Rattlesnakes can calm down their friends, study shows
If you stress out a rattlesnake, make sure it has a friend around. Much like humans, stressed snakes are calmed by a companion's presence, according to new research. Stress can…
Blue jeans: An iconic fashion item that’s costing the planet dearly
Likely the world’s most popular garment, jeans use huge amounts of water to grow irrigated cotton, a major factor in destroying the Aral Sea. Today, the industry, though making sustainability pledges, still does much harm.
Will the Uinta Basin Railway derail U.S. climate change efforts? (commentary)
The Uinta Basin, named after the Ute Tribe, is located in Northeast Utah and Western Colorado, about 200 miles from Salt Lake City. Streams from the Uinta mountains roll through…
With protections restored, tribal council charts new path for Bears Ears
Ida Yellowman stood at the top of Muley Point, seeing memories in every cardinal direction. To the north was Bears Ears and the Abajo Mountains, rock-strewn landscape where she first…
As climate-driven drought slams farms in U.S. West, water solutions loom
The U.S. West is already deep in drought, with forecasts for far worse this century. But there’s hope for water-stressed farms: regulators are testing solutions that rely on cooperation and bold water saving and sharing strategies.
Humanity’s challenge of the century: Conserving Earth’s freshwater systems
From Tripoli to Phoenix, the world’s thirst in great desert cities is deepening, even as agribusiness guzzles more water to feed them. Humanity’s arid urban places are colliding with a key Planetary Boundary, scientists warn.
Those kicks were fast as lightning: Kangaroo rats evade deadly snake strikes
A student-led research team from three California universities has shown that desert kangaroo rats frequently avoid predation by rattlesnakes through a combination of speedy reaction times, powerful near-vertical leaps, and…
A nature and reptile enthusiast’s Southern California love story (insider)
I grew up in Southern California, just north of Los Angeles, and spent time in nature consistently throughout my childhood. I credit the under-the-radar natural wonderland of Southern California, as…
DJ and ornithologists create wildlife music game
Wildlife DJ Ben Mirin has teamed up with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Cornell Hip Hop Collection on a new online game that is sure to entrance nature…
Widespread death of evergreens predicted in American Southwest
Researchers published a paper last month in the journal Nature Climate Change predicting widespread death of needleleaf evergreen trees in the Southwest United States by the year 2100 due to…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- In Brazil’s Amazon, a clandestine road threatens a pristine reserve
- ‘We just want to be left in peace’: In Brazil’s Amazon, soy ambitions loom over Indigenous land
- Deforestation continues in Kenya’s largest water capturing forest, satellites show
- Drug trafficking imperils national park and Indigenous reserves in the Peruvian Amazon
Oceans
- In reversal, Mexico calls for moratorium on international deep-sea mining
- Congo’s waters are hotspot for endangered sharks & rays, reveals data from artisanal fishers
- Report shines partial light on worst labor offenders in opaque fishing industry
- Jamaica battles relentless plastic pollution in quest to restore mangroves
Amazon Conservation
- New algorithm looks at how Amazon vegetation will behave after climate change
- The coveted legacy of the ‘Man of the Hole’ and his cultivated Amazon forest
- End of impunity for Indigenous killings in sight for Brazil’s Guajajara
- Study links pesticides to child cancer deaths in Brazilian Amazon & Cerrado
Land rights and extractives
- Paradise lost? Brazil’s biggest bauxite mining firm denies riverine rights
- The coveted legacy of the ‘Man of the Hole’ and his cultivated Amazon forest
- Australia crackdown on climate protesters grows amid fight against gas project
- Study: Despite armed conflicts, Indigenous lands have better environment quality
Endangered Environmentalists
- Vietnamese environmentalist sentenced to 3 years in prison for tax evasion
- Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights
- Video: Five Tembé Indigenous activists shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
- Indigenous activists demand justice after 5 shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
- After 20 years and thousands of trees planted, Kalimantan’s veteran forester persists
- Aziil Anwar, Indonesian coral-based mangrove grower, dies at 64
Conservation Effectiveness
- Forest restoration to boost biomass doesn’t have to sacrifice tree diversity
- How scientists and a community are bringing a Bornean river corridor back to life
- Forest restoration can fare better with human helping hand, study shows
- From rat-ridden to reserve, Redonda is an island restoration role model
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
- To build its ‘green’ capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest
- Robust river governance key to restoring Mekong River vitality in face of dams
