Biodiversity

"On a recent trip to Mexico City, I marveled at some small, speckled Inca doves, which are almost as common as pigeons in the United States. Nearby, grackles bathed their long, gorgeous blue-black tails in a fountain. Ever since I got the Merlin Bird ID app, my partner has become accustomed to my stopping midwalk, pausing the conversation, and holding up my phone to catch a bit of birdsong or do a step-by-step visual search. Ideally I add a new species to my “life list” in the process."

"The Tamaulipan thorn forest once covered 1 million acres on both sides of the border. Restoring even a fraction of it could help the region cope with the ravages of a warming world."

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"Chevron has been ordered to pay more than $744m in damages for destroying parts of south-east Louisiana’s coastal wetlands over the years. The ruling, which came in the form of a civil jury verdict on Friday, marks the conclusion of the first trial among 42 lawsuits filed about 12 years earlier which alleged that the company’s oil and gas projects have led to the degradation of the region’s wetlands."

"The White House is weighing an executive order that would fast-track permitting for deep-sea mining in international waters and let mining companies bypass a United Nations-backed review process, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the deliberations."

"“Rights of nature” is a movement aimed at advancing the understanding that ecosystems, wildlife and the Earth are living beings with inherent rights to exist, evolve and regenerate."

"Beekeepers across the country are sounding the alarm as honeybee populations are dwindling at an unprecedented rate, a trend that could affect Americans' wallets at the grocery store."

"President Trump’s zest for rapidly shrinking the government is triggering anxiety about conservation priorities that have been embedded for more than five decades in the country’s national parks and wildlife refuges. Amid the staffing whiplash — chaotic firings and reinstatement of rangers, scientists, and other civil servants — America’s most vulnerable plant and animal species face new peril in their struggle to survive."

"Every year, from December to April, the Harmattan sweeps across Africa. This cool, dry and dust-laden wind gets its name from haramata, a word in the Ghanaian language Fanti. ... The Harmattan's effects go beyond reduced visibility and dryness. It has an impact on human health, agriculture and ecosystems."

"The US could be plunged back into an era of toxic acid rain, an environmental problem thought to have been solved decades ago, due to the Donald Trump administration’s rollback of pollution protections, the scientist who discovered the existence of acid rain in North America has warned."

"In Uganda’s Mbale district, famous for its production of arabica coffee, a plague of plastic bags locally known as buveera is creeping beyond the city."