Natural Resources

"The world is losing almost 1 million square kilometres (386,000 square miles) of productive land a year to sand and dust storms made worse by human activities, the United Nations body in charge of fighting desertification warned on Wednesday."

"Scientists say deforestation is compounding the effects of climate change, threatening to turn parts of the forest into savannah".

"The tiny island nation of Dominica has announced that it will create a 788-square-kilometer (304-square-mile) reserve to protect endangered sperm whales."

"Groundwater pollution in Umatilla and Morrow counties is growing worse, leading to dangerous levels of nitrates in water pumped up from what used to be safe wells."

"The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a request by BP, Shell and Hilcorp oil companies to block the start of a state court lawsuit filed by Cameron Parish seeking as much as $7 billion in compensation for coastal erosion damages."

"Exxon Mobil said on Monday that it planned to set up a facility in Arkansas to produce lithium, a critical raw material for electric vehicles, which pose one of the biggest challenges to the company’s oil business."

"After decades of unrestricted pumping in the rain-starved northwestern corner of the Mojave Desert, the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Basin Authority has the distinction of managing one of the most critically overdrawn aquifers in California."

"California’s ancient sequoias — some of which have stood more than 1,000 years — are facing an existential threat from increasingly intense wildfires linked to climate change. But federal efforts to thin forests to reduce fire risks are drawing pushback from conservation groups."

"As the world's nations enter another round of talks this week on creating a first-ever treaty to contain plastic pollution, officials are bracing for tough negotiations over whether to limit the amount of plastic being produced or just to focus on the management of waste."