Friday, May 15, 2026

Otter cafés and ‘cute pets craze’ fuel illegal trafficking in Japan and Indonesia

A new documentary film has been released that shines a spotlight on the illegal trade in the Asian small-clawed otter, a species listed as vulnerable and in decline by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

The carbon capture plants that COP26 didn’t discuss

The time has come to stop viewing these plants with a blind eye and start to use them in an effective way.

Desertification and land degradation now affects 50% of world’s population, economy: UN

Damage to soils and water has dire consequences for humanity, a new report warns ahead of meeting of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

Trump plan to dismantle US weather research hub alarms scientists and state officials

A proposal by the Trump administration to break up the National Center for Atmospheric Research has sparked warnings from scientists, university leaders, and Colorado officials who say the move could undermine public safety, economic stability, and decades of shared scientific infrastructure.

A growing presence of ‘forever chemicals’ in California produce, new study

According to Environmental Working Group, 37 percent of California-grown produce samples contained at least one of 17 different PFAS pesticide residues.

Pesticides cause 2024 mass die-off of Western monarch butterflies, new study finds

The study was a result of researchers discovering the mass die-off of hundreds of monarch butterflies near the Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary in California, where the butterflies overwinter.

How MAGA changed the world in 2025, and what comes next

Amid the domestic and geopolitical mayhem unleashed by Donald Trump’s return to the White House, powerful interests were busy enacting a radical anti-democratic agenda.

Chicago becomes largest US city to power all municipal buildings with renewable energy

Chicago powers 411 city buildings with 100 percent renewable energy, setting a major climate milestone.

DRC to open bids for oil and gas drilling putting pristine forest and endangered...

Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) government opened another round of auctioning for 52 oil blocks, which threatens 64 percent of the country’s pristine forest.

Supreme Court will hear Exxon’s effort to crush climate lawsuits

Justice Samuel Alito did not recuse himself from considering the petition, despite significant financial conflicts of interest in implicated cases.