Crisis in the Galapagos: Chinese fishing fleets and COVID-19 threaten a natural wonder
Just south of the Galapagos’ Marchena Island, there’s a dive spot known by locals as the “fish arena.” Earlier this summer, more than 300 Chinese fishing vessels—many designed to hold 1,000 tons of catch—waited at the marine preserve’s border, ready to snatch up sea life.
Russia: Activists demand answers for marine pollution on Kamchatka peninsula
Environmental activists are demanding answers after several sea animals have washed ashore on the Kamchatka peninsula in eastern Russia. Carcasses of seals, octopus, and sea urchins have been covering the remote coasts for several days
Big oil’s answer to melting Arctic: cooling the ground so it can keep drilling
Technology is keeping patches of Alaska permafrost frozen to preserve energy infrastructure even as indigenous residents’ world is transformed by the climate crisis
World fails to meet a single target to stop destruction of nature – UN report
The world has failed to meet a single target to stem the destruction of wildlife and life-sustaining ecosystems in the last decade, according to a devastating new report from the UN on the state of nature.
How China’s Expanding Fishing Fleet Is Depleting the World’s Oceans
After exhausting areas close to home, China’s vast fishing fleet has moved into the waters of other nations, depleting fish stocks. More than seafood is at stake, as China looks to assert itself on the seas and further its geo-political ambitions, from East Asia to Latin America.
Humans overshoot 2020 planetary ‘budget’ on August 22: report
Humanity will have burned through all the natural resources that the planet can replenish for 2020 by Saturday, according to researchers who said the grim milestone is slightly later than last year after the pandemic slowed runaway overconsumption.
Trump Opens Arctic Refuge to Polluters
The Interior Department is opening up the entire Coastal Plain of the refuge to polluters—at the expense of Indigenous peoples’ traditional ways of life, numerous wildlife species, and the climate.
Deep-sea misconceptions cause underestimation of seabed-mining impacts
A new publication on the impacts of deep-seabed mining by 13 prominent deep-sea biologists, led by University of Hawai’i at M?noa oceanography professor Craig Smith, seeks to dispel scientific misconceptions that have led to miscalculations of the likely effects of commercial operations to extract minerals from the seabed.
Mauritius declares emergency as stranded ship leaks oil
The island nation of Mauritius has declared a “state of environmental emergency” after a vessel offshore began leaking oil into the ocean.