- Some residents have filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago due to current work on water lines causing unsafe lead levels in the city’s drinking water.
- China’s demand for swim bladders is pushing a small porpoise known as the vaquita, one of the most endangered mammals in the world, to the brink of extinction.
- According to a new study, Alaskan moose are charting new grounds of frozen tundra due to the opportunities rising temperatures and longer summers are providing.
Indonesia to bar new palm oil and mining permits in forest areas [The Wall Street Journal]
Indonesian President Joko Widodo shocked observers this week when he said the country would implement a temporary ban on new concessions for oil palm plantations and mining operations. Jokowi, as the president is better known, said Indonesia has already cleared enough forest to produce palm oil and should instead focus on increasing yields on existing plantations.
Apple is supporting the environment though a first of its kind campaign [Reuters]
As part of Apps for Earth, a first of its kind campaign that launched this Thursday, Apple will be donating sales of select apps in April to the World Wildlife Fund. The campaign follows a trend of recent environmental efforts from Apple.
Coastal cities are using creative thinking to protect themselves from rising seas [NPR]
In the U.S., there is no set funding put aside to help cities that are facing the challenges of rising sea levels and extreme weather due to climate change. New Orleans and Philadelphia are two cities that are facing these challenges, yet they’ve chosen to pay for the solutions in very different ways.
A changing climate is paving the way for moose to explore new territory [BBC]
According to a new study, Alaskan moose are charting new grounds of frozen tundra due to the opportunities rising temperatures and longer summers are providing such as a rapid increase in the size of plants that moose survive on throughout the winter.
One of the world’s most endangered species could go extinct this year [Mongabay]
China’s demand for swim bladders from a giant Mexican fish called the totoaba is putting the species at risk. It’s also pushing a small porpoise known as the vaquita, one of the most endangered mammals in the world, to the brink of extinction.
Scientists from around the world join forces to assess the impacts of a 1.5C rise [Guardian]
The world’s scientists are coming together to contribute to a major UN report that assesses how global temperatures can be held to a rise of 1.5C and what impacts it might have on rising sea levels, the bleaching of corals and biodiversity. Many scientists say that 1.5C marks the point where serious danger could occur to the world’s climate.
Chicago’s water lines are getting an upgrade, but it could be dangerous to residents [NPR]
Four years ago, Chicago announced a plan to update and replace miles of the city’s aging water lines. While many have praised the much-needed plan, others have expressed their criticism. Some residents have already filed a lawsuit on the grounds of the work causing unsafe lead levels in the city’s drinking water.
A synchronized growing phenomenon among trees serves as a warning [Science Daily]
A recent study reveals a growing synchrony in the ring-width patterns of trees. Researchers believe this pattern is a response to global warming and should be taken as a warning of they type of impact forest ecosystems are facing on a subcontinent scale.
Australians can now see just how much rising sea levels will affect their houses [Guardian]
Coastal Risk Australia, a website released this week, allows Australians to view a map of how rising sea levels will affect their home just by typing in their address. The creators of the website will soon make other information available such as how climate change will affect their property prices and insurance premiums as well.
How the biggest known library of bat sounds is aiding conservation efforts [BBC]
While many of the world’s bats consider Mexico to be home, it is also a place with the highest rates of extinction. In an effort to identify and conserve some of the rare bat species, researchers have recorded more than 4,500 calls from about half of the 130 bat species that reside in Mexico.
MONGABAY HIGHLIGHTS
These waters are becoming death traps for the Mediterranean loggerhead turtles
As adult loggerhead turtles migrate to these regions in search of food and nesting sites, they get entangled in fishing nets used by small-scale fisheries, leading to their early death, according to a new study published last month.
A new termite-eating, fat-tailed gecko was discovered in Australia
The gecko, which was given the name Diplodactylus ameyi, is a specialized termite predator found in outback Queensland and northern New South Wales. One of the more distinctive features of Diplodactylus ameyi, which can grow up to 85 millimeters in length, is its broad, rounded snout, which closely resembles its tail.
An agribusiness revolution is needed to save Africa’s last great apes
Since 2005 up to 227,000 square kilometers (87,645 square miles), an area nearly the size of Ghana has been acquired in sub-Saharan Africa for large-scale agricultural and forestry concessions. If Africa’s priceless natural heritage is to be preserved, including its great apes, then a revolution in agricultural practices is needed which will demand a cooperative effort by governments, agribusiness and conservationists.
The climate risks you didn’t know about due to a cover-up by the oil industry
According to documents uncovered and released this week by the Washington-based Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), oil executives have been covering up the climate risks of fossil fuels since at least 1957.