Palmyra Atoll Pictures: Part of the World’s Largest Marine Reserve
Palmyra Atoll, a refuge for seabird breeding colonies and coral reef communities, is part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. The national monument received a big boost this week, when U.S. President Obama announced he was expanding its borders, turning the remote area into the world’s largest marine reserve.
Expanded US Ocean Preserve to Be World’s Largest
Thousands of miles off America’s shores, an ocean preserve flush with rare seabirds, turtles and marine mammals will grow to roughly three times the size of California under a memorandum that President Barack Obama signed today.
As Arctic Melts, Shipping Traffic Blasts Wildlife
Year by year, summer sea ice in the Arctic is disappearing. Suddenly an area that has always been largely inaccessible is now opening up to new commercial opportunities: ship traffic, oil exploration and who knows what’s coming next.
Scientists Apply Biomedical Technique to Reveal Changes Within the Body of the Ocean
For decades, medical researchers have sought new methods to diagnose how different types of cells and systems in the body are functioning. Now scientists have adapted an emerging biomedical technique to study the vast body of the ocean.
Japan Seeks to Resume Antarctic Whaling Next Year
Japan is seeking international support for its plans to hunt minke whales in the Antarctic Ocean next year by scaling down the whaling research program the U.N. top court rejected earlier this year.
Mozambique Works to Break Vicious Circle of Environmental Degradation and Poverty
The loss of coconut trees along the coastline has created a ripple effect as communities are now overexploiting local mangrove, which has exacerbated the problem of soil erosion in the area impacting negatively on housing, settlements, and agriculture.
A Life Reserve for Sustainable Development in Chile’s Patagonia
The people of Patagonia in southern Chile are working to make the Aysén region, one of the few areas in the world that has largely kept its original wilderness intact, a “life reserve”.
Earth Sliding Into Ecological Debt Earlier And Earlier
World has already exhausted a year’s supply of natural resources in less than eight months, being in a state of ecological overshoot.
Protecting America’s Underwater Serengeti
U.S. President Barack Obama has proposed to more than double the world’s no-fishing areas to protect what some call America’s underwater Serengeti, a series of California-sized swaths of Pacific Ocean where 1,000-pound marlin cruise by 30-foot-wide manta rays around underwater mountains filled with rare or unique species.