Biodiversity & Conservation - Inside Climate News

Unprecedented Numbers of Florida Manatees Have Died in Recent Years. New Habitat Protections Could Help Them

By Amy Green — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The critical habitat in the state would expand to nearly 2 million acres in the first update since the West Indian manatee was protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1976.

By Amy Green

ORLANDO, Fla.—The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week proposed expanding habitat protections for ailing manatees, which in Florida have suffered in recent years through extraordinary habitat challenges that have left the sea cows emaciated and dying.

Baltimore Is Investing in Wetlands Restoration, a Climate Line of Defense

By Aman Azhar — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 09:05:00 +0000

Wetlands restoration and shoreline rehabilitation efforts in South Baltimore promise to make communities resilient against climate change and severe weather while spawning new green spaces. Scientists say it’s a new science that needs careful and closer scrutiny.

By Aman Azhar

Brad Rogers and Brett Berkley stepped carefully on the gravel sill along the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River in South Baltimore, which when covered with sandy fill will serve as the bed for 11 acres of newly constructed wetlands.

As Climate Changes Fuels Animal Movement, Will These Structures Still Help Species Cross the Road?

By Kiley Price — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 20:14:12 +0000

Research shows that global warming is triggering widespread species redistribution. This could hinder the effectiveness of a key conservation tool, experts say.

By Kiley Price

Last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed that a litter of five endangered red wolf pups died in North Carolina after they were left to fend for themselves when a vehicle struck and killed their father in June.

Can Mississippi Advocates Use a Turtle To Fight a Huge Pearl River Engineering Project?

By Illan Ireland, Mississippi Free Press and Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator — Sun, 22 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Armed with new protections, the Pearl River map turtle could be the catalyst for halting a controversial U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project in Jackson, Mississippi.

By Illan Ireland, Mississippi Free Press and Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator

TYLERTOWN, Miss.—On a clear, hot summer afternoon along the Bogue Chitto creek at Walker’s Bridge Water Park in southern Mississippi, Noah Devros dives into the murky water with a flashlight and cheap plastic dive mask. He emerges holding a small turtle.

A Walk in the Woods with My Brain on Fire: Summer

Text and photos by David Sassoon — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 09:10:00 +0000

In the past few centuries—a geologic instant—the unfathomably long and patient work of Earth is being undone.

Text and photos by David Sassoon

PLEASANT VALLEY, Mass.—It wasn’t long after dawn—still the cool of the day—but I could feel the weight of summer bearing down. The creek was barely trickling, the beaver pond stagnant. Few insects disturbed its gray surface. Even the birds in this Audubon sanctuary were laying low. I was probably the largest creature walking around these quiet woods, and it would soon be too hot for me to think about anything except reaching the ocean on a vacation still a few weeks in the future.

A Nevada Lithium Mine Nears Approval, Despite Threatening the Only Habitat of an Endangered Wildflower

By Wyatt Myskow — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Elements in the soil of the Silver Peak range nurture a buckwheat that grows nowhere else in the world, but could also radically increase U.S. production of a mineral critical to the energy transition.

By Wyatt Myskow

The Biden Administration signaled it was on the verge of approving a proposed lithium and boron mine in Nevada’s Silver Peak range that would quadruple the nation’s current production of lithium and potentially power 340,000 electric vehicles—though at the cost of roughly 20 percent of an endangered wildflower’s critical habitat.

Norway’s Plan for Seabed Mining Threatens Arctic Marine Life, Greenpeace Says

By Teresa Tomassoni — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 15:54:49 +0000

The search for rare minerals amid the deep ocean floor could have a devastating effect on whales, other marine mammals and numerous forms of aquatic life, according to the report.

By Teresa Tomassoni

Marine biologist Kirsten Young set sail in July for the Norwegian Sea aboard a 74-foot sailboat named Witness. She was joined by 11 other researchers and campaigners from the environmental activist group Greenpeace to conduct a scientific survey of marine mammals in waters Norway has designated for deep sea mining.

Alabama Environmental Group, Fishermen Seek to End ‘Federal Mud Dumping’ in Mobile Bay

By Dennis Pillion — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0000

They say the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to deepen a shipping channel would devastate local oyster reefs and seagrass beds that are building blocks for the marsh ecosystem. Their arguments are being challenged on numerous fronts.

By Dennis Pillion

For five generations, Avery Bates’ family has worked pulling fish, shrimp, crabs and oysters out of Mobile Bay in south Alabama.

Ranchers Are Using Toxic Herbicides to Clear Forests in Brazil

By Georgina Gustin — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 18:10:12 +0000

One ranch that used a compound in Agent Orange is linked to the world’s biggest meat packer, JBS, according to a new report.

By Georgina Gustin

A destructive cocktail of herbicides, including a key compound in the lethal defoliant Agent Orange, is being used to chemically deforest huge areas of Brazil as ranchers there seek new, less detectable ways to clear forests for grazing cattle.

With Wyoming’s Regional Haze Plan ‘Partially Rejected,’ Conservationists Await Agency’s Final Proposal

By Jake Bolster — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0000

After Wyoming failed to suggest new ways to reduce haze-causing pollution from fossil fuel power plants near national parks, advocacy groups want the federal government to implement stricter emissions controls.

By Jake Bolster

Every year, the 3.8 million people who visit Grand Teton National Park cross their fingers for clear skies. In perfect conditions, visitors can see the Tetons thrusting upward over serene mountain lakes, one of the most iconic views in the American West. But on hazy days, the mountains become grainy, their beauty dimmed by airborne fine particulate matter.