Study: Globally, PAs store carbon equivalent to about 1 year's worth of fossil fuel emissions

A new study in Nature Communications finds that the world's PAs store an amount of carbon equal to about one year's worth of the planet's fossil fuel-based emissions of greenhouse gases.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-38073-9

5000 new species identified in deep-sea region slated for mining

Scientists have discovered more than 5,000 new species living on the seabed in an untouched area of the Pacific Ocean that has been identified as a future hotspot for deep-sea mining, according to a review of the environmental surveys done in the area.

It is the first time the previously unknown biodiversity of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a mineral-rich area of the ocean floor that spans 1.7m sq miles between Hawaii and Mexico in the Pacific, has been comprehensively documented. The research will be critical to assessing the risk of extinction of the species, given contracts for deep-sea mining in the near-pristine area appear imminent.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/25/more-than-5000-new-species-discovered-in-pacific-deep-sea-mining-hotspot

Debt ceiling deal would greenlight gas pipeline across Appalachian Trail

A deal between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, if approved by Congress, would clear the way for the Mountain Valley Pipeline between West Virginia and Virginia that has been held up by environmental challenges.

While pipeline champion Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, applauded the legislative workaround, Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Arizona, was highly critical. Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, signaled he would try to have the provision removed from the debt ceiling agreement.

https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2023/05/update-debt-ceiling-deal-would-clear-way-mountain-valley-pipeline