Warren Introduces Relief Package to Help Storm-Ravaged Puerto Rico 'Recover With Dignity'
Remains of a house in the eastern part of Puerto Rico. Lorie Shaull / CC BY-SA 2.0
By Eoin Higgins
A group of Democratic Senators, led by Elizabeth Warren, are again pushing to have Puerto Rico's debt forgiven in the wake of dual hurricanes that hit the island in 2017 — an announcement that came as activists from the U.S. territory were on Capitol Hill to find a solution to the island's economic woes.
The United States Territorial Relief Act of 2019, as Warren's bill is known, would offer comprehensive debt relief to the American territory. Warren was joined by fellow Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). All but Markey, Warren included, are running for the Democratic nomination for president.
"Our bill gives Puerto Rico and other struggling territories a route to comprehensive debt relief and a chance to recover with dignity," Warren said in a statement. "It's time for Congress to pass this bill."
Much of Puerto Rico’s debt is held by Wall Street, which is trying to squeeze out every last penny of profit. Congress had a chance to break Wall Street's grip. Instead, they passed PROMESA, imposing an oversight board which has slashed services, hindering the recovery.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 2, 2019
If passed, according to an overview provided by Warren's office, the legislation would forgive the island's debt, establish a fund for those who suffer losses from the debt cancellation, and create an auditing commission on the genesis of the debt and how the crisis got so out of control.
The House version of the legislation is being introduced in the lower chamber by Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.).
"Puerto Rico needs every tool possible to recover economically and physically from Hurricane Maria," Velázquez said.
The same cohort of senators and Velázquez introduced the legislation in 2018. It was ultimately unsuccessful.
Puerto Rico's debt issues are nothing new, as Common Dreams has reported — but things have gotten worse since the 2017 hurricanes and the only legislation in place is outdated and insufficient to address the current problems.
A 2016 bill addressing Puerto Rican debt, the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), was signed into law by former President Barack Obama before the storms hit. PROMESA came in for criticism from Sanders, and others, even before the current crisis.
"Over the past several years, Puerto Rico has been living with an economic noose around its neck due to its crippling debt crisis and the devastation created by Hurricane Maria," said the Hispanic Foundation's president José Calderón in a statement supporting Warren's bill.
Puerto Rican activists confronted members of the island's Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) about the predatory practices encouraged by PROMESA on Thursday. They were successful in convincing FOMB to take legal action against banks that profited off of Puerto Rican debt illegally.
The @FOMBPR has not helped #PuertoRico recover. It has sided with bondholders at the expense of our people. Its time for congress to hold them accountable. #cancelthedebt @popdemoc @Vamos4PR @diasporaresiste pic.twitter.com/RDyuCxNzoW
— CASA (@CASAforall) May 2, 2019
Jesus Gonzalez, an organizer with the Center For Popular Democracy, pointed out in a statement that tougher action on predatory creditors would not have happened without "Puerto Rican families on the island and of the diaspora who have fought tirelessly for a just recovery," he said more still needed to be done.
"While the FOMB has decided to pursue legal action," Gonzalez said, "there is much information we still need to analyze to ensure that proper action is taken against every single person who profited from the illegal debt."
Sanders, in a statement, took aim at the banks and hedge funds that used the debt to make billions of dollars.
"Greedy Wall Street vulture funds must not be allowed to reap huge profits off the suffering and misery of the Puerto Rican people for a second longer," said Sanders.
The debt also created an impossible situation for Puerto Ricans struggling to recover after Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, said Hispanic Foundation's Calderón.
"Over the past several years, Puerto Rico has been living with an economic noose around its neck due to its crippling debt crisis and the devastation created by Hurricane Maria," Calderón said. "The island government simply does not have the means to pay off its debt and prioritize the well-being of its people."
Warren echoed Calderón's callback to the difficulties faced by Puerto Ricans in their long pursuit of financial justice.
"Puerto Rican families were watching debt crush their futures long before Hurricane Maria hit," said Warren, "and this administration has failed in its response."
Since the American government will no longer do its job! -- Oprah Winfrey Donates $2 Million to Help Puerto Rico's Recovery From Hurricane Maria https://t.co/Dt5ShuCROa. #MAGA20 @foxandfriends @seanhannity @CNN @SenateGOP @GOPLeader
— Dana Ivey (@hekasia) April 10, 2019
Reposted with permission from our media associate Common Dreams.
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Producer of 'My Octopus Teacher' Launches New Streaming Network to Help Save Our Natural World
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Rescript the Future is WaterBear's global script writing competition focused on building a better future. WaterBear
"Watch. Connect. Take Action."
These words are the invitation and mandate of the WaterBear Network, a free film-streaming platform that launched in November of 2020. Its goal is to turn inspirational images of the natural world into actions to save it.
<p>"WaterBear is the first streaming platform dedicated to the future of our planet," said CEO Ellen Windemuth. "WaterBear uses great storytelling to drive action."</p><p>Windemuth is no stranger to the power of films. Before WaterBear, she produced Netflix's hit documentary <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81045007" target="_blank"><em>My Octopus Teacher</em></a>, a unique story of friendship and recovery between a freediver and an octopus. The film <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/my-octopus-teacher-movie-2647785692.html" target="_self">stunned audiences around the world as it reinforced the power of nature</a>. It has won several prestigious awards and recently was shortlisted for an Oscar, <a href="https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/408595/sa-doccie-film-my-octopus-teacher-shortlisted-for-oscar-nomination" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cape Talk</a> reported.</p>
<p>Describing the film's broad appeal, Windemuth said, "It does not hit you over the head with graphs and pie charts to tell you to care about life in the ocean. I think people appreciate being led into the subject matter through a compelling character and a story they can empathize with. They have the choice to care, so very often they do."</p><p>The planet positive momentum of <em>My Octopus Teacher</em> created a "direct transition" for Windemuth to WaterBear. She said, "I had always been passionate about empowering people to repair their relationship with nature and become part of the solution for environmental problems. Storytelling has a pivotal effect on getting people involved, especially the young generation."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTc5NjYwOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNzAyNTAyNH0.mzu_tdQFZhd3RTnje8Fy1xAOBN5s_LFb5pan1vs--Es/img.jpg?width=980" id="5eea7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7c13a0dd66616789f3ecf88b1b799177" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="675" />
WaterBear CEO Ellen Windemuth uses films to inspire planet-positive actions. WaterBear
<p>Viewers come to WaterBear for award-winning short- and long-form documentaries about the planet. According to <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/waterbear-network" target="_blank">Vogue</a>, these include original films like <em>Africa's Hidden Sea Forest</em>, produced by the same team behind <em>My Octopus Teacher</em>; <em>Turning The Tide On Plastic</em>, highlighting how rivers bring 80 percent of the plastic waste that ends up in our <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">oceans</a>; and <em>The Black Jaguar's Amazon</em>, providing an inside-look at the deforestation ravaging the world's biggest rainforest.</p><p>"It is our goal to tell stories about the meaning of the 17 UN Sustainable Development goals for people to... absorb them as true values instead of words," Windemuth told EcoWatch. To that end, the films focus on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a>, climate change, circularity and community – the four themes around which WaterBear aims to inspire action to create a more sustainable future.</p>
<p>While sneaking a peak into the world's wildest and most endangered landscapes, viewers are connected on the interactive platform to over 90 NGO partners and organizations, from smaller grassroots organizations to global mainstays like Greenpeace, Conservation International and Amazon Watch. Then, they're provided with numerous ways to get involved with these groups. Suggested actions range from donating to sharing and signing petitions to volunteering, Windemuth said.</p><p>"WaterBear bridges the gap between media and action," Dave Martin of Mongabay said in an <a href="https://www.waterbear.com/" target="_blank">introductory video</a>.</p>
<p>Most recently, WaterBear launched the "<a href="https://vimeo.com/512422723" target="_blank">Era of Action</a>," an ambitious campaign to generate climate leadership and action ahead of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/cop26" target="_self">COP26</a>, the United Nations' climate change conference.</p><p>"The Era of Action campaign is focused on energizing the sustainability movement," Windemuth said. "This campaign provides 100 clear steps for members to take action each week."</p><p>Windemuth and WaterBear focus on the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> because of how it affects many threatened parts of Earth and because its tangible byproducts are massive <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pollution" target="_self">pollution</a>, the CEO told EcoWatch.</p><p>"Microplastics are literally in our bodies, and about 9 million people die each year of air pollution," Windemuth said.</p>
<p>Overall, WaterBear hopes to encourage more people to amplify their messages through films and storytelling, with the hope that this novel approach to conservation will reach new audiences and shift public opinion in time to make change for the planet.<br></p><p>WaterBear is currently available in eight countries and is planning to increase their film offerings and global expansion. Through the network, Windemuth hopes people find and pursue their own personal passions on how to save the planet and have a good time doing so.</p><p>As the WaterBear introductory video concludes, "This is our world. Let's make sure it remains extraordinary."</p>
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The Sunrise Movement launched its "Good Jobs for All" campaign that guarantees a good job to anyone who wants one and puts the country on a path toward a Green New Deal. Image Source / Getty Images
By Kenny Stancil
Amid the ongoing climate emergency and the devastating coronavirus pandemic that has resulted in more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. alone as well as an economic meltdown that has left millions of people unemployed, the Sunrise Movement on Thursday launched its "Good Jobs for All" campaign to demand that lawmakers pursue a robust recovery that guarantees a good job to anyone who wants one and puts the country on a path toward a Green New Deal.
<p>"It will take millions of people to build a new energy grid, care for older folks, teach little kids, restore parks and buildings that have fallen into disrepair, and do the work of building happy, healthy communities," the climate justice organization <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/campaign/good-jobs-for-all/" target="_blank">wrote</a> on its campaign website. "This year, we can put millions of people back to work in good paying jobs building a sustainable, just, and people-centered economy."</p><p>"In the richest country in the world, no one should go without a good job," Varshini Prakash, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/03/05/sunrise-movement-launches-good-jobs-all-campaign-demands-biden-and-congress" target="_blank">said</a> to thousands of people across the country who attended Thursday's online launch event via livestream or at one of 600 virtual watch parties. "For years, our movement has been demanding a Green New Deal that fulfills Franklin Delano Roosevelt's promise and Coretta Scott King's dream through guaranteed good jobs and a better society."</p><p>"This campaign," Prakash added, "will galvanize and grow our movement around this critical component of the Green New Deal as we recover from Covid-19 and the economic recession."</p>
<div id="c7fe3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5664692fdfd187db01eff5ac2787c564"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1367650177436311562" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We’re coming together to fight for each other and guarantee #GoodJobsForAll Join us: https://t.co/MoJhmlzoaS https://t.co/IAPa8DeeLR</div> — Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@Sunrise Movement 🌅)<a href="https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/statuses/1367650177436311562">1614908186.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>During the campaign launch, Sunrise—joined by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Sara Nelson, president of the the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO—introduced their <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/campaign/good-jobs-for-all/" target="_blank">Good Jobs for All Pledge</a>, which calls on President Joe Biden and members of Congress to immediately enact economic recovery legislation that meets the scale of the overlapping crises society is facing and paves the way for a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/07/major-party-backing-ocasio-cortez-and-markey-unveil-green-new-deal-outlining-wwii" target="_blank">Green New Deal </a>that puts millions of people to work to fight against catastrophic climate change.</p><p>Given the current convergence of crises—public health, economic inequality, racial injustice, and "a climate crisis that looms over it all"—the Good Jobs for All Pledge stresses that "with so much work to do building a better society that works for all of us, there's no reason anyone in the richest country in the history of the world should be unemployed, underemployed, or working a job that isn't in the public interest."</p><p>Pressley, a Green New Deal co-sponsor, recently introduced the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/18/demanding-dignified-work-and-living-wage-legal-rights-ayanna-pressley-unveils-jobs" target="_blank">Federal Job Guarantee Resolution</a>, which seeks to make "meaningful, dignified work" at a livable wage an enforceable legal right.</p><p>Becoming the first signatory of the Good Jobs For All Pledge, the Massachusetts Democrat <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/03/05/sunrise-movement-launches-good-jobs-all-campaign-demands-biden-and-congress" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said </a>Thursday that "establishing the legal right to a good job for every person will help address the current employment crisis, create the foundation for an equitable economic recovery, and ensure that we are able to meet the pressing challenges facing our communities."</p>
<p>"I'm excited to work alongside the Sunrise Movement—as well as my colleagues, advocates, and activists across the country—to advance bold employment policies that ensure every person has access to a good job that pays a living wage, and that we put people to work addressing urgent priorities, like the climate crisis," said Pressley, who is expected to soon be joined by other prominent progressive lawmakers.</p><p>Signatories to the Good Jobs for All Pledge promise to do everything in their power—including <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/15/after-trump-acquittal-gop-sunrise-movement-says-time-now-abolish-filibuster" target="_blank">abolishing</a> the Senate's anti-democratic filibuster rule that obstructs the will of the majority—to "champion economic recovery legislation that invests $10 trillion to create at least 15 million good jobs sustained over the next decade in clean energy, transportation, housing, the care economy, public services, and regenerative agriculture, with the goal of ultimately guaranteeing full employment."</p><p>In addition, backers of the pledge vow to:</p><ul><li>Support "Indigenous sovereignty and strong labor, equity, immigration, and environmental justice standards," as outlined in the<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/lawmakers-progressive-coalition-unveil-framework-create-thriving-fair-and-green" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> THRIVE Agenda</a>, a proposal for a just and sustainable recovery from the coronavirus crisis unveiled in September 2020 by a progressive coalition of unions, advocacy groups, and Democratic lawmakers;</li><li>Create or improve "public employment programs to directly put Americans to work in serving the public interest, including the robust funding of a Civilian Climate Corps and a Public Health Jobs Corps";</li><li>Strengthen and protect the nation's "workforce, unions, and workers' rights through the provisions in the <a href="https://edlabor.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-and-senate-democrats-unveil-landmark-legislation-to-protect-workers-right-to-organize" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act</a>," a broad piece of legislation introduced in May 2019 that would "negate four decades worth of anti-labor barriers that right-wing forces have put in place,"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/07/21st-century-priority-pro-act-will-revive-labor-movement-and-re-build-middle-class" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> according to </a>Alan Minsky, executive director of Progressive Democrats of America;</li><li>Direct "at least 50% of investment funds to communities on the frontlines of our economic, environmental, and public health crises"; and</li><li>Shift "every sector of the economy to 100% clean, renewable energy as fast as possible over the next decade."</li></ul>
<p>As Sunrise <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/03/05/sunrise-movement-launches-good-jobs-all-campaign-demands-biden-and-congress" target="_blank">noted</a> in a statement released Friday, "The campaign comes 43 days into the administration, as time ticks down on the Democrats' now or never moment to stop the worst effects of the climate catastrophe and avoid the fatal political mistakes of the early Obama years: not acting at the full scale of the economic crisis, and falling short in delivering on promises made."</p><p>Emphasizing that "the clock is ticking," Prakash said that "we expect Biden and Congress to deliver on a bold economic recovery in its first 100 days—by April 30th."</p><p>"We're going to put on the pressure to make sure that they do," she added. "And if they don't, well then they're really gonna hear from us—and there'll be hell to pay. You've got 57 days to deliver."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/03/05/good-jobs-all-sunrise-movement-launches-campaign-fight-climate-crisis-work-guarantee" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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The study identified chinook salmon as among the species of high concern that are frequently ingesting plastic.
bpperry / Getty Images
bpperry / Getty Images
By Tara Lohan
Each year the amount of plastic swirling in ocean gyres and surfing the tide toward coastal beaches seems to increase. So too does the amount of plastic particles being consumed by fish — including species that help feed billions of people around the world.
<p>A new <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.15533" target="_blank">study</a> published in the journal <em>Global Change Biology</em> revealed that the rate of plastic consumption by marine fish has doubled in the last decade and is increasing by more than 2% a year.</p><p>The study also revealed new information about what species are most affected and where the risks are greatest.</p><p>The researchers did a global analysis of mounting studies of plastic pollution in the ocean and found data on plastic ingestion for 555 species of marine and estuarine fish. Their results showed that 386 fish species — two-thirds of all species — had ingested plastic. And of those, 210 were species that are commercially fished.</p><p>Not surprisingly, places with an abundance of plastic in surface waters, such as East Asia, led to a higher likelihood of plastic ingestion by fish.</p><p>But fish type and behavior, researchers found, also plays a role. Active predators — those at the top of the food chain, like members of the Sphyrnidae family, which includes hammerhead and bonnethead sharks — ingested the most plastic. Grazers and filter‐feeders consumed the least.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTc5NTg4OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNzQ1NjM3OX0.6wmtj00uieZfjuuejjslI_qHBsxGXswXTlmwxllwPrw/img.jpg?width=980" id="d750b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f706f6af320132b0d74bcb77d2cf69a5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="799" data-height="533" />
Blue shark at Cape Point, South Africa, 2016. Steve Woods / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
<p>"Overall, the likelihood of plastic ingestion decreases with depth," the researchers found.</p><p>Although bioaccumulation of plastic and its associated chemicals can cause health problems, this isn't causing noticeable fish population problems — yet. The research revealed that the majority of the species they found to have ingested plastic remain abundant.</p><p>But at the same time, 35 species were listed as threatened or near threatened. Another 26 species are vulnerable to overfishing. The authors identified the blue shark, Atlantic bluefin tuna and chinook salmon as "species of high concern due to their threatened status, vulnerability to overfishing and frequent plastic ingestion."</p><p>Meanwhile the researchers found that three-quarters of commercially fished species ingested plastic, including ones common in recreational fisheries and aquaculture that "have the highest likelihood to be part of the supply chain." Common sole was found to be "most worrisome."</p>
<p>Even more troubling is that there's still a lot we don't know because some areas are better studied than others.</p><p>Some nearshore areas are among those where research is lacking. "Only four studies were conducted within the continental United States' Exclusive Economic Zone, despite more marine plastic originating from the United States than any other developed nation," the researchers wrote.</p><p>Oceanic gyres, those swirling eddies of plastic in the open ocean, are also a black hole when it comes to research. "We uncovered no studies from the Indian, South Atlantic or western North Pacific gyres though there is extensive knowledge of surface debris accumulation in these regions," they found. "Similarly, there was a paucity of data from high‐latitude seas and none from the Southern Ocean, even though the polar oceans are a sink for microplastic debris with new fisheries developing in these regions as ice retreats and climate changes."</p><p>By comparison, coastal waters — including estuaries — are well studied, as are the seas surrounding Europe. And they found a "recent flurry of studies" from East Asia.</p>
<p>Even with a growing amount of research, the scope and severity of the problem is likely still underestimated.</p><p>Filling in these knowledge gaps will be crucial to better understand the extent of the problem, but the researchers say we'll also need to study top predators more to learn how plastic bioaccumulates in the food chain and how these mobile predators may redistribute plastic across the ocean as they travel.</p><p>Little is known about how ingested plastic affects fish and marine ecosystems, and even less about how human health could be affected when plastic-eating fish end up on the dinner table.</p><p>"Current evidence for humans ingesting plastic directly from fish remains scant, but there is growing concern," the researchers wrote. "In particular, the continued aggregation and analysis of information on plastic ingestion by marine fish is vital as these data are inextricably linked to ecosystem and human health."</p>
<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/taralohan/" target="_blank"><em>Tara Lohan </em></a><em>is deputy editor of The Revelator and has worked for more than a decade as a digital editor and environmental journalist focused on the intersections of energy, water and climate. Her work has been published by The Nation, American Prospect, High Country News, Grist, Pacific Standard and others. She is the editor of two books on the global water crisis.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/fish-eating-plastic" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>
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An Edith's Checkerspot butterfly in Los Padres National Forest in Southern California. Patricia Marroquin / Moment / Getty Images
Butterflies across the U.S. West are disappearing, and now researchers say the climate crisis is largely to blame.
<p>A new study published in <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6533/1042" target="_blank">Science</a> on Thursday looked at three different data sets that cover the last 40 years of butterfly populations across more than 70 locations in the Western U.S. They found that butterfly populations had fallen by 1.6 percent per year, and that this was linked to warmer weather during the fall.</p><p>"That so many of our butterflies are declining is very alarming," Dr. Tara Cornelisse, an entomologist and senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), said in <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/study-climate-change-contributing-to-widespread-butterfly-decline-across-western-united-states-2021-03-04/" target="_blank">response to the findings</a>. "These declines are a wake-up call that we need to dramatically reduce greenhouse gases to save these beautiful and beloved butterflies, as well as our very way of life."</p>
<p>In recent years, scientists have raised the alarm about a worldwide decline in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/insects" target="_self">insects</a>. A <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/insect-land-decrease-study-2645822562.html" target="_self">study published last spring</a> found that the number of land-based insects was falling by about nine percent per decade. However, it has been difficult to tease out the causes of this decline, since factors like land-use change, pesticide use and climate shifts may all contribute, <a href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/climate-change-is-killing-butterflies-in-the-american-w-1846408143" target="_blank">Gizmodo's Earther pointed out</a>.</p><p>To investigate the role of climate change, the researchers chose to focus on the Western U.S. because it has seen general warming and drying trends covering a wide variety of ecosystems and land uses. They looked at 450 species in 11 states, from Washington to California to New Mexico to Montana, and compared population data with temperature trends.</p>
<p>They found that butterfly populations actually increased with summer temperatures, probably because the warmth meant more nectar and larval bugs as food for butterflies and caterpillars. However, the warmer autumns caused their populations to fall again, likely because plants cannot survive the extended warmth and the population of predators increases. Because the declines occurred in a variety of ecosystems, including protected areas that are less impacted by pesticides, the researchers thought climate change was to blame.</p><p>"Out there, removed from those factors, we see a shifting climate as the main driver of declining butterfly numbers," University of Texas in Reno biologist and lead study author Matthew Forister told Earther in an email.</p>
<p>University of Connecticut ecologist David Wagner, who was not involved with the study, said it was notable because it included protected areas.</p><p>"[T]his is one of the first global cases of declines occurring in wildlands, away from densely populated human-dominated landscapes, and the rate of 1.6 percent is calamitous," he told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/03/04/climate-change-butterflies/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p><p>Examples of species in decline include the iconic monarch butterfly, the common cabbage white butterfly and the vulnerable Edith's checkerspot. Forister told The Washington Post that both widespread and rare species were impacted.</p><p>The findings have important implications for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a>, because they show that simply protecting one habitat is not sufficient in the context of climate change.</p><p>"We need a multi-prong approach to conserve insects. This new study adds to the evidence that in addition to habitat protections and pesticide reform, that approach must include swift and bold climate change policy," CBD's Cornelisse said.</p>
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A wildfire burns in the Hollywood hills on July 19, 2016 in Hollywood, California. AaronP / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images
California faces another "critically dry year" according to state officials, and a destructive wildfire season looms on its horizon. But in a state that welcomes innovation, water efficacy approaches and drought management could replenish California, increasingly threatened by the climate's new extremes.
<p>The Sierra Nevada snowpack supplies the state with 30 percent of its water supply. But on Tuesday, California's Department of Water Resources recorded a snow depth of 56 inches and water content of 21 inches at Phillips Station – 61 percent of the average for March 2 and 54 percent of the average for April 1, when it's at its maximum, the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-02/california-snowpack-increases-a-drought-could-be-on-the-horizon" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times reported</a>.</p><p>The state's largest reservoirs – responsible for maintaining the state's water supply throughout the year – also experienced low levels this year, storing only about 38 percent and 68 percent of their capacity, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/03/california-snowpack-water-supply-shortage-conservation" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>"With below-average precipitation across the state, California's reservoirs are starting to see the impacts of a second consecutive dry year," said Sean de Guzman, the department's chief of snow surveys and water supply forecasting, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/03/california-snowpack-water-supply-shortage-conservation" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>These effects are being felt across the state. During the city's wettest months of December, January and February, L.A. received just 2.44 inches of the expected 3.12 inches of rain, the Los Angeles Times reported. At the same time Northern California remains in one of the worst two-year rain deficient since the Gold Rush of 1849 – its precipitation at only 30 percent to 70 percent of a normal year, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/11/california-dry-weather-drought-wildfire-agriculture" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>.</p>
<p>Three to five winter storms supply California's snowpack and reservoirs with water. But the state's dependency on these few winter storms makes it especially vulnerable when they occur less frequently, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/11/california-dry-weather-drought-wildfire-agriculture" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>.</p><p>"In years where you miss out on one or two of those, you're probably going to struggle to get close to normal," John Abatzoglou, a climatology researcher at the University of California, Merced, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/11/california-dry-weather-drought-wildfire-agriculture" target="_blank">told The Guardian</a>, who added that the state is increasingly living in extremes – either experiencing abnormally heavy rain or no rain at all. "We're banking on a miracle March or awesome April to dig out of this hole... In all likelihood, we're going to end the water year with another dry year."</p><p>The dry winter not only invites a destructive wildfire season but comes with a heavy price tag for the state's agricultural industry. Between 2012-2016, for example, the state experienced a drought that cost $2.7 billion in losses for the industry, and more than 18,000 lost jobs, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/03/california-snowpack-water-supply-shortage-conservation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Guardian reported</a>. This drought also killed about 102 million forest trees.</p>
<p>"Our state's water future remains uncertain due to the variability in precipitation and changing climate," Guzman said, according to the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-02/california-snowpack-increases-a-drought-could-be-on-the-horizon" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times</a>. Now more than ever, new approaches to water efficacy are necessary. Fortunately, new ideas are plentiful in a state that is often celebrated for its sustainable policy.</p><p>One solution, for example, could include paying Californians to conserve water as a cost-effective way to reduce energy consumption, Sammy Roth, a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times wrote in the newsletter <a href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2021-03-04/want-to-save-energy-and-fight-climate-change-try-using-less-water-boiling-point" target="_blank">Boiling Point</a>.</p><p>Water and electricity go hand-in-hand in California. "Nearly one-fifth of electricity use in California goes to transporting and treating water. And nearly one-third of non-power plant natural gas use is water-related, primarily water heating," <a href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2021-03-04/want-to-save-energy-and-fight-climate-change-try-using-less-water-boiling-point" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Roth wrote</a>, mentioning the state's complex <a href="https://water.ca.gov/Programs/State-Water-Project" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">water projects</a> that include systems "of reservoirs, aqueducts, power plants and pumping plants extending more than 700 miles."</p>
<p>Based on <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abb9de/meta" target="_blank">research</a> that looked at what happened if the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power paid people to use less electricity rather than less water, the researchers concluded "that paying for water conservation can actually be a more cost-effective way to slash energy consumption than paying for energy conservation," Roth added.</p><p>In a drier, hotter and rapidly changing climate, that brings new <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather">weather extremes</a> to the state each year, water conservation is imperative for California and the nearly 40 million that call it home. "It's more critical than ever that Californians adopt sustainability, embrace new approaches and emerging technologies and work together to save water for a secure future," Guzman added, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/03/california-snowpack-water-supply-shortage-conservation" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
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