by Sharon Guynup
May 23, 2022

In her landmark 1962 book, Silent Spring, biologist Rachel Carson chronicled the damage — and looming consequences — of human “contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials,” which she called “elixirs of death.” In the book’s spellbinding opening parable, which profiles a fictional town of the future, she wrote:

“It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh.”

Silent Spring focused on DDT. During World War II, the U.S. military declared this revolutionary biocide to be “the most powerful of the new weapons the army is now using in its war on insect-borne diseases,” specifically malaria, yellow fever, typhus and bubonic plague.

Read full article here

The New York TImes

By Ruth Maclean and Dionne Searcey

Published July 24, 2022
Updated July 25, 2022

DAKAR, Senegal — The Democratic Republic of Congo, home to one of the largest old-growth rainforests on Earth, is auctioning off vast amounts of land in a push to become “the new destination for oil investments,” part of a global shift as the world retreats on fighting climate change in a scramble for fossil fuels.

The oil and gas blocks, which will be auctioned in late July, extend into Virunga National Park, the world’s most important gorilla sanctuary, as well as tropical peatlands that store vast amounts of carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere and from contributing to global warming.

“If oil exploitation takes place in these areas, we must expect a global climate catastrophe, and we will all just have to watch helplessly,” said Irene Wabiwa, who oversees the Congo Basin forest campaign for Greenpeace in Kinshasa.

Read full article here

AUDUBON FLORIDA

The oldest Roseate Spoonbill ever recorded was found in Florida Bay this spring. The spoonbill, banded by Audubon Florida Director of Research Jerry Lorenz, PhD, in 2003, is now more than 18 years old. The previous record for longevity in the wild for this species? 16 years. Conservation photographer Mac Stone, on assignment with Audubon, photographed the banded bird.

“This spoonbill has seen a lot in its almost two decades on Florida Bay – algae blooms, hypersalinity, and sea grass die-offs. But, it has also seen positive outcomes from Everglades restoration, including increased freshwater to Florida Bay. This spoonbill tells us that despite the hardships, nature is resilient and when we give her a chance – she can bounce back,” says Kelly Cox, Director of Everglades Policy, Audubon Florida.

Read full story here

REUTERS

KINSHASA, July 18 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo will offer 27 oil blocks and three gas blocks, nearly double as many as previously planned, in a licensing round next week, the hydrocarbons ministry said on Monday.

Congo, a leading miner of copper, cobalt, gold and diamonds, has long aimed to boost its oil sector and is believed to have sizeable reserves. Output has remained flat for years at about 25,000 barrels per day because of underinvestment.

Environmental groups and activists have expressed alarm at the plans, as many of the concessions overlap national parks. Congo has in the past defended its right to drill for oil in national parks.

The blocks to be put up for auction on July 28 include three in the coastal basin of Kongo Central province, nine in the Cuvette Centrale, 11 near Lake Tanganyika and four near Lake Albert. The three gas blocks are on Lake Kivu.

Read full article here