Environmental Studies

"It's that time of the year again: Shark Week. The TV program is so long-running that if you're under 37, you've never known a life without it. In honor of this oft misunderstood critter, we revisit our conversation with shark scientist Melissa Christina Marquez. She explains just how important sharks are to keeping the oceans healthy, including their role in mitigating climate change. Plus, there may be some talk about shark poop."

"The Supreme Court’s decision on Friday to limit the broad regulatory authority of federal agencies could lead to the elimination or weakening of thousands of rules on the environment, health care, worker protection, food and drug safety, telecommunications, the financial sector and more."

"Last year, the Supreme Court sharply restricted the federal government’s ability to limit pollution in small streams that sit dry for much of the year and fill up only after rainfall or snowmelt. Now, a new study finds that those bodies, so-called ephemeral streams, are significantly more important to the nation’s waterways than often appreciated."

"The Biden administration is dealing Alaska and its congressional delegation a significant blow, rejecting a pivotal mining road and proposing to revoke Trump-era orders that would have opened up 28 million acres of federal land to energy development and mining."

"The Supreme Court opened the door Monday to setting new limits for how agencies account for climate and environmental risks for new projects." "The case follows the court’s recent trend of picking up controversial environmental issues."

"Agricultural insecticides were a key factor, according to a study focused on the Midwest, though researchers emphasized the importance of climate change and habitat loss."

"Human-caused climate change dialed up the thermostat and turbocharged the odds of this month’s killer heat that has been baking the Southwestern United States, Mexico and Central America, a new flash study found."

"Warming and habitat loss diminished sage grouse populations 80 percent since 1965, putting them on the brink of an endangered listing. Western states, the federal government and energy and ranching interests are struggling to prevent that."

"In the final days of the Trump administration, a political appointee at the EPA ordered a last-minute review of the hazards of a “forever chemical,” triggering delay, confusion, and significant changes to a nearly final work product, the agency’s inspector general found in a Friday report."