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Yale Environment 360
Ecuador’s Government Plans to Keep Drilling in National Park, Despite Vote on Ban
After Ecuadorians overwhelmingly voted to ban new oil wells in a prized national park, the government has challenged the legitimacy of the referendum and said it would continue drilling. On Sunday, nearly 60 percent of voters approved halting new oil drilling in the Yasuní National Park, which sits on the...
If South Africa Ends Lion Breeding, What to Do with Captive Cats?
On June 23 security guards at Johannesburg’s international airport stopped a 34-year-old man en route to Vietnam. Suspicious of his luggage, they opened his suitcases and found them filled with bones — some wrapped in yellow tape, others unwrapped and covered in dried blood and traces of flesh. With the help of specialists, officials identified the bones as those of at least five lions. The traveler was arrested and charged with illegally dealing in wildlife, possession of lion bones, and contravening other South African conservation laws.
As Wildfires Rage, Canada’s Oil Sector Looks to Ramp Up Production
Even as unprecedented wildfires hamper Canadian oil drilling, fossil fuel firms are seeking to boost production, ramping up Canada’s oil output by 8 percent over the next two years. The industry aims to increase production by 375,000 barrels a day, outpacing the rate of growth seen over the last...
Even a Small Patch of Urban Greenery Can Give a Big Boost to Local Insects
In cities, a little greenery can go a long way. Australian scientists have found that, after planting a small patch of native greenery in Melbourne, the number of insect species at the site increased sevenfold over three years. The plantings previously consisted of two trees and a grass lawn. In...
The Great Salt Lake and Its Web of Life Face an Uncertain Future
Utah’s Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere, stretching some 950 square miles, with its extensive wetlands providing refuge for more than 10 million migratory birds. But upstream water withdrawals for agriculture are drastically lowering the lake level and raising its salt content, and another major diversion project is planned. Scientists fear the lake may soon become too salty for the brine-fly larvae and adults on which many of the bird species depend.
Wealthiest 10 Percent of Americans Responsible for 40 Percent of U.S. Emissions
The top 10 percent of U.S. earners are responsible 40 percent of the country’s emissions, according to a new analysis, the first to look at the climate impact of how Americans make money, including from investments. If a worker earns a wage at a factory that generates carbon emissions,...
Greater Snowfall Can Speed Arctic Melting, Unleashing Buried Carbon, Study Finds
With climate change, parts of the Arctic are seeing greater snowpack. Paradoxically, a thick blanket of snow can speed the melting of permafrost underneath, releasing buried stores of carbon, new research shows. The insight comes from a decades-long experiment near Toolik Lake in northern Alaska. Starting in 1994, scientists there...
On the Mekong, Sand Mining Threatens the River and a Way of Life
Phnom Penh is rapidly developing, but its growth has come at a high cost to villagers who depend on the health of the Mekong River. Twenty miles upstream from the city, two families from the commune of Rokar Koang show filmmaker Andy Ball how the extraction of river sand — to be used as fill for wetlands around Phnom Penh — has decimated their fin- and shellfish harvesting and eroded the riverbanks that support their homes and food plots.
Spreading Rock Dust on Farmland Has Potential to Draw Down Huge Sums of Carbon Dioxide
Spreading volcanic rock dust on cropland could help the world reach a key carbon removal goal, a new study finds. Rain absorbs carbon dioxide from the air as it falls, and it reacts with rocks on the ground to lock away that carbon. To speed this process, scientists have proposed spreading crushed volcanic rock on farmland. The new study is among the first to model the effect of this strategy, called enhanced rock weathering, at scale.
For Decades, Our Carbon Emissions Sped the Growth of Plants — Not Anymore
For the last century, rising levels of carbon dioxide helped plants grow faster, a rare silver lining in human-caused climate change. But now, as drier conditions set in across much of the globe, that uptick in growth is leveling off, a new study finds. Through photosynthesis, plants convert water and...
It’s Not Just Earthquakes — Fracking Also Linked to Small Tremors, Study Finds
While past studies have linked fracking to earthquakes, scientists now say the drilling method is also a source of even small seismic tremors. With hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, drillers inject fluids underground to crack open hard rock and access oil and natural gas underneath. This process, and the underground disposal of the resulting wastewater, can add pressure to fault lines, triggering earthquakes. Past research linked the 2000s fracking boom to a record number of quakes in Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma, but scientists could not determine if fracking also caused gentler rumbles. Looking at data from seismometers, it was difficult to tease out small, fracking-induced tremors from other vibrations.
As Armenian Fish Farming Expands, A Pristine Aquifer Is Drying Up
On an overcast morning this past spring, Gegham Muradyan searches for signs of water trickling through the dry soils of Armenia’s Ararat Valley. In an opening between two stone houses in the village of Dalar, some 15 miles southwest of Yerevan, the nation’s capital, he finds a single pipe protruding from knots of weeds.
Per Dollar, India’s Carbon Emissions Have Dropped by a Third
India is producing one-third less heat-trapping gas for every dollar generated by its economy, officials say. From 2005 to 2019, India’s carbon emissions roughly doubled, but its economy grew even faster. As forests expanded and renewable power came online, it was able to cut the total amount of carbon produced per dollar of economic output. In just 14 years, India trimmed the carbon intensity of its economy by 33 percent, two officials told Reuters.
Nearly Two-Thirds of All Species Live in the Ground, Scientists Estimate
Soils are more rich in life than coral reefs or rainforest canopies, providing a home to nearly two-thirds of all species, according to a sprawling new analysis. The study is the first to tally the total number of soil dwellers, large and small, finding that more than twice as many species live in the ground as was previously thought.
In a Chilean Forest Reserve, the Remarkable Darwin’s Frog Endures
Worldwide, amphibians are going extinct — victims of habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and fungal diseases. But in the Valdivian temperate rainforest of southern Chile, Darwin’s frog persists in small and highly fragmented populations, including in the Huilo Huilo Biological Reserve, a private nature preserve of 232 square miles.
Tree Ring Study Helps Settle Question About Medieval Warm Period
A new study of tree rings in Scandinavia is helping to resolve a longstanding question about the Medieval Warm Period. Past studies of tree rings had indicated that the Medieval period was as warm or warmer than today, but climate models found otherwise. Climate deniers have long pointed to the tree-ring data to suggest the current period of warming is not without precedent.
Destruction of Ukrainian Dam Has Dried Up a Vital Irrigation Network
The destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine has drained a critical reservoir, cutting off flows of water to surrounding farmland. In recent weeks, the vast irrigation network fed by the reservoir has begun to dry up, new satellite imagery shows. “The major challenge for farmers now is lack of...
Climate Change Yielding Bigger Waves Along the California Coast, Study Finds
Thanks to intensifying storms in the North Pacific, winter waves along the California coast have grown around a foot taller over the last half-century, new research shows. When waves rebounding off the shore collide with incoming waves, the impact sends a ripple of energy through the seafloor that can be picked up by seismographs on land. The taller the waves, the bigger the collision, the greater the seismic signal. To track the changing height of waves in California, Peter Bromirski, an oceanographer at UC San Diego, scoured seismic records dating back to 1931.
Indonesia Cracks Down on the Scourge of Imported Plastic Waste
In 2019, at a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, delegates from 187 countries approved the first-ever global rules on cross-border shipments of plastic waste. No longer could countries export contaminated, mixed, or unrecyclable plastics without the recipient country’s informed consent. It was a landmark step aimed at reducing the flood of wealthy nations’ scrap that had been deluging poorer regions, particularly Southeast Asia, since China closed its doors to such imports the previous year.
As EV Sales Soar, China to Hit Peak Gasoline Next Year, Experts Say
With sales of electric cars surging, China is on track to hit peak gasoline demand next year, two new analyses find. more than half of all EVs worldwide can be found on Chinese roads, and this year EVs are projected to account for more than a third of new car sales in China.
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Yale Environment 360 is an online magazine offering opinion, analysis, reporting, and debate on global environmental issues.
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