Good News for the Biosphere at-a-Glance! The fight to save biological life on Earth.
This email is not a commercial initiative, but a free expression of optimism about the potential of humankind and the progress being made to help regenerate and sustain our biosphere.
Beavers Are Back in London — and They’re Thriving!
Usually known for their work in more rural places, nature’s best engineers have brought their ecosystem management skills to the big city. Beavers were hunted to extinction in England during the Elizabethan times, in the 16th century. But last October, these stout, furry rodents were reintroduced into London for the first time in 400 years as part of an effort to rewild the city. Beavers are a keystone species that means they have a disproportionately large impact on ecosystems. They alleviate flooding, they boost biodiversity, they keep everything in check. They’re like ecosystem engineers. Learn more about this rewilding effort here.
Legal Challenges Pressing for Climate Change Accountability
The world has known about the grave risks and impacts of the climate crisis for decades, but it wasn’t until 2022 that international courts were finally asked to formally clarify what States must do to protect people from this threat. Now, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Inter-American Court), the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), have each been asked to clarify States’ climate obligations. The world is looking to these legal proceedings for decisive guidance on States’ duties to confront the climate crisis. Learn more here.
The Accelerating Speed of US Clean Energy Investments
While petrochemical special interests mount negative PR campaigns against post fossil fuel technology, clean energy and transportation investments in the United States continued its record-setting growth in Q1 of 2024, reaching a new high of $71 billion. This continues a sustained quarter-on-quarter growth trend that began in Q1 2021, with a 40% increase in Q1 of 2024 from the same period in 2023. Clean investments accounted for 5.1% of total US private investment in structures, equipment, and durable consumer goods in the United States, compared to 3.7% in Q1 2023. investments in the deployment of emerging climate technologies (ECT)—clean hydrogen, carbon management, and sustainable aviation fuels—continued to surge, with a 37% increase relative to Q4 2023 and a five-fold increase relative to Q1 2023. Learn more here.
UN Calls for Global Ban on Fossil Fuel Advertisements
UN Secretary General António Guterres urged nations to ban advertising from fossil fuel companies in a speech at the American Museum of Natural History. He called the fossil fuel industry “the Godfathers of climate chaos,” and said advertising and PR agencies that take Big Oil on as clients are “enablers to planetary destruction.” He said the end of the fossil fuel age was an economic inevitability, but that global emissions need to fall 9% every year until 2030 to keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius alive. The next 18 months will be key to deciding our future, he said. “I call on leaders in the fossil fuel industry to understand that if you are not in the fast lane to clean energy transformation, you are driving your business into a dead end – and taking us all with you.” See additional details here.
One of Earth’s Oldest Living Species Hoards its Chromosomes to Optimize Resiliency
This is not the “first rodeo” for some species in their fight for survival in a hostile environment. For instance, the human genome is made up of 3 billion base pairs of DNA, but that’s nothing compared with the New Caledonian fork fern (Tmesipteris oblanceolate), a leafy, tendrilled plant native to several Pacific islands. Researchers reported in Science its genome contains an astonishing 160 billion base pairs, making it the largest genome ever discovered. The finding could help scientists understand how genomes grow so large, and how these massive sets of genes affect species’ adaptability and survival. Learn more here.
BONUS: How to Invest While Protecting Nature: Join MCSI’s upcoming webinar where their experts will showcase the applicability of biodiversity metrics through insightful use cases; June 19th 9:00 am (EDT). Register at no cost here.
Our Biosphere - Is defined as that part of the Earth in which living organisms exist (the entire zone of life). As such, it is viewed as all the places that support life and includes the overlapping zones of the atmosphere, the upper part of the geosphere, and all of the hydrosphere. Or more simply; any place on Earth where life can exist. Not protecting our Biosphere is the root cause for most of the critical environmental, social and economic multi-crises we face today in the Anthropocene Era.
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Bill Stough, LLC | 616.889.0640 | PO Box 414, Byron Center, MI 49315