Biodiversity

"A study from the U.S. Geological Survey called the state’s python problem “one of the most intractable invasive-species management issues across the globe.”"

"Sunflower sea stars, huge starfish that until recently thrived in waters up and down the west coast of North America, are threatened with extinction and should be protected under the Endangered Species Act, federal officials said Wednesday."

"The forests around the epicenter of the world’s worst Ebola outbreak are getting patchier. The next pandemic could emerge from the edges around these patches, where wildlife and humans mix."

"Last summer, the highly contagious strain of avian influenza that had been spreading through North American birds made its way into marine mammals, causing a spike in seal strandings along the coast of Maine. In June and July, more than 150 dead or ailing seals washed ashore."

"Federal regulators overseeing West Coast fisheries have effectively called off California’s entire 2023 ocean salmon fishing season, in an effort to protect fish populations that have dwindled during the ongoing drought."

"Few spiders in the United States have a more fearsome reputation than black widows. But throughout the South, the bulbous arachnids with red hourglasses on their bellies are engaged in a lethal competition with the brown widow, a relative from abroad — and they’re losing."

"Nike said it will stop using kangaroo skins for its shoes this year, weeks after a similar step from German rival Puma, which would end a highly controversial practice that has drawn ire from consumers and animal rights activists."

"The approval Monday of ConocoPhillips’ massive Willow project in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve is teeing up a new high-profile legal brawl that will likely align the Biden administration and Republican lawmakers against environmentalists who have largely backed the president’s climate agenda."

"Excessive use of phosphorus is depleting reserves vital to global food production, while also adding to the climate crisis".

"Activists are blaming a recent spate of humpback strandings off New York and New Jersey on seismic exploration by offshore wind companies. But scientists say the deaths are not unusual and are likely due to increased ship traffic and entanglements with fishing gear."