One-Third of Protected Areas 'Highly Degraded' By Humans, Study Finds

EcoWatch

A traffic jam on the road to the famed Lake Louise in Jasper National Park, Canada. PinP photo.

A study published in Science Friday presents what authors call a sobering "reality check" on global efforts to protect biodiversity—one third of all conservation areas set aside as wildlife sanctuaries or national parks are "highly degraded" by human activities. More here.

Salmon with side effects: Aquacultures are polluting Chile's rivers with a cocktail of dissolved organic substances

ScienceNews

Salmon farming in Reloncavi Estuary, Chile. Photo by Pablo Rodríguez

Tasty, versatile, and rich in essential omega-3 fatty acids: salmon is one of the most popular edible fish of all. Shops sell fish caught in the wild, but their main produce is salmon from breeding farms which can pollute rivers, lakes and oceans. Just how big is the problem? Scientists are working to answer this question by examining the dissolved organic compounds which enter Chile’s rivers from salmon farms. They warn that these substances are placing huge strain on ecosystems and are changing entire biological communities. More here.

Scientists struggle to explain a worrying rise in atmospheric methane

The Economist

A PinP photo.

In the past decade methane levels have shot up, to the extent that the atmosphere contains two-and-a-half times as much of the gas as it did before the Industrial Revolution. More here.

Leaked report warns Cambodia's biggest dam could 'literally kill' Mekong river

The Guardian

A narrows in the Meykong - Laos. Photo by Hector Garcia.

Government-commissioned report says proposed site is the ‘worst possible place’ for hydropower due to impact on wildlife. More here.

RELATED: "Mekong - a River Rising."

Investors urge fossil fuel firms to shun Trump's Arctic drilling plans

The Guardian

The Porcupine herd on its home range - the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge. It's feared the decision last year by the U.S. Senate to allow oil drilling there will disrupt and endanger the herd, considered the largest and healthiest on the continent. Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 

Oil extraction in Alaskan wilderness area would be an ‘irresponsible business decision’, trillion-dollar investors say. More here.

RELATED: "Oil drilling threatens yet another caribou herd" - by Larry Powell.

The race to save Arctic cities (in Canada & elsewhere) as permafrost melts

NATIONAL OBSERVER

In Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, a good home is hard to find. More here.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Jesse Allen, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The walls of this immense Siberian crater are more than 85 meters tall in places. Batagaika Crater has formed as rising temperatures have thawed the permafrost in Siberia. Warmer summers and shorter winters are causing the frozen layer cake of ice and soil to collapse (or “slump”) and erode away in much of the Arctic. 

Modern, U.S. Family Farm Pastures its Pigs.

RODALE

INSTITUTE

A behind the scenes look at the Rodale Institute Organic Hog Facility with Farm Manager Ross Duffield. More here.