Weber fails to derail EU Green Deal, but Parliament agrees to a weakened Nature Restoration Law

"Today, the European Parliament voted in favour of the Nature Restoration Law and the EU Green Deal, despite an unprecedented - and often outright absurd - disinformation campaign aiming to destroy it, led by conservative and right-wing politicians and agriculture and fisheries lobbies.

This win, however, came at a very high cost – to reach a compromise, MEPs sacrificed many critical obligations and targets, ending up with a position substantially weaker than the original Commission proposal [1]. This flies in the face of the urgency of the climate and biodiversity crises."

https://www.birdlife.org/news/2023/07/12/weber-fails-to-derail-eu-green-deal-but-parliament-agrees-to-a-weakened-nature-restoration-law/

#ClimateCrisis #ClimateJustice #Biodiversity #biodiversitydecline

Activists push for referendum to put ‘Cop City’ on ballot in Atlanta

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/16/atlanta-cop-city-activists-push-referendum

#climatechange #climatecrisis #ClimateJustice #socialjustice #policestate #repression #fascism #deforestation #biodiversitydecline

Diamondback Terrapin

(same individual I posted yesterday)

Headshot. This mama turtle was pretty chill. She didn't even fully retract when I approached, although she froze. So I backed up, but she stayed there for a few before scooting to the water.
#nature #naturephotography #naturecommunity #biodiversity #biodiversitydecline #testudines #turtle #reptile #wildlife #wildlifephotography

Diamondback Terrapin
An endangered species, this is the only estuarine turtle in North America. This is also their nesting season, and these turtles can be encountered walking across the paths to and from nesting sites at this preserve.
#nature #naturephotography #naturecommunity #biodiversity #biodiversitydecline #testudines #turtle #reptile #wildlife #wildlifephotography

David Sirota: Working Class Will Be “Deeply Harmed” by Biden’s “Big Win” on Debt Ceiling

"President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a debt ceiling deal into law that averts a catastrophic default by the United States through January 1, 2025, hailing it as a “big win” for the country. Critics say the agreement protects wealthy corporations and tax dodgers while imposing new cuts on key social programs and expanding work requirements for some recipients of food stamps. The legislation has also been called a “dirty deal” by climate activists because it rolls back environmental regulations and fast-tracks the approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline through West Virginia and Virginia, a pet project of powerful Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin. “The working class of this country was deeply harmed by this bill,” says investigative journalist David Sirota of The Lever. He also faults Democratic leaders for not raising the debt ceiling after the midterm elections, when the party still had control of Congress. “What you see is a picture of a party that wanted this outcome,” says Sirota."

https://www.democracynow.org/2023/6/5/david_sirota_debt_deal

#climatechange #ClimateCrisis #climatejustice #biodiversitydecline #socialjustice #Biden #WorkingClass #systemchange

Amazonia and the World:
A Threatened Realm of Life and Stories

"A brief overview of the history of the Amazon gives an idea of how essential rainforests are. Occupying 12% of the world’s surface, they’re part of the solution to the planet’s present climate catastrophe and illustrate a lot about how it happened. In addition to facing up to past horrors, inflicted by the “enlightened” West, history also shows how centuries-old crimes against small groups in local places, justified by “us and them” thinking (which includes human exceptionalism vis-à-vis all other species), have long-term world-wide consequences. Usually tucked away behind other facts and figures, the single statistic that most tragically and shockingly defines the wonder that is Amazonia is this: “Over a period of 400 years, the Amazon Indian population has shrunk from an estimated six million to perhaps 200,000 today”. Everything we see in the current climate catastrophe is somehow related with this. Once interconnected people, animals, birds, plants, habitats, rivers, soil, air, heat, winds, rain have been harmed to such an extent that vital interactions are severed and the whole planet is affected. Ursula Le Guin sums it up with her title of 1972: The Word for World Is Forest. But the rainforests’ plight isn’t science fiction."

#Indigenous #socialjustice #environmentaljustice #rainforest #amazon #climatechange #ClimateCrisis #biodiversity #biodiversitydecline #indigenousrights

Book: A perfect storm in the Amazon

"Mongabay has begun publishing a new edition of the book, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon,” in short installments and in three languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.

Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy."

https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/book-a-perfect-storm-in-the-amazon/

#climatechange #climatejustice #Deforestration #Amazon #biodiversity #biodiversitydecline

Safe and just’ climate boundary has already been breached, says contested study

"Now, more than a decade after planetary boundaries were first proposed, the updated Earth-system boundaries framework explores how to keep the planet stable while minimising “significant harm” to humans and other species, using a “justice framework”.

The authors select five of the nine original planetary systems – climate, biosphere, water, nutrients and air pollution – and identify eight key, quantifiable indicators that can monitor these systems.

These indicators – including warming level, area of natural ecosystems and surface-water flow – were “carefully chosen” to be “implementable for stakeholders in cities, businesses, countries across the world”, Rockström told a press briefing.

For each indicator, the authors assess the conditions needed to avoid “significant harm” at both global and local scales, taking into account the following justice considerations:

- Interspecies justice: prioritising other species and ecosystems in addition to humanity.

- Intergenerational justice: considering how actions taken today will impact future generations.

- Intragenerational justice: accounting for factors including race, class and gender, which “underpin inequality, vulnerability and the capacity to respond” to changes in planetary systems. [...]"

https://www.carbonbrief.org/safe-and-just-climate-boundary-has-already-been-breached-says-contested-study/

#planetaryboundaries #climatechange #biodiversitydecline #extinction #environmentalcrisis #biosphere #climatejustice

Plastic Pollution Is So Pervasive That It’s Causing a New Disease in Seabirds

Researchers coined the term “plasticosis” to describe stomach damage related to ingesting trash.

https://www.audubon.org/news/plastic-pollution-so-pervasive-its-causing-new-disease-seabirds

#birds #extinctions #biodiversitydecline #environmentalism #systemchange #ecosocialism #extinctionrebellion #pollution #fossilfuels #ecologicalcrisis #ecosocialism

Supreme Duplicity

US Supreme Court ruling further erodes wetlands

https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/05/30/284435/

#ecology #biodiversity #biodiversitydecline #environmentalCrisis #wetlands #birds #wildlife

If you happen to be in a participating urban area from April 28 - May 1:

"Join in the 2023 City Nature Challenge! Make observations of wild plants and animals 28 April - 1 May, and take part in one of the largest community science events in the world while helping us better understand – and therefore, take care of – nature that lives in and around urban areas.

Not all cities use iNaturalist for the City Nature Challenge; you can find the full list of cities and their preferred platforms on the City Nature Challenge website.

Your city not participating this year? Join our Global Project to have your observations count for the CNC no matter where you are! If you'd like your city to be an official CNC city next year, find a willing local organizer and have them fill out our "Interested in organizing for CNC 2024" form!"

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2023

#biodiversity #flora #fauna #wildlife #nature #naturephotography #MastodonNatureCommunity #ecology #biodiversitydecline #research #citizenscience

Look up, listen, and be very concerned. Birds are vanishing – and their crisis is our crisis

"Look up, listen, and be very concerned. Birds are vanishing – and their crisis is our crisis"

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/17/birds-vanishing-crisis-40m-birds

#biodiversity #extinction #biodiversitydecline #birds #birding #environmentalism #ecosystemhealth

Insect Apocalypse in the Anthropocene, Part I

"The rapid decline of Earth’s most numerous animals is a major threat to the biosphere"

https://climateandcapitalism.com/2023/02/16/insect-apocalypse-in-the-anthropocene-i/

#biodiversity #nature #ecology #environmentalcrisis #biodiversitydecline #ecosystem #biosphere #insects #extinction