"The National Hurricane Center declared Tropical Storm Bret formed at 5 p.m. Eastern Monday, the second of the young Atlantic season. Located about halfway between the coast of Africa and the eastern Caribbean Sea, the system is likely to intensify, and it could approach or impact the Lesser Antilles as a hurricane by the weekend."
When most people think of coastal tourist destinations, they imagine beaches lined by palm trees and exclusive resorts. But those are exactly the kind of realities that contribute to the environmental and economic decline of coastal communities and their local residents, argues a new book. Contributing Editor Jenny Weeks has our review in the new BookShelf.
"To see the economic consequences of global warming look no further than the Panama Canal. There, water levels are down because of less rain in Central America. Experts fear ordinary consumers may end up paying the price."
"On a Panamanian beach long after dark, a group of undergraduate students dug into the sand to excavate a sea turtle nest, their lamps casting a soft red glow as they studied eggs, inventoried the success of the hatch and checked for any surviving hatchlings stuck at the bottom of the nest. Nearby, armed members of the National Border Service stood watch for protection in an area known for drug trafficking."
"It was a rare sight, an endangered species emblematic of the Colombian Amazon, considered sacred by the region’s Indigenous communities: the pink dolphins."
"U.S. environmental regulators on Thursday conditionally approved plans for the owners of an idled refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands to remove chemicals that the watchdog argued present serious health consequences if accidentally released."
"A U.N. special rapporteur on human rights defenders on Wednesday called for an independent investigation into the killing of two environmental activists in Honduras, who had opposed an illegal mine polluting water supplies in a national reserve."
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