NEWSWORTHY
Trump to roll back Obama-era carbon rule, opening door for new coal plants
The Trump administration took aim at two Obama-era environmental policies on Thursday to boost the oil and coal industries, proposing to open up a wildlife habitat to drilling and mining and to remove hurdles to the construction of coal-fired power plants. The moves, part of ...
The first formal count of polar bears in waters between the United States and Russia indicates they are doing better than some of their cousins elsewhere. Polar bears are listed as a threatened species because of diminished sea ice due to climate change. But university ...
There are more gorillas in the mist — a rare conservation success story, scientists say. After facing near-extinction, mountain gorillas are slowly rebounding. On Wednesday, the Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation of Nature updated mountain gorillas' status from "critically endangered" to "endangered," a more promising, ...
Dozens of nations will convene in the coming week to decide the fate of one of the planet's most valuable fish: the bigeye tuna, backbone of a billion-dollar business that is severely overfished. Scientists shocked many in the industry last month when they warned that ...
Plans for in Antarctic ocean sanctuary, world's largest, blocked by Russia, China and Norway
A plan to create the world's largest marine sanctuary in Antarctic waters has been shot down when a key conservation summit failed to reach a consensus, with environmentalists on Saturday decrying a lack of scientific foresight. Member states of the organization tasked with overseeing the ...
Handful of nations hold fate of world's vanishing wilderness
More than 70 percent of Earth's last untouched wilderness lies in the territories of just five countries, scientists said Wednesday — mostly nations that alarm environmentalists with their lukewarm response to climate change. True wild spaces — land and sea areas mostly unaffected by mankind's ...
China-backed $1.6 billion Sumatra dam project threatens rare species of orangutan
A billion-dollar hydroelectric dam development in Indonesia that threatens the world's rarest great ape has sparked fresh concern about the impact of China's globe-spanning infrastructure drive. The site of the dam — the Batang Toru rainforest on the island of Sumatra — is the only ...
As sea ice melts in Alaska, conservationists push for better protection for walruses
Given a choice between giving birth on land or sea ice, Pacific walrus mothers most often choose ice. Likewise, they prefer sea ice for molting, mating, nursing and resting between dives for food. Trouble is, as the century progresses, there's going to be far less ...
As the world's microbial diversity is decimated by antibiotics, processed food, filtered water and other wonders of modern life, researchers are proposing the creation of a global microbiota vault to protect the long-term health of humanity. Human microbiota, a community of trillions of microorganisms that ...
A senior Japanese whaling negotiator said Thursday that Tokyo will continue to push for a resumption of commercial whaling despite the recent defeat of its proposal on the matter by the International Whaling Commission. Fisheries negotiator Hideki Moronuki said the IWC should represent both conservation ...
Proliferation of marine parks in China fueling shadowy trade in cetaceans
Eight beluga whales jump in unison out of a bright blue indoor pool, flipping their tail fins and spewing water as a packed audience cheers and snaps photographs. Whale shows like the one at Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, located in Zhuhai on China's southern coast, are ...
Japan on brink of IWC pullout after losing vote on commercial whaling plan
Japan threatens to quit the International Whaling Commission after a tense vote sinks its effort to spark a global return to commercial whaling.
