Conservation

Nigeria’s Lagos State Bans Single-Use Plastics and Styrofoam

Nigeria’s Lagos State Bans Single-Use Plastics and Styrofoam

Lagos State, which includes Nigeria’s most populous city of 15.4 million, has announced a ban on single-use plastics and styrofoam in order to reduce the plastic pollution that chokes the region. The ban would be immediate, according to a statement from the state government, but enforcement and implementation would not be so straightforward, environmental experts […]

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    Pollinator-Friendly Solar Installations Can Help Solve Climate and Biodiversity Crises

    Pollinator-Friendly Solar Installations Can Help Solve Climate and Biodiversity Crises

    Rehabilitated farmland used for solar energy facilities that are planted with native wildflowers and grasses can create lush habitats for insects, birds and bees, a new study has found. The research, conducted by scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory, found that insect numbers tripled in […]

    Researchers Develop Method to Make Mixed-Fiber Clothing Recycling Easier

    Researchers Develop Method to Make Mixed-Fiber Clothing Recycling Easier

    Researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark have created a new technology that may help boost garment recycling rates. The technology can help remove the material elastane from nylon, a common fabric blend for clothing like leggings and other activewear, shapewear and swimwear. But elastane in particular can be difficult to separate out from other fabric […]

    4 Must-See Wild & Scenic Rivers in the U.S.

    4 Must-See Wild & Scenic Rivers in the U.S.

    In 1968, the U.S. government passed the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, designating the first eight free-flowing rivers as protected — the Rio Grande, Rogue, Clearwater, St. Croix, Eleven Point, Idaho’s Salmon and Wolf Rivers. Today, there are 226 wild and scenic rivers and streams covering more than 13,4000 miles in the national Wild and […]

    California Mountain Lion Population Is Thousands Fewer Than Previously Estimated

    California Mountain Lion Population Is Thousands Fewer Than Previously Estimated

    The first large-scale study of mountain lion numbers in California has been completed by scientists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW); the nonprofits Audubon Canyon Ranch and the Institute for Wildlife Studies; University of California, Santa Cruz; and University of California, Davis. The population estimate of between 3,200 and 4,500 cougars is […]

    Norway’s Parliament Votes Yes on Deep-Sea Mining in Norwegian Sea

    Norway’s Parliament Votes Yes on Deep-Sea Mining in Norwegian Sea

    Norway’s parliament voted Tuesday for a bill to allow deep-sea mining in the Arctic waters of the Norwegian Sea. The government has said it plans to move forward with mining of the seabed for minerals sustainably, requiring environmental studies before approving licenses. However, environmentalists have said this practice cannot be done without harming marine life. […]

    Scientists Spot Rare Leopard Barbel Fish in the Wild, Giving Hope for Freshwater Species

    Scientists Spot Rare Leopard Barbel Fish in the Wild, Giving Hope for Freshwater Species

    Despite a recent report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that highlighted that 25% of freshwater fish were threatened with extinction, scientists in Turkey have recently come across a rare species sighting that gives some hope to the situation.  Ichthyologists in Turkey recently spotted the leopard barbel (Luciobarbus subquincunciatus), a rare freshwater […]