Yale e360

The United Nations’ biodiversity chief has called for a global ban on wildlife markets — such as the one in Wuhan, China, believed to be the starting point of the coronavirus outbreak — to prevent future pandemics. Read more on E360 →

Some policy experts are optimistic that victory over the coronavirus will instill greater appreciation for what government, science, and business can do to tackle climate change. But others believe the economic damage caused by the virus will set back climate…

The seventh annual Yale Environment 360 Video Contest is now accepting entries. The contest honors the year’s best environmental videos. Submissions must focus on an environmental issue or theme and be a maximum of 20 minutes in length. The contest aims to…

Despite centuries of rampant overfishing and pollution, marine life in the world’s oceans could be fully restored in as little as 30 years with aggressive conservation policies, according to a new scientific review published in the journal Nature. The…

In the San Francisco Bay Area, where the coronavirus is now eclipsing the dangers of drought and fire, the new pandemic is the starkest reminder yet of how connected we all are. To tackle both the virus and climate change, there is no option but global…

As global temperatures rise, scientists warn that thawing Arctic permafrost is releasing an alarming amount of methane — a greenhouse gas 25 percent more potent than carbon dioxide — into the atmosphere. Now, a new study published in the journal Nature…

Markets are emerging to pay farmers to store more carbon in the soil by using improved agricultural practices. But flows of greenhouse gases into and out of soil are complex, and some scientists are questioning whether these efforts will actually help slow…

The Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, has established 154,000 square miles of marine protected areas, fulfilling a pledge to protect nearly a third of its vast territorial waters. About half of the newly protected areas will be “no-take…

Australian officials have confirmed that the Great Barrier Reef is experiencing “very widespread” coral bleaching — the reef’s third mass-bleaching event in five years. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said the damage is the result of…

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Fridays for Future, the youth climate campaign, was seeing numbers of protesters decline and its calls for action falling short of its goals. Now, the movement is recalibrating its strategies to try to usher in the next phase…

East Antarctica’s Denman Glacier has retreated nearly 3 miles over the past two decades, losing 268 billion tons of ice between 1979 and 2017, according to a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. If the glacier were to melt…

When the COVID-19 pandemic is past, societies may adopt some important measures that would lower emissions, from more teleconferencing to shortening global supply chains. But the most lasting lesson may be what the coronavirus teaches us about the urgency of…

Governments and financial institutions should incorporate climate change action into their COVID-19 economic recovery plans, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, told Climate Home News. Stimulus packages, he argues, should focus on…

A growing number of studies show that warming temperatures are increasing mortality in creatures ranging from birds in the Mojave Desert, to mammals in Australia, to bumblebees in North America. Researchers warn that heat stress could become a major factor in…

A new UN report says park guards funded by conservation organizations are hounding African forest dwellers. In an interview with Yale e360, a noted anthropologist describes the mistreatment and says the solution lies in giving indigenous people greater control…

It can take up to 1,300 years for LEGO bricks to break down in the ocean, according to new research published in the journal Environmental Pollution. The pieces of the iconic children’s toy, which is made from a strong plastic material called acrylonitrile…

The polar ice caps are melting six times faster than in the 1990s, according to the most complete analysis to date. The ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica is tracking the worst-case climate warming scenario set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate…

More than 100,000 miles of U.S. rivers and streams are polluted by nitrogen and phosphorus, much of it from agricultural runoff. In Pennsylvania, an innovative program is showing farmers how to plant cash crops in buffer zones to help stabilize stream banks…

The European Commission has announced a plan to require manufacturers to make products that last longer and are easier to repair and reuse — an attempt to curb the “throwaway culture” that has fueled greenhouse gas emissions, resource extraction, and…

Brazil’s environment agency last year gave out its lowest number of fines for breaking environmental laws since 1995, Reuters reported. This is despite a devastating surge in deforestation and fires in the Amazon, with nearly 90,000 blazes detected from…

Coal is declining sharply, as financiers and insurance companies abandon the industry in the face of shrinking demand, pressure from climate campaigners, and competition from cleaner fuels. After years of its predicted demise, the world’s dirtiest fossil…

Wind developers around the globe ordered nearly 100 gigawatts (GW) of new turbine capacity in 2019, a new record and a 65 percent increase over the previous year, according to data from the market research firm Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. Nearly half of…

Europe has experienced its warmest winter on record, with temperatures 3.4 degrees Celsius (6 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1981-2010 average, according to new data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). December, January, and…

The vast Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is undergoing sweeping climatic changes, as forest is wiped out and grasslands emerge. Refuge managers are considering proactive measures to adapt, including introducing bison and other species well-suited to…

Sandy beaches line more than 30 percent of the world’s coastlines, playing critical roles in local economies, cultures, and as natural buffers to coastal storms. Now, scientists are projecting that more than half of the world’s sandy beaches could vanish…

The environmental movement has largely failed to connect with people of color and marginalized urban communities. By confronting issues from contaminated water to climate change, hip hop music can help bridge that divide and bring home the realities of…

One of the largest utility companies in the U.S. Midwest, Ameren, has announced that it will spend $7.6 billion on a five-year grid modernization plan that includes installing smart meters for its more than 1.2 million customers, adding solar energy and…

Oil giant BP said it will sever links with three United States-based trade associations, including the country’s main refining lobby, because of disagreements over their climate-related policies and activities. The decision comes after the United Kingdom oil…

Climate change could add more than 20 percent, or $100 billion annually, to the cost of extreme weather events around the world by 2040, according to a new analysis by researchers at Cambridge University. The new report measures direct costs, such as damage to…

The devastating bushfires that raged through southeastern Australia for months burned millions of acres. In the wake of the fires, a new threat has emerged – massive amounts of ash and debris being washed into rivers and waterways, killing fish and polluting…