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 Editorials | Environmental
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"For Sale" Signs in Amazon Jungle
 Milagros Salazar
The Peruvian Congress plans this week to debate a draft law pushed by the government that would authorise the sale of vast tracts of deforested, uncultivated land in the Amazon jungle to private companies that invest in "reforestation" efforts.
US Climate May Be Right for a Global Warming Bill
 Richard Simon
Scores of climate change bills are stacking up in the legislative queue. Numerous hearings, the most recent on the polar bear, are highlighting the issue. And some regulation-averse corporate executives have even called on Congress to step in.
Mexico to Issue Permits for Biofuel Production
 Jason Lange
Mexico said on Monday it will issue permits to companies for the first time to produce biofuels in a bid to cut emissions from cars and boost incomes for impoverished farmers.
Rain Forests Fall at "Alarming" Rate
 Edward Harris
In the gloomy shade deep in Africa's rain forest, the noontime silence was pierced by the whine of a far-off chain saw. It was the sound of destruction, echoed from wood to wood, continent to continent, in the tropical belt that circles the globe.
Mexico Adds Wetlands to World Registry as Environmentalists Warn Against Development
 Istra Pacheco
Mexico has added 45 wetlands to an international registry that promotes conservation and sustainable development, even as environmentalists warn wetlands remain poorly protected in Mexico.
Border Wall Condemns Jaguars to Extinction
 Stephen Leahy
Jaguars have no place in the United States, although a handful still roam the southwest. Environmentalists suspect the real reason U.S. officials are allowing the jaguar to become extinct is the "security" wall being built along the Mexican border.
California Salmon Arriving in Record Low Numbers
 Jane Kay
The Central Valley fall run of chinook salmon apparently has collapsed, portending sharp fishing restrictions and rising prices for consumers while providing further evidence that the state's water demands are causing widespread ecological damage.
Abortion and the Earth
 Kelpie Wilson
On this recent thirty-fifth anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, pro-choice activists are calling for a new approach to the issue.
Blind Fish Still Able to 'See'
 Charles Q. Choi
Blind cavefish - that dwell in freshwater caves in northeastern Mexico - whose eyes have withered away may not be so blind after all. Instead, a light-sensitive organ in their brains can detect light, research now reveals.
Man-Made Changes Bring About New Epoch in Earth's History
 Jan Zalasiewicz
Geologists from the University of Leicester propose that humankind has so altered the Earth that it has brought about an end to one epoch of Earth’s history and marked the start of a new epoch.
Science Can Show the Way to Cleaner Mining
 Diego Cevallos
In 2010 the Mexican mining company Peñoles could be using a unique, more environmentally-friendly method for extracting gold and silver from ore - but convincing the company to consider the new approach was not easy.
Bono Confesses Sins to 'Father' Al Gore
 Agence France-Presse
Having climate campaigner Al Gore round to your house is to open yourself to a self-flagellating guilt trip, Irish rock star Bono confessed Thursday.
Great Apes Endangered by Human Viruses
 Max Planck Society
The opening of gorillas and chimpanzees reserves for tourism is often portrayed as the key to conserving these endangered great apes. There are also however serious concerns that tourism may expose wild apes to infection by virulent human diseases.
Destruction of Rainforest Accelerates Despite Outcry
 Daniel Howden
The destruction of the Amazon rainforest has surged in the past four months, raising the prospect of 2008 being a disastrous year for the world's most important eco-system, a senior Brazilian government scientist has warned.
U.S. Abandons Jaguar Recovery Plan, Conservation Group Cries Foul
 Windsor Genova
The decision issued on Thursday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Southwestern Region office dismayed the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), a conservation group that proposed the plan to save from extinction the largest and rarest cat species of North America.
No Place to Hide
 The New York Times
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the Nobel Peace Prize last year with Mr. Gore, predicted that if nothing is done to slow the increase in global warming gases, the world’s oceans could rise as much as two feet in this century.
Slow, Steady Wins Conservation Race
 Terry Rodgers
Not every scientist is comfortable being an agent of social change. But it's no stretch for Hoyt Peckham and other researchers affiliated with Pro Peninsula, a San Diego-based conservation group. They see it as their duty to protect the endangered loggerhead sea turtles they study along remote stretches of Baja California.
Bootmaker for Bush, Other Leaders Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Exotic Skins
 Associated Press
A McAllen, Texas, man pleaded guilty Friday to smuggling exotic skins, including those from sea turtles, in an investigation that led to charges for a bootmaker to world leaders, including President Bush.
 Anti-Whaling Activists Freed
 Reuters
Two activists held aboard a Japanese whaling ship for two days after handed over to an Australian fisheries patrol. The activists were detained by the crew of the Yushin Maru 2 when they scrambled on board to deliver a protest letter from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Whale Activists "Captured"
 Andrew Darby
The war between whalers and protesters escalated this week when two activists - an Australian and a Briton - stormed a Japanese ship and were detained on board by crew members.
Argentina: Mystery of the Dead Whales
 Marcela Valente
It will be difficult to determine exactly why the number of whale deaths has shot up along the Atlantic coast of southern Argentina’s Patagonia region, but experts studying the phenomenon are pointing to poisoning from the "red tide".
Reynosa Hasn't Found Matamoros Success
 Lynn Brezosky
Compared to Matamoros, Reynosa is in the dump-site dark ages. Attempts by the city to seal landfills have had short-lived results because the population is growing so quickly. As one is sealed, new ones pop up.
In Greenland, Ice and Instability
 Andrew C. Revkin
The ancient frozen dome cloaking Greenland is so vast that pilots have crashed into what they thought was a cloud bank spanning the horizon. Flying over it, you can scarcely imagine that this ice could erode fast enough to dangerously raise sea levels any time soon.
Study Sheds Light on Monarch Migration
 Traci Carl
Scientists have discovered genetic information that helps explain how monarch butterflies find their way from Canada to winter nesting grounds in the mountains of Mexico.
 'Orchids are People, Too'
 Kathy Van Mullekom
Weyman Bussey still remembers the first orchid he saw blooming in the wild. The year was 1966, when he was 12 years old and on a camping trip in south Florida. Adults on the outing decided to take an orchid-hunting trip early one morning and insisted he go with them.
New Garbage Laws in Puerto Vallarta
 R.C. Walker
On January 1, 2008 the state law requiring that garbage be separated and reduced in the home, office and business entered into effect in Puerto Vallarta. Separation, initially, will include that of organic and inorganic waste.
Palm Beach Zoo Named in Top 10
 John Johnston
The Palm Beach Zoo has achieved national recognition, named as helping to achieve one of the top 10 wildlife conservation success stories for 2007.
The Magnificent Monarchs
 Jessica Bernstein-Wax
If you'd rather see butterflies on a mountaintop than slather yourself with sun block on a tourist-packed beach in Cancun, Mexico is an ideal winter destination. Ecotourism is drawing fans in the central states of Michoacan and Mexico, thanks to the spectacular yearly migration of millions of orange-and-black-winged monarch butterflies.
Conservationists Want Probe Into Reports of Wolf Baiting
 Associated Press
Conservation groups want the Interior secretary to order an investigation by the inspector general into allegations that a Mexican gray wolf was baited into killing a cow so the wolf in turn could be killed.
Take a Walk on the Wild Side
 Laura Gelezunas
If getting off the beaten path and a little adventure sound appealing to you, Vallarta Adventures Jeep Safari will take you on an off-road voyage of discovery deep in the heart of the tropical jungle in Mexico's Sierra Madre Occidental.
Climate Change Gives Rise to New World Order
 Mario Osava
Once again, humanity is facing the risk of catastrophe. The terror of destruction by nuclear missiles ready to be launched at the touch of a button has given way to the disturbing possibility of global warming going past the point of no return, and this is turning traditional international coalitions and geopolitical concepts upside down.
Ever Wondered What it’s Like Being a Wolf?
 Minnesota Zoo
WolfQuest is an exciting interactive 3D wildlife simulation game created by the Minnesota Zoo and eduweb. WolfQuest players take on the role of a wolf living in Yellowstone National Park.
Global Warming Brings Busy Year for UN Disaster Teams
 Jo Tuckman
The United Nations office that sends expert teams around the world to help governments deal with natural disasters was busier than ever in Latin America this year, a fact it at least partially blames on climate change.
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