- There are many important conservation and environmental stories Mongabay isn’t able to cover.
- Here’s a digest of some of the significant developments from the week.
- If you think we’ve missed something, feel free to add it in the comments.
We’ve collected a few stories that were published this week by other news outlets.
Tropical forests
The Forest Code in Brazil could help both agriculture and the environment, if all of its provisions are carried out (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis/EurekAlert).
In just four years, between 2012 and 2016, Australia lost 5,000 square kilometers (1,930 square miles) of forest in the Great Barrier Reef watershed (The Guardian).
A Chinese agency allows the trade in the bones of leopards, a species protected under CITES (Conservation Action Trust).
Grazing livestock in forests could help boost “sustainable agriculture” (CIFOR Forests News).
Protected forests in India that are farther from roads had 88 percent less deforestation, new research has found (The Hindu).
Other news
Scientists in Switzerland are combining drone surveys with image analysis to track wildlife in Africa (Swiss National Science Foundation/EurekAlert).
A new analysis shows that the chances of contracting Lyme disease are higher in fragmented forests of the eastern U.S. (Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies/EurekAlert).
Trump’s Supreme Court nominee has acknowledged the role of humans in climate change (The Atlantic).
What would the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court mean for environmental laws? (The New York Times).
Ammonia could be a renewable source of energy (Science Magazine).
Several species of whales may have disappeared from the Mediterranean due to hunting by ancient Romans (New Scientist).
After centuries of brewing beer, Belgium is becoming a more hospitable place for wine production, thanks to climate change (Reuters).
Scientists ask California’s governor to end gas and oil production (Pacific Standard).
Special hooks aren’t enough to protect threatened Greenland sharks from their own voracious feeding habits (Hakai Magazine).
Ireland cuts ties with fossil fuel investments, becoming the first country in the world to do so (The Guardian).
A new study has charted the shifts in the range of species in response to climate change (Hokkaido University/EurekAlert).
Scientists believe they’ve found two new subspecies of American pika in the Rocky Mountains (Oregon State University/EurekAlert).
Killer whale numbers in the U.S. Pacific Northwest are the lowest they’ve been in three decades (The New York Times).
Pope Francis tries to spur government action on climate change and poverty (The Guardian).
New tools to preserve rhino sperm hold promise that could benefit other threatened species (Forschungsverbund Berlin/EurekAlert).
Monarch butterflies could struggle with climate change, as higher carbon dioxide levels could diminish the protective compounds found in milkweed, their favorite food (University of Michigan/Phys.Org).
Starbucks plans to toss out plastic straws after pressure from shareholders (Pacific Standard).
Climate change could hamper attempts to restore coral reefs in the Caribbean (University of Texas at Austin/EurekAlert).
Icelandic whalers may have killed a blue whale, an IUCN-listed endangered species (BBC News).
Photos tell the story of a whale hunt in Indonesia (Hakai Magazine).
Banner image of a leopard in Tanzania by John C. Cannon/Mongabay.
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South Africa Today – Environment
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