Biodiversity

"Humanity is ramping up the risk of global health disasters by intruding deep into the world’s bat habitats, breeding grounds for deadly viruses. In this five-part series, Reuters pinpoints the places where the next outbreaks are likeliest."

"Agriculture is often seen as the enemy of biodiversity, but in an excerpt from her new book Sophie Yeo explains how techniques from the middle ages allow plants and animals to flourish".

"Agriculture drained this ecosystem. Now, under the specter of future drought, the same systems have started to bring back both water and wildlife."

"I saw a couple of crows dining on roadkill the other day as I was driving by and wondered, Does this count as bird-watching?"

"Public asked to weigh in on new rule to limit development on the bird's habitat across much of the West".

"On May 7, Patrick Robinson took a boat out to Año Nuevo Island to survey the sea lions that come to birth on this rocky outcropping north of Monterey Bay. The shore was littered with dead pups — babies that looked as though they’d been delivered too early and therefore were too weak and small to nurse, or had been dead at birth."

"Half of the world's mangrove ecosystems, with trees whose roots stretch down into brackish water, are at risk of collapse. That's according to the first assessment from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a leading scientific authority on the status of species and ecosystems. The new report finds that sea level rise fueled by climate change is the biggest risk."

"Half the world's natural pasture land has been degraded by overexploitation and the impact of climate change, putting food supplies and livelihoods in peril, the United Nations body in charge of fighting desertification said on Tuesday."

"A campaign to add 10 billion oysters to the bay by 2025 — naturally purifying the water — is on pace even as Virginia and Maryland contend with agricultural runoff and other pollutants."

"An international tribunal said on Tuesday that countries have binding legal obligations to prevent greenhouse gasses from harming the world’s oceans in a landmark opinion that experts say could strengthen climate-vulnerable countries’ efforts to hold major polluters accountable and drive action to fight climate change."