protection
Newsletter
Airport, retail and farm workers demand heat protections after deaths
Airport, retail, fast food and farm workers in 13 U.S. cities are rallying to demand federal heat protections following several heat-related deaths on the job.
In short:
- Workers in multiple industries are advocating for on-the-job heat protections, including water access and breaks, due to rising temperatures.
- Current federal regulations are still in the proposal stage, with implementation facing delays and political hurdles.
- Extreme heat, exacerbated by climate change, is increasingly lethal, with workers facing inadequate protections.
Key quote:
“Heat is a silent killer. It is the biggest weather-related killer in our community.”
— Texas' Democrat Representative Greg Casar.
Why this matters:
Rising temperatures are putting more workers at risk, especially those in outdoor or physically demanding jobs. Without stronger protections, heat-related deaths and illnesses are likely to increase.
Related: Op-ed: In a warming world, nurses heal people and the planet
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US ocean protection plan includes commercial fishing areas, sparking debate
New information reveals the Biden administration’s ocean conservation strategy considers areas with commercial fishing as protected, causing concern among scientists.
In short:
- The U.S. aims to preserve 30% of its marine areas, counting some zones that allow commercial fishing as protected.
- Scientists argue that allowing commercial fishing undermines the conservation goals intended to support biodiversity.
- The debate highlights differing global standards on what qualifies as a conserved area.
Key quote:
“Saying that these areas that are touted to be for biodiversity conservation should also do double duty for fishing as well, especially highly impactful gears that are for large-scale commercial take, there’s just a cognitive dissonance there.”
— Kirsten Grorud-Colvert, marine biologist at Oregon State University
Why this matters:
Environmentalists argue that commercial fishing in protected areas can undermine conservation goals. These areas are often designated to help replenish fish stocks and protect diverse marine ecosystems. However, fishing activities, especially those involving trawling or large-scale nets, can damage habitats and lead to overfishing, threatening the very species these zones aim to protect.
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Some U.S. wolverines to be protected by Endangered Species Act
Officials will add the predators, threatened by climate change and habitat loss in much of the United States, to the Endangered Species List.
Developing countries need more money to protect themselves from climate change
To adapt to the threats developing countries are facing from climate change, the United Nations says they'll need at least 10 times more money than the public funding they received in 2021.
How the US supreme court and an Idaho couple upended wetlands protection
Often dismissed as dismal wet bogs and rampantly cleared since European arrival in the US, the underappreciated importance of wetlands has been placed into sharp relief by a supreme court ruling that has plunged many of these ecosystems into new peril.
BLM wants to protect the Placitas area from oil and gas extraction
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland wants to withdraw nearly 4,213 acres of public lands from oil and gas extraction for 50 years “to protect, preserve, and promote the scenic integrity, cultural importance, recreational values, and wildlife habitat connectivity within the Placitas area,” according to the six-page draft proposal.
Newsletter
Farmworkers face increasing heat waves with little protection
Experts call attention to poor regulatory safeguards and the underreported impact of climate change on farmworkers.
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