Conservation

The Diversity of Life Across Much of Earth Has Plunged Below ‘Safe’ Levels

Sat, 2016-07-16 10:47 — Kathy Gilbeaux

An aerial view shows a tract of Amazon rain forest that has been cleared by loggers and farmers for agriculture near the city of Santarem, Para State, April 20, 2013. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Science - Has land use pushed terrestrial biodiversity beyond the planetary boundary? A global assessment

washingtonpost.com - by Chris Mooney - July 14, 2016

In an ambitious study that represents the latest merger between big data approaches and the quest to conserve the planet, scientists have found that across a majority of the Earth’s land surface — including some of its most important types of terrain and its most populous regions — the abundance or overall number of animals and plants of different species has fallen below a “safe” level identified by biologists.

The reason is not exactly a surprise — from grasslands to tropical forests, humans are using more and more land for agriculture, to live on, to build roads and infrastructure upon. When we take over, we clear the land or otherwise convert it for our purposes.

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Once Parched, Florida's Everglades Finds Its Flow Again

Sun, 2016-03-06 21:44 — Maeryn Obley

This is one of several canals that will be filled to slow the movement of water through the Everglades, restoring an ecosystem environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas called the "river of grass." Greg Allen/NPR

Image: This is one of several canals that will be filled to slow the movement of water through the Everglades, restoring an ecosystem environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas called the "river of grass." Greg Allen/NPR

npr.org - February 19th 2016 - Greg Allen

When people talk about Florida's Everglades, they often use superlatives: It's the largest protected wilderness east of the Mississippi River, and it's the biggest subtropical wetland in North America.

But it is also the site of a joint federal-state plan that is the largest ecosystem restoration effort ever attempted — one that is beginning to pay off after decades of work.

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Why we should care about the United Nations’ COP21

Tue, 2015-12-01 12:53 — Albert Gomez

Posted by Evelyn Perez × 11/30/2015 at 4:10 pm

From Nov. 30 — Dec. 11, delegates from 194 countries throughout the world will convene in France for the 21^st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This conference on climate change is expected to culminate with a new international agreement to mitigate climate change. FIU Law Senior Scholar Ryan Stoa and Journalism and Broadcasting Professor Juliet Pinto will be in attendance at the conference. In this op-ed, Tiffany Troxler, director of the FIU Sea Level Solutions Center, explains the importance of the international gathering.