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Skull
Center for     Biological     Diversity   

U.N. Report: 1 Million Species May Soon Be Lost

The United Nations just released a devastating study on biodiversity: 1 million plant and animal species now risk extinction due to human activity. The report warns that their extinctions will come with profound consequences for humanity, threatening our food security, water supplies and climate.

"This study should trigger massive federal action to save wildlife, but folks at the White House are probably too busy meeting oil executives to even read it," said Noah Greenwald, the Center for Biological Diversity's endangered species director.

The Center was founded in 1989 to fight the extinction crisis. The U.N.'s findings are no surprise to us, and we're still working as hard as we can to save life on Earth. Keep reading this newsletter for details on exactly how we're doing it this week. And learn more about what the new report says — and doesn't say — at The Revelator.

Emperor penguins

We're Headed to Court to Save Emperor Penguins

After heartbreaking news that the world's second-largest emperor penguin colony has nearly vanished due to sea-ice loss, the Center launched a lawsuit to save these iconic birds.

We filed a notice of intent to sue the Trump administration for failing to act on our petition to protect the penguins under the Endangered Species Act.

"Emperor penguins have needed protection for a long time, but Trump's fossil-fuel-first agenda has dialed up the urgency," said Shaye Wolf, the Center's climate science director. "Chicks are drowning as climate change melts their habitat. Further delay in curbing carbon pollution could wipe out one of our planet's most amazing birds."

Read more about emperors and our action.

Victory: Wildlife-killing 'Cyanide Bombs' Banned in Oregon

Coyote

Thanks partly to thousands of Center activists who spoke up, a bill banning the use of M-44s — or "cyanide bombs" — in Oregon has been signed into law.

These cruel death traps shoot sodium cyanide powder into the faces of coyotes, foxes and other unsuspecting wildlife. Horrifying poisoning and death follow. Hated by the public, cyanide bombs also threaten people and pets. The Center is fighting for a permanent nationwide ban on them — and with your help, we will win that fight.

Emperor penguins

The Center is Nature's legal team. We fight for the survival of imperiled species worldwide, from charismatic megafauna like jaguars, elephants and giraffes to smaller but just-as-charming species like the arroyo toad and American burying beetle. Meet a few of our clients in our new video, available on Facebook and YouTube.

San Joaquin kit foxes

Center Sues Feds for Info on Perilous Pesticides

This Tuesday the Center filed four lawsuits against multiple federal agencies for failing to release a trove of documents on regulating dangerous pesticides, especially as they relate to endangered species.

We know agencies are working with industry to thwart common-sense measures to protect people and wildlife from pesticides. What else are they hiding? We're going to find out.

"While the Trump appointees running these agencies scurry to do the bidding of the pesticide industry, endangered species like the San Joaquin kit fox are heading toward extinction," said the Center's Lori Ann Burd. "You can bet that when we finally get these documents, they'll reveal exactly why Team Trump worked so feverishly to hide them from public view."

Read more in our press release.

What Will Climate Change Mean for This 19-Year-Old's Future?

Dust storm

We've already been seeing devastating effects from climate change, and we know it's going to get worse. But how much worse will it get? What will "worse" look like, and when is it coming?

Using climate-based modeling, a new Revelator article ponders answers to these questions for a hypothetical 19-year-old Californian named Emily.

Find out what Emily's future may look like. And if you haven't already, subscribe to The Revelator's weekly newsletter.

Fox News

Words Matter: Tell News Networks to Say 'Climate Crisis'

When stronger storms and hotter wildfires leave millions homeless, it's a crisis. And when runaway global warming threatens our food and water, and our kids walk out of school because their future is at stake, it's a crisis.

But TV coverage doesn't match that reality. In 2018 less than 4 percent of news segments described climate change as a "crisis" or "emergency."

That has to change. Reporters' and anchors' words matter. What they call something shapes how millions see it and how entire nations act.

Sign our petition urging newsrooms to call the climate crisis exactly what it is — so people see the dangers clearly, make connections and start talking about solutions.

Suit Challenges Threat to Alaska's Tongass National Forest

Tongass National Forest

The Center and allies just sued the Trump administration for greenlighting the national forest system's largest logging project in a generation. The project includes thousands of acres of old-growth in the Tongass National Forest and will hurt wildlife, wildlands, and Alaska's tourism and outdoor industries.

"This timber sale would wipe out critical habitat for the Alexander Archipelago wolf and harm the waterways salmon depend on," said the Center's Randi Spivak. "Alaskans love the Tongass and want this destruction to stop." Read more.

Wolves

Join Our Final Push to Save Wolves

This is it: We're down to the wire.

All year the Center's grassroots activist network has been working to fight Trump's proposal to strip Endangered Species Act protection from wolves in the lower 48. We've held rallies, hearings and protests, and with our coalition partners we've gathered more than 1 million comments to send to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service protesting this disastrous plan.

Next Tuesday, May 14, is the deadline to submit comments. So if you haven't yet, tell the agency now that wolves are important to you. If you've already spoken up, share our alert with your friends urging them to take action too.

The future of wolves depends on you. Thank you.

Mountain lion

Wild & Weird: Tinder for Mountain Lions

Mountain lions have a special form of communication. Rather than spray urine like their domestic cousins, male cougars scrape the ground to create a mound of dirt with a shallow hole in front of it. Then they'll pee on it, sometimes marking it with scat for good measure. "Scrapes," as these potty mounds are called, function kind of like a Tinder profile. If a ready-for-breeding female encounters a male's mound and likes what she finds, she'll urinate on it too. That's like swiping right — saying she's in the area and DTM (down to mate).

Scrapes also mark the borders of a male cougar's territory, advertising his dominance over an area to limit confrontations with other he-cats.

Check out this very rare footage of an Arizona mountain lion creating his scrape on Facebook and YouTube.

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Center for Biological Diversity   |   Saving Life on Earth

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Photo credits: Skull by elfranzo/Flickr; emperor penguins by dominique_filippi/Flickr; coyote by Alan D. Wilson/Nature's Pics Online; emperor penguins; San Joaquin kit fox pups courtesy USFWS; dust storm by Michael Dawes/Flickr; Fox News; Tongass National Forest by swanksalot/Flickr; wolves by klengel/Flickr; mountain lion by Greg Joder.


Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
United States