Trillions of microplastic particles in the ocean threaten marine life, from huge filter-feeders to tiny plankton. Although not lethal in the short term, the long-term impacts of microplastics on plankton and marine microbes could disrupt key Earth systems such as ocean carbon storage and nitrogen cycling.
The #Amazonas state in #Brazil is experiencing one of its worst #droughts in recent history, affecting hundreds of thousands of people and #wildlife across Brazil’s Amazon.
An extreme #heatwave is currently engulfing South America's northern regions, including Brazil, with record-breaking temperatures.
Locals and scientists are concerned about a scorching summer and #wildfires, and the future impacts on the region’s #ecosystem and livelihoods.
🦥 #Plants in the rainforest can be dangerous due to their toxins, but sloths have adapted to survive by eating them.
🥬 This #video explains how sloths have developed specialized pouches in their gut and host bacteria that break down the toxins in the leaves. Digestion can take weeks, so #sloths only eat a small amount of #leaves each day, which explains their famous slowness.
GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST DEEP SEA MINING IN THE ARCTIC
The Norwegian government’s alarming new proposal to open up an area nearly the size of the United Kingdom and Ireland combined for exploration and exploitation of #DeepSea minerals would have severe repercussions for the environment and the people who depend on it. Together, we can stand up to them!
The area of the #ArcticOcean that #Norway wants to start #mining in is home to essential fish populations,
The deep sea supports the multiple ecosystem processes necessary for #Earth ’s natural systems to function, including the absorption and storage of vast quantities of the #carbon emitted into the air by human activities.
A two-decade-old experiment in the tropical rainforest of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, is beginning to reveal that human-assisted restoration of logged forests can increase the speed of an ecosystem’s recovery.
The researchers also found that planting a diverse suite of seedlings, instead of only one species, led in just one decade to greater biomass and forest complexity.
#CapitalismIsKillingUs: If the world’s highest emitting countries only focus on technological climate solutions (like switching to renewable energy) and not #systemic behavioral ones (like buying less stuff and using less energy), the authors argue, #climatechange may be slowed. But #ecological#overshoot—which includes symptoms like #biodiversity loss, #ecosystem collapse, and #oceanacidification—will worsen. And as overshoot worsens, the authors argue, “the likelihood of societal breakdown increases.”
For people working on actual privacy-preserving technologies like sandboxing apps from one another and your data, it’s pretty infuriating that Google is steaming ahead with the extreme misnomer “Privacy Sandbox”.
It’s a system that tracks everything you do on your device or browser—the opposite of privacy—then gives a profile of you to any app or site that asks—the opposite of a sandbox.
It’s telling that it’s mostly adtech companies who are on board.
I want to show how beautiful & important that community parks & greenspaces are essential to our living ecosystems. Nature doesn't need us - WE NEED NATURE!
More photos from our hike through Calvert Park today. I'm really sad that the huge beaver lodge that was there for years - was removed by humans! The beaver family that lived there for years is now displaced & I don't know if they survived. Displaced when road work started & their lodge was removed during that time 😪
Uploading my video from Calvert Park hike now. Shot from a fantastic viewpoint - atop moss & lichen covered huge boulders. We climbed atop them boulders & rested for snacks/water break. Took photos & one vid.
Today. I hiked Calvert park in early afternoon with my friend, Marie. Got lost, ended up in someone's backyard & walked down their driveway back to road. The old trail back to road has been blocked off.
Longhorn Bees have been gathering in groups in our Tucson, AZ, USA yard to sleep on the dried-out flower stems of our Brittlebush. We’ve seen up to 40 of these each night recently so I drew a few of them for my Perpetual Journal this week.
Climate change is an immediate threat to the majority of the world's population.
We need a local, regional, state, national, and international "moon shot" type of concentration of effort using available resources while developing and advancing new science and technologies to counteract the damage humans have caused.
Without this type of all-out, universal cooperation, human civilization, and perhaps humanity itself, are in imminent danger of extinction.
#Rewilding and #ecosystem#restoration projects may not suit zealots who believe only directly removing #carbon from the #atmosphere is beneficial for #ClimateChange mitigation but such efforts fit perfectly in an Everything, Everywhere, All at Once strategy because #decarbonization is only one goal we need to achieve, not the only goal.
"When #nature is allowed off the leash to be fully functioning, it can have an awe-inspiring resilience. These powers of nature shouldn't be underestimated."