Day: July 19, 2021

They stole prized lumber from a national forest. The trees’ DNA proved it, feds say.

Read the full story in the Washington Post.

The blazing fire that tore through Washington state’s Olympic National Forest in 2018 scorched 3,300 acres of land and destroyed dozens of valuable bigleaf maple trees. Amid the wreckage were oversized stumps with sawed-off limbs — a signal that the flames could have been a devastating casualty of a poorly planned tree heist.

Two men were responsible, federal investigators said, and the proof was in the trees’ genetic makeup.

In a first for a federal criminal trial, prosecutors used tree DNA to prove the remains matched that of the timber the men sold to local mills.

Addressing biodiversity authentically and effectively

Read the full story at GreenBiz.

As a global beverage company that relies on water, protecting the healthy biodiverse environment that nurtures water has been at the center of Suntory’s work over the past several decades. The company has worked to preserve the resources that enable our business to thrive. For corporations unsure where to begin on their biodiversity events, here are some guiding tips based on our experience of preserving forests and water, managing bird habitat and communicating our biodiversity efforts.

‘We live in a desert. We have to act like it’: Las Vegas faces reality of drought

Read the full story in The Guardian.

Water investigators track down wasteful homeowners and public turf torn up to conserve scarce water supplies

Modular, floating tidal energy system passes a key “20-year test”

Read the full story at New Atlas.

Solar and wind are the stars of the show when it comes to renewable energy, but we’re starting to see some exciting progress in turbines that harness the power of the planet’s tidal patterns. Looking to leverage all that motion in the ocean is UK startup Sustainable Marine, whose floating tidal turbine rotors just breezed through a testing regime that simulated 20 years of real-world conditions.

Your sneakers are polluting the planet. Adidas and Allbirds unveil an ultra-green alternative

Read the full story at Fast Company.

In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, the global sneaker house Adidas and the sustainable, direct-to-consumer shoe brand Allbirds announced they were teaming up to make the most sustainable sneaker ever. Today, we get a look at that shoe for the first time.

It’s called the Futurecraft.Footprint. And while an MIT study from 2013 found the average sneaker had a 30-pound CO2 footprint—about the same as eating about 3.5 Big Macs—the Futurecraft.Footprint comes in at under 3 kilograms of CO2 per pair. It’s 2.94 kilograms to be exact—a number hand written on every shoe.

A big win for right-to-repair

Read the full story at Grist.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing the Federal Trade Commission to tackle at repair monopolies.

The climate crisis will create two classes: those who can flee, and those who cannot

Read the full story in The Guardian.

Nearly 700 million people worldwide live in low coastal zones vulnerable to sea-level rise and coastal storms. That number could reach a billion by 2050

SIU student wildlife biologist researches how coyotes’ and bobcats’ travels impact ecosystem

Read the full story from Southern Illinois University.

Nicole Gorman, a graduate student in zoology and research assistant at SIU’s Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, is studying bobcat and coyote movement in Southern and Central Illinois and their impact on areas they live in. A Granger, Indiana, native, Gorman is focusing on multispecies systems and the spatial behavior of wildlife in the two different environments – one forested and the other agricultural and more influenced by humans.

The 2021 Audubon Photography Awards: Winners and Honorable Mentions

Read the full story at Audubon Magazine.

Thousands of people entered photographs and—for the first time— videos in this year’s contest. The finest images showed birdlife at its most tranquil, clever, and powerful.

The writer sharing the untold stories of female climate activists

Read the full story at Narratively.

Narratively contributor Jill L. Ferguson on her latest collaborative book, which covers Australian women’s role in the environmental movement.