- In two weeks more than 130 countries will come together to sign a landmark agreement made to tackle climate change.
- In coordination with WFF, Cambodia is planning to reintroduce tigers to the country’s Eastern Plains landscape.
- The underestimation of the current level of liquid contained in clouds could mean that estimates of global warming may have to be raised.
A look at why Honduras is being called the world’s deadliest country for environmentalists [Guardian]
Human rights activists are finding themselves in dangerous new territory – the battlegrounds that are forming around environmental conflicts. Just last month two activists were killed in Honduras, the country that now has the highest murder rate for environmental activists in the world, with conflict over land rights being at the forefront of it all.
The UN will be meeting next month to discuss critical environmental issues [SciDev.Net]
Next month, the United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA) will meet in Kenya to discuss the critical environmental challenges facing the world today, as well as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This meeting is meant to address not only ways to improve our environment but also how to improve lives across the globe.
Scientists say we need to step up our efforts to protect our oceans [Mongabay]
Under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, 168 signatory countries committed to the creation of marine protected areas encompassing 10 percent of the world’s oceans by 2020. But researchers say that even that is not enough to ensure the health of the ocean ecosystem and all of the services it provides to humanity.
Cambodia is working with WWF to launch a bold tiger strategy [NPR]
Due to poaching and destruction of the wild tiger habitat, the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) considers tigers to be “functionally extinct” in Cambodia. As it stands, there are no longer any breeding tigers left in the country. Now, in coordination with WFF, Cambodia is planning to reintroduce tigers to the country’s Eastern Plains landscape.
A recent analysis of satellite data has revealed that clouds contain much more liquid, as opposed to ice, than what was previously thought. The underestimation of the current level of liquid contained in clouds could mean that estimates of global warming may have to be raised.
Where U.S. presidential candidates stand on the environment [NBC New York]
Although the majority of Americans believe that climate change is a real threat and that humans are in fact contributing to it, it seems that the issue of global warming has rarely come up in presidential hopefuls’ stump speeches or during their debates. However, NBC has compiled a rundown of their positions, which have been outlined in various interviews and town hall events.
China’s forests are growing back – but at a cost [Mongabay]
More than a decade ago, China enacted one of the largest forest conservation programs in the world. But has it worked? According to a recent analysis, it has. However, its authors caution that this success has meant the destruction of other forests around the world.
Hawaii’s native ‘Ōhi’a tree, a foundation species for the state’s forests, is under threat [NPR]
‘Ōhi’a makes up approximately 80 percent of Hawaii’s native forests and more than have of the tree species grows on Hawaii Island, making a recent discovery more concerning. A disease, dubbed Rapid ‘Ōhi’a Death, is wiping out the native tree species, completely transforming Hawaii’s forests and threatening its watershed.
Over 130 countries are prepared to sign the Paris climate deal [Guardian]
In two weeks more than 130 countries will come together to sign an agreement made to tackle climate change. The signing of this landmark agreement will take place at a ceremony held at the United Nations headquarters on the April 22.
MONGABAY HIGHLIGHTS
Scientists have recently discovered a small population of a rare pig species
For the first time ever, scientists have confirmed a population of fewer than 250 mature Bawean warty pigs on a small Indonesian island called Bawean, possibly making them the rarest pig species in the world.
These countries are growing their economies while also lowering emissions
The International Energy Agency recently reported that global GDP has grown the past two years even as greenhouse gas emissions have fallen. Researchers at the World Resources Institute found that 21 countries have managed to decouple GDP growth from energy production-related CO2 emissions for some period of time between 2000 and 2014.
Groups want forests to help mitigate the climate damage from your next flight
If the global aviation industry were its own country, it would rank amongst the top 10 emitters of climate pollution in the world. But nine environmental organizations say that the UN’s program for reducing emissions from deforestation could help change that.
Leonardo DiCaprio is endorsing a petition to save Sumatra’s last great rainforest
Several times in recent days, the Oscar winner and environmental activist has exhorted his Twitter followers to sign the petition, which asks Indonesian president Joko Widodo, Aceh governor Zaini Abdullah and others to revoke the province’s new spatial plan, which makes no mention of Leuser and thus exposes its pristine forests and tiger habitat to industrial incursions.
