Nature & Ecosystems

NEW YORK, July 29 (UPI) — A U.N. panel has voted to remove the Galapagos Islands from a list of sites under environmental threat, a move criticized by environmental groups.
The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage Committee approved removing the islands from its list of precious sites endangered by environmental threats or [...]

EAST LANSING, Mich., July 28 (UPI) — Much of China’s suitable panda habitat is outside established nature reserves and areas where wild pandas are reported to live, researchers say.
As effort and resources are being expended to protect the endangered giant panda, identifying additional possible habitat for them can aid future conservations efforts, a [...]

TEL AVIV, Israel, July 27 (UPI) — Israeli researchers say they are developing an early warning hazard system to protect the world’s railways from accidents and even terrorist actions.
Tel Aviv University scientists are collecting high-tech sensing data from satellites, airplanes, ground sensors and unmanned aircraft to devise a solution to provide a reliable [...]

WASHINGTON, July 22 (UPI) — U.S. President Obama has established a new national policy for a coordinated system for managing America’s oceans, coasts and Great Lakes, officials said.
In an executive order issued Monday, the president created the National Ocean Council to implement the new policies, Environment News Service reported.
“With a growing number of recreational, [...]

CHICAGO, July 20 (UPI) — The evolution of flowering plants has made the world a cooler, wetter place, especially in the world’s tropical regions, researchers say.
Flowering plants are important for climate regulation in rainforest regions with short or non-existent dry seasons and where biodiversity is greatest, ScienceDaily.Com reported Monday.
In the Amazon basin, replacing flowering [...]