biodiversity

Typically, the start of each new year aligns with peak breeding times for Antarctic seabirds, like the south polar skua, Antarctic petrel and snow petrel. Around this time, the birds will select sites and start building their nests and laying eggs. But a new study during the time period from December 2021 through January 2022 […]

Amidst the glitz and glamor of the Oscars Sunday night came a surprisingly earnest reminder of the importance of protecting the natural world and Indigenous rights. This reminder came when “The Elephant Whisperers,” a moving true story about the relationship between an Indigenous Indian couple and two orphaned elephants, won the Oscar for Best Documentary […]

Quick Key Facts What Are ‘Pollinators’? A pollinator transports pollen from the stamen (male part) of the flower of a plant to the stigma (female part) of the original or another flower. Moving the pollen is necessary to fertilize the plant so that it can produce fruit, seeds and new plants. While the pollen of […]

A major 20-year-long study has revealed devastating impacts on native plants in UK and Ireland from climate change and agricultural activities. The findings show that native plants are now outnumbered by non-native species. The study, called the Plant Atlas 2020, was conducted by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) with the help of […]

On Saturday, March 4, world leaders finally agreed on a treaty to protect the high seas.  The accord reached by the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction establishes a mechanism for sharing the benefits of scientific discoveries from marine life, enforces environmental impact assessments for new human activities in international waters […]

Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and Earthjustice, sued the Biden administration Monday to stop the sale of oil and gas drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico. The lawsuit, filed in Washington, DC federal court, seeks to prevent the auction of approximately 13,600 blocks on 73.3 million acres by the U.S. Department of the […]

After more than a decade of talks, the 193 United Nations (UN) member states have reached a landmark international agreement for a new Treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas of the ocean outside national jurisdiction, known as the “high seas.” In New York late Saturday night, President of […]

In 2019, an archipelago in the Russian Arctic Ocean declared a state of emergency when an aurora of polar bears muscled their way into a settlement and began nosing through the garbage.  At the time, experts said that the climate crisis likely caused the polar bear invasion, as dwindling sea ice forced them to seek […]