- President Obama recently released a ‘landmark’ conservation policy that will benefit America’s rivers, lands, and wildlife resources.
- Scientists say a glacier that holds enough water to raise global sea levels by half a meter is crumbling into the sea.
- Indonesia responds to the country’s haze that has polluted skies over a large swathe of Southeast Asia, and released upwards of 1.7 billion tons of carbon.
It’s being called the “landmark” conservation policy [ThinkProgress]
President Obama recently released a presidential memorandum declaring that development projects on America’s public lands, such as energy and mining, should result in in net benefit for the nation’s rivers, lands, and wildlife resources.
Peru creates ‘Yellowstone of the Amazon’ [Mongabay]
After more than a decade of discussion and planning, Peru on Sunday will officially designate Sierra del Divisor National Park, a 1.3 million hectare (3.3 million acre) reserve that is home to uncontacted indigenous tribes, endangered wildlife, and one of South America’s wildest landscapes.
The people have spoken and SeaWorld has listened [Washington Post]
What has been viewed for many years as an iconic experience at SeaWorld San Diego, will soon be no more. As a result of the ongoing public criticism, the amusement park has announced they will phase out the “theatrical” killer whale show by 2016.
What’s going down in Greenland will affect us all [Grist]
This major glacier in northeast Greenland started to melt rapidly in 2012 and now it’s beginning to crumble into the sea. Scientists say the glacier holds enough water to raise global sea levels by half a meter.
Pollution levels have turned China into an eerie doomsday scene [The Guardian]
Residents of north-eastern China have locked themselves indoors after their homes were enveloped by record high levels of smog. Experts say some areas are experiencing 56 times the levels of harmful air particles considered safe by the World Health Organization.
A response to fires that have hospitalized roughly 500,000 people [Mongabay]
Indonesian president Joko Widodo has banned clearance and conversion of carbon-dense peatlands across the archipelago in response to the country’s haze that has polluted skies over a large swathe of Southeast Asia, and released upwards of 1.7 billion tons of carbon.
Has Exxon been lying to us about their climate change research? [NY Times]
Led by New York attorney general, an investigation is now underway that is aimed at finding out if Exxon Mobil lied to the public about the risks of climate change or to investors about how those risks might hurt the oil business.
An ambitious plan to save one of the world’s most endangered species [LA Times]
Only four northern white rhinos remain in the world, one aging female in San Diego, an one female and two males in a sanctuary located in Kenya. Officials explained that several options may be tried to save this species, including in-vitro fertilization in Africa.
How the Gulf oil spill cleanup turned into its own disaster [Grist]
After an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, disaster response officials decided to drop chemical dispersants with the hope they would break up the oil, but it seemed their plan not only failed – it made things worse.
The world’s largest ocean cleanup is a close reality [Guardian]
The launch of a crowdfunded effort to clean the plastic out of an area expanding over 60 miles in the Pacific Ocean is upon us. Tests of a scaled-down prototype in the Netherlands proved to be successful last week, bringing us one step closer to making the cleanup a reality.
MONGABAY HIGHLIGHTS
Their detention has sparked protests and mounting concerns
Cambodian authorities have detained four activists linked to the environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia. The four, all Cambodian nationals, await trial at a prison in the country’s southwestern province of Koh Kong.
Peru rejoices, as this decade-long dream becomes a reality
For nearly a decade, conservationists have pushed for increased protection of Peru’s Sierra del Divisor Reserved Zone. This weekend, their dream became a reality, with official declaration from the Peruvian government making Sierra del Divisor the world’s newest national park.
It looks like Indonesia’s president is turning over a new leaf
Environmental groups have welcomed new technical guidelines issued by Indonesia’s forestry ministry, which if implemented correctly, could prohibit new development in Indonesia’s peatlands, keeping them moist to prevent wildfires.
Need an antidote to all the gloomy and frustrating environmental news?
The new book No More Endlings: Saving Species One Story at a Time may prove just the thing. No More Endlings (an endling refers to the last individual of a doomed species) details 47 endangered species success stories.
Let’s put our heads together for the tigers
A group of scientists from the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) and World Animal Protection launched a competition called “Think for Tigers,” which urges anyone associated with academic institutions, NGOs, governments and tech companies to propose an “innovative idea, product or solution” that could help scientists and park personnel monitor or track tigers in the wild.
