Enviro

New research modeling smoke from two recent megafires sets the stage for better forecasting of how emissions from these global-scale events will behave and impact temperatures. As huge wildfires become more common under climate change, increased attention has focused on the intensity and duration of their emissions, which rival those of some volcano eruptions. Megafires […]

Conservation efforts for other animals have likely helped protect many reptile species, according to a new study led by scientists at NatureServe and other organizations. The study, published in the journal Nature, presents an analysis of the first comprehensive extinction risk assessment for reptiles on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. It […]

Working outdoors during periods of extreme heat can cause discomfort, heat stress, or heat illnesses – all growing concerns for people who live and work in Southwestern cities like Las Vegas, where summer temperatures creep higher each year. But, did you know that female outdoor workers are experiencing disproportionate impacts? Or, that more experienced outdoor […]

The number of fires inside protected conservation areas across the island of Madagascar shot up dramatically when COVID-19 lockdowns led to the suspension of any on-site management for five months during 2020. The findings suggest that governments should consider keeping some staff in protected areas at all times as an “essential service”, even during periods […]

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2022 — The Environmental Protection Agency will analyze the toxic effects of polyvinyl chloride, commonly referred to as “PVC” or “vinyl”, as the result of a legal agreement reached today with the Center for Biological Diversity. PVC is one of the most widely used forms of plastic, and about 7 billion pounds of PVC […]

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, AZ — The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) approved an aquifer protection permit late Thursday, April 28, 2022 for a uranium mine near Grand Canyon National Park. The mine, owned by Energy Fuels Resources, has a history of flooding as it depletes shallow groundwater aquifers that express at South Rim springs. It also threatens […]

In November 2019, visitors to Joshua Tree National Park in California encountered a strange sight. Joshua trees and the closely related Mojave yuccas, which normally remain reproductively dormant until late spring, were in full bloom at the tail end of autumn. In a new study published in Scientific Reports, U.S. National Science Foundation-funded researchers at the Florida Museum of Natural […]

With the recent outbreaks identified in Canada and the United States, H5N1 – a strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIv) – is rapidly becoming a global concern. The virus has already caused widespread outbreaks throughout Asia, Africa and Europe, resulting in millions of deaths in poultry and wild birds. In this Perspective, Michelle […]

Microplastics are a pathway for pathogens on land to reach the ocean, with likely consequences for human and wildlife health, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. The study, published today in the journal Scientific Reports, is the first to connect microplastics in the ocean with land-based pathogens. It found that microplastics […]

Increasingly large and intense wildfires in the Pacific Northwest are altering the seasonal pattern of air pollution and causing a spike in unhealthy pollutants in August, new research finds. The smoke is undermining clean air gains, posing potential risks to the health of millions of people, according to the study. The research, led by scientists […]

Solar panels have become increasingly common on homes as prices have fallen. Ben McCanna/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images Robert Lempert, Pardee RAND Graduate School and Elisabeth Gilmore, Carleton University It’s easy to feel pessimistic when scientists around the world are warning that climate change has advanced so far, it’s now inevitable that societies […]

The first large-scale study of its kind has uncovered more than 4,000 years’ worth of distinctive foraging behaviour in a species once driven to the brink of extinction. An international team of researchers, led by the University of Leicester, identified long-term patterns in the behaviour of the short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) in the North Pacific […]

Washington, D.C. – Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent a letter today with eight other Natural Resources Committee members to U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Deb Haaland urging reversal of the Trump administration’s decision to approve the Northern Corridor Highway (NCH) through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (Red Cliffs NCA) in southern Utah. […]

The global temperature for March 2022 was the fifth highest for March in the 143-year NOAA record, which dates back to 1880. The year-to-date (January-March) global surface temperature was also the fifth warmest such period on record. According to NCEI’s Global Annual Temperature Rankings Outlook, it is virtually certain (> 99.0%) that the year 2022 […]

DENVER—A new report from the Center for Western Priorities found that in 2021, oil and gas companies in Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming reported an increase in drilling-related spills, as compared to 2020. New Mexico recorded a record number of liquid spills in 2021, however, spills are down in both Colorado and Wyoming as compared to before the […]

Permafrost and ice wedges have built up over millennia in the Arctic. When they thaw, they destabilize the surrounding landscape. Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images Mark J. Lara, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Across the Arctic, strange things are happening to the landscape. Massive lakes, several square miles in size, have disappeared […]

WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity and 139 other organizations sent a letter today urging U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams to take immediate action to reform the agency’s process for listing imperiled species as threatened or endangered. The agency’s process for protecting species involves multiple layers of bureaucracy and upwards of 20 people who […]

Ithaca, NY—Nighttime light pollution levels are increasing the most in the southeastern United States, Mexico, and Central America—findings based on year-round data collected over the last two decades in the Western Hemisphere. This trend is a real concern for birds that fly at night during spring and fall migration and even during non-migratory seasons. Results […]

“10 Must Knows from Biodiversity Science”, ranging from climate stress for forests to the corona virus that has jumped from animals to humans, are now published for the first time. More than 45 experts from the German Leibniz Research Network Biodiversity and colleagues have compiled this inventory on the preservation of nature as the basis […]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services reported killing 404,538 native animals in 2021, according to new data released by the program today. The federal wildlife-killing program targets wolves, coyotes, cougars, birds and other wild animals, primarily to benefit the agriculture industry in states like Texas, Colorado and Idaho. According to the report, the multimillion-dollar program last year killed […]