At EcoWatch, we've enjoyed sharing popular eco-related videos with readers this past year. We've featured everything from humorous videos from comedy site Funny or Die on how to diagnose climate change denial disorder to a Chevron whistleblower footage that leaked the oil company's corruption in Ecuador's devastating oil spill.
So, without further ado, here are the top 10 most popular eco videos of 2015:
1. A breathtaking video from filmmakers Colin Delehanty and Sheldon Neill gave viewers an in-depth look at iconic Yosemite National Park:
2. The spoof trailer for Pope Francis' encyclical was hilarious:
3. Chevron whistleblower leaked footage exposed the oil company's corruption in Ecuador's devastating oil spill:
4. NASA’s time lapse video showed the vast scope of humanity’s impact on the Earth:
5. Spoken word artist Prince Ea apologized to future generations:
6. NASA put to rest the controversy over whether Antarctica's ice is shrinking or growing:
7. Ed Begley, Jr. illustrated how to diagnose "climate change denial disorder":
8. Filmmaker Mike Hachey declared we need to "kill the K-Cup before it kills our planet":
9. A Florida official refused to say the words climate change:
10. The Trans-Pacific Partnership stirred up all kinds of controversy:
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For World Wildlife Day, seven "Champions of Nature" shared their picks for books that motivate them. Sam Edwards / Getty Images
By Kimberly Nicole Pope
During this year's Davos Agenda Week, leaders from the private and public sectors highlighted the urgent need to halt and reverse nature loss. Deliberate action on the interlinked climate and ecological crises to achieve a net-zero, nature-positive economy is paramount. At the same time, these leaders also presented a message of hope: that investing in nature holds the key to ensuring economic and social prosperity and resilience.
<p>2021 will be a critical year to ensure a net zero, nature-positive future as world leaders come together for several key events and negotiations related to climate and nature. Ensuring a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is also essential to ensure a prosperous and resilient future for humankind.</p><p>In honor of <a href="https://www.wildlifeday.org/" target="_blank">UN World Wildlife Day on March 3</a> and to provide inspiration for the important year ahead, seven members of the <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com_-3Furl-3Dhttps-253A-252F-252Fwww.weforum.org-252Fcommunities-252Fchampions-2Dfor-2Dnature-26data-3D04-257C01-257Cjcross-2540conservation.org-257Ca9e440256cd6422991e908d8c926c949-257Cc4de61a999b44c6a962ebd856602e8be-257C0-257C0-257C637480515718737070-257CUnknown-257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0-253D-257C1000-26sdata-3DTW7TLt8sN5vv36XXezVjhZ7-252BqUcKRUHguvXUIWE2tGw-253D-26reserved-3D0&d=DwMF-g&c=VWART3hH1Kkv_uOe9JqhCg&r=JmSs9cEsZ5A4yov1dr2p01nUNPeNC9-pkC-xjek7kc8&m=Hd3Tq0yfeLju6QEmeIggjI-gAQfKWdWoajvb3Y_pTvw&s=NEsSYT5kF2dNllJljDi3erV5I8WuUjHb9kTEO0Io-vo&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Champions for Nature</a> community – which is leading the way towards a nature positive future by 2030 – have shared what they are reading that is giving them motivation to build a better world for people and planet.</p><h3><em>Small Ideas to Change the World</em> – Cyril Dion</h3><p><strong>Carlos Alvarado Quesada, President of Costa Rica</strong></p><p>Cyril Dion invites us to "change stories to change history." The challenge of climate change for what it is, to change the history of humanity, where each person counts and each action, big or small, counts. As it should be in an interconnected world, we dream of more solidarity.</p>
<h3><em>A Stone Sat Still</em> – Brendan Wenzel</h3><p><strong>M Sanjayan, Chief Executive Officer, Conservation International</strong></p><p>Our 19-month-old daughter would have it no other way. Brendan Wenzel's <em>A Stone Sat Still</em> has been read 600 times in our home during lockdown. Even so we still turn the pages with unhurried pleasure. We linger on its dreamy, dusky illustrations and its spring-water clear prose.</p><p>Each time we read it we fall in love with a new way of seeing nature; when viewed in different lights and at different heights, nature becomes the source of endless possibilities. For a grinding and tragic pandemic, a reminder of the value of nature and the importance of place is the perfect antidote.</p><h3><em>The Essentials of Theory 'U'</em> – Otto Scharmer</h3><p><strong>Cherie Nursalim, Vice-Chairman, Giti Group</strong></p><p>"U" is a movement. "U" is a philosophy of "seeing" and "sensing" our system. "U" is a way of letting go and letting a new "U" emerge. "U" enables "ego" to "eco system shift." Otto lays out and synthesizes the core essences of his decades of practice with corporates, civil society and governments around the world in integrating science arts and consciousness. This is to me a must-read book and offers a pathway to happiness by bridging social, ecological and spiritual divides (Tri Hita Karana ways to Happiness in Balinese) aligned with UN SDGs.</p>
<h3><em>Stones of Silence</em> – George Schaller</h3><p><strong>Malik Amin Aslam Khan, Federal Minister of Climate Change and Adviser to the Prime Minister, Pakistan</strong></p><p>The Himalayan travelogue by one of the world's leading conservationists searching for an encounter with one of the most elusive creatures on the planet – the mystical snow leopard – is what I am currently reading. The book is both a celebration of nature, as it beautifully penetrates and unravels the myth around the "mountain ghost," and an avid description of the spirituality residing in the vast emptiness of the mighty Himalayan landscapes.</p><p>George Schaller, the author of <em>Stones of Silence</em> (1980), is the person who, in the early 70's, inspired the creation of Pakistan's iconic Khunjerab National Park, which today conserves one of the world's largest populations of the snow leopard, Markhors, Himalayan Ibex and Marco Polo Sheep and who, a few months back, during COVID-19 quarantine supported the start of Pakistan's Protected Areas Initiative. As the world looks for a nature-positive recovery, the book is a must-read for all who yearn to taste a bit of nature – Himalayan magic mixed with the mystery of the snow leopard.</p><p>I quote from the book: "Wisps of clouds swirled around, transforming her into a ghost creature, part myth and part reality… Balanced precariously on a ledge and bitterly cold, I too stayed, unwilling to disrupt the moment… Then the snow fell more thickly, and dreamlike, the cat slipped away as if she had never been."</p>
<h3><em>The Untold Story of the World's Leading Environmental Institution</em> – Maria Ivanova</h3><p><strong>Inger Andersen, United Nations Under Secretary-General and Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme</strong></p><p>I highly recommend <em>The Untold Story of the World's Leading Environmental Institution</em> by Maria Ivanova. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the genesis and evolution of global environmental governance. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the UN Environment Program in 2022, this book provides valuable insights into how UNEP – and, indeed, environmental multilateralism – must rise to the challenges of a planet in crisis and lead us towards sustainable development.</p><h3><em>Reality Bubble</em> – Ziya Tong</h3><p><span></span><em><strong>Marco Lambertini, Director-General, WWF International</strong></em></p><p><em><span></span>The Reality Bubble</em> by Ziya Tong is a provocative book about humanity's main blind spots: what we didn't evolve to see, and what we should but don't see. The blindness, often convenient, of modern society. A reminder of our limitations, and the dangers of ignoring the impact we are having on the health and balance of the planet we should call home. A particularly important reminder in a year when only humanity's full awareness of our role in the natural world can trigger the deep cultural revolution in our minds and systemic change in our economy to avert disaster.</p>
<h3><em>Losing Earth</em> – Nathaniel Rich</h3><p><strong>Svein Tore Holsether, President & CEO, Yara International</strong></p><p>The essence of this book is that we knew but didn't act. Nathaniel Rich tells the history of fighting climate change, and how the Charney report already in 1979 predicted the devastating effects of global warming. Based on this, I have used every opportunity to tell people that we have been sitting on the fence for four decades and have less than a decade to fix it. We don't have the time anymore to work in isolation, only collaboration can save us. The book was an eye-opener about how we have failed, how we can't afford to fail now, and how we must have a science- and fact-based way of working.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/03/world-wildlife-day-7-champions-for-nature-must-read-books/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Protesters are seen during a demonstration in front of the White House in Washington, DC on June 1, 2017. Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images
By Brett Wilkins
While some mainstream environmental organizations welcomed Tuesday's introduction of the CLEAN Future Act in the House of Representatives, progressive green groups warned that the bill falls far short of what's needed to meaningfully tackle the climate crisis—an existential threat they say calls for bolder action like the Green New Deal.
<p>The latest version of the CLEAN Future Act—which aims to achieve U.S. carbon neutrality by the year 2050 —was introduced by Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone (N.J.), Bobby Rush (Ill.), and Paul Tonko (N.Y.). The bill sets an interim target of reducing pollution by 50% from 2005 levels no later than 2030.</p><p>In a <a href="https://energycommerce.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/ec-leaders-introduce-the-clean-future-act-comprehensive-legislation-to" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statement</a>, Pallone, who is chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said that "the climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges of our lifetime, but it also presents one of the greatest opportunities to empower American workers with new, good paying jobs and return our economy to a position of strength after a long, dark year of historic job losses and pain." </p><p>"Today's introduction of the CLEAN Future Act promises that we will not stand idly by as the rest of the world transitions to clean economies and our workers get left behind," added Pallone, "and that we will not watch from the sidelines as the climate crisis wreaks havoc on Americans' health and homes." </p><p>But while numerous people hailed the bill—with Earthjustice offering "applause" and NRDC calling it "urgently needed"—more critical voices from groups like Friends of the Earth and Food & Water Watch said the legislation is fundamentally and dangerously lacking.</p>
<div id="25965" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6116a1c2b1b913ad51c3ea576f2e196c"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1366827205427425289" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">BREAKING: Rep @FrankPallone just released his CLEAN Future Act — which he claims to be an ambitious bill to combat… https://t.co/M7nR0es196</div> — Friends of the Earth (Action) (@Friends of the Earth (Action))<a href="https://twitter.com/foe_us/statuses/1366827205427425289">1614711974.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Lukas Ross, program manager at Friends of the Earth, called the bill's introduction "a monumental failure of climate leadership."</p><p>"Chairman Pallone had over a year to remove fossil fuels from the CLEAN Future Act and didn't bother to reconsider," Ross said in a <a href="https://foe.org/news/pallones-clean-future-still-a-fracking-mess/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statement</a>, referring to the bill's <a href="https://energycommerce.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/ec-leaders-release-draft-clean-future-act-legislative-text-to-achieve-a-100" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">previous iteration</a>. "A clean energy standard that qualifies fracked gas is a joke. We need real solutions like solar and storage, not a dirty lifeline for gas, nukes, and biomass."</p><p>Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/541228-house-democrats-reintroduce-roadmap-to-carbon-neutrality-by-2050" target="_blank">told</a> <em>The Hill</em> that while the new bill "improves on last year's abysmal proposal," the nation must "slash emissions 70% in 10 years, and we need firm cuts in greenhouse gases right now, not just gimmicky incentives, or future generations will suffer from our inaction today."</p>
<div id="189f0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aa31bacec80d88b49730e8591de5d26d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1366863402912657416" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The CLEAN Future Act "fails to grasp the fundamental truth of fighting climate change: We must stop extracting and… https://t.co/yREn6Qx9tn</div> — Food & Water Watch (@Food & Water Watch)<a href="https://twitter.com/foodandwater/statuses/1366863402912657416">1614720605.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Mitch Jones, policy director at Food & Water Watch, said in a <a href="https://foodandwaterwatch.org/news/dems-climate-bill-falls-short" target="_blank">statement</a> that "Democrats should be making a big, bold push on climate—and the CLEAN Future Act is simply not strong enough." Jones continued:</p><blockquote>The bill's clean energy standard includes provisions that essentially greenwash dirty energy sources—including rebranding fracked gas as 'clean' by pairing it with unproven, non-existent carbon capture methods. It also relies on a dubious emissions trading scheme to achieve its goals, which serves fossil fuel industry interests while pretending to curb climate pollution. The bill also promotes factory farm biogas as a clean energy source.<br></blockquote><p>"While this bill has been marginally improved, it fails to grasp the fundamental truth of fighting climate change: We must stop extracting and burning fossil fuels as soon as possible," stressed Jones. "We should not waste time creating credit schemes and offsets markets, or prop up fossil fuels with carbon capture fantasies."</p><p>"A bold climate plan must call for a ban on fracking and all new fossil fuel infrastructure," he added, "and a swift and just transition to 100% clean, renewable energy across all sectors of the economy. The CLEAN Future Act may have been revised since last year, but it's still a Green New Dud."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/03/02/green-new-dud-progressives-warn-house-climate-bill-fails-grasp-fundamental-truth" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A hiker looking up at a Redwood tree in Redwoods State Park. Rich Wheater / Getty Images
By Douglas Broom
- Redwoods are the world's tallest trees.
- Now scientists have discovered they are even bigger than we thought.
- Using laser technology they map the 80-meter giants.
- Trees are a key plank in the fight against climate change.
They are among the largest trees in the world, descendants of forests where dinosaurs roamed.
<ul class="ee-ul"></ul><p>Now laser technology reveals the true scale of the giant Redwoods of North America — and it's bigger than we imagined.</p>
<p>As well as being <a href="https://www.nps.gov/seki/learn/nature/largest-trees-in-world.htm#:~:text=The%20General%20Sherman%20Tree%20is,neighboring%20trees%20are%20so%20large" target="_blank">the grandest,</a> California's Sequoias are among the oldest trees on the planet, living for up to 2,000 years. Measuring their size is much more than a matter of cultural curiosity since their bulk determines how much carbon dioxide they've sequestered over the centuries — a factor that's rising up the agenda in the fight against climate change.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcwNzQ2OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MzkzMjM1MX0.17ufHfW8fBH40g5UqC-l8ogt9QsY15-bWNeKYg0lEC8/img.png?width=980" id="7d8da" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6b48ceb6e0f93fbc097b588c1414406e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="990" data-height="656" />
Pixabay / Simi Luft
<p><span>Until recently, measuring these trees meant scaling their 80 meter high trunks with a tape measure. Now, a team of scientists from University College London and the University of Maryland uses advanced laser scanning, to create 3D maps and calculate the total mass.</span></p><p>The results are striking: suggesting the trees <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-73733-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">may be as much as 30% larger than earlier measurements suggested.</a> Part of that could be due to the additional trunks the Redwoods can grow as they age, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-73733-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a process known as reiteration</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcwNzQ3Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzODU0Mzc5Nn0.-G6C4DtknHyZaWf485WzgiJEZ23Z7mNN0_pRyGHxI4A/img.png?width=980" id="49683" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f4611c9584d36e406ba4873db378fab5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1040" data-height="1370" />
New 3D measurements of large redwood trees for biomass and structure. Nature / UCL
<p>Measuring the trees more accurately is important because carbon capture will probably play a key role in the battle against climate change. Forest <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/09/carbon-sequestration-natural-forest-regrowth" target="_blank">growth could absorb billions of tons</a> of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year.</p><p>"The importance of big trees is widely-recognised in terms of carbon storage, demographics and impact on their surrounding ecosystems," the authors wrote<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-73733-6" target="_blank"> in the journal Nature</a>. "Unfortunately the importance of big trees is in direct proportion to the difficulty of measuring them."</p><p>Redwoods are so long lived because of their ability to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-73733-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cope with climate change, resist disease and even survive fire damage</a>, the scientists say. Almost a fifth of their volume may be bark, which helps protect them.</p>Carbon Capture Champions
<p><span>Earlier research by scientists at Humboldt University and the University of Washington found that </span><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112716302584" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Redwood forests store almost 2,600 tonnes of carbon per hectare</a><span>, their bark alone containing more carbon than any other neighboring species.</span></p><p>While the importance of trees in fighting climate change is widely accepted, not all species enjoy the same protection as California's coastal Redwoods. In 2019 the world lost the equivalent of <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation-and-forest-degradation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">30 soccer fields of forest cover every minute</a>, due to agricultural expansion, logging and fires, according to The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcwNzQ4Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNjA0NzIzM30.PDWbo3FqXO_GYcl6WaCThOyKfzKd-yj8AwUw9X2GJ0M/img.png?width=980" id="7b4d6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="90a4055ea97300380384f0eaaed1a054" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="996" data-height="604" />
Pixabay
<p>Although <a href="https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/publications/1420/files/original/Deforestation_fronts_-_drivers_and_responses_in_a_changing_world_-_full_report_%281%29.pdf?1610810475" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the rate of loss is reported to have slowed in recent years</a>, reforesting the world to help stem climate change is a massive task.</p><p><span>That's why the World Economic Forum launched the Trillion Trees Challenge (</span><a href="https://www.1t.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1t.org</a><span>) and is engaging organizations and individuals across the globe through its </span><a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-issue/a002o00000vOf09AAC/trillion-trees" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Uplink innovation crowdsourcing platform</a><span> to support the project.</span></p><p>That's backed up by research led by ETH Zurich/Crowther Lab showing there's potential to restore tree coverage across 2.2 billion acres of degraded land.</p><p>"Forests are critical to the health of the planet," according to <a href="https://www.1t.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1t.org</a>. "They sequester carbon, regulate global temperatures and freshwater flows, recharge groundwater, anchor fertile soil and act as flood barriers."</p><p><em data-redactor-tag="em" data-verified="redactor">Reposted with permission from the </em><span><em data-redactor-tag="em" data-verified="redactor"><a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/03/redwoods-store-more-co2-and-are-more-enormous-than-we-thought/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>.</em></span></p>From Your Site Articles
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A female condor above the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge in Ventura County, California. Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
<p><br/></p>
<p>The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) <a href="https://www.fws.gov/birds/bird-enthusiasts/threats-to-birds.php" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">estimated</a> that a median average of 234,012 birds were killed by land-based wind turbines a year as of 2017. While that number is far fewer than the 599 million killed by glass buildings and the 2.4 billion killed by cats, it is not nothing. Further, the American Bird Conservancy <a href="https://abcbirds.org/program/wind-energy-and-birds/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">warns</a> it could climb to five million a year if wind power increases to provide 35 percent of U.S. electricity.</p>
<p>Now, at least one wind energy company is trying to compensate for the damage it might cause. Avangrid Renewables is working with federal <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> officials and the Oregon Zoo to breed <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_self">endangered</a> California condors to replace any that might be killed by its turbines, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildlife-wind-power-california-condors-2f8fc5848b6d903718593d4fc7f24409" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported Monday</a>.</p><p>"We see this as a win for condors," Amy Parsons, Avangrid's operations wildlife compliance manager, told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/01/california-condor-endangered-wind-turbines-breeding" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>Specifically, Avangrid seeks to offset any damage done by its Manzana wind power project, a 126-turbine wind farm in the Tehachapi mountains northeast of Los Angeles. The turbines have 252-foot diameter blades, which might pose a threat to the birds that have a 9.5 foot wingspan.</p><p>The farm has been open since 2012, and since that time there are no records of any condors being killed there. However, the company estimates that as many as two adult condors with two chicks or eggs each may be killed by the turbines in the next 30 years, according to The Associated Press.</p>
<p>To offset this, the company will provide more than $500,000 in funding to breed six condors over three years at the Oregon Zoo's Jonsson Center for Wildlife Conservation.</p><p>"We're prepared to start this condor mitigation effort as early as this spring," Oregon Zoo condor recovery lead Kelly Flaminio told The Associated Press. "Our zoo already nurtures the second-largest breeding population of condors in the nation."</p>
<p>Once raised, the condors will then be released into the wild. California condors were nearly driven to extinction by the 1980s because of hunting, habitat loss and poisoning from lead bullets left in the animals they scavenged from, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/california-condor-chick-born-2639303735.html" target="_self">as EcoWatch reported previously</a>. A breeding program has helped their populations to recover, however, and there are now more than 300 in the wild and 500 worldwide.</p><p>If no condors are killed by Avangrid's turbines, then the wild population will simply increase by six, Flaminio told The Associated Press. However, some conservationists argue that the company's plans do not go far enough.</p><p>The plan "should provide funding to raise a minimum of 30 condors to 1.5 years of age when they are released into the wild." the Center for Biological Diversity wrote in comments to the FWS.</p>
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Kentucky received record-breaking rainfall and flooding this past weekend. Keith Getter / Getty Images
Kentucky is coping with historic flooding after a weekend of record-breaking rainfall, enduring water rescues, evacuations and emergency declarations.
<p>More than a dozen rainfall records were broken in the state on Sunday, CNN Meteorologist <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/02/us/kentucky-flood-vaccine-boat-rescue/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Michael Guy said</a>. Many parts of Kentucky received two to four inches of rain in 72 hours, while a few received as much as 10 inches. The rainfall mixed with melting snow to produce major flooding.</p><p>"We expect this to be one of the largest flash-flooding events that we've had," Kentucky Emergency Management Director Michael Dossett said Monday during a press conference, CNN reported.</p><p>Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a statewide emergency while 29 counties and seven cities also issued emergency declarations.</p><p>"We are acting swiftly to ensure the safety and security of Kentucky families and to get the needed help to our communities," Beshear said in a statement, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/floods-power-outages-kentucky-evacuations-tennessee-2c03eddc4918599e9bd8fa9a976c0edc" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> reported.</p><p>Floodwaters filled downtowns and required water rescues. In the town of Beattyville, boats could be spotted on Main Street, <a href="https://www.lex18.com/news/covering-kentucky/beattyville-experiencing-historic-flooding" target="_blank">LEX 18 reported</a>.</p>
<div id="0f31c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4290ab3e7ec4e142f8bce774bab39f03"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1366307788155219969" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Just got back from my office... downtown Beattyville Kentucky is not a pretty sight. @KySportsRadio… https://t.co/6nXwyMKtRb</div> — Tom Jones (@Tom Jones)<a href="https://twitter.com/8atticus/statuses/1366307788155219969">1614588136.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Lee County Judge/Executive Chuck Caudill said that water levels rose six to seven feet on most roads, prompting evacuations Sunday night. By Monday afternoon, there had been 25 evacuations and six major water rescues.</p><p>"We really had to do some serious lifesaving because they were literally walking out of houses with two to three feet of water in them," Caudill told LEX 18.</p><p>In addition to the human rescues, a batch of COVID-19 vaccines were also evacuated from the Lee County Health Department in Beattyville after rain threatened the department's power supply, CNN reported.</p><p>In Wolfe County, Kentucky, the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hazelgreenvfd/posts/3975632505829919" target="_blank">Hazel Green Volunteer Fire Department</a> said it rescued 15 people Sunday night, including a family of five who were trapped in their car, and were only spotted thanks to their cell phone light.</p><p>Additionally, ninety-one patients were evacuated from Salyersville Nursing and Rehabilitation in Salyersville, Kentucky, Sunday night, according to <a href="https://weather.com/news/news/2021-03-01-kentucky-west-virginia-flooding-evacuations-road-closures-rescues" target="_blank">The Weather Channel</a>.</p><p>The rain also caused flooding in West Virginia and Tennessee. In West Virginia, flooding and mudslides closed more than 100 roads, while rising waters trapped 11 people in a church in Cross Lanes. In Tennessee, four adults and one infant were rescued after a truck slid off a flooded bridge in Dekalb County.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b41a2da6bf23cc19a5f38c2dc6c5f9fc"><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/dekalbtnfire/photos/a.924258171004562/3713119618785056/"></div></div>
<p>Extreme precipitation events are set to increase with the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. This is because warmer oceans mean more water evaporates into the air, turning into rain or snow when a storm system forms, the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-heavy-precipitation" target="_blank">Environmental Protection Agency explained</a>. In the U.S. as a whole, extreme precipitation events have increased in the last three decades. Nine of the 10 years with the most single-day extreme precipitation events took place after 1990.</p><p>Kentucky has also gotten wetter overall in recent years, <a href="https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/lexington/news/2021/01/22/how-climate-change-explains-a-soggy-2020#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20the%20U.S.%20Army,to%20dump%20sediment%20on%20farmland." target="_blank">Spectrum News 1 reported in January</a>. While the state has not substantially warmed, five of its wettest years were in the last decade, and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather" target="_self">extreme weather</a> events have increased.</p><p>"It's a more complicated set of changes than just warming," Jeff Dukes, director of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center, told Spectrum News 1 about the impacts of climate change on the state. "It's the amount of precipitation. It's the timing of precipitation. It's rain when you got snow before. There are a lot of different things involved. It's why I think the better term is 'climate disruption,' because we're disrupting the stable climate that we've had for thousands of years."</p><p>He said Kentucky could anticipate more winter and spring rain, along with flooding, as the planet continues to warm.</p>
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