Drilling Will Cost the Arctic its Wildness

The Arctic has long repelled most industrial development, despite vast reserves of oil and gas. However, Arctic’s ability to foil human incursions is beginning to change as the surrounding region warms twice as fast as the rest of the globe.

Imperiled Mussels May be Further Harmed by Climate Change

Rising water temperatures as a result of climate change may harm already endangered or threatened native freshwater mussels in North America, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report. Freshwater mussels have been compared to the “canary in the coal mine” in that they are indicators of good water and sediment quality rivers.

The Squeeze On Europe’s Coastline Continues

“Balancing the future of Europe’s coasts”, a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA), argues that Europe needs to improve its knowledge to better understand the long-term damaging effects of current human and economic pressures on the coastal environment, jeopardizing the essential maintenance of the natural capital.

Rate Of Coastal Wetlands Loss Has Sped Up

The U.S. lost an average of 80,000 acres of coastal wetlands from 2004 to 2009, according to the latest data published by federal agencies. More than 70 percent of the estimated loss came in the Gulf of Mexico; nationwide, most of the loss was blamed on development that incurred on freshwater wetlands.

The Landscape Can Protect Our Health, If We Can Protect The Landscape

Friday marks the final day of the United Nations COP19 climate change conference in Warsaw, Poland. One issue intersecting both global warming and extreme weather has received little attention: how changes to the natural landscape may be putting public health at greater risk…

Reprieve For Whales At Risk From Oil Platform

Across the globe the world’s most extraordinary places and rare species are coming increasingly under threat from oil and gas exploration activities. In a victory for conservationists, an oil platform planned near the habitat of a critically endangered whale population has been postponed for at least five years.

Ubiquitous. Vital. Delicate. Vulnerable

Ocean acidification has taken up an unlikely mascot: the shelled pteropod. While “charismatic megafauna,” the large creatures that pull at our heartstrings, are typically the face of environmental problems, think polar bears on a shrinking iceberg and oil-slicked pelicans, these tiny sea snails couldn’t be more different.

What is Cooking Underwater in the Bay of Bengal?

The story of big trawlers destroying marine habitats by overfishing, and fishermen being pushed further out to sea, has become sadly universal. But this is the story of a group of people building an artificial reef to bring marine life back from the brink.