A recent study that found no general decline in the numbers of species in individual ecosystems has sparked controversy. Some scientists see it as evidence of how species adapt, while others see it as a sign that common invasive species, such as rats and mosquitoes, are the real winners.
-
Interview
From a Young Climate Movement Leader, a Determined Call for Action
Xiye Bastida Patrick, a New York high school student, has become a key leader in the growing youth climate movement. In an e360 interview, she talks about why students are taking to the streets to demand action and how this is changing the climate conversation globally.
-
Biodiversity
Listening to Nature: The Emerging Field of Bioacoustics
Researchers are increasingly placing microphones in forests and other ecosystems to monitor birds, insects, frogs, and other animals. As the technology advances and becomes less costly, proponents argue, bioacoustics is poised to become an important remote-sensing tool for conservation.
-
Solutions
Methane Detectives: Can a Wave of New Technology Slash Natural Gas Leaks?
Along Colorado’s Front Range, researchers are working to develop new ways of detecting methane leaks, using everything from lasers to light aircraft to drones. Their technologies could curb a potent contributor to climate change, while saving industry billions of dollars in lost gas.
Analysis
For Europe’s Far-Right Parties, Climate Is a New Battleground
As its refugee crisis recedes, Europe’s increasingly powerful nationalist and populist parties have found a new cause — attacking what they view as elitist hysteria over climate change. Will these movements succeed in blunting European action on cutting CO2 emissions?
E360 Digest
-
The Arctic’s Oldest Ice Is Disappearing At a Rapid Rate, Study Finds
The Arctic’s oldest and thickest ice is disappearing at a rate twice as fast as ice in the rest of the region, according to a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The decline is being driven by warming ocean temperatures and sea ice loss throughout the Arctic, which scientists say is allowing wind and ocean currents to move ice around more easily, further hastening its decline. More about The Arctic’s Oldest Ice Is Disappearing At a Rapid Rate, Study Finds →
-
Fukushima to be Transformed into Renewable Energy Hub
Eight years after an earthquake and tsunami transformed Fukushima into the site of one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters, plans are underway to turn the Japanese prefecture into a hub of renewable energy. Japanese officials announced a new $2.7 billion project that will include 11 solar plants and 10 wind farms, built on abandoned or contaminated lands, according to The Nikkei, a Japanese newspaper. More about Fukushima to be Transformed into Renewable Energy Hub →
-
Scientists Have Created Fake Rhino Horn. Could It Curb the Illegal Wildlife Trade?
Scientists have created fake rhino horn that looks and feels so much like the real thing they argue it could help undermine the illegal market for horn, lucratively sold as an aphrodisiac in traditional Chinese medicine. The artificial horn is made out of bundled horsehair glued together with a matrix of silk, giving the material the same collagenous properties as authentic rhino horn. More about Scientists Have Created Fake Rhino Horn. Could It Curb the Illegal Wildlife Trade? →
Never miss an article! Subscribe to the E360 Newsletter for weekly updates delivered to your inbox. Sign Up.
Oceans
Why Rising Acidification Poses a Special Peril for Warming Arctic Waters
A recent Northern voyage on a Norwegian research vessel highlighted how soaring carbon dioxide levels and the resulting acidification of the oceans present an especially grave threat to the Arctic’s cold seas and the rich marine life that they harbor.
-
Opinion
The Real Case for Saving Species: We Don’t Need Them, But They Need Us
Conservationists argue that humans need to save species in order to save ourselves. The truth is we could survive without wild species — but they can’t survive without us, and the moral argument for protecting them and the beauty they bring to the world is overwhelming.
-
Biodiversity
Amazon Watch: What Happens When the Forest Disappears?
At a remote site where the world’s largest rainforest abuts land cleared for big agriculture, Brazilian and American scientists are keeping watch for a critical tipping point – the time when the Amazon ceases to be a carbon sink and turns into a source of carbon emissions.
-
Analysis
Open for Business: The Trump Revolution on America’s Public Lands
The Trump administration is systematically remaking U.S. policies toward public lands, moving aggressively to open protected areas for development – from the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, to the red rock country of Utah, to the nation’s largest national forest in Alaska.
A New Era of Wildfires
With fires recently raging in California, here are stories from the e360 archives examining the impacts of wildfires and ways to try to control them.