- President Obama’s designation of three new national monuments will help protect fragile wildlife habitats in California’s desert.
Botanists make a heart-shaped discovery in time for Valentine’s Day [EurekAlert]
A new plant species containing small heart-shaped fruits was recently discovered in Hawaii. The species is a member of the coffee family (Rubiaceae) and was named after the popular symbol of love.
Three new national monuments will protect fragile wildlife habitats in California’s Desert [USDA]
President Obama’s designation of the Sand to Snow, Mojave Trails and the Castle Mountains National Monuments in southern California will cover nearly two million acres of some of the last remaining wild and ecologically important landscapes in the state.
President Obama’s climate change agenda hits a Supreme Court-sized barrier [NY Times]
On Tuesday the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the efforts of the president’s administration to regulate emissions from coal-fired power plants in an attempt to combat global warming. The White House has since made a statement that it disagrees with the court’s decision and remains confident that it would prevail in the end.
He was raised in America, but scientists hope he will rejuvenate his imperiled species in Indonesia [Mongabay]
Harapan the rhino is among the last of his kind. His name – it means “hope” in Indonesian – is fitting: scientists are counting on the newly mature Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) to help rejuvenate his imperiled species, of which only around 100 remain on the planet.
A culprit behind global warming confusion in America can be found in the classroom [Guardian]
The first national survey of classroom science teachers in America found that they only spend about an hour or two during the course of an academic year teaching their middle school and high school students about climate change, and much of what they teach is either confusing or completely wrong.
Obama’s oil tax ignites little more than a conversation starter [Inside Climate News]
Congress has hit the breaks on the president’s proposal to impose a $10 tax on every barrel of oil and spend the money on advances in transportation that will help to curb emissions. However his plan did initiate a discussion on the topic among Congress members.
A review of endangered species status for orcas has only started, but one fact is already clear [Seattle Times]
Though eight new calves were documented in 2015 and another was born just last month, it’s clear the whales are not yet meeting their recovery goal according to the Center for Whale Research. A current population of 85 puts the species at 3 fewer than when the federal government acknowledged their decline in 2005.
The discovery of a new electric fish led to the creation of first new genus in 30 years [Mongabay]
A new species of mormyrid, a “weakly electric” fish endemic to the continental freshwaters of Africa, provided the key to establishing a new genus containing not one but two new species.
These eagles continue to thrive despite their country’s agriculture situation [NY Times]
Researchers speculate that a population of Verreaux’s eagles in a heavily farmed region could be healthier than a neighboring population in a less developed region because the agricultural terrain may make it easier for the eagles to navigate and hunt a wider range of prey.
MONGABAY HIGHLIGHTS
Where have all the animals gone?
Author Dale Peterson recounts his adventures with Karl Ammann, an eccentric award-winning wildlife photographer and conservationist, as they travel across several countries in Africa and Asia investigating bushmeat hunting, wildlife trafficking and vanishing wildlife.
An unexpected decision out of Colombia receives much praise
Colombia has closed its doors to mining and oil companies that are seeking to extract resources from the Andes. The Court stated that despite the existence of mining titles, the right to a healthy environment should prevail, instead of “the rights granted by environmental licenses.”
The Republic of Congo awards two million hectares of timber concessions
Conservation groups say the rainforest-rich country’s quest for legitimization of its forestry sector is undermined by corruption and lax enforcement. Rampant logging could threaten the highest densities of gorilla populations in Africa.
Volunteers capture photos of ‘extremely rare’ baby albino turtle in Australia
Volunteers from the Coolum and North Shore Coast Care group were at Castaway beach on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast monitoring turtle nests, when some of them spotted an albino hatchling, still sitting on his nest.
