By Andrea Germanos Environmental campaigners stressed the need for the incoming Biden White House to put in place permanent protections for Alaska’s Bristol Bay after the Trump administration on Wednesday denied a permit for the proposed Pebble Mine that threatened “lasting harm to this phenomenally productive ecosystem” and death to the area’s Indigenous culture. […]
In the South Atlantic Ocean, a tiny island of 250 people has made a significant contribution to global marine conservation by protecting a huge swath of ocean under its control. To reach Tristan da Cunha, a UK overseas territory, one must make a seven-day boat trip from South Africa, reported National Geographic. The island chain […]
By Richard Thomas Joseph Biden was elected to office as the world continues to struggle with a global pandemic that has killed more than a million people and wreaked devastating economic havoc. The pandemic has highlighted how humankind’s abuse of our planet and the irreversible loss of the biodiversity and ecosystem services upon which we […]
By Jane Braxton Little Linda J. Cayot’s scientific focus for the day was a male giant tortoise, part of her dissertation research on the ecology of these iconic Galápagos reptiles. When her study animal lumbered into a swirling torrent of muddy El Niño waters, the intrepid scientist jumped in, too. Together they banged against rocks, […]
By Erin Seekamp With global travel curtailed during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are finding comfort in planning future trips. But imagine that you finally arrive in Venice and the “floating city” is flooded. Would you stay anyway, walking through St. Mark’s Square on makeshift catwalks or elevated wooden passages – even if you couldn’t […]
Now that the campaign season is over, what do we do with all those political yard signs? Trash them? Keep them for memories’ sake? Florida beekeeper Alma Johnson has a better idea: donate them to help keep her honeybee hives warm. “I saw the politician signs and I said, ‘What a great opportunity,’” Johnson told […]
The Asian short-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus) is the world’s smallest otter, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). But what they lack in size, they make up for in brain power. The approximately three-foot long otters can learn from each other, and show the capacity for long-term memory, a new study published […]
By Carly Nairn Climate change and global food demand could drive a startling loss of up to 23 percent of all natural habitat ranges in the next 80 years, according to new findings published in Nature Communications. Habitat loss could accelerate to a level that brings about rapid extinctions of already vulnerable species. Shrinking ranges […]
The voters of Colorado have made history by electing to reintroduce gray wolves to the state. The opponents of Proposition 114, as the measure was called, conceded Thursday, National Geographic reported. As of that afternoon, the plan to reintroduce wolves had 1,495,523 votes for and 1,475,235 against with 90 percent of the votes counted. However, […]