What is the best way to save nature – to cordon off areas for parks and open space or to integrate conservation measures on working lands? Recent research makes a case for each of these approaches and has reignited a long-standing debate among scientists and conservationists.
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Interview
Coastal Warning: An Unwelcome Messenger on the Risks of Rising Seas
Marine scientist Orrin Pilkey has long been cautioning about sea level rise and the folly of building and rebuilding along coastlines. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, he talks about why an eventual retreat from oceanfront property on the U.S. coast is inevitable.
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Cities
From High Above, A New Way of Seeing Our Urban Planet
The world’s cities are expected to grow by another 2.5 billion people by 2050. A new collection of satellite images starkly illustrates the sheer size and imprint of the world’s urban centers and their vulnerability in the face of population growth and climate change.
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Analysis
After a Long Boom, an Uncertain Future for Big Dam Projects
The rise of wind and solar power, coupled with the increasing social, environmental and financial costs of hydropower projects, could spell the end of an era of big dams. But even anti-dam activists say it’s too early to declare the demise of large-scale hydro.
Biodiversity
‘Rhino Coin’: Can a Cryptocurrency Help Save Africa’s Rhinoceroses?
South African ranchers who raise rhinos are supporting a virtual currency, backed by stockpiles of valuable rhino horn, to fund protection of the threatened animals. But their hopes rest on the long-shot gamble that the global ban on the horn trade will be lifted.
E360 Digest
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Greenland Ice Sheet Melting At Fastest Rate in 350 Years
The Greenland ice sheet is melting faster today than at any point in the last 350 years, according to a new study published in the journal Nature. The research is the first continuous, multi-century analysis of melting and runoff on the ice sheet, one of the largest drivers of sea level rise globally. More about Greenland Ice Sheet Melting At Fastest Rate in 350 Years →
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The World Bank Announces $200 Billion in Funding for Climate Action
The World Bank, one of the largest funding sources for developing countries, announced it will invest about $200 billion in climate adaptation and resiliency projects between 2021 and 2025. The new figure is double the bank’s previous five-year investment in climate action. More about The World Bank Announces $200 Billion in Funding for Climate Action →
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California’s 2018 Wildfires Have Emitted A Year’s Worth of Power Pollution
California’s record-breaking 2018 wildfire season has released emissions equivalent to about 68 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – equal to the emissions produced from generating one year’s worth of electricity in the state, or about 15 percent of California’s total annual emissions, according to a new statement by the U.S. Department of the Interior. More about California’s 2018 Wildfires Have Emitted A Year’s Worth of Power Pollution →
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A U.S. scientific panel reports that technologies that take CO2 out of the atmosphere could be a significant part of a strategy to mitigate global warming. In an e360 interview, Stephen Pacala, the panel’s chairman, discusses how these fast-developing technologies are becoming increasingly viable.
Opinion
Why Brazil’s New President Poses an Unprecedented Threat to the Amazon
Newly elected Jair Bolsonaro, an authoritarian nationalist sometimes called the “tropical Trump,” has staked out an environmental agenda that would open the Amazon to widespread development, putting at risk a region that plays a vital role in stabilizing the global climate.
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Biodiversity
Escalator to Extinction: How Mountain Species Are Imperiled by Warming
A recent study showed that birds in the Andes were heading uphill to keep pace with warming temperatures and would soon run out of room. It’s the latest example of how species are on the move as they struggle to adapt to climate change.
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Climate
Is Warming Bringing a Wave of New Diseases to Arctic Wildlife?
Rapid warming and vanishing sea ice in the Arctic has enabled new species, from humpback whales to white-tailed deer, to spread northward. Scientists are increasingly concerned that some of these new arrivals may be bringing dangerous pathogens that could disrupt the region’s fragile ecosystems.
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Policy
How to Shift Public Attitudes and Win the Global Climate Battle
The world is making progress in decarbonizing economies, but not nearly fast enough, says the former U.S. chief climate negotiator. Here he spells out what forces must come together to marshal the public and political will needed to tackle climate change.
A New Era of Wildfires
From North America to the Mediterranean to Siberia, the world is struggling to cope with more and more powerful wildfires.