Yale e360 · Page 63

The Ashaninka indigenous community in Brazil has won a two-decade federal court dispute against illegal logging interests, receiving $3 million in compensation and an official apology from companies for cutting down thousands of mahogany, cedar, and other tree…

New research indicates that parts of the Amazon and other tropical forests are now emitting more CO2 than they absorb. Some scientists are concerned this development, which is not yet incorporated into climate models, could put the temperature goals set by the…

Three of Europe’s biggest economies — Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom — have recently achieved new records in solar generation, due in part to a drop in air pollution from coronavirus-related shutdowns, which has cleared skies and boosted…

The Delaware River, a major source of drinking water for Philadelphia, is facing an emerging threat as rising seas push saltwater farther upstream. It’s a problem that other places, from Miami to Shanghai, will also confront, especially as increasing drought…

To avert future pandemics, the Global Virome Project aims to track down and identify hundreds of thousands of viruses in wildlife around the world. But some experts say a better use of limited resources is to focus on detecting emerging viruses that pose…

As global temperatures continue to rise, farmers in the western United States who rely on snowmelt to water their crops could be one of the most severely affected agricultural communities in the world, according to a new study in the journal Nature Climate…

The Trump administration is expected to weaken regulations on mercury pollution from oil- and coal-fired power plants this week, several news outlets reported. The new rule will change how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calculates the costs and…

Fifty years after the first Earth Day helped create the nation’s most important environmental laws, the Trump administration is pushing for a sweeping rollback of regulations. But the rules the administration loves to criticize have made life better and…

The global economy could lose between $150 trillion to $792 trillion by 2100 if nations fail to meet their current targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new analysis in the journal Nature Communications. In contrast, it would cost G20…

In an effort to move away from fossil fuels, U.S. communities from California to Massachusetts are instituting bans on natural gas in new construction. Proponents say the measures are critical for speeding the transition to an all-electric future powered by…

At a time when the Trump administration is rolling back U.S. clean water regulations, New Jersey has stepped up protections on 600 miles of rivers and streams throughout the state. Read more on E360 →

David Quammen has tracked the spillover of viruses from animals to humans for more than a decade. To avoid future pandemics, he says, we must rethink our relationship with nature and recognize how our choices can lead to dangerous disruptions of the natural…

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 COVID-19 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 in the short term — into the atmosphere. Now, a new study published in the…

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…