Green & indigenous News

Throughout their lifetimes, healthy forests produce more oxygen than they use, while taking in greenhouse gases via plants and soils. This ecosystem-wide service, called carbon sequestration, regulates global climate and is an essential component of climate models and goals. Forest health, however, influences carbon cycling, and when trees get sick, the net reduction of greenhouse gases may be more limited than previously thought.

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A new report by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO reveals a critical lack of understanding of how the ocean absorbs and stores carbon. This glaring uncertainty about our planet's largest carbon sink threatens to skew current climate predictions, and hamper our ability to develop effective mitigation and adaptation strategies in the coming decades.

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JUIZ DE FORA, Brazil (AP) — Families of those killed in the devastating floods in southeastern Brazil began burying the dead on Wednesday, as the death toll climbed to at least 40 in the state of Minas Gerais. All the victims found so far are in the cities of Juiz de Fora and Uba, about 310 kilometers (192 miles) north of Rio de Janeiro. Some 30 people are still missing and more than 3,000 residents have been forced to leave their homes as of Wednesday morning, according to Minas Gerais’s fire department. Among the dead was 11-year-old Bernardo Lopes Dutra, after the rain caused his house to collapse. “It’s a tragedy that no one was expecting,” his father, Ricardo Dutra, said at the funeral in Juiz de Fora. He described Bernardo as “a boy with a big heart who, in his own way, touched everyone around him.” Dutra’s wife and daughter were still in a hospital. The Rev. Ananias Simões, the pastor at the church that Dutra and his family regularly attended in Juiz de Fora, said that the building has been turned into a temporary shelter. “We’re doing what we can, collecting food, water. We’re in a war situation,” Simões said. Dário Tibério, a 41-year-old truck driver, decided to leave his house along with his family for fear of collapse. He found refuge at the church, while he waits on authorities to say his home is risk-free. “There’s a danger that the mud and earth can come and bury us along with…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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As the global population climbs toward 10 billion and climate change strains farmland, scientists are searching for new ways to feed the world. A group of Cornell food science researchers say one answer may lie not in fields of soy or herds of cattle, but in networks of fungi quietly transforming agricultural waste into food.

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Penguins are dramatically shifting their breeding season as the Antarctic peninsula warms, a recent study finds. From 2012 to 2022, researchers used remote cameras to examine the timing of breeding for three penguin species across 37 colonies on the Antarctic peninsula and surrounding islands. They tracked their ‘settlement date’: when the penguins began continuously occupying their nesting zones. The study, led by the citizen-science collective Penguin Watch at the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University, U.K., was published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. Over that 10-year period, gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) began their breeding season an average of 13 days earlier in the year, though for some colonies, it was more than three weeks. Chinstrap (P. antarcticus) and Adélie (P. adeliae) penguins settled into their colonies an average of 10.4 and 10.2 days, respectively, ahead of their schedule a decade ago. These breeding changes are amongst the most extreme yet recorded for any bird — and likely any vertebrate — in response to climate change, the study notes. “This is a huge advance and an incredibly fast one … and that’s what surprised us,” says Ignacio Juarez Martínez, a biologist and the study’s lead author who conducted the research as part of his PhD at the University of Oxford. “It’s literally a world record.” Gentoo colony at Neko Harbour, on the Antarctic peninsula. Gentoo penguins are the least ice-tolerant of the three species studied — which also included Adélie and chinstrap penguins. They are expanding their range southwards…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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A new study provides a comprehensive global synthesis of how vessel traffic affects large marine wildlife, including whales, dolphins, seals, manatees, sea turtles, sharks and rays. The study, "Charting the Course for Management: A Global Analysis of Effects of Vessels on Marine Megafauna," was published in npj Ocean Sustainability.

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Wildfires have increased in frequency and severity over the past few decades. More fires are burning at the wildland-urban interface (WUI), where homes and other buildings meet the natural landscape—but our understanding of emissions from structure fires is still growing.

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Scores of sea lions continue to beach themselves along the Southern California coastline, stricken with sickness. Toxic algae blooms are to blame, though a mechanical engineering innovation could shift the tide in favor of the marine mammals. Now, UNLV-led research published in Scientific Reports has successfully developed a synthetic California sea lion pelvic region, mimicking its bone and soft tissue. This allows medical professionals to conduct blood collection training on anatomically authentic models, improving efforts to treat the live animals.

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A new study has found that the wild can be a "death trap" for animals that are released from captivity after previously being rescued. The research, published in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation, involved Anglia Ruskin University primatologist Professor Anna Nekaris OBE and colleagues from the NGO Plumploris e.V. and the University of Western Australia, who studied the outcome of Bengal slow lorises (Nycticebus bengalensis) released in Bangladesh.

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Have you ever stopped to wonder how forecasters can predict the weather days in advance, or how scientists figure out how the climate might evolve under different policies?

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How do evolutionarily conserved pathogen effectors maintain structural stability while engaging diverse host targets? In a new study published in Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions, researchers at the University of Pretoria's Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) define a conserved subset of Phytophthora RxLR effectors in which short linear motifs (SLiMs) are embedded within folded WY domain cores.

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Studying social behavior is crucial for understanding how certain neuromodulatory pathways—like the serotonin pathway, which influences mood and social interactions—are regulated. Kavita Babu, Professor at the Centre for Neuroscience (CNS), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and her lab have been investigating these signaling mechanisms using the worm Caenorhabditis elegans.

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Indoor farms, also known as vertical farms, are popular among agricultural researchers and are expanding across the agricultural industry. Some benefits they have over outdoor farms include the year-round production of food crops, less water and land requirements, and they don't need pesticides. They also reduce food waste and carbon emissions from shipping. Additionally, some studies indicate that indoor farms produce more nutritious food for urban communities.

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Studying gene expression in a cancer patient's cells can help clinical biologists understand the cancer's origin and predict the success of different treatments. But cells are complex and contain many layers, so how the biologist conducts measurements affects which data they can obtain. For instance, measuring proteins in a cell could yield different information about the effects of cancer than measuring gene expression or cell morphology.

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Seven weaned elephant seal pups in California's Año Nuevo State Park tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed Tuesday evening.

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The Amazon Rainforest generates its own weather. Each day, the forest’s 390 billion trees release approximately 20 billion metric tons of water vapor into the atmosphere through evapotranspiration, creating what Brazilian scientists call rios voadores — flying rivers. These aerial currents of moisture flow westward from the Atlantic, recirculating water from the forest canopy before turning south to deliver rainfall across South America’s agricultural heartlands. But the mechanism is breaking down. Since the 1970s, Brazil has cleared 88 million hectares (217 million acres) of Amazon forest, most converted into low-productivity pastures, with around 45 million hectares (111 million acres) considered severely or moderately degraded. The consequences extend beyond biodiversity loss, carbon emissions and social disruption: deforestation threatens the continent’s productive capacity and the economic livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people. Droughts in 2023 and 2024 affected more than 50 million hectares (124 million acres) of forest, and scientists warn that continued deforestation could push the system past a tipping point where the Amazon can no longer sustain its rainfall regime. Yet hidden within this environmental crisis lies an economic opportunity. Brazil’s Forest Code, revised in 2012, requires private properties in the country’s Amazonian region to maintain native vegetation on 80% of their landholding as a “legal reserve” (reserva legal). Properties that clear forest beyond the 80% threshold carry a “forest debt” with a legal obligation to restore equivalent forest cover. Analysis using Brazil’s Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) indicates about 280,000 properties are noncompliant, with a collective deficit of 10…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Mexico’s sundry landscapes have few parallels. Straddling the northern boundary of the Tropic of Cancer, the country boasts low-lying deserts and humid rainforests, scrubby chaparral and tangled mangroves, with long spines of the Sierra Madre stitching the country’s starkly different biomes together. Mexico is home to the third-most mammal species of any country and supports a whopping 864 species of reptiles, nearly half of which occur only within Mexico’s borders. What’s more, human culture is deeply intertwined with the natural world here, with known traditional uses for almost a quarter — some 5,000 species — of its plants. “Mexico is a ‘megadiverse’ country,” Daniela Carrión, senior director of project design and oversight at the NGO Conservation International, tells Mongabay. The “megadiverse“ moniker is ascribed to 17 countries holding most of the world’s biodiversity. They typically have high levels of endemic species, plants in particular, that occur nowhere else on Earth. Still, Carrión adds, Mexico “faces a lot of challenges that are similar to all countries in terms of land use options and climate change.” Deforestation for agriculture, as well as logging, water scarcity and sea level rise, all threaten to strain the country’s resilience. The Mexican government has a long history of conservation, Carrión says, with recent moves to boost protected areas to 95 million hectares (235 million acres), covering 14% of the country’s land and a quarter of its seas and oceans by the end of 2024. But maintaining such large areas, which the country hopes to expand on…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Suitable habitat for migrating monarch butterflies will shift southwards because of climate change, according to a study published in PLOS Climate by Francisco Botello and Carolina Ureta at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and colleagues.

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Powerful, fierce and the king of the Cretaceous world, Tyrannosaurus rex was the ultimate apex predator. But it was also surprisingly dainty on its feet, according to new research. Findings published in the journal Royal Society Open Science show that when these giant beasts walked and ran, they did so on tiptoes.

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A new tool enables biomedical researchers from around the world to quickly see the connections between lipids and proteins inside cells, thanks to a new initiative led by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University. The scientists say the new open-access database and dashboard could accelerate new treatments involving an understudied but potent aspect of human health.

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A new study co-authored by Virginia Tech and University of Vermont researchers offers one of the first, large-scale empirical looks at how Certified Crop Advisors (CCAs) across North America evaluate the next generation of artificial intelligence–enabled decision support systems (AI‑DSS) for agriculture. Published in Technological Forecasting and Social Change, the study identifies the specific design features that most influence whether trusted agricultural advisors will choose AI tools—and what might hold them back.

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How the Lower Kuskokwim School District and community members are keeping local basketball teams going, even far from home.

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Climate change has caused some tropical plants to flower earlier or later than they used to; in some cases by a matter of weeks or even months, according to a study of 8,000 flowers across more than two centuries, published in PLOS One by Skylar Graves and Erin Manzitto-Tripp of the University of Colorado–Boulder.

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This story was originally published by Gaylord News.

Gavin Norman
Gaylord News

WASHINGTON –  With less than a year to go in his second term, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt spoke candidly to fellow governors about the freedom that comes with not having to run for re-election.

“Politics gets involved, you have to win the next election, it just gets so disgusting when you actually get down to what actually happens in the political world,” Stitt, Cherokee, said during the winter meeting of the National Governors Association, which he chairs. Stitt said he relishes his newfound freedom to fight against the partisan allegiances that often define politics.

“I’m obviously terming out, I have one year left, so getting a lot more free. It’s so fun not having to run for reelection again. I can say and do what I want.”

The NGA Winter Meeting took place last week under the banner of “Reigniting the American Dream.” The theme placed emphasis on state-driven economic successes; prioritizing state-led innovation over federal mandates and oversight.

NGA Vice Chairman and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore stressed the need for governors to adopt a rational approach to governance, regardless of the political climate.

“We have created this binary system in our country that makes it so difficult for people to get at the heart of what people are looking for, because they’re looking through every issue through a lens of either red or blue,” Moore said.

For Stitt, it was an opportunity to call for bipartisan cooperation on critical issues their constituents face on a daily basis, even when such collaboration pushes against partisan rhetoric at the national level.

“We can’t have these pendulum swings back and forth, depending on who’s in the White House,”  Stitt said. “Most Oklahomans think like me that, sure, the climate’s changing, but the question is, what’s causing it? How do we stay as a world leader in energy? How do we make sure that we have an affordable electricity grid? Because most Americans just want to take their kids to piano lessons, soccer practice, heat their homes, their businesses.”

A point of friction involved a dispute over a White House gathering that initially threatened to exclude certain governors based on party affiliation. While the White House eventually extended invitations to all governors for the formal business breakfast, the Friday meeting was cut short by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on President Trump’s tariff authority. Trump exited the breakfast early to address the decision. Stitt explained the situation when he sat down with CBS news after the breakfast.

“First we see Susie (Wiles) leave, then Rubio, and Bondi. I looked at my phone and saw it had just come out. The president was disappointed, but we support the president in trying to bring manufacturing back to Oklahoma. We’ve benefited from some of the tariff policies,” Stitt told CBS.

Stitt’s “more free” approach could be noted during discussions on immigration, when he said rural Oklahoma business owners are more interested in work authorizations than political posturing.

“The immigration issue that we’ve talked about, we think that the governors need a seat at that table.” Stitt said. “We have to have a strong border. But the state should be in charge of workforce permits. And so I think we, as governors, believe in the idea of federalism and state’s rights, instead of a one-size-fits-all from the federal government, I think that’s the best way.”

The NGA heard from veteran pollster Frank Luntz, who has spent three decades as a professional “temperature taker” for the American public. Luntz said his data shows that 40 percent of Americans have lost personal relationships over politics. But he also noted that state elected officials remain the only group that still hold a majority of the public’s trust.

“You’re the ones who can solve this,” Luntz told the assembled governors. “You can do this. No one else can. This is not going to come from the White House, it’s not going to come from the mayors, it’s going to come from you all around this table.”

Stitt agreed with Luntz’s sentiment, offering a metaphor for his opinion on the current state of the country’s morale.

“It feels like we’re a country that’s in a car. We’re just speeding towards the cliff. And right now our party’s driving and the other parties are in the passenger seat. And we’re worried about what’s on the radio.” Stitt said. “Its almost like we can’t make decisions we feel are best because the other side is going to weaponize it against us.”

Stitt will host the NGA summer meeting in Oklahoma City before his term as NGA chairman officially ends and he is succeeded by Moore. Stitt has made it clear he is not seeking a permanent role in Washington or a spot on a future national ticket. Stitt said in January he plans to return to the private sector once his term concludes in early 2027, viewing his time in office as a “limited engagement” rather than a career in politics.

Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. For more stories by Gaylord News go to GaylordNews.net.

The post Gov. Kevin Stitt chairs National Governors Association winter meeting, says not running for re-election is ‘more free’ appeared first on ICT.

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