Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Zinke’s first year as secretary of the Interior Department has been a disaster for the environment and Americans who value it. The numbers don’t lie. Ron Sachs/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images Number of national monuments Zinke has proposed to shrink or change: 10 Percentage of land within Utah’s Bears Ears National […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Something disturbing is happening off our Atlantic coast. Unprecedented numbers of great whales are washing up dead on our shores. At the end of January, NOAA Fisheries declared an “Unusual Mortality Event.” Twenty-nine minke whales stranded between Maine and South Carolina from January 2017 to January 2018. Of […]
Published by Ocean Conservancy By some accounts, the Arctic Ocean remains a largely blank area on the map. Yes, we have charted the contours of the seafloor, and, yes, we map the extent of its sea ice throughout the year. But what lies between the bottom and the top of the sea? The recent international agreement […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund January brought record-low sea ice cover to the Arctic, according to new data released by the US government. That’s bad news for the ocean, wildlife, and local communities that rely on both for survival. 1. The science is solid The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) uses satellites to […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Earlier this week, the Department of Water Resources released an “Economic Analysis of Stage I of the California WaterFix” prepared by Dr. David Sunding. In 2016, Dr. Sunding’s draft cost-benefit report reached the conclusion that the full project was not economically feasible, even with billions of dollars in […]
Published by Ocean Conservancy In its latest installment, Blue Planet II brings viewers to new underwater ecosystems. “Green Seas” highlights the kelp forests, mangroves and underwater grasslands that provide homes to some unique creatures. Dragon fish dads float through the currents, looking for a safe place to spawn. Giant cuttlefish search for mates. Thousands of spider […]
Published by Ocean Conservancy Buoyancy. Betterment. Belonging. Three words that drive the mission of Force Blue, an initiative that unites the community of Special Operations veterans with the world of coral reef conservation for the betterment of both. Ocean Conservancy is proud to support these veterans and their mission. Julia Roberson spoke to cofounders Jim Ritterhoff […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) has decided not to hold a Yellowstone-area grizzly bear hunting season this year. This is welcome news and makes a lot of sense. We applaud the agency’s decision and want to do everything we can to work together to avoid any need (or excuse) […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund A five-month-old female Bornean orangutan with her mother Jon Nazca/Reuters Just three months after scientists discovered a new species of orangutan on Sumatra, a new study estimates that the nearby island of Borneo has lost around half of its native orangutans in 16 years. This is particularly bleak […]
Published by Ocean Conservancy We touchdown on a narrow, deserted airstrip in Namibia after a two-hour flight from Johannesburg, South Africa. It has been nearly two days and Nick Mallos and I are still in route to St. Helena, one of the world’s most remote islands. We wait on the tarmac, refueling for our final journey […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Guest blog by Jennifer Skene NRDC is working alongside the Waswanipi Cree First Nation to protect the last of their intact boreal forest homeland from Quebec’s aggressive logging proposal. Last week, NRDC called on Quebec to abandon their proposed five-year logging plan in the Broadback River watershed, a vital […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund For the first time ever, scientists in Antarctica attached a camera to a minke whale and captured incredible evidence of how it feeds. The camera – one of three “whale cams” funded by WWF-Australia – is part of efforts by scientists to better protect whale feeding areas in Antarctica. The […]
Published by Ocean Conservancy For most of us, Canada’s Northwest Passage still conjures a romantic mystique: the lure of explorers, hardship, dreams, riches and failure. Where the Arctic explorers Franklin searched and died and where Amundsen at last succeeded, tour ships cruise today and the entire route can be sailed at times without encountering ice. And […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Zinke’s Budget Is Another Practice in Cognitive Dissonance The Trump administration released its budget request for Fiscal Year 2019 earlier this week, a disaster of a proposal mitigated. Though this blueprint for destruction is likely dead on arrival in Congress, it nevertheless has effectively quantified Interior Secretary Ryan […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund The boreal, one of the world’s largest carbon sinks, is in danger. By working to save it, Canada could make a quantum leap, culturally and environmentally. David Dodge/CPAWS/Flickr Because our neighboring nations have so much in common culturally, you can sometimes almost forget that you’ve traveled to another […]
Published by Ocean Conservancy Opinion by Larry McKinney and Chris Robbins (This piece was originally posted on NOLA.com, February 15, 2018) In the shadow of New Orleans’ legendary Mardi Gras festivities, the city recently hosted a much more sober affair—one that can make or break the Gulf of Mexico. At the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and […]
Published by Ocean Conservancy Greetings from Portland, Oregon, where I am attending the 2018 Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM), a gathering for scientific exchange on ocean issues across a range of disciplines. Sarah Cooley, Ocean Conservancy’s Director of Ocean Acidification shared an overview of the conference with us on Monday. As she noted, the range of disciplines […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund Dozens of fluffy shy albatross chicks sitting on artificial nests are a promising sign for scientists behind an innovative plan to give the vulnerable species a boost to help counteract the negative impacts of climate change. Over 100 specially built mudbrick and aerated concrete artificial nests were airlifted on to […]
Published by Ocean Conservancy Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at Ocean Conservancy! With it being the month of February, you’ve probably seen close to a million heart-shaped objects as we’ve drawn closer and closer to this date. Boxes of little heart-shaped candies, giant stuffed bears with hearts sewn on their ears and other adorably […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Environment and Climate Change Canada Guest blog by Jennifer Skene and Courtenay Lewis Yesterday, the Canadian government released a final Action Plan for the Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), Boreal Population (Action Plan). The Action Plan highlights the need to protect the “iconic but threatened” boreal caribou, and […]