Group items tagged

The loss and decline of animals around the world - caused by habitat loss and global climate disruption - mean we're in the midst of a sixth "mass extinction" of life on Earth, according to several studies out Thursday in the journal Science.

As ever more species face extinction, we lose the vital ecosystem services they provide, such as honeybee crop pollination. For its continued existence, mankind is reliant upon an untold plethora of species that maintain the status quo. As they disappear, that existence becomes increasingly fragile.

We've all heard of the troubling mass extinction of animal life, so it may come as a surprise to hear that seeds are in even deeper trouble. Since the turn of the century, 93% of US seed varieties have gone extinct and with them the diversity of our meals.  As clearly shown in the infographic (left) published by National Geographic's John Tomanio, nature's tastiest gifts have dramatically disappeared across the past century. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (the FAO), 75% of the world's food is now generated from only 12 plants and five animal species.

Deforestation in the world's largest rainforest jumped 29 percent over last year, representing a sharp increase over the historically low deforestation rate seen just five years ago and the highest level recorded in the region since 2008, reports the Brazilian government. The numbers, released by Brazil's National Space Research Institute INPE on Monday, show that 7,989 square kilometers of rainforest were destroyed between August 2015 and July 2016. The loss is equivalent to an area 135 times the size of Manhattan or the combined land mass of the American states of Connecticut and Delaware.

Offshore wind is slowly taking off in the US, according to this analysis. Observers say that this trend can be seen in Massachusetts' proposed offshore wind bill, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's plan to hold an offshore wind auction for a tract of space off the coast of New York and Maryland's continued work on the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act. Some say these advances and several others could help the nation's fledging offshore wind industry reach critical mass.

The Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Needham Heights, Mass., has removed about 98 percent of influent biological oxygen demand (BOD) after installing a BioprocessH2O membrane biological reactor (MBR) system, according to a Bioprocess H2O case study.

ChargePoint, developer of the world's largest electric vehicle charging network, launched a new lease-to-purchase program that will enable companies and municipalities to purchase charging stations at no upfront cost

A study by the University of Edinburgh highlights evidence that the rapid acidification of oceans 252 million years ago caused the greatest extinction of all time.

"The company has joined the ranks of many of its industry peers who recognize that they must also go beyond RSPO's standards to ensure that their purchases do not result in mass deforestation and labor abuses in the supply chain,"

Water that used to hold down land masses in California is now being lost, so some parts of the state's mountains are being uplifted by a surprising amount

General Electric Aviation will invest more than $200 million to construct two factories that will mass-produce silicon carbide (SiC) materials used to manufacture ceramic matrix composite components (CMCs) for jet engines and land-based gas turbines. The factories will be built adjacent to one another on 100 acres in Huntsville, Alabama.

Last month, an aerial survey of the northern section of Australia's Great Barrier Reef returned some pretty grim results, revealing that the World Heritage Site had been hit with the worst coral bleaching event in its history. The researchers have now continued their work along this magnificent stretch of coastline and the news isn't getting any better. The results of their end-to-end study now reveal that 93 percent of the reef has been affected by bleaching as a result of warmer sea temperatures in the area.

Technology is being developed to reduce water use in dyeing but the use and abuse of water to dye clothing continues

Some fashion companies are embracing ethical shopping trends, using greener chemicals and more sustainable production methods. Marketing eco-fashion can be tricky, though: Executives say it's important to avoid finger-wagging and to make sure fashion comes first. "It is primarily about fashion. Being 'green' is in the background," says Olaf Schmidt, organizer of the Ethical Fashion Show in Berlin