Environment | WPN World People News

With thousands of elephants and rhinos poached each year, the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) concluded its 66th meeting in Geneva on 15 January by demanding urgent action from some key countries to help stem the illegal rhino horn and ivory trade – and urging trade sanctions against three states implicated in this trade.

Seized ivory in Hong Kong. Last year a WWF-Hong Kong report revealed fundamental flaws in the regulations governing the domestic ivory trade, which allowed traders to launder illegal ivory from Africa – contributing directly to the elephant poaching crisis.

Earthjustice on behalf of eight conservation groups Wednesday filed to intervene in a case before the Interior Board of Land Appeals to defend the Department of Interior’s decision to deny Shell Oil’s request for an extension of the terms of its oil drilling leases in the Arctic Ocean. Without an extension, the leases are due to expire in 2017 and 2020 in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, respectively. Interior denied Shell’s request for an extension of the leases in October 2015, and Shell has now appealed that decision to the Interior Board of Land Appeals.

Wednesday the Idaho Fish & Game Department admitted that it broke an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service and used helicopter landings to collar wolves in the Frank Church River Of No Return Wilderness. This follows less than a week after Earthjustice filed a legal challenge to the state’s plans to conduct over 120 helicopter landings as part of a program to manipulate wildlife populations in the wilderness.

Some countries, including Thailand, have made significant progress in tackling ivory trafficking

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday announced a settlement with Puna Geothermal Venture for Clean Air Act chemical safety violations at its geothermal energy plant in the Puna area of the Island of Hawaii. After an EPA inspection, the facility has now complied with the rules designed to minimize accidental chemical releases. The company has also agreed to pay a civil penalty of $76,500.

Radon—the silent killer—is responsible for about 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency encourages Americans around the country to test their homes for this naturally occurring radioactive gas. Winter is an especially good time to test because windows and doors are closed and families tend to spend more time inside where radon can be trapped.

After the recent record breaking spell of wet, mild weather a marked change to colder weather is expected next week with frost, ice and snow for some places

In a policy paper published by the journal Science on January 8, over 40 scientists from academic and civil society institutions around the world argued that the expansion of hydropower dams in the Amazon, Congo and Mekong river basins poses a catastrophic threat to global freshwater biodiversity. The lead author of the study is Kirk Winemiller of Texas A&M University, a member a Belmont Forum/National Science Foundation​ team led by Conservation International that studies the impacts of global change on biodiversity and people.

UK Environment Agency teams are out in communities checking and maintaining flood defences, clearing trash screens and blockages in rivers, monitoring water levels and working with local authorities.