With the proposal on the convening of an informal heads of delegation meeting withdrawn, Vayas proposes to consult with regional groups on the draft text proposal.

Can we undo extinction? A growing effort to restore lost sharks In the shallows of Raja Ampat, Indonesia, a bold conservation experiment is underway—one that blends marine biology, local stewardship, and international collaboration in an effort to bring a species…

Can we undo extinction? A growing effort to restore lost sharks

butterflies are notorious!

My best jaguar photos from the Pantanal in Brazil. They came out OK w/ some editing in spite of a super low-light setting. You have to take your big cats where you can find them.

US scales back human rights report; softens criticism of some Trump partner nations President Donald Trump's administration has scaled back a key U.S. government report on human rights worldwide, dramatically softening criticism of some countries that have been strong partners of the Republican president.

US scales back human rights report; softens criticism of some Trump partner nations reut.rs/412AXlp

Daily report for 11 August 2025

Want to dig deeper into Monday's #PlasticsTreaty talks in Geneva?

Read the full Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report

➡️ enb.iisd.org/plastic-poll...

#INC5 #INC5_2 #plastic

US military was deployed to LA protests despite low risk, general testifies Troops were used to protect federal property and personnel in California in recent months even though intelligence assessments showed little danger, two military officials testified on Monday at a landmark trial over President Donald Trump's authority to use soldiers to police American streets.

US military was deployed to LA protests despite low risk, general testifies reut.rs/45zEicZ

Emerging countries' debt payments to private lenders dwarf those to China Lower-income countries' external debt payments to private lenders remain three times higher than payments to China, research shows, shedding light on the complex, costly web of creditors they face as they struggle to keep up repayments.

Emerging countries' debt payments to private lenders dwarf those to China reut.rs/4mvz9tg

#INC5_2 delegates are meeting in a contact group to hear reports on informal discussions on #finance, and to continue discussions on #capacity building, technical assistance and #technology transfer for the effective implementation of the future #PlasticsTreaty
@unep.org

Daily briefing: US researchers fight back on key climate report US climate scientists are rallying together to challenge a controversial government report on global warming. Plus, an exoplanet in the ‘Goldilocks’ zone of its star and why scientists glued a rubber…

Daily briefing: US researchers fight back on key climate report www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Omg. Endless murder.

On Tilghman Island, USDA announces $6M to stem blue catfish invasion of Chesapeake Tilghman Island Seafood does its part to cull the blue catfish, but the region lost control of the population years ago.

Tilghman Island Seafood moves 20,000 lbs of wild blue catfish daily—an invasive fish hurting crabs and rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay. Now, $6M in grants will help grow the effort to fight back and turn the problem into a new seafood industry.

60 years later, Voting Rights Act protections for minority voters face new threats Sixty years after the Voting Rights Act became a landmark law against racial discrimination, legal challenges heading to the Supreme Court could curtail its remaining protections for minority voters.

Sixty years after the Voting Rights Act became a landmark law against racial discrimination, legal challenges heading to the Supreme Court could curtail its remaining protections for minority voters.

"We're running out of time!"

Procedural discussions dominated the #PlasticsTreaty morning plenary, with delegations calling for the talks to "shift gear" in order to make progress on the draft treaty text

Highlights ➡️ enb.iisd.org/plastic-poll...

#INC5 #INC5_2 #plastic

A climate vulnerability assessment for U.S. highly migratory fishes in the Atlantic Ocean Climate change will continue to alter key physical and biological oceanographic processes throughout the global ocean, modifying environmental conditions for U.S. highly migratory fish species found…

A climate vulnerability assessment for U.S. highly migratory fishes in the Atlantic Ocean journals.plos.org/climate/arti...

EPA Moves to Ignore Power Plant Carbon Emissions, Deny Climate Science Zeldin is proposing to walk away from regulating carbon emissions from power plants—plus nearly every other source of heat-trapping emissions.

For more on the proposal, see this from UCS’s Julie McNamara:

Groundwater is drying out, heating up, and causing sea level rise Overuse of groundwater has created zones of “mega-drying” around the world — and caused more sea level rise than Greenland’s ice sheets.

Overpumping of groundwater accounts for 44‰ of global sea level rise—versus 37% from Greenland + 19% from Antarctica. Because after water is put to human use, it escapes into the ocean.

And groundwater is a finite resource. In some areas, so much has already been drained, aquifers have collapsed

Public health experts dismayed by RFK Jr.'s defunding of mRNA vaccine research The Trump administration cancelled about $500 million for research into mRNA vaccines. The move slows progress in using the technology to prevent a future pandemic or treat disease, experts say.

The Trump administration cancelled about $500 million for research into mRNA vaccines. The move slows progress in using the technology to prevent a future pandemic or treat disease, experts say.

Microbial responses to changing plant community protect peatland carbon stores during Holocene drying - Nature Communications This study reveals that Holocene drying-induced woody plant expansion in peatlands suppresses microbial heterotrophic activity and enhances organic matter stability, creating a natural buffer for carb...

Earth system feedbacks are very complex - there are positive but also negative feedbacks; tipping points that are subject not just to thresholds but the rate of change. Our new paper reveals some of that complexity with respect to the composition of peat vegetation:

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Pete Hegseth’s aides used polygraphs against their own Pentagon colleagues Defense secretary’s staff ordered lie detector tests, at least once without his knowledge, to undercut rivals, sources say

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Columbia and Brown to Disclose Admissions and Race Data in Trump Deal

What impact will capitulation of America's elite universities have on the intellects, capabilities, competence of students? How will this impact leadership in America? in the world?

Will top students go to other countries for their education?
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/n...

Trump is burning through fossil influence with his tariffs and posturing on other issues.

Texas governor threatens to remove Democrats who left state over Trump-backed redistricting Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he will begin trying to remove Democratic lawmakers if they don’t return after dozens of them left the state in a last-resort attempt to block redrawn U.S. House maps.

BREAKING: Texas House falls short of a quorum after Democrats leave the state to prevent a Trump-backed redraw of U.S. House maps.

A sunset with storm clouds over the water

Summer storms in the Chesapeake Bay are getting stronger and wetter. ⛈️ Warmer air holds more moisture, so when it rains, it pours—causing flooding that puts communities at risk and washes pollution into our waters. Nature-based solutions can help: www.cbf.org/issues/pollu...

📷: Dennis Raulin

Longstanding contamination at a nuclear weapons site has produced a radioactive wasp nest. Now DOE wants to repurpose the site to produce new nuclear bomb cores without dealing with this legacy waste first. Sounds like they have their priorities in order…

The Republican campaign to stop the U.S. EPA from protecting the climate » Yale Climate Connections An audacious effort to destroy climate regulations is likely headed for a showdown at the Supreme Court.

The Trump Admin is attempting to repeal the 'endangerment finding', a ruling by SCOTUS in '07 that affirmed the EPA's authority to regulate GHGs under the #CleanAirAct, and subsequent action by that found that these GHGs posed significant health risks.

yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/08/the-...

The Rise of Silicon Valley’s Techno-Religion The Rationalists, a community focused on the risks of artificial intelligence, regularly gather with tech figures and other like-minded people in a complex that covers much of a city block.

The Rationalists, a group focused on A.I. risks, operate a sprawling, modern-day temple in Berkeley that's become a gathering place for like-minded technologists.

The life of microplastic: how fragments move through plants, insects, animals – and you Microplastics have been found in the placentas of unborn babies, the depths of the Mariana Trench, the summit of Everest and the organs of Antarctic penguins. But how do they travel through the world,...

www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

A large stack of colorful shipping containers. A headline reads: "Trump's Tariffs Are Making Money. That May Make Them Hard to Quit." Photo by Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times

News Analysis: President Trump’s tariffs are a substantial new source of revenue for the federal government. The budget may start to depend on it. nyti.ms/4l6U4Sx

Marine fishing fleet in the Soviet Union: A review of its structure and dynamics The Soviet Union was a prominent player in the marine living resource sector for a long time, owing to its powerful fishing fleet. In this paper, we s…

Marine fishing fleet in the Soviet Union: A review of its structure and dynamics

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🧪🌎🦑🐠