Sea otters are terminally cute critters and a delight to view rolling and diving in the kelp canopy of Monterey Bay, where some 3,000 endangered southern otters play an essential role in maintaining the marine kelp forest. But to crabs, clams, abalone, urchins and some fishermen, sea otters are voracious marine weasels that can eat […]
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The Crimes Behind the Seafood you Eat
China has invested heavily in an armada of far-flung fishing vessels, in part to extend its global influence. This maritime expansion has come at grave human cost. Some ships that appear to be fishing vessels press territorial claims in contested waters, including in the South China Sea and around Taiwan. “This may look like a […]
Triage and Transformation Strategies for the Climate Emergency
In 2004, I contributed to Feeling the Heat, a book in which nine journalists traveled the world to report on the impacts of climate change. My chapters covered Australia, Florida, Fiji, and Antarctica. Today, you no longer have to travel to cover climate catastrophes because they’re regularly coming to a neighborhood near you. Despite a few outspoken […]
Will Biden’s new American Climate Corps match the success of the California Conservation Corps?
On Wednesday, President Biden used his executive power to establish the American Climate Corps, which will employ and train 20,000 young people in the work of climate resilience. Similar to but more modest than the famed CCC — the Civilian Conservation Corps established by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 during the Great Depression — the ACC […]
Opinion: Florida’s sea temperature hit 101. What does that mean for the world’s oceans?
“Who hears the fishes when they cry?” — Henry David Thoreau’ Ocean temperatures around the Florida Keys hit an unprecedented 101.1 degrees this July, resulting in the worst coral bleaching in the reef system’s history. There will also likely be an intensification of this year’s hurricane season due to the hot tub like ocean conditions. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric […]