Biodiversity

"Construction crews building a border wall in New Mexico were ordered to stop drilling new wells after ranchers said that pumping groundwater to produce concrete could threaten their livestock amid a severe drought."

"A new U.S. policy that aims to reduce the risks arising from federally funded research with dangerous pathogens is drawing mixed reviews from scientists, with even some who support tighter regulation fearing its vague wording could complicate, not clarify, the rules on what kinds of studies the government will support."

"A small nonprofit with an innovative approach to predator-livestock conflicts is trying to ease Colorado ranchers’ concerns about wolves."

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A first-of-its-kind U.S. study suggests invasive mold infections may be an underappreciated — and potentially deadly — threat. The researchers detected about 450 cases in Atlanta-area hospitals over five years. About a third of the patients died in the hospital."

Scientists say climate change, caused mainly by burning oil, coal and gas, is making the Mediterranean Sea hotter, bringing hundreds of new and invasive fish species that decimate indigenous populations. As biodiversity diminishes, coastal communities will struggle to make ends meet in the ways they’ve known for generations."

"CapuchinAI, a portable testing station equipped with a touch screen and facial recognition software, could help scientists study primate intelligence in the wild."

"For decades, presidents of both parties and the Supreme Court have agreed that federal law prevents developers from destroying habitat critical to vulnerable wildlife. The Trump administration is now making the case that a landmark Supreme Court ruling ending judicial deference to federal agencies gives it room to reverse that longstanding interpretation."

"A record wave of brown, smelly seaweed is washing up on beaches along ‌Mexico's Caribbean coast, forcing closures in top tourist destinations and inflicting mounting economic damage on hotels, restaurants and shops."

"California’s wildfires are destroying forests faster than the state can replant them, and federal cuts are making the gap worse. One expert says the crisis is barely known — even though it could reshape half the state’s forests by 2071."

"Maine’s fishing ports are doing well for now, but climate change is destabilizing the Gulf of Maine, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s latest “State of the Ecosystem” report for New England waters. Federal scientists presented the report to the New England Fishery Management Council in April, and published it online last week."