As numbers of North Atlantic right whales keep declining because of entanglements with fishing gear and fatal ship strikes, conservationists are using acoustic technology and waging an escalating legal battle to push for more aggressive action to protect the world’s rarest cetacean.
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Interview
Equitable Retreat: The Need for Fairness in Relocating Coastal Communities
Rising seas and stronger storms are increasing the risks of living along the world’s coasts. As governments look to move millions of people out of harm’s way, geographer Jola Ajibade says they must ensure that managed retreat is done in a just and equitable way.
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OPINION
Learning How to Talk: What Climate Activists Must Do in the Biden Era
A broad coalition brought Joe Biden to victory. If activists want real progress on climate in a Biden administration, environmentalist Bill McKibben writes, they need to learn how to press their case aggressively without alienating those they must work with to get things done.
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Energy
Green Hydrogen: Could It Be Key to a Carbon-Free Economy?
Green hydrogen, which uses renewable energy to produce hydrogen from water, is taking off around the globe. Its boosters say the fuel could play an important role in decarbonizing hard-to-electrify sectors of the economy, such as long-haul trucking, aviation, and heavy manufacturing.
Pollution
Getting the Lead Out: Why Battery Recycling Is a Global Health Hazard
From African shantytowns to the backstreets of China’s cities, small-scale businesses that recycle the lead from auto batteries are proliferating. Experts say the pollution from these unregulated operations is a lethal threat – with children being the most vulnerable to poisoning.
E360 Digest
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Changes in Fire Activity Threaten 4,400 Species Around the Globe
Humans are driving large shifts in fire activity around the world, from increasing the size and severity of wildfires to burning ecosystems where blazes were historically rare or absent. Now, scientists have found that these changes in fire activity are threatening more than 4,400 species, from birds to mammals to crops. More about Changes in Fire Activity Threaten 4,400 Species Around the Globe →
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Scientists Create the First Global Map of Bee Distribution
Scientists have created the first global distribution map for bees, analyzing nearly 6 million public records of where individual species have appeared around the world. The project, published in the journal Cell Biology, found that bee diversity is higher in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern, and that bees prefer temperate regions over the tropics. More about Scientists Create the First Global Map of Bee Distribution →
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A Wave of Infrastructure Projects to Cause Widespread Deforestation in Coming Decades, Report Finds
A slate of new mega-projects in development around the world — including roads, waterways, railways, and dams — will open up vast tracts of land to natural resource extraction and deforestation, derailing government and private sector pledges to curb forest loss, according to a new report. More about A Wave of Infrastructure Projects to Cause Widespread Deforestation in Coming Decades, Report Finds →
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Opinion
How a Climate Corps Could Put Youth to Work in Greening America
The Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps put thousands of young men to work in U.S. parks and forests, transforming the nation’s parks system. A new Climate Corps could provide badly-needed work for young people while providing them with training for today’s green jobs.
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Policy
With Justice Barrett, a Tectonic Court Shift on the Environment
The accession of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court cements a conservative majority that is likely to give polluting industries freer rein, limit the ability of citizens to sue, and call into question the very basis of the EPA to issue and enforce regulations.
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Energy
As Pressures Mount, Poland’s Once-Mighty Coal Industry Is in Retreat
Poland’s vast coal mines powered its economic recovery following the devastation of World War II. But now the shaky economics of coal and a concerted climate push by the European Union are forcing the nation’s government to rethink its embrace of the dirtiest fossil fuel.
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Oceans
As Waters Warm, Ocean Heatwaves Are Growing More Severe
With oceans absorbing more than 90 percent of global warming, marine heatwaves are becoming hotter and larger and are lasting longer. Scientists say the trend has major ecological consequences, from altering fish and plant populations to forcing whales into hazardous waters.
On Native Lands
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Native Lands
For Indigenous in the Amazon, a Dual Threat: Big Oil and the Virus
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How Native Tribes Are Taking the Lead on Planning for Climate Change
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Interview
To Save a Way of Life, Native Defenders Push to Protect the Arctic Refuge
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Parks vs. People: In Guatemala, Communities Take Best Care of the Forest