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Large area proposed as critical habitat for Canada lynx

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed that 42,753 square miles of the northern U.S. be designated as critical habitat for the Canada lynx. The new area is more […]

When the world gives you an extra day, use it to celebrate amphibian conservation

Leaping long-toed salamanders, Batman! We need your help to save the nearly 2,000 amphibian species that are currently threatened with extinction. That’s one-third of all known species of frogs, toads, […]

‘Groin turns into no-go zone for luckless Italians’

Italy’s highest appeals court has ruled it is a criminal offence for Italian men to touch their genitals in public – a judgment that has far-reaching implications for superstitious males. […]

Air doing OK, say officials; water, perhaps not so much

Beijing officials were recently accused of falsifying statistics and manipulating data to make the city’s air pollution seems less of a problem in the run-up to the Summer Olympics. Unsurprisingly, […]

California must seek permission to implement ship-emissions rule, court says

A federal appeals court on Wednesday struck down a California rule aimed at reducing smog-causing emissions from ships in the Los Angeles area. The state had argued that it had […]

National parks chock full o’ chemicals, says study

Our prized natural places are hardly pristine, according to a six-year federal study. Researchers looked at the air, water, soil, lichen, conifer needles, and fish in 20 national parks and […]

Water, world

Nifty:

Left: All the water in the world (1.4087 billion cubic kilometres of it) including sea water, ice, lakes, rivers, ground water, clouds, etc. Right: All the air in the atmosphere (5140 trillion tonnes of it) gathered into a ball at sea-level density. Shown on the same scale as the Earth.

Notable quotable

“Getting shot is just going to piss off a 500-pound grizzly bear.” — George Durkee, director of the Ranger Lodge of Fraternal Order of Police, on why it doesn’t make […]

Massive database of species goes online

An online Encyclopedia of Life that aims to eventually include every living organism on the planet has unveiled its first detailed pages. Read up on the 24 species that have […]

South Africa to resume elephant culling despite criticism

South Africa announced it will resume killing elephants in May for the first time since a 1995 ban on the practice. Wildlife officials argued that culling is necessary to reduce […]