biodiversity

Worldwide Electronic Waste to Reach 65 Million Tons by 2017

Worldwide Electronic Waste to Reach 65 Million Tons by 2017

The volume of electronic waste generated worldwide is expected to climb by 33 percent by 2017 to 65 million tons, according to a study conducted by a partnership of United Nations organizations, industry, governments and scientists. Computers, televisions, mobile phones and other devices are tossed away so often, that in 2012, 50 million tons of […]

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    Pesticide Companies Sue EU Commission for Protecting Pollinators

    Pesticide Companies Sue EU Commission for Protecting Pollinators

    On Nov. 6 BASF, a German agrochemical company, took legal action in the General Court of the European Union (EU) to challenge the EU Commission’s decision to restrict seed treatment uses of the insecticide fipronil. BASF joins chemical companies Bayer and Syngenta in challenging the EU’s decision to restrict the use of certain pesticides that […]

    Report Details Potential Hazards of Genetically Engineered Trees Currently Under USDA Review

    Report Details Potential Hazards of Genetically Engineered Trees Currently Under USDA Review

    As the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) considers whether to approve the first genetically engineered (GE) forest tree for commercial use, Center for Food Safety released its new report, Genetically Engineered Trees: The New Frontier of Biotechnology. The report details the potential ecological and socioeconomic hazards of GE trees currently under commercial development. ‘Factory forests’ GE tree […]

    Groups Petition BLM to Protect Fragile Wyoming Habitat From Oil and Gas Drilling

    Groups Petition BLM to Protect Fragile Wyoming Habitat From Oil and Gas Drilling

    Drilling in the Douglas Core Area undermines the efforts of local residents and ranchers to protect sage grouse habitat. The male sage grouse shown in its mating display. Today, conservation groups formally petitioned the federal government to halt all new wellpad and road construction inside the Douglas sage grouse Core Area of eastern Wyoming. Core […]

    Buy Organic Bananas, Save Crocodiles

    Buy Organic Bananas, Save Crocodiles

    Chemicals sprayed on bananas to control pests and disease are making their way into the bodies of the emaciated crocodiles who live near banana plantations in Costa Rica, says a new study that illustrates the environmental impact of pesticide use—and gives another reason to buy organic foods, even those with inedible peels. Crocodiles who live […]

    Pesticides to Blame for Massive Bee Deaths in Minnesota

    Pesticides to Blame for Massive Bee Deaths in Minnesota

    A recent investigation into the death of thousands of bees last month in Minnesota revealed that fipronil, a widely used insecticide, was to blame. In mid-September, three colonies of bees in Minneapolis were found twitching and dying on the ground. Local apiarist Mark Lucas paints a grim picture of the poisoning event, which he witnessed, […]

    Widespread Use of Neonicotinoids Poses Risks to More Than Bees

    Widespread Use of Neonicotinoids Poses Risks to More Than Bees

    Xerces Society A report released this week by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation moves the spotlight from the risks neonicotinoids pose to bees to the impacts of neonicotinoids to invertebrates such as earthworms or lady beetles. Beyond the Birds and the Bees provides a comprehensive review of published articles and pulls together the growing […]

    Why Ecuador Abandoned Plans to Leave Fossil Fuels in the Ground and Save the Amazon

    Why Ecuador Abandoned Plans to Leave Fossil Fuels in the Ground and Save the Amazon

    Adam Chimienti On Aug. 15, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa announced his government’s abandonment of the Yasuni-ITT Initiative, the innovative attempt to reverse the economic arrangement of oil extraction in the Amazon by keeping the oil in the soil in exchange for international assistance. His words that evening were disheartening to many. They encroached on the […]

    250 Groups Call on EPA to Ban Endocrine-Disrupting Atrazine

    250 Groups Call on EPA to Ban Endocrine-Disrupting Atrazine

    Center for Biological Diversity A diverse coalition of more than 250 conservation, public-health and sustainable farming groups sent a letter today asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban atrazine, a toxic pesticide that threatens wildlife and people across the country. The Center for Biological Diversity also submitted comments today from more than 38,000 […]