The Trump administration is planning to strip Obama-era pollution protections from thousands of US streams and millions of acres of wetlands, in a move environmentalists warn will harm vital wildlife and could allow pollution into drinking water. The federal government plans to scale back the list of waterways for which land users are required to […]
Tag: climate change
POLL: Should the Trump Administration be allowed to weaken protections for sage grouse?
The Trump administration has unveiled plans to weaken environmental protections for sprawling areas of the western US considered important habitat for the sage grouse, a chicken-like bird known for its flamboyant courtship displays. The proposals, put forward by the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), essentially dismantle much of a landmark 2015 compromise struck between […]
As the mammal tree of life suffers hits, should we prioritize which species to save?
The current mass extinction is eliminating whole branches of the mammal tree of life, which will take millions of years to replace, according to a recent study. Some researchers suggest focusing our conservation efforts on mammal species that sit on the tree’s most distinct and precarious limbs. How we choose to save one species over […]
Endangered Hawaiian monk seals face new challenge: eels stuck up their noses
The Hawaiian monk seal has become endangered due to a range of threats, from fishing net entanglements to disease. Now the beleaguered species is facing an unexpected new challenge – eels getting stuck up their noses. A picture of a monk seal with an eel up its nose was shared this week by a Hawaii-based […]
Whale stress levels influenced by human activity, earwax study suggests
Scientists have mapped whale stress levels in relation to human activity going back nearly a century and a half — using earwax collected from baleen whales. From 1870 to 2016, the whales’ stress levels seem to be closely associated with activities such as industrial whaling, naval operations during World War II, and rising sea-surface temperatures, […]
POLL: Should Iceland’s Christmas ad about palm oil have been banned?
Major retailers enter a battle every Christmas to make us cry with their saccharine seasonal ads – but this year we already have a clear winner. Concern about our planet has never been greater, thanks to last month’s UN report warning that we have 12 years to stop irreversible damage to the Earth. Yet, one […]
It Could Take 5 Million Years for Mammals to Recover From Our Impact
Evolve or die, as the saying goes, but for mammals it isn’t going to be quite that simple. At least not according to a new study that concluded we’re wiping out so many of them so quickly that it will take millions of years for them to recover. Over millions of years natural disasters have […]
‘Terror being waged on wildlife’, leaders warn
Humanity is waging a war of terror on wildlife across the globe, according to the head of a world-leading research institute who was previously a counter-terrorism expert for the UK government. Dominic Jermey, director general of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), also spent years in Afghanistan supporting the fight against terror, until leaving his […]