metazine

When scientists recently analyzed hundreds of studies of ecosystems, they were surprised to see a marked slowing in the rate of species turnover. If new species don’t replace old ones, they say, ecosystems may have less flexibility to respond to habitat loss and climate change.

Environmentalists are challenging the EPA’s repeal of the “endangerment finding, ” which empowered it to regulate greenhouse gases. Whether or not the action holds up in court, now is the time to develop climate strategies that can be pursued when the political balance shifts.

Europe’s new Right to Repair Directive will make it easier — and cheaper — for consumers to get their household goods fixed, rather than buy something new. Part of the E. U. ’s Green Deal, the plan is expected to slash waste, promote recycling, and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

For years, baboons have roamed Cape Town suburbs, entering houses and yards in search of food. Now officials have a conservation plan aimed at reducing conflicts between the big primates and people — but like most things baboon-related here, it is sparking heated controversy.

Russia continues to bomb Ukraine’s fossil-fueled power plants, leaving much of the nation shivering during a brutal winter. But Ukraine’s new emphasis on developing decentralized power — from solar panels to wind turbines — is advancing an unexpected green energy transition.

President Trump has made access to Greenland’s vast reserves of critical minerals a focus of ongoing negotiations. But experts say the U. S. is underestimating the difficulties of mining in a rapidly changing Arctic region that is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth.

With warming set to pass the critical 1.5-degree goal, scientists are warning that the world is on course to trigger tipping points that would lead to cascading consequences — from the melting of ice sheets to the death of the Amazon rainforest — that could not be reversed.

Tailings and acid mine drainage from mines contain critical minerals needed for clean energy technologies. Now, researchers are developing new techniques for retrieving these key metals, which could reduce the need for new mines and help clean up pollution at old mining sites.

Billions of sea stars, victims of a deadly wasting illness, have perished over the last decade, imperiling marine ecosystems and spurring a global hunt for a biological or environmental culprit. Recently, researchers identified a likely suspect, but the case is far from closed.

As climate change and urbanization intensify flooding in Rwanda, the hilly capital of Kigali has embraced nature-based solutions. The city is restoring and reshaping 18,000 acres of degraded wetlands, planting native species to filter and slow runoff and enhancing biodiversity.

Iran is looking to relocate the nation’s capital because of severe water shortages that make Tehran unsustainable. Experts say the crisis was caused by years of ill-conceived dam projects and overpumping that destroyed a centuries-old system for tapping underground reserves.

A rash of data centers planned for western Pennsylvania has residents and environmentalists on edge. The sprawling complexes will be powered by plants that burn fracked natural gas, whose production has caused air and water pollution in the region and has known health risks.

With hundreds of satellites launched each year and tens of thousands more planned, scientists are increasingly concerned about an emerging problem: emissions from the fuels burned in launches and from the pollutants released when satellites and rocket stages flame out on reentry.

Researchers are finding a disturbing uptick in the trade of African hornbills and their body parts in West African voodoo markets and globally on the internet. Conservationists want international protections for these birds, which play a key role in Africa’s forest ecosystems.