California News

Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink I moved to San Francisco six months ago and my umbrella hasn’t left its dusty sleeve yet. Scientists and politicians, everyone…

Last week I received the Parker/Gentry Award for Conservation from the Field Museum. Several people have asked about my award acceptance speech, so I've included the introduction and the conclusion…

Scientists discover that Graneledone boreopacifica has the longest brooding time of any animal on the planet The ultimate goal of all species on the planet is procreation, the act of…

Animation: The 2013-2014 California drought. By Rhett A. Butler using NASA imagery. A pair of satellite images released this week by NASA reveal the shocking impact of California's drought, which…

Courtesy of Jintai Lin et al. (2014) Twenty percent of China's air pollution can be attributed to goods exported to America, with some of those emissions drifting back to the…

While many of the world's national governments move tepidly (if at all) to combat climate change, cities are showing increasing leadership. The San Francisco Bay Area's Air District Board signed…

Complete deforestation of the Amazon rainforest could reduce rainfall in the Pacific Northwest by up to 20 percent and snowpack in the Sierra Nevada by up to 50 percent, suggests…

Photo by Officer Mark Bussey Another sea-serpent-like oarfish has been found dead along the coast in Southern California, reports the San Diego Union Tribune. The 14-foot-long oarfish washed up on…

The dead "sea monster' spotted off the coast of Southern California on Sunday is actually an oarfish, a deepwater fish species that can reach a length of 55 feet (17…

On an isolated beach in Bird’s Head Peninsula, Indonesia, a female leatherback turtle shuffles out of the ocean and onto the shore, ready to lay her eggs. Under the cover…

An initiative that is developing a framework for REDD+ programs at state and provincial levels gained three more members last week. The Peruvian departments of San Martin, Loreto, and Ucayali…

Four previously unknown species of legless lizard have been described in California, report researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and Cal State-Fullerton. The species, all members of the…

Often misunderstood, REDD+ forest carbon offsets are a “must have” for any realistic climate-change mitigation strategy. Californians are known as innovation leaders, and once again, we are on the verge…

A panel of scientific experts has released a final report outlining how carbon credits generated from tropical forest conservation could be used under California's cap-and-trade system while minimizing risks to…

The 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference runs from July 8th—July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Blank Park Zoo. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com…

A giant mako shark caught by a sports-fisherman in California Monday has spurred a conversation about declining shark populations worldwide, reports the Associated Press. The female shark caught Monday off…

As the public comment period for California's cap-and-trade program draws to a close, an alliance of environmental activists have stepped up a heated campaign to keep carbon credits generated by…

The Sierra Club has launched a campaign against clear-cutting by a logging giant in California. Two weeks ago the environmental group sent a letter to Sierra Pacific Industries asking it…

Photo of the 'super mega-pod' by Antonio Ramirez, a passenger aboard the Hornblower Cruise that spotted the dolphins last Thursday. A 'super mega-pod' of some 100,000 dolphins was spotted off…

Carbon credits generated by forest conservation activities in tropical countries could play a role in California's cap-and-trade program, helping mitigate climate change and providing benefits to local communities, said a…

Mendocino coastline. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Today President Obama announced the government would add almost 3,000 square miles of California coastline to the National Marine Sanctuary system, reports the…

A rare jay found on an island off the California coast may be endangered, but its population is rebounding due to conservation efforts, reports a new study published in the…

This is a response from Greenpeace to Dr. Daniel Nepstad's critique of Greenpeace's recent report on a carbon finance program being advanced by California and other subnational entities. His op-ed…

California's forest conservation-based carbon offsets in its climate change legislation may not lead to net reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and could exacerbate social conflict in places like southern Mexico,…

Image of San Francisco taken on August 16th. Image by NASA. Click to enlarge. The short answer to why San Francisco, California is foggy? The Pacific Ocean's marine layer. A…

Close-up of the remarkable, raptor-like claws of Trogloraptor. Photo by: Griswold CE, Audisio T, Ledford JM. Scouring the caves of Southwest Oregon, scientists have made the incredible discovery of a…

Researchers are treating tadpoles in Kings Canyon National Park with a bacteria they hope will provide immunity to an infamous fungal disease, reports the San Francisco Gate. The bacteria could…

An illegal pesticide used by marijuana growers to kill rodents is poisoning weasel-like fishers in California, reports a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE. Researchers with the Wildlife…

Apple's new Macbook Pro with Retina display is said to be the reason Apple pulled out of EPEAT. The computer's screen is difficult to recycle or upgrade, according to one…

Male lion in the Okavango Delta. © National Geographic Entertainment. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Now that California's carbon market has arrived, an Australian-based company that specializes in forest carbon…