Scientists Explore Using Trees to Clean Pollution
Before Houston and its suburbs were built, a dense forest naturally purified the coastal air along a stretch of the Texas Gulf Coast that grew thick with pecan, ash, live oak and hackberry trees.
Brazil Leads The World In Reducing Carbon Emissions By Slashing Deforestation
Brazil’s success in slowing rain forest destruction has resulted in enormous reductions in carbon emissions and shows that it’s possible to zealously promote sustainability while still growing the economy, suggests a new study.
Mining For Smartphones – “Coast, Coral and Community,” A Documentary Series
A remote island of the Indonesian archipelago is being stripped off its forests and dug up for tin used in millions of mobile phones, tablets and laptops. Tin mining is taking its toll on the island’s coastline, damaging mangrove forests that help protect it from tropical storms and big waves.
Humpback Whale Strandings In West Australia
An unprecedented number of mostly young whales have become stranded on the West Australian coast since 2008.
More Sea Turtles Will Be Born Female As Climate Warms
Hotter sands triggered by a warming climate could cause greater numbers of sea turtles to be born female, risking the animal’s extinction, research shows.
Farmed Fish Consumption At Record High, UN Report Reveals
Humans have never eaten so much fish and other seafood, but nearly half of it is no longer caught wild but is grown in farms, says the United Nations. The rapid growth in the number of people living near coasts and fish farming’s ability to keep up with population growth has seen per capita fish consumption soar from 10kg per person in the 1960s to more than 19kg in 2012.
Forests of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain
The expansive Mississippi Alluvial Plain spreads from the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers in southern Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico. The plain once contained the largest forested wetland ecosystem in North America.
Can We Save The Galapagos? A Science Weekly Podcast
Author of The Galapagos, Henry Nicholls, delivers his verdict on the future of the islands’ unique wildlife, and discusses new evidence of the role of sea levels in past speciation.
Brown Pelicans: A Test Case For the Endangered Species Act
Brown pelicans were removed from the U.S. Endangered Species List in 2009, but a recent crash in Pacific Coast populations of sardines, the pelican’s prime food, is posing new threats to these oddly elegant birds. Pelicans are just one of many indicator species that fisheries managers ignore at the peril of both marine ecosystems and commercial fishermen.