By Paula Ezcurra and Octavio Aburto Thousands of hydroelectric dams are under construction around the world, mainly in developing countries. These enormous structures are one of the world’s largest sources of renewable energy, but they also cause environmental problems. Hydropower dams degrade water quality along rivers. Water that flows downstream from the dams is depleted […]
By Jason Bittel More than 16 feet long and weighing up to 1,100 pounds, Chinese sturgeons are among the world’s largest freshwater fish. They’re big and they’re ancient. According to fossil records, they’ve been swimming China’s Yangtze, Qiantang, Minjiang and Pearl Rivers since the time of the dinosaurs. And now they’re on the brink of […]
This year’s Living Planet Report shows that populations of animals—including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians—plummeted by 60 percent between 1970 and 2014. But those living in freshwater are experiencing a far more drastic decline: 83% since 1970. It’s a sobering statistic and one tied directly to the ever-increasing pressures that people are putting on […]
The ailing orca whale J50 was declared “missing and now presumed dead” by the Center for Whale Research Thursday, after a three-day search by the organization in the waters between Washington state and Canada failed to locate her. She would be the third Southern Resident killer whale to die since June, bringing their numbers down […]
A dam collapsed in Myanmar’s central Bago region Wednesday following heavy monsoon rains, displacing tens of thousands and killing at least four, as AFP reported that ministry officials confirmed Friday. “According to the information we got as of this morning, four people were killed and three went missing during the floods,” Ministry of Social Welfare, […]
Flooding in India‘s southern state of Kerala has killed 39 and left more than 60,000 homeless as of Monday, The Times of India reported, in what India Today called the region’s “worst flood crisis” since 1924. Kerala, a popular tourist destination, has already seen heavy flooding this monsoon season, but the most recent inundation began […]
A dam in Laos collapsed Monday following heavy rains, killing 26, leaving thousands homeless and confirming worries expressed by environmental groups over the safety of hydroelectric development in one of Asia’s poorest countries, Al Jazeera reported. Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith told reporters Wednesday that at least 131 people are still missing after the Xepian-Xe […]
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives announced on Thursday a series of bills aimed at profoundly gutting the Endangered Species Act, including provisions making it almost impossible for imperiled species to gain protection and giving states that often oppose endangered species protection veto power over those decisions. In addition, the bills would turn over […]
Less than a year ago, scientists announced an exciting discovery—a new species of orangutan, called the Tapanuli orangutan, living in Batang Toru in Sumatra, Indonesia, The Conversation reported. But an article published in Current Biology Thursday has some sobering news for the newly discovered ape: The “critically-endangered species” is at serious risk for extinction. “This […]
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