biodiversity

To save nature, world leaders aim to turn words into action at biodiversity summit

5:00am October 21, 2024

The United Nations effort to achieve “harmony” with the natural world kicks off in Colombia this week. Recent reports show there's a lot of work to do to achieve that goal.

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Box turtles. Coral. These illegally trafficked animals still need a good home

2:35pm June 08, 2024

When authorities find wildlife that are being illegally trafficked, at ports or airports, the animals are often in terrible shape. Sick, starved, distressed. A pilot project in Southern California aims to get seized wildlife immediate care.

A burial team in Liberia awaits decontamination after performing "safe burials" for people who died of Ebola during the 2014-15 outbreak. Strains of the virus are harbored by bats and primates. A new study looks at how human activity affects the transmission of infectious diseases like Ebola.

What's worse for disease spread: animal loss, climate change or urbanization?

5:36pm May 15, 2024

by Jonathan Lambert

Scientists are looking at the ways humans change the planet — and the impact that has on the spread of infectious disease. You might be surprised at some of their conclusions.

Ninety-seven percent of migratory fish species are facing extinction. Whale sharks, the world's largest living fish, are among the endangered.

Across the world, migrating animal populations are dwindling. Here's why

7:00pm February 12, 2024

by Nathan Rott

In a landmark UN study, researchers found nearly half of the world's threatened migratory species have declining populations. More than a fifth of the assessed animals face extinction.

The Key deer is the smallest deer species in North America. The deer live only in the low-lying Florida Keys. They are considered federally endangered, with an estimated population of around 1,000.

A tiny deer and rising seas: How far should people go to save an endangered species?

5:30am November 12, 2023

The Key deer is losing the only place it lives, raising uncomfortable questions for the people tasked with keeping endangered species alive.

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A study published in the journal Nature found that the status of amphibians globally is "deteriorating rapidly," earning them the unenviable title of being the planet's most threatened class of vertebrates. Here, an endangered Agalychnis annae, commonly known as a Blue-Sided Leaf Frog, is seen at National Biodiversity Institute of Costa Rica, INBio, in Heredia, Costa Rica.

Scientists looked at nearly every known amphibian type. They're not doing great

4:36pm October 04, 2023

by Nathan Rott

A new global assessment of the world's amphibians finds that more than 2 of every 5 known species is at risk of extinction. Habitat loss, disease and climate change are the main drivers.

The head table gets set to open the high level segment at the COP15 biodiversity conference in Montreal on Dec. 15, 2022.

Environment

Negotiators at a U.N. biodiversity conference reach a historic deal to protect nature

6:56am December 19, 2022

by The Associated Press

The most significant part of the U.N. pact is a commitment to protect 30% of land and water considered important for biodiversity by 2030, up from 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine areas.