Biodiversity

"Almost a third of the world’s oceans and land should be protected by the end of the decade to stop and reverse biodiversity decline that risks the survival of humanity, according to a draft Paris-style UN agreement on nature."

"Federal authorities suggested the environmental impact of a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal and pipeline in southern Oregon would be minimal, saying the contentious project wouldn’t jeopardize protected species or adversely change their critical habitat."

"Purebred bison – direct descendants of the animals that blanketed North America before colonization – are scant, protected and short on genetic diversity."

"The mouse-size dunnart is not as iconic as the koalas or platypuses that draw tourists, but it is arguably the most special mammal on Australia’s Kangaroo Island. Now the Kangaroo Island dunnart’s days may be numbered."

"No one knows when millions of monarch butterflies began crisscrossing North America, spending their winters clustered on the same hillsides in Central Mexico, a blaze of orange wings in the green forest."

"An aquarium and an engineering firm in Massachusetts are partnering on a project to better protect whales by monitoring them from space."

"Their catch this year has plummeted, while their exports to China have been gutted by the trade war. The government has imposed strict quotas on their primary bait. And they’re facing serious lawsuits that could affect how they fish."

"Officials in Mississippi are trying to force the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi River Commission to consult with them before opening the Bonnet Carré Spillway in Louisiana again and flooding the region with polluted river water."

"The Interior Department is moving to formally define "habitat" in the Endangered Species Act, part of an anticipated second wave of changes to the bedrock conservation law under the Trump administration."

"As the state of Virginia prepared for a major bridge and tunnel expansion in the tidewaters of the Chesapeake Bay last year, engineers understood that the nesting grounds of 25,000 gulls, black skimmers, royal terns and other seabirds were about to be plowed under."