Currents

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife proposed last week that Puget Sound’s orcas be added to the state’s list of endangered species, citing a dramatic decline in resident whales.

China Embraces Sustainability—One City at a Time When China announced last November that it would impose strict new fuel-economy standards for small cars and minivans, it was only one sign that the world’s most populated country is headed down a more sustainable path—while the U.S. moves in the other direction. "China’s economic development is happening […]

When most Americans think of Russian nature, they think of environmental catastrophe—Chernobyl, oil spills, pollution. Yet Russia, with one-eighth of the Earth’s land area, has one of the world’s premiere systems of strictly protected areas, called "zapovedniks." Few people outside Russia know of the system or its important part in sustaining the global ecological balance. Large tracts of virgin forest play a role in global ecology comparable to rain forests. Intact areas of wilderness allow large-scale animal migrations. Scientific data long collected in the zapovednik system could shed light on global climate change and ecological trends.

It’s well-known that the Y2K computer problem—a limitation embedded in basic programming code that will cause machines all over the world to think that the year 2000 is actually 1900—could mean catastrophic operating system failures, power outages and other disasters. The potential environmental impact is less well-known.

"The timber wars are happening all over again," said Bonnie Phillips of The Pilchuck Audubon Society in northwest Washington state. Two years after President Clinton offered embattled forest watchers an olive branch–the Northwest Forest Plan (supposedly assuring preservation of old-growth forests, while allowing a limited amount of logging)–peace has ended in the Pacific Northwest.

Giant Petrels are a Bellwether Species for the Threatened Antarctic Peninsula Giant Petrels are large scavenger birds that feed on dead seals, whales, penguins, squid or just about any other creature that dies on Antarctica’s Southern Ocean, which is why 19th Century sailors called them “Bone Shakers.” They also named them “Stinkers” since, when challenged, […]

In the 2002 elections, "clean and green" New Zealand elected eight Green Party members as MPs, and they now enjoy the legitimacy of a Parliamentary office in Wellington. Their ranks include longtime activists such as Sue Kedgley, author of Eating Safely in a Toxic World, who campaigns for animal welfare, clean energy and public transit; and Ian Ewen-Street, an organic sheep and cattle farmer.

Almost Everyone Agrees, ATVs Need To Be Controlled–But How?

Throughout coal country, the manmade earthquakes caused by longwall mining wreak havoc on the land and its residents.

Dutch Farmers Change the Landscape for Wildlife’s Sake.