Yale e360 · Page 6

As the planet warms, Nigerian farmers are looking to breed cattle that can take the heat, importing semen from a Brazilian breed suited to balmy tropical weather. Read more on E360 →

More than 30,000 small dams currently block river tributaries from Maine to Maryland. New initiatives to remove them are aimed at restoring natural flows, improving habitat for aquatic life, and reopening thousands of river miles to migratory fish, from shad…

The number of tigers in India has more than doubled in a little more than a decade, a conservation success that is due in part to communities learning to live alongside the animals, new research finds. Read more on E360 →

To understand how future warming could impact Antarctica, experts are looking to the past, to a time more than 100,000 years ago when the Antarctic was around 3 degrees C warmer than it is today. A new study finds that the West Antarctic sheet did not…

Farmers have long drained peatlands for agriculture, but the dried-out soils release vast quantities of CO2. To halt this process, new initiatives in Germany are not only rewetting peatlands but also creating markets for the native grasses, reeds, and sedges…

Volunteers have planted more than 2,500 native trees on pasture in southwest England, part of a larger effort to recreate the temperate rainforest that once dominated much of the British Isles. Read more on E360 →

An increase in extreme precipitation events has hit the tiny, mountainous state of Vermont especially hard. As disaster declarations mount, state officials and community groups are collaborating to restore floodplains, reduce runoff from slopes, and buy out…

A new study shows microplastics can block the flow of blood in the brains of mice. The findings come on the heels of another recent study showing, for the first time, that microplastics can lodge in human brains. Read more on E360 →

For the first time in the EU, solar supplied more power than coal did last year, a new analysis finds. Read more on E360 →

A mountain lion attack that killed a young California man last year has reignited a debate over how the big cats should be managed. Some are calling for renewed hunting of the animals, while others are advocating nonlethal methods of instilling a fear of…

As the northern latitudes warm, ice is melting and vegetation is growing more abundant. But instead of absorbing more carbon, the region is rapidly becoming a source of heat-trapping gas, a new study finds. Read more on E360 →

In the sea as on land, climate change is driving shifts in the abundance and distribution of species. Scientists are just beginning to focus on why some fish predators and prey – like striped bass and menhaden on the U.S. East Coast – are changing their…

Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever before, putting hopes of limiting warming in jeopardy. Read more on E360 →

UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain says that two very wet years followed by a very dry one helped to turn the Los Angeles wildfires into raging infernos. This phenomenon of “hydroclimate whiplash,” he says, is expected to occur in more and more places as…

A new study finds that trees that lived through many wet years struggle to cope with dry spells, while young trees that have never known plentiful rainfall may be better equipped for ongoing drought. Read more on E360 →

A new analysis shows that African wildlife increasingly depend on lands managed by villagers and herders. In many areas, locally-run conservancies now more effectively protect wildlife than national parks do, with communities reaping tourism revenue and other…

In a first, the U.S. saw wind and solar supply more power than coal last year, according to a new analysis. But even as renewables made gains, U.S. emissions stayed flat owing to rising demand for energy. Read more on E360 →

Wildfires in Southern California have burned tens of thousands of acres, destroyed thousands of buildings, and killed at least 10 people. Experts say global warming may have set the stage for the catastrophic blazes. Read more on E360 →

In the last decade, laboratory initiatives to recreate long-extinct species have stirred controversy. Now, scientists increasingly agree "de-extinction" is not possible, but breeding living animals with genes similar to those lost species can be a useful…

Germany, the largest economy in Europe, got nearly two-thirds of its power from renewables last year, an analysis shows. Read more on E360 →