Conservation news and environmental science news.

Eight individuals of one of the world's rarest cats caught on film -- 05/09/2008
Recent photographs have brought hope to conservationists regarding the world's rarest large cat, the Amur leopard. They were taken in the Primorisky Region of Russia by a camera trap.

Environmental news buried at New York Times and Wall Street Journal -- 05/09/2008
The Project for Excellence in Journalism has released a study examining the front pages of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal from December 13th through March 13th 2008. The report found that both the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times essentially buried environmental stories, as environmental news for both papers made up only 1 percent of the total front page.

Book Review: State of the Wild -- 05/09/2008
State of the Wild is a textbook sized collection of essays and conservation information from the Wildlife Conservation Society. The book deals with myriad issues surrounding wildlife and ecosystem conservation, essentially exploring the current 'state of the wild' through various lenses.

Americans least environmental, according to a new survey -- 05/09/2008
A survey, entitled Greendex, by National Geographic and GlobeScan has found that out of fourteen developed and developing nations, American lifestyles are the least environmentally sustainable. The Canadians and French rounded out the bottom three. On the opposite side, Brazil and India tie as the most Ôgreen" of the nations surveyed. The survey found a clear distinction between developing and developed nations' consumption of resources and energy with developing nations more sustainable than developed nations and more concerned about the environment in general.

No longer a fan of Earth Day -- 05/01/2008
After April 22nd of this year, I am no longer a fan of Earth Day. It has become a strange pseudo-holiday that allows individuals, governments, corporations, and the media to focus a miniscule spotlight on our environmental crises, and then breathe a sigh of relief over the following days and weeks as they to go back to their old ineffectual ways. It is a day to stem the guilt of the sorry state of our natural—and 'civilized'—world. It is not a day where environmental education actually reaches the masses, or when people wake to the need—not the luxury—to change our ways. It is the opposite: a chance to feel good about our time's greatest crisis.

Global warming to worsen ocean dead zones, hurt fisheries -- 05/01/2008
Warming oceans will worsen oxygen-deficient or hypoxic dead zones, affecting ecosystems and fisheries, warn researchers writing in the journal Science.

Unilever calls for ban on rainforest destruction for palm oil -- 05/01/2008
Unilever, the world's largest consumer good company, will start using palm oil from certified sustainable sources this year and aims to have all its palm oil certified by 2015, according to a speech delivered today by CEO Patrick Cescau.

High palm oil prices kill the biodiesel market for Asia -- 05/01/2008
High palm oil prices have forced investors to shelve plans for biodiesel refineries, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Sustainability conference reveals a rift in the Malaysian Palm Oil Council -- 05/01/2008
Last month's sustainability conference sponsored by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) revealed a rift between some planters and the industry marketing organization.

Global warming could worsen HIV/AIDS epidemic -- 04/30/2008
A number of studies have suggested that climate change could expand the range of tropical diseases like Dengue fever and Encephalitis. Now a researcher from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia says that global warming could lead to an increase in HIV infection rates worldwide.

Could felling and burying trees help fight global warming? -- 04/30/2008
Could cutting down trees and burying them help fight global warming? An article in this week's issue of New Scientist suggests so. Ning Zeng, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Maryland in College Park, tells New Scientist that thinning forests and burying "excess wood" in a manner in which its didn't decay could sequester enough carbon to offset all of our fossil-fuel emissions.

Judge suspends Amazon dam project due to legal questions -- 04/30/2008
A Brazilian judge has issued a restraining order on a controversial dam in the Amazon basin, reports International Rivers, a conservation group.

New species of river dolphin discovered in the Amazon -- 04/30/2008
Researchers have identified a new species of river dolphin in the Bolivian Amazon according to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS). The announcement was made at a conservation workshop in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia.

China aims for 100 gigawatts of wind power by 2020 -- 04/29/2008
China aims to expand its wind power generating capacity to 100,000 megawatts by 2020, more than doubling the current world's installed capacity, according to the Shanghai Daily and The Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital blog.

Photos - researchers study largest squid ever captured -- 04/29/2008
Marine biologists in New Zealand are thawing the corpse of the largest squid ever caught in order to learn more about one of the ocean's most mysterious creatures.

Endangered species status of the polar bear to be decided May 15 -- 04/29/2008
A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to stop delaying its decision on whether to list the polar bear as an endangered species. Environmentalists say the bear is threatened by melting sea ice in its Arctic habitat.

No sacrifices to ending deforestation in the Amazon, only gains -- 04/29/2008
Regular columnist and co-creator of Brazil's environmental news website, O Eco, Sergio Abranches has great credibility in Brazil's eco-awakening. A professor of political science, Abranches uses his unique talents to reach a widening audience in Brazil for environmental, energy, and climate change news and discussion. He speaks expertly on any number of topics: from Amazonian deforestation to the current food crises to economic and political transformations for a warming world.

Biodiversity key to fighting climate change -- 04/29/2008
Scientists from Brown University have discovered that an ecosystem's productivity is directly linked to its diversity of plant species. The discovery has granted biodiversity new importance in the fight against climate change: the more productive the ecosystem the more carbon it captures.

Photos of newly discovered species in Brazil's Cerrado -- 04/29/2008
An expedition to Brazil's Cerrado has turned up more than a dozen undiscovered species. Conservationists say the discoveries add urgency to protecting the grassland habitat which is rapidly being converted for agriculture.

'Soy King' says Amazon deforestation could help solve global food crisis -- 04/28/2008
Clearing the Amazon rainforest for soy farms will help address the global food crisis, said Blairo Maggi, the governor of Brazil's chief soy-producing state, according to the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.

Earth's minerals kept CO2 levels in balance prior to humans -- 04/28/2008
The natural feedback system that has kept Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide levels finely-balanced for millions of years has been overwhelmed by fossil fuel combustion, reports a new study published in Nature Geoscience.

Fast-food industry destroying forests in the Southern U.S -- 04/28/2008
The Southern forests of North America supply 60% of US and 15% of global paper demands. Deforestation for wood and paper products, along with urban sprawl, has resulted in a total decline from 356 million acres in colonial times to 182 million acres today. The South contains more threatened forest ecosystems than anywhere else in the US. A major perpetuator of deforestation in the South is the fast food industry. With nearly 100 paper packaging mills in the South and thousands of restaurants worldwide, major fast food retailers such as KFC and Taco Bell are leaders in paper consumption and subsequent waste. The Dogwood Alliance, a nonprofit organization formed to increase awarness of the importance of Southern forests and the threats their survival, has launched a new campaign at nofreerefills.org which specifically targets the paper packaging practices of the fast food industry.

Brazil prepares to launch attack on NGOs working in the Amazon -- 04/27/2008
Brazil is planning a crackdown on foreign NGOs working in the Amazon rainforest, reports Reuters. Tourists may also be required to inform officials of their travel plans in the region under the newly proposed rule.

Fatal San Diego Shark Attack a Rare Event -- 04/25/2008
Friday morning a 66-year-old swimmer was attacked and killed by a shark off Solana Beach in San Diego county. It was the first fatal shark attack in San Diego since 1994.

The Arctic's most threatened marine mammals due to climate change -- 04/25/2008
A recent study has measured the sensitivity to Arctic marine mammals to climate change. The study found that the three species most vulnerable to climate change are the hooded seal, the polar bear, and the narwhal: the common thread between these species being the loss of sea ice.

Geoengineering solution to global warming could destroy the ozone layer -- 04/24/2008
A proposed plan to fight global warming by injecting sulfate particles into Earth's upper atmosphere could damage the ozone layer over the Arctic and Antarctic, report researchers writing in the journal Science.

New cures for human ailments under threat by global extinction crisis -- 04/24/2008
In the film Medicine Man, a researcher in the Amazon discovers a cure for cancer in a rare ant. However, a logging company arrives at the wrong moment and, despite protestations from the main characters, the company destroys the tract of rainforest where the ant once survived.

Ozone-hole recovery may spur Antarctic warming -- 04/24/2008
A full recovery of the stratospheric ozone hole could strongly modify climate change in the Southern Hemisphere and possibly amplify warming of the Antarctic continent, a new study finds.

Fruit-eating bats ingest dirt to counter toxic plant compounds -- 04/23/2008
Pregnant and lactating frugivorous bats ingest dirt in order to detoxify plant compounds in the fruit they eat, report researchers writing in the journal PLoS ONE.

Shark-repelling fishing gear in the works -- 04/23/2008
Fishing gear that produces an electric field in sea water could help prevent sharks from becoming accidental bycatch, say scientists at NOAA.

Carbon dioxide, methane levels rise sharply in 2007 -- 04/23/2008
Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane rose sharply in 2007, according to NOAA. The U.S. weather agency said that global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the primary driver of global climate change, climbed by 0.6 percent, or 19 billion tons in 2007. Methane levels increased by 27 million tons after nearly a decade with little or no increase.

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