Arctic

With plans to sell off over a million acres of natural habitat for oil and gas development, the Trump administration is ignoring the dire impact on its fragile ecosystem• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereThis week, the Trump administration took a key step towards opening new leases for oil and gas drilling across millions of acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – a pristine and biodiverse expanse in northern Alaska and one of the last wildlands in the US still left untouched.With a call for nominations officially issued on Tuesday, the US Bureau of Land Management began evaluating plots across the 1.5 million-acre Coastal Plain at the heart of the refuge – an area often referred to as the American Serengeti, thanks to its rich tundra ecosystems, which provide habitat for close to 200 species and serve as the traditional homelands of the Iñupiat and Gwichʼin peoples.Flawed economic models mean climate crisis could crash global economy, experts warnFossil fuel firms may have to pay for climate damage under proposed UN taxThe lithium boom: could a disused quarry bring riches to Cornwall?Trump’s Greenland threats open old wounds for Inuit across Arctic‘Erasure of years of work’: outcry as White House moves to open Arctic reserve to oil and gas drillingArctic endured year of record heat as climate scientists warn of ‘winter being redefined’ Continue reading… More