Biodiversity & Conservation - Inside Climate News

In Final Rock Springs Resource Management Plan, BLM Sticks With Conservation Priorities, Renewable Energy Development

By Jake Bolster — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 08:55:00 +0000

The controversial plan would also place new limits on the terrain open to coal mining and oil and gas drilling, mainly due to a lack of resources in the areas, irking many fossil fuel advocates in the state.

By Jake Bolster

The Bureau of Land Management, on Aug. 22, released its final Resource Management Plan for its Rock Springs District in Southwest Wyoming, spurring blowback from the governor and the fossil fuel industry, and drawing mostly praise from conservation groups.

Pacific Islands Climate Risk Growing as Sea Level Rise Accelerates

By Bob Berwyn — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 23:18:20 +0000

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warns that the climate crisis will leave many people stranded “without a lifeboat.”

By Bob Berwyn

The realm of island nations spread across the vast Southwestern Pacific Ocean can conjure up an idyllic image of tiny tropical gems scattered on a deep blue jewelry table.

Water Issues Confronting Hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail Trickle Down Into the Rest of California

By Bing Lin — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 09:05:00 +0000

From the sky-scraping snow drifts that can close the trail to the desert tracks without a drop for miles, water challenges high country hikers face in California reflect the bigger hydrology issues the state is dealing with.

By Bing Lin

Miles to Go: The third in an ongoing series Inside Climate News fellow Bing Lin is reporting from the Pacific Crest Trail in Northern California. Over the course of a 500-mile-hike, the series is exploring the impacts of climate change on the trail and what outdoor recreation can teach society about sustainability, adaptation and coexistence in a warming world.

New Lake Okeechobee Plan Aims for More Water for the Everglades, Less Toxic Algae

By Amy Green — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Instead of prioritizing flood control above all else, the strategy is designed to balance all the needs of the watershed. “This plan marks a cultural shift on the part of the Army Corps of Engineers.”

By Amy Green

At the heart of the vast watershed that forms Florida’s fragile Everglades is Lake Okeechobee. A century ago the water of the state’s largest lake spilled effortlessly beyond its southern shore, flowing eventually into the sawgrass prairies of the river of grass.

The Seagrass Species That Is Not So Slowly Taking Over the World

By Bing Lin — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

When Halophila stipulacea comes to town, it outcompetes native seagrasses. That’s bad—but its spread brings unexpected benefits, too.

By Bing Lin

It started life in the Indian Ocean, hitched a ride to the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal and kept pushing west. Now the fast-growing seagrass known as Halophila stipulacea is expanding in the Caribbean as waters warm, outcompeting important native grasses. It’s the definition of an invasive species.

New Federal Report Details More of 2023’s Extreme Climate Conditions

By Bob Berwyn — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Some indicators, including “super-marine heatwaves,” may suggest a major shift in the global climate system.

By Bob Berwyn

Last year was already one for the climate record books, but a new report from the American Meteorological Society is adding to that already substantial list.

Apache Group is Carrying a Petition to the Supreme Court to Stop a Mine on Land Sacred to the Tribe

By Noel Lyn Smith — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The prayer journey will pass through other tribal communities threatened by resource extraction while trying to stop a mine that claims it could satisfy a quarter of the U.S. demand for copper.

By Noel Lyn Smith

GALLUP, New Mexico—A group of Apache opposing a copper mine in the Oak Flat area of Arizona stopped to make their case in New Mexico on their way to Washington, D.C., where they will file a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case against the federal government.

This Country Voted to Keep Oil in the Ground. Will It Happen?

By Katie Surma — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 09:05:00 +0000

More than 10 million Ecuadorians voted last year to ban oil operations in part of the Amazon rainforest. But heavy crude has continued to flow from the region, which is home to uncontacted Indigenous families.

By Katie Surma

Update: After this article was published, the Ecuadorian government announced plans to cap and close 246 oil wells in the Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini (ITT) fields beginning on August 30, 2024. That phase-out process will last until December 31, 2029. The government expects that removing other infrastructure, such as well pads, and remediating environmental damage will last through August 31, 2032.

Some of Arizona’s Most Valuable Water Could Soon Hit the Market

By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

A small tribal community along the Colorado River could become a major player in the state’s water supply.

By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue

PARKER, Arizona—South of Headgate Rock Dam, beyond riverbanks lined with willow and mesquite, the broad floodplain of the Colorado River spreads across emerald fields and sun-bleached earth.

A Path Through Scorched Earth Teaches How a Fire Deficit Helped Fuel California’s Conflagrations

By Bing Lin — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Fifty miles on the Pacific Crest Trail with a wildfire expert proved useful and prescient—as I discovered when I caught sight of the smoke.

By Bing Lin

Miles to Go: The second in an ongoing series Inside Climate News fellow Bing Lin is reporting from the Pacific Crest Trail in Northern California. Over the course of a 500-mile hike, the series is exploring the impacts of climate change on the trail and what outdoor recreation can teach society about sustainability, adaptation and coexistence in a warming world.