• Animals

Biden Administration Reinstates Migratory Bird Protections

• birds
• extinction crisis
• Migratory Bird Treaty Act

By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer The Biden Administration announced that it would restore protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, enforcing rules that hold companies accountable for killing wild birds. The Trump Administration dramatically scaled back these rules, folding to the demands of oil companies, utilities, and other industries. Under these new rules, companies […]

• Animals

23 Species Declared Extinct in the United States

• biodiversity
• birds
• extinction crisis

By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer Twenty-three species in the United States will be declared extinct by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) today. The extinctions include 11 birds, eight freshwater mussels, two fish, a bat, and a plant. These species will join a list of more than 150 others already declared extinct in the […]

• Animals

Komodo Dragons Threatened to Extinction by Climate Change

• extinction crisis
• IUCN
• Komodo dragon
• threatened species

By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer The Komodo dragon, the largest lizard on Earth, has been added to the IUCN “red list” — a sign that the species is near extinction. The cause? Climate change. Komodo dragons live on land very close to sea level, so the rising water levels could flood or destroy 30% […]

• Animals

Congress Urges Biden to Declare Extinction Crisis a National Emergency

• 30 by 30
• biodiversity
• climate change
• extinction crisis

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer On Friday, nine Representatives introduced a bill that would direct the President to declare the global extinction crisis a national emergency. The Extinction Crisis Emergency Act would designate resources and agencies to evaluate and protect threatened species across the country and crack down on international endangered animal trade. Advocates say that […]

• Animals

The U.S. has Rejoined the Paris Agreement, but Why Not the CBD?

• #30x30
• biodiversity
• conservation
• Convention on Biological Diversity
• extinction crisis

Despite playing a significant role in drafting the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), an international agreement to conserve biodiversity, the U.S. is the only member of the United Nations yet to ratify it. The next Conference of the Parties (COP) of the CBD is scheduled to take place in China later this year.

Why This Matters: More than one million species are now considered endangered, and extinction rates have reached an all-time high.

• Animals

Meet the “Pizzly Bear,” a Polar/Grizzly Hybrid Moving in Next Door

• adaptation
• climate change
• endangered species
• extinction
• extinction crisis
• grizzly bear
• polar bear

As the earth grows warmer, some of its cold-weather creatures are struggling to survive, and in response, nature is showing us what it does best: adapting. The “pizzly bear,” which won out over the name “grolar bear,” is a polar bear/grizzly bear hybrid becoming more and more common in Canada. 

Why This Matters: The polar bear may be the next victim of the ongoing biodiversity crisis.