Environmental news ICYMI

All the environmental news you missed in the past two months

By Paul Rauber

June 6, 2016

March 2016 is the warmest March on record. It is the 11th straight month to set such a record, which is also unprecedented.

Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide rise by the greatest margin on record, to 403.5 parts per million.

Illustration of a person in the Arctic standing on a small ice floe

For the second year in a row, the winter maximum extent of Arctic sea ice hits a record low.

Oregon says that it will stop burning coal entirely by 2030.

Wolf OR4, founder of Oregon's Imnaha pack and father of California tourist OR7, is shot and killed by wildlife officials after killing four calves and a sheep.

illustration of a truck filled with coal with a flat tire

Peabody Energy, the world's largest private-sector coal company, declares bankruptcy.

illustration of 10 lion fish escaping from an aquarium

All of the invasive lionfish in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico can be traced back to 10 females.

Illustration of a box of corn flakes labeled genetically modified

ConAgra Foods, General Mills, and Kellogg's say that they will voluntarily label foods containing genetically modified organisms.

illustration of two orcas with a crossed out heart in the middle

SeaWorld declares that it will end the captive breeding of orcas.

President Barack Obama withdraws an earlier proposal to open the southeastern Atlantic seaboard to oil and gas drilling.

Mitsubishi admits that it has been exaggerating the fuel economy of the cars it has sold in Japan for 25 years.

All apples can be traced back to two trees in Kazakhstan.

All sperm whales are descended from a single mother.

Aerial and underwater surveys show that 93 percent of Australia's Great Barrier Reef is affected by coral bleaching. "I showed the results of aerial surveys of bleaching to my students," writes Terry Hughes, head of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, "and then we wept."

The Colorado Supreme Court rules that local governments, such as those in Longmont and Fort Collins, cannot ban fracking in their jurisdictions.

Within a month of the Tesla Model 3's unveiling, nearly 400,000 people pay $1,000 apiece to reserve the all-electric car.

Britain's Natural Environment Research Council invites the public to name its new, $300 million Arctic research vessel. The clear winner is Boaty McBoatface, but the council chooses RRS Sir David Attenborough instead.