On the hunt for the perfect holiday gift for someone special in your life? A campaign from the National Autonomous University in Mexico suggests adopting an axolotl — symbolically, that is. The axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is a critically endangered type of salamander that has become increasingly popular in recent years thanks to attention from a […]
A government commission in Ohio has decided to open some state parks and wildlife areas to fracking. The decision comes amid an investigation on allegations of possible fraudulent support from an industry group representing energy companies, The Associated Press reported. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) greenlit multiple […]
Microplastics — tiny fragments of plastic products and industrial waste — are now so pervasive in Earth’s environment that they are found everywhere from the highest mountain peaks to the deepest parts of the ocean. According to a new report, all aquatic species in the mouths of rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean and […]
A new study led by researchers from Griffith University in Australia contributes to the growing research on how global warming and pollution are impacting reproduction for endangered sea turtles. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, found that pollution exposure to heavy metals, like cadmium and antimony, as well as organic contaminants […]
Among autumn’s falling leaves, you might see a familiar flash of black and orange against the blue sky. Once again, migratory monarch butterflies are on the move from their summer breeding grounds to their overwintering habitats. These spectacular insects travel up to 2,500 miles across the Americas, sometimes covering 50-100 miles a day. Like migrating […]
Biologist Sir David Attenborough, who is 97, has been documenting the natural world and, more recently, the effects of climate change on ecosystems and biodiversity, for most of his life. More than 50 animal taxa have been named after the English natural historian, and one of them, the egg-laying mammal Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna, was recently […]
The European Union (EU) has agreed on a provisional agreement for a Nature Restoration Law — first proposed by the European Commission in June of last year — that would require member states to introduce measures for the restoration of 20 percent of the bloc’s land and sea ecosystems by 2030. More than 80 percent […]
Researchers from University of California, Davis have published a study that outlines how artificial light pollution from things like city lights and highway traffic is threatening the habitats of mountain lions in Southern California. “Well-lit streets, neighborhoods and commercial areas will reduce and fragment the areas available to mountain lions to move around,” Fraser Shilling, […]
The most recent assessment of 14,669 threatened European plant and animal species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species has found that 19 percent are at risk of extinction. Some of the main reasons for the decline in biodiversity are habitat loss, changes in agricultural land use, overexploitation of […]