“Rezoning” in Brazil Opens Endangered Atlantic Forest to Development
The already-vanishing Mata Atlântica, or Atlantic Forest, of southeastern Brazil is being prepared for auction under the government’s Ecological-Economic Zoning program. Previously protected costal lands are opened up for the construction of homes and businesses. Section of Ubatuba that borders Paraty, Rio de Janeiro is predicted to see an increase in construction of up to 50 percent.
Huge Undersea Landslide Slammed Great Barrier Reef 300,000 Years Ago
More than 300,000 years ago, a colossal undersea landslide sent huge amounts of debris sliding down the Great Barrier Reef, generating a 90-foot-high (27 meters) tsunami, researchers have discovered.
What makes this New Zealand beach a whale graveyard?
Each year locals from Golden Bay at the top of New Zealand’s South Island know to expect a whale beaching at a narrow strip of sand curving into the Cook Strait, known as Farewell Spit.
650 whales stranded on New Zealand coast
A new pod of 240 whales swam aground at a remote New Zealand beach on Saturday just hours after weary volunteers managed to refloat a different group of whales following an earlier mass stranding. In total, more than 650 pilot whales have beached themselves along a 5 kilometer (3 mile) stretch of coastline over two days on Farewell Spit at the tip of the South Island.
Warm Pacific water blamed for vast seabird die-off
A year after tens of thousands of common murres, an abundant North Pacific seabird, starved and washed ashore on beaches from California to Alaska, researchers have pinned the cause to unusually warm ocean temperatures that affected the tiny fish they eat.
More than 400 whales beach themselves in New Zealand
New Zealand volunteers formed a human chain in the water at a remote beach on Friday as they raced to save dozens of whales after more than 400 of the creatures beached themselves in one of the worst whale strandings in the nation’s history.
How Natural World Heritage Sites Are Being Spoiled
When a place is designated a Natural World Heritage Site, it is a recognition that it has “outstanding universal value” and must be protected. But a new study shows many of these sites are being severely damaged by human activity and are deteriorating rapidly.
As Climate Change Accelerates, Floating Cities Look Like Less of a Pipe Dream
A plan to respond to climate change by building a city of floating islands in the South Pacific is moving forward, with the government of French Polynesia agreeing to consider hosting the islands in a tropical lagoon. But the project has critics in French Polynesia and beyond.
Philippines rejects underwater theme park
Environment minister says she will not allow US TV network Nickelodeon to build park on pristine Palawan island. Conservation groups call Palawan the country’s “last ecological frontier” because of its relatively untouched coastlines and forests, which are among the oldest and most diverse in south-east Asia.