- As sea ice melts, species such as gray whales, killer whales and northern gannet birds are traveling to waters they haven’t seen in thousands of years.
- Researchers were surprised to find a rare muriqui monkey hideout in an area of Brazil’s Caparao National Park where the species had never been recorded before.
- A 23-year-old American woman traveled for more than a year across the Southern Hemisphere to collect stories from locals about how they’re being affected by climate change.
Marine birds and mammals have been spotted in the “wrong ocean” [CBS]
As sea ice melts, species such as gray whales, killer whales and northern gannet birds are traveling to uncharted waters. With these birds and mammals crossing into waters they haven’t seen in thousands of years, scientists speculate about what sort of impact the mixing of unfamiliar species will have on current ecosystems.
The world’s biggest coal producer and consumer is drastically cutting back [Mongabay]
China recently announced a three-year ban on new coal mine approvals, starting 2016. In the next three years, China will also aim to close 4,300 small and inefficient coal mines, remove outdated production capacity of 700 million metric tons and relocate 1 million workers.
A recent survey of this Brazilian national park turned up a rare discovery [UPI]
Researchers were surprised to find a rare muriqui monkey hideout in an area of Brazil’s Caparao National Park where the species had never been recorded before. The muriqui, also known as the woolly spider monkey, is one of the world’s most threatened primate species.
This woman cycled across the southern hemisphere to collect 1,001 climate change stories [Mashable]
Devi Lockwood, a 23-year-old American traveled for more than a year across the Southern Hemisphere to places such as Fiji, Tuvalu, Australia and New Zealand to collect stories from locals about how they’re being affected by climate change. Throughout her travels she has found stories of water, wildlife and weather, but most of all, she met people willing to share their lives with her.
Another great attempt at conservation in Peru [Mongabay]
After the success of Sierra del Divisor, following ten long years of negotiations that ended in 1.3 million hectares being designated as a national park, conservationists hope that more national park designations will help preserve the rest of Peru’s Amazon region. Yaguas National Park is next in line.
The beaches of Whittier, Alaska are lined with thousands of dead birds [Alaska Dispatch News]
A massive murre die-off in South-central Alaska has scientists puzzled. While they don’t know exactly what is causing the die-offs and associated murre strandings inland, where they normally spend the winter, they do know that the birds are dangerously underweight and emaciated.
Bolivia’s second largest lake may be gone forever [Guardian]
In December, Lake Poopó was officially declared evaporated, leaving hundreds, possibly even thousands of people without a source of income. Scientists blame climate change, El Niño and mining for the diminishing Andean glaciers that once sourced the lake. Now they’re saying that recovery may no longer be possible.
Our oceans are expected to have more plastic than fish by 2050 [CNN]
Plastic use has increased 20-fold in the past 50 years and it is expected to double again in the next 20 years, clearly making it one of the world’s most popular materials. Unfortunately, only 14% is collected for recycling – worse, almost a third of all plastic packaging ends up in nature or clogging up infrastructure.
This popular pet fish is now listed as “threatened” [Mongabay]
The US National Marine Fisheries Service published a final rule Wednesday listing Indonesia’s stunning Banggai cardinalfish as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act due to it being overfished for the aquarium trade.
2015 is officially the hottest year on record [Nature]
Global temperature data released from three independent records present unprecedented high temperatures in 2015, which push the global average to at least 1 °C above-pre industrial levels. Some researchers suggest that due to broader Pacific trends we could see more dramatic temperature increases in years to come.
MONGABAY HIGHLIGHTS
An accidental discovery led to an entirely new genus of tree frogs
Researchers have rediscovered populations of tree frogs in several northern Indian states and China that were presumed extinct for 150 years. The frogs are unique enough to merit their own genus and one of them exhibits some really strange behavior.
The start of a bitter fight over the future of one of Sumatra’s last intact rainforests
Sumatra’s priceless Leuser Ecosystem was exposed to industrial development by the government of Indonesia’s Aceh province under a 2013 spatial plan. This week, nine Aceh citizens filed a class action lawsuit against the plan, calling it illegal and demanding that Jakarta follow up on its promise to revoke it.
Can helping local people save an embattled Nigerian park?
Some experts believe that tending to human problems will make conservation more viable, and they are now calling for a greater debate about how parks across Africa can better coexist with their human residents.
A new reserve for the world’s smallest deer
The Ecuadorian government recently approved a new nature reserve in Carchi Province near the Colombian border, providing a meaningful victory for activists and locals who spent almost 14 years advocating for its creation.
