UN World Oceans Day 2020: Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean

Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care. Excerpts; June 8 is World Oceans Day, the United Nations day for celebrating the role of the oceans in our everyday life and inspiring action to protect the ocean and sustainably use marine resources. The UN World Oceans Day 2020 Theme is: Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean – UN […]
US ranks 24th in the world on environmental performance

The United States isn’t doing a good job of protecting the environment, according to researchers at Yale and Columbia universities. The U.S. ranks 24th in the 2020 Environmental Performance Index, released Thursday. The poor ranking, putting the United States behind most of Europe, reflects the nation’s growing environmental and sustainability problems
Tropical Storm Cristobal nears landfall in Louisiana with dangerous coastal and inland flooding

Tropical storm warnings stretched from the coast of central Louisiana to the western Florida Panhandle, while storm surge warnings covered the southeastern Louisiana coastline to near Biloxi. A 5-foot surge had already inundated some coastal areas in southeast Louisiana and Mississippi.
Trump signs order to waive environmental reviews for key projects

Trump signed an executive order Thursday instructing agencies to waive long-standing environmental laws to speed up federal approval for new mines, highways, pipelines and other projects given the current economic emergency. Declaring an economic emergency lets the president invoke a section of federal law allowing “action with significant environmental impact” without observing normal requirements imposed by laws
Putin declares state of emergency after massive fuel leak pollutes river in the Arctic Circle

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency in the Siberian city of Norilsk after a massive fuel leak spilled into a river. Environmentalists call it one of the worst ever seen in the Arctic.
Scientists tackle starfish plagues on endangered Great Barrier Reef

Crown-of-thorns starfish are the second biggest threat to the already endangered Great Barrier Reef — the world’s largest coral reef system, right behind tropical cyclones. Over the past decades, they have attacked the reefs in waves of outbreaks.
Powerful coastal landslide: buildings swept away in Alta, Norway

Several houses have been swept into the sea following a powerful landslide in Alta municipality, northern Norway.
Fixed for Failure: How flood insurance keeps dangerous homes standing in SC

Flooding caused by rising tides, hurricane-force winds and rain deluges, has left a glut of damaged properties in South Carolina’s real estate market, specifically in cities along the coast.
Sixth mass extinction of wildlife accelerating, scientists warn

Analysis shows 500 species on brink of extinction – as many as were lost over previous century.