Biodiversity

"A Tennessee gravel and sand mining operator has been ignoring a cease and desist letter for months, and opponents say its continued construction on the banks of North America’s most biodiverse river may already be harming wildlife."

"Hardly a week goes by, it seems, without a big food company making promises to deliver products from green, sustainable farms. Turning those promises into reality, though, can be complicated."

"Oregon tribes are reintroducing a species that creates important habitat for First Foods. But the Beaver State's laws don't work in the animal's favor."

"Monocultures of corn and soybeans carpet 75% of the U.S. Midwest, leading to soil erosion, water pollution, and massive greenhouse gas emissions. However, a new wave of farmers is breaking the monocrop monotony by growing these annuals between long rows of perennial shrubs like American hazelnuts, which keep soils intact while harboring beneficial bugs and sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere."

"Pesticides are causing widespread damage to the tiny creatures that keep soils healthy and underpin all life on land, according to the first comprehensive review of the issue."

"In an island laboratory off the coast of Washington State, scientists are bringing back to life a gorgeously ferocious predator that suddenly perished amid a climate change-driven marine heat wave seven years ago." "Climate change helped to kill most of the world’s sunflower sea stars. Resurrecting them could revive carbon dioxide-sequestering kelp forests."

"Endangered populations of humpback whales received extra protection Tuesday when the Biden administration issued a final rule designating critical habitat for the huge marine mammals across more than 116,098 square nautical miles of the Pacific Ocean, including most of the California coast."

"Canada announced a more full-throated response to the potential extinction of the owl within its borders and boost the species".

"While the long-term effects are uncertain, researchers say the construction of the wall has cut through habitats already threatened by the changing climate."

"An environmental group filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging the federal government has failed to act on petitions to protect nine species under the Endangered Species Act and hasn’t designated critical habitat for 11 other species that are already protected."