-plus years in the making."</p><p>While individual perspectives on wild horses may vary among cattle ranchers, as a whole, herders are in favor of stricter wild-horse management to lessen grazing competition for their livestock. Indigenous tribes in Modoc, too, are largely supportive of wild horse management. But they also challenge the sustainability of current cattle grazing management. Local tribes collect wild onions, wild roses, grasses for basketry, and wood for bows and arrows—materials that are incontrovertibly affected by unmanaged grazing, regardless of the species.</p><p>Still, Sandusky, along with other public servants at the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, express concern about the dogma of wild horse advocates. "They tend to forget or intentionally ignore how they don't hold a monopoly over public opinion," he said. "Stakeholders can get myopic and good at keyhole storytelling."</p>
A Willingness to Try New Things
<p>"Americans don't know what's happening on these lands," says Suzanne Roy, the executive director of the American Wild Horse Campaign, an advocacy organization. The Bureau of Land Management, she says, "is run by and for the livestock industry. They come from a ranching background. The term 'rangeland' management itself illustrates how livestock management is the dominant perspective."</p><p>Roy is particularly concerned about how resources are being allocated: "Policies of land management agencies don't reflect the desires and interests of the public." To illustrate, most Americans associate public lands with national parks and environmental conservation; only 29% of respondents to a recent poll considered livestock grazing an acceptable use of those lands.</p><p>Grazing on public lands certainly aligns with the financial interests of cattle ranchers and helps explain why they insist on increased wild horse management. Cattle can <a href="http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS21232.pdf" target="_blank">graze on public lands</a> for $1.35 per animal per month, while grazing on comparable private land costs ranchers $23 per animal per month (American taxpayer dollars make up the difference). To be fair, though, small-scale ranching would not be viable without public lands.</p><p>The campaign hopes to work toward more equitable resource allocation and improvements to overall habitats for horses and wildlife generally. "There are workable solutions to this issue," Roy says. "Common pushback from rangers is that new conservation strategies will 'destroy our way of life,' but change doesn't have to be bad."</p><p>The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0362331994900264" target="_blank">social conservatism</a> intrinsic to human cultures makes change seem daunting and people reluctant to try new tactics even in the face of suboptimal systems. Roy uses a case in adjacent Marin County to illustrate: Until 2001, the county ran a USDA program focused on killing apex predators (e.g. coyotes, mountain lions, and cougars) in defense of livestock. Unfortunately, this strategy fails to take into account the science of predators. Killing one mountain lion, for example, creates a vacuum and will eventually lead to increased competition for this newly available territory. In 2001, Marin introduced a country-run program that promoted nonlethal methods such as fox lights, guard dogs, and fladry to deal with predator incidents while compensating ranchers for sheep and lambs lost to predation.</p><p>Ranchers were initially livid, concerned that bans on shooting and trapping hindered their rights, making them defenseless against livestock predation. But 15 years later, a majority agreed that this form of humane <a href="http://www.projectcoyote.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Camilla-Fox-Thesis-FINAL-January-2008.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">adaptive management </a>has successfully reduced both livestock losses and the total number of predators. Ensuring its continued success, the program requires active participation on behalf of all stakeholders and long-term commitment from the local government for support.</p><p>As one fifth-generation sheepherder, Gowan Batiste, explained in an interview to the <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mendocino-county-rancher-and-others-calling-for-non-lethal-wildlife-management/ar-BB16CJ8g" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ukiah Daily Journal,</a> "Livestock is a food of desperation for predators; the more you harass them and make life difficult for them, the more likely they are going to come into conflict with humans."</p>Keeping Wild Horses in Check
<p>When it comes to wild horses, many solutions are already in the works. Through annual autumn wild horse roundups, known as gathers, the Double Devil Wild Horse Corrals has become one of the U.S.'s most successful adoption sites. The California Cattlemen's Association, a nonprofit trade association and organization popular among ranchers in Modoc, urges its members to support the wild horse gathers in Devils Garden, saying they are humane, good for the horses themselves (since competition for scarce water and forage resources may instigate aggression and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1439-0310.1981.tb01930.x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">herd violence</a>), and necessary to support local ranchers and Modoc's agriculture-reliant economy.</p><p>Another popular solution for controlling wild horse populations is a fertility-control vaccine called PZP, given to female horses on the range <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur7w3UPTCsk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">using dart guns</a>. Mares are tracked on foot or with game cameras while drones are used to locate more elusive herds. The PZP vaccine has been endorsed by the American Wild Horse Campaign as the "<a href="https://americanwildhorsecampaign.org/fertility-control" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">most promising strategy</a>" for managing wild horses in their habitats and is also recommended by the National Academy of Sciences. Importantly, a dose of the vaccine only costs $30.</p><p>Lastly, land acquisition and <a href="https://americanwildhorsecampaign.org/equitable-share-resources" target="_blank">grazing lease buyouts</a> can promote equitable sharing of public lands and available forage. Acquiring key pieces of land adjacent to or within federally designated wild horse habitat areas can reduce conflicts over resource allocation.</p>A Global Search for Solutions
<p>Pastoralists all over the world face similar land-use conflicts, despite huge variations in climate and culture. The ongoing situation across rural California resonates with that of Fulani cattle herders in Niger and Sami reindeer herders in the Arctic.</p><p>Herders everywhere are accused of having too many animals or are perceived as selfish and irresponsible by their own communities. Overgrazing is certainly an issue, but it's not simply the number of animals that matters: The <a href="https://savory.global/holistic-management/" target="_blank">amount of time</a> animals spend in a certain area is critical to rangeland health. And in the context of such allegations, the ecological value of grazing is frequently omitted. Grazers, both wild and domestic, <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/food-everyone/2019/02/04/restoring-the-range-can-beef-be-earth-friendly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">are key to regulating soil health and allowing for species diversity and coverage, </a>as well as efficient carbon sequestration.</p><p>Part of the problem in these heated grazing debates is that moderate viewpoints are drowned out by extremist agendas—those who prioritize wild horse populations at all costs and those who want all of the horses gone, period. "The majority of people don't really have strong views about the horses," Sandusky says. "But the ones who do can get really into it." These unwavering views make it difficult to find compromises that account for all stakeholders.</p><p>"There is no biological problem, merely a social one," says professor Nicholas Tyler, a pastoralism expert at the University of Tromsø in northern Norway. Tyler maintains that in the case of horses and cattle in the West, as with so many others, the so-called equilibria argument is specious and quasi-biological. "Certainly a lot of horses will influence the species composition," he says. "Remove the horses, things change. Add horses, things change again. There is nothing magical about that."</p><p>But Tyler takes it one step further: "There never was, is, or will be a balance. There are shifting equilibria, which is something quite different," he says. "It is up to the community to decide which state of that equilibrium it prefers."</p><p>Regardless of one's views on what the ideal or preferred proportion of horses, cattle, and wildlife should be, holistic strategies could lead to increased cooperation and knowledge exchange as part of mitigating the current tension. One study examining the mutual dependence of extensive land-use and conservation management in Eastern Europe makes the case for a new profession: the "<a href="http://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ehs2.1215" target="_blank">conservation herder</a>."</p><p>This idea combines age-old <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dq_U-yCBfI" target="_blank">traditional herding knowledge</a> with a newfound awareness of herders' role in providing ecosystem services. Conservation herding could support pastoralists through the continued sale of their meat and milk production as well as government subsidies for biodiversity management.</p><p>Refreshing pasture management techniques and adapting traditional herding strategies to current rangeland vegetation conditions will provide the necessary backdrop for such solutions to take. Perhaps most importantly, reconciliation of a livelihood that has been traditionally judged as anterior to conservation causes may be exactly what a place such as Modoc needs to move forward. As a society, we tend to not address issues if there are no easy answers or if they cannot be solved by the next news or election cycle. Sandusky says: "Some of us don't have that choice."</p><p><em>Kang-Chun Cheng is a freelance environmental photojournalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. Her background in ecology, with a focus on community-based natural resource management and traditional knowledge, informs and enhances her perspectives as a photojournalist. She is fascinated by the shifting dynamics and values between society, culture, and nature, and use photography as a tool for storytelling. She has been documenting the impact of technology and climate change on traditional reindeer herding culture in Norway and Finland since 2017. She loves rock-climbing, cooking, and knitting. Her work has previously been published in Earth Island Journal, the Valley News, Northern Woodlands, China Africa Project, and others.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2020/11/27/wild-horses-west-land-management/" target="_blank">YES! Magazine</a>.<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2649074750#/" target="_self"></a></em></p>
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By Anne-Sophie Brändlin
COVID-19 and climate change have been two of the most pressing issues in 2020.
<p>So why not spend your lockdown binge-watching environmental documentaries that come with an impactful message about the fate of our planet?</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/9-environment-docs-to-watch-during-the-coronavirus-lockdown/g-55499117" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2649073757#/" target="_self"></a></p>
1. My Octopus Teacher (2020)
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="43d618cfe4dea9f32fdb2880868a6f5f"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3s0LTDhqe5A?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>No person has ever gotten as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/my-octopus-teacher-movie-2647785692.html">close and intimate with a wild octopus</a> as South African filmmaker Craig Foster, who decided to head out to an underwater kelp forest in the Atlantic Ocean every day for an entire year to capture the life of the mesmerizing creature. An unusual, touching friendship develops that will likely change the way you see your relationship to animals and the planet.</p>2. David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet (2020)
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bab38965d072e9023c9c36b1ccf622c9"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/64R2MYUt394?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/David-Attenborough">David Attenborough</a> is the godfather of environmental docs. In his 94 years, the Briton has visited every corner of the world, documenting nature in all its variety and wonder. His latest film is a witness statement, in which he reflects upon the devastating changes he's seen in his lifetime. He also gives a vision of the future in which we work with nature, rather than against it.</p>3. The Human Element (2019)
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f426ed5154f3133a6f8cb5d8d39cf211"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/k34FhplukXQ?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>This doc follows environmental photographer James Balog on his quest to portray Americans on the frontlines of climate change whose lives and livelihoods have been affected by the collision between people and nature. Balog captures how the four elements of earth, water, air and fire are being transformed by a fifth element — the human element — and what that means for our future.</p>4. Before the Flood (2016)
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="619d7c35d25e9cfc6e239bc1bd7d1ea2"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D9xFFyUOpXo?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>In <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/leonardo-dicaprio-before-the-flood-2057070140.html">this doc</a>, actor Leonardo DiCaprio teams up with National Geographic to travel the globe and witness the effects of global warming that are already visible, such as rising sea levels and deforestation. Featuring prominent figures such as Barack Obama, Ban Ki-moon, Pope Francis and Elon Musk, the doc offers solutions for a sustainable future and shows how we can challenge climate change deniers.</p>5. Tomorrow (2015)
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<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6ec29ed8282004cb6ccc6e0eae7de1ae"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MwxyrLUdcss?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>In this film by Oscar-winning director Louie Psihoyos, a team of activists expose the illegal trade of endangered species and document the global extinction crisis, which could result in the loss of half of all species. By using covert tactics and state-of-the-art technology, they take you to places where no one can go, uncover secrets and show you images you have never seen before.</p>7. Virunga (2014)
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6922c47a9603f24dd431f6e5282f7cb5"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wxXf2Vxj_EU?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the only places in the world where you can still find wild mountain gorillas. But the park and its inhabitants are under attack from poachers, armed militias and companies wanting to exploit natural resources. This gripping doc follows a group of people trying to preserve the park and protect these magnificent great apes.</p>8. Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (2014)
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9b7e7a93c26b3a3fc4f8a8374d98e2f2"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nV04zyfLyN4?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>This crowdfunded documentary explores the impact of animal agriculture on the environment and investigates why the world's leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it. The film has caused controversy by suggesting that animal agriculture is the primary source of environmental destruction and the main emitter of greenhouse gases, rather than fossil fuels.</p>9. Years of Living Dangerously (2014)
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Artist's impression of an Othalo community, imagined by architect Julien De Smedt. Othalo
By Victoria Masterson
Using one of the world's problems to solve another is the philosophy behind a Norwegian start-up's mission to develop affordable housing from 100% recycled plastic.
<p>Since 1950, more than nine billion tonnes of plastic have been produced globally, of which only 9% is recycled, according to <a href="https://www.othalo.com/october-5-press-release-norwegian-c" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">building tech company Othalo</a>, while almost a billion people live in slums.</p><p>It has partnered with <a href="https://unhabitat.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UN-Habitat</a> – the United Nations program for human settlements and sustainable urban development – to create components to build three demonstration homes to help tackle Africa's housing shortage.</p>
<p>"In sub-Saharan Africa alone, the immediate need for low-cost housing is 160 million units," the company says.</p><p>This is expected to increase to 360 million by 2050 as a result of rapid urbanization. But with today's plastic waste, Othalo believes more than one billion houses can be built.</p><p>In 2021, the first factory producing elements such as partitions for walls, ceilings and floors from recycled plastic will be built in Kenya.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="915a481fc53353483c30c0c161b10097"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uu0inpxmCzw?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
Sustainable Homes
<p>UN-Habitat says an <a href="https://unhabitat.org/un-habitat-aims-to-use-plastic-waste-to-support-housing-for-all" target="_blank">estimated 60% of people living in urban areas of Africa are in informal settlements</a>. At the same time, between 1990 and 2017, African countries imported around 230 metric tonnes of plastic, "which mostly ended up in dump sites creating a massive environmental challenge," the agency adds.</p><p>UN-Habitat deputy executive director, Victor Kisob, said the aim of the partnership with Othalo was to "promote adequate, sustainable and affordable housing for all."</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0NDc5NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMTYzNjYzNH0.2CbfdMTXXQP4Vmie56i-OgiW69VgLHRXL8ky4qI48Ng/img.png?width=980" id="78bba" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d53bddf04ac55d4eda2bc1690954fe4d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Artist's impression of an Othalo community, imagined by architect Julien De Smedt. Othalo
<p>Othalo's process involves shredding plastic waste and mixing it with other elements, including non-flammable materials. Components are used to build up to four floors, with a home of 60 square metres using eight tons of recycled plastic. A factory with one production line can produce 2,800 housing units annually.</p><p>Following successful laboratory tests, Othalo's factory in Estonia has started producing components to build three demonstration homes for Kenya's capital, Nairobi; Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon and Dakar, the capital of Senegal.</p><p>Othalo founder Frank Cato Lahti has been developing and testing the technology since 2016 in partnership with <a href="https://www.sintef.no/en/" target="_blank">SINTEF</a>, a 70-year-old independent research organization in Trondheim, Norway, and experts at Norway's <a href="https://en.uit.no/startsida" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Tromsø</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0NDgwNS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjQwNjc4OH0.Gt1tcWTTglKeGrsxBC9C1YxZfBMYbr5gSw7J-JB07ew/img.png?width=980" id="d0165" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ebfc38fb8b318b7709ff1fa213b4efa7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Othalo founder Frank Cato Lahti. Othalo
<p>Almost <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/publications/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html" target="_blank">seven out of every 10 people in the world are expected to live in urban areas by 2050</a>. More than 90% of this growth will take place in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.</p><p>"In the absence of effective urban planning, the consequences of this rapid urbanization will be dramatic," UN-Habitat warns.</p><p>Lack of proper housing and growth of slums, inadequate and outdated infrastructure, escalating poverty and unemployment, and pollution and health issues, are just some of the effects.</p><p>Mindsets, policies, and approaches towards urbanization need to change for the growth of cities and urban areas to be turned into opportunities that will leave nobody behind, UN-Habitat says.</p>Pioneers of Change
<p>Reimagining cities and communities for greater resilience and sustainability was a key topic at the<a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/pioneers-of-change-summit-2020" target="_blank"> World Economic Forum's Pioneers of Change Summit 2020</a>.</p><p>The digital event brought together innovators and stakeholders from around the world to explore solutions to the challenges facing enterprises, governments and society.</p><p>Opening the summit, <a href="https://www.weforum.org/events/pioneers-of-change-summit-2020/sessions/opening-plenary-8f731cbc65" target="_blank">Stephan Mergenthaler, the Forum's Head of Strategic Intelligence and a member of the Executive Committee</a>, said: "We need to change the way we produce, the way we live and interact in our cities to make this transition to net-zero emissions a reality…</p><p>"And as this year has illustrated so dramatically, we need to make every effort that we keep populations healthy, if we want to avoid jeopardizing all this progress."</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/11/un-africa-recycled-plastic-housing/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2649069252#/" target="_self"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
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Pexels
By Brett Wilkins
Despite acknowledging that the move would lead to an increase in the 500 million to one billion birds that die each year in the United States due to human activity, the Trump administration on Friday published a proposed industry-friendly relaxation of a century-old treaty that protects more than 1,000 avian species.
<p>As part of the administration's race to rush through as many <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/17/critics-say-deregulatory-rush-shows-even-if-defeated-trump-white-house-willing" target="_blank">regulatory rollbacks</a> as possible before President-elect Joe Biden enters office on January 20, the U.S. Department of the Interior released an <a href="https://cdxnodengn.epa.gov/cdx-enepa-II/public/action/eis/details?eisId=314796" target="_blank">analysis</a> that sets the stage for modification of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's interpretation of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA).</p><p>One of the nation's oldest <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife">wildlife</a> protection laws, the MBTA saves the lives of millions of birds each year and, <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/protect-migratory-bird-treaty-act" target="_blank">according to</a> the Natural Resources Defense Council, "is credited with rescuing the snowy egret, wood duck, and sandhill crane from extinction."</p><p>The proposed rule shift would let energy, construction, and land development companies off the hook for "incidentally" killing birds, even though the Interior Department's analysis concludes that "increased bird mortality" will "likely result" from the change. </p>
<div id="9a9a2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7590e6f05b37dd0a4b9418801291fd87"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1332369258869895168" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Breaking news! 🚨 “This is another step by the #USFWS to jam through a rule to cement an interpretation of the… https://t.co/NDzj3q6vmb</div> — Defenders of Wildlife (@Defenders of Wildlife)<a href="https://twitter.com/Defenders/statuses/1332369258869895168">1606496560.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Under the MBTA, ExxonMobil was compelled to pay <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2006/June/06_enrd_341.html" target="_blank">$125 million</a> in criminal penalties after the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska and BP was <a href="https://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?ID=FC61EB52-BF8A-45AA-C04D802711C4EF55" target="_blank">fined $100 million</a> following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill that leaked over 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, killing an estimated 100,000 sea birds.</p><p>It is precisely such penalties that corporate bird-killers are seeking to dodge in the future through the proposed rule change, which Trump administration officials including Daniel Jorjani, a former <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/koch-brothers">Koch brothers</a> adviser who is now the head lawyer at the Interior Department, have pushed for years.</p><p>During his 2019 Senate confirmation hearing, Jorjani <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/climate-desk-interior-attorney-gave-false-information-to-congress-about-contact-with-koch-foundation" target="_blank">lied</a> to Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) about whether he had been in recent contact with the Koch brothers or any of their business interests. Before joining the government, Jorjani was formerly a highly paid <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/senate-confirms-former-koch-crony-as-interior-departments-top-lawyer-2019-09-24/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">operative</a> at several organizations linked to the brothers and their fossil fuel empire. </p><p>Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/senate-confirms-former-koch-crony-as-interior-departments-top-lawyer-2019-09-24/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> last year that Jorjani "opened the floodgates to bird killing by the oil and gas industry and other campaign contributors of the Trump administration," and accused him of being "part of a pattern in which Interior is basically run by the Koch Foundation for the benefit of the Koch Foundation."</p><p>Earlier this year, a federal court <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/12/major-victory-court-tosses-out-trump-interiors-gutting-century-old-protections" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rejected</a> a 2017 Interior Department opinion authored by Jorjani seeking to loosen MBTA protections. Judge Valerie Caproni of the Southern District of New York wrote that Jorjani's interpretation of the law "runs counter to the purpose of the MBTA to protect migratory bird populations" and "is simply an unpersuasive interpretation of the MBTA's unambiguous prohibition on killing protected birds."</p><p>Environmentalists condemned the Trump administration's latest attempt to protect polluters and wildlife-killers from prosecution at the expense of avian lives. </p><p>"This is another step by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife to jam through a rule to cement an interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that a federal court has already declared illegal," Defenders of Wildlife president and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/11/27/migratory-bird-treaty-act/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> in a statement. "At a time when North America has already lost three billion birds, the rule will further undercut our nation's ability to conserve birds so many people care about deeply."</p><p>Rappaport Clark was referring to a 2019 <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6461/120" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a> published in the peer-reviewed journal <em>Science</em> that found since 1970 the continent has lost over 2.9 billion birds, or nearly 30% of its avian population.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="85647ea176c7aee6efa734714a5874eb"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cdzU84AyCdI?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>According to a 2005 <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr191/psw_gtr191_1029-1042_erickson.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a> published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture:</p><blockquote>From 500 million to possibly over 1 billion birds are killed annually in the United States due to anthropogenic sources including collisions with human-made structures such as vehicles, buildings and windows, power lines, communication towers, and wind turbines; electrocutions; oil spills and other contaminants; pesticides; cat predation; and commercial fishing by-catch.<br></blockquote><p>"Many of the deaths from these sources would be considered unlawful under federal laws such as the Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act," the study stated. </p><p>A <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/16/ecological-disaster-massive-scale-hundreds-thousands-dead-migratory-birds-southwest" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recent surge</a> in bird deaths in the U.S. Southwest has been attributed to a combination of human-caused climate factors including heatwaves and wildfires. </p><p>If there is a silver lining for bird lovers, it is that the incoming Biden administration will be able to reverse any Trump-era rule changes, although doing so could take years.</p><p>Eric Glitzenstein, litigation director at the Center for Biological Diversity, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/11/27/migratory-bird-treaty-act/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told</a> the Washington Post that the new rule "will inevitably meet the same fate as the illegal opinion on which it is based."</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/27/under-cover-thanksgiving-trump-administration-pushes-relax-rules-protecting-birds" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>. </em></p>
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U.S. returns create about 15 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. manonallard / Getty Images
Many people shop online for everything from clothes to appliances. If they do not like the product, they simply return it. But there's an environmental cost to returns.
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<p>Meagan Knowlton is a sustainability manager at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.optoro.com/impact/environmental-impact/">Optoro</a>, a company that helps retailers process and resell returns. Optoro estimates that each year, returns in the U.S. create about 15 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.</p><p>That's about the same amount of carbon pollution produced by 3 million cars during an entire year.</p><p>"And that's just from putting returns in trucks and moving them around, back from the consumers … and then on to their next homes," Knowlton says.</p>
<p>That home might be another customer. But sometimes retailers cannot resell returns at a profit and unsold items may end up in landfills.</p><p>"We estimate that at least 5 billion pounds of landfill waste are created every year in the U.S. from returns alone," Knowlton says.</p><p>To reduce that waste, Optoro helps retailers find new places to resell or donate returned merchandise.</p><p>Knowlton says consumers can help by considering the environmental costs of returns before they buy.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/11/free-returns-come-at-a-cost-to-the-climate/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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