"The northern spotted owl has lost 70 percent of its habitat to development and timber harvesting and could go extinct without added federal protection, the Trump administration announced Monday. But the owls won’t get it."
As the incoming Biden administration prepares to re-engage on the global stage, environment-related treaties are high on the agenda. The latest Backgrounder, part of our 2021 Guide, takes a closer look at 10-plus top treaties, including those focused on climate change, biodiversity, plastics pollution, airplane emissions, the future of the Arctic and more.
"Salmon are in decline around the world, from overfishing, disease and climate change. In Scotland, conservationists believe that forest restoration could be key to their survival."
"News that President-elect Joe Biden has picked former Obama administration Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to run the agency anew has drawn disappointment from some who felt he was too aligned with major agriculture corporations during his previous stint."
"California’s redwoods, sequoias and Joshua trees define the American West and nature’s resilience through the ages. Wildfires this year were their deadliest test."
What will climate change policy look like under a Biden administration? If nothing else, it appears it will be broadly based across a wide range of executive branch operations. This week’s TipSheet walks you through the top 10 federal departments, agencies and spending centers and how they will pivot to focus on global warming.
"Firefighters battled to tame a wildfire on hillsides southeast of Los Angeles late on Thursday, some 24 hours after it broke out in a wooded canyon, apparently triggered by a faulty domestic generator."
"Trees appear to communicate and cooperate through subterranean networks of fungi. What are they sharing with one another?"
"Climate change, voracious beetles and disease are imperiling the long-term survival of a high-elevation pine tree that’s a key source of food for some grizzly bears and found across the West, U.S. officials said Tuesday."
"If Native treaty rights had been honored, the natural landscape of the U.S. might look very different today."
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