📰 EwA News Digest: Insects Underpaid, Mine Delayed, and Everything Man-Made

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mlmcglathery

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Dec 11, 2020, 4:19:20 PM12/11/20
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Hello, all! It’s Mike, with another edition of EwA’s News Digest, where we bring you the latest from the worlds of ecology, conservation, and science.


A new study published in Nature finds that man-made materials now outweigh the earth’s entire biomass. Production of things like concrete, brick and plastic have brought the earth to a point where these materials outweigh the entirety of the planet’s living beings. Read more about this sobering bit of news at The Guardian.




Slightly less massive but better news: the small island chain of Tristan da Cunha in the south Atlantic ocean designated most of its waters as a marine protection zone, creating the fourth-largest marine protection zone in the world. Read about it at EarthSky. 




In other good news, American Bison have been reintroduced at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. This is the latest development in the slow recovery of the American Bison, which numbered as few as 1,000 after the United States’ ignominious extermination campaign in the late 19th century. Article at Mongabay.




Ecology for the Masses discusses a new study focused on the potential effects of global warming-induced changes in phenology on extinction dynamics. This subject is directly related to some of the citizen science projects we participate in here at EwA, such as the Pheno Mismatch Project. 




A new study confirms what we at EwA have talked about often: more charismatic species tend to command a disproportionate share of research and conservation funding, leaving less-popular organisms like arthropods neglected. Read more about the study at The Guardian.




Late last month, the Army Corps of Engineers denied the Clean Water Act permit of the Pebble mine in Alaska, halting plans for a possible open-pit mine on the site. A major consideration in the denial of the permit was the huge economic importance of the region’s sockeye salmon fishery, which of course would have been threatened by the mine. Read more at Reuters.




In local news, conservation groups have asked NOAA to strengthen protections for the critically endangered north Atlantic right whale, including in Massachusetts waters. The petition asks NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service to extend the ranges and durations of seasonal moratoriums of activities that can harm whales in the waters off of Massachusetts. Read about it at the Cape Cod Times.




That’s it for this time! Thanks for tagging along, and happy reading!


-Michael

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