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Long-term Population Trends for America’s Birds

~† Shorebirds indicator trend data has not been updated since 2019.~

  • 5 Years After the 3 Billion Birds Lost Research, America Is Still Losing Birds: A 2019 study published in the journal Science sounded the alarm—showing a net loss of 3 billion birds in North America in the past 50 years. The 2025 State of the Birds report shows those losses are continuing, with declines among several bird trend indicators. Notably duck populations—a bright spot in past State of the Birds reports, with strong increases since 1970—have trended downward in recent years.
  • Conservation Works: Examples spotlighted throughout this report—from coastal restoration and conservation ranching to forest renewal and seabird translocations—show how proactive, concerted efforts and strategic investments can recover bird populations. The science is solid on how to bring birds back. Private lands conservation programs, and voluntary conservation partnerships for working lands, hold some of the best opportunities for sparking immediate turnarounds for birds.
  • Bird-Friendly Policies Bring Added Benefits for People, and Have Broad Support: Policies to reverse bird declines carry added benefits such as healthier working lands, cleaner water, and resilient landscapes that can withstand fires, floods, and drought. Plus birds are broadly popular—about 100 million Americans are birdwatchers, including large shares of hunters and anglers. All that birding activity stimulates the economy, with $279 billion in total economic output generated by birder expenditures.
 

A study in the United States found a dramatic 22% decline in butterfly populations between 2000 and 2020.

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submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by ice@slrpnk.net to c/energy@slrpnk.net
 

The US clean electricity transition continued as wind and solar generated more than coal for the first time. Electricity demand growth sped up and solar generation rose more quickly than gas to help meet it.

 

But how do we ensure everyone has equal access to shade? Tucson, where heatwave mortality has soared, shows a path forward.

 

Nearly a tenth of global climate finance could be under threat as US president Donald Trump’s aid cuts risk wiping out huge swathes of spending overseas, according to Carbon Brief analysis.

Last year, the US announced that it had increased its climate aid for developing countries roughly seven-fold over the course of Joe Biden’s presidency, reaching $11bn per year.

This likely amounts to more than 8% of all international climate finance in 2024.

However, any progress in US climate finance has been thrown into disarray by the new administration.

Trump has halted US foreign aid and threatened to cancel virtually all US Agency for International Development (USAid) projects, with climate funds identified as a prime target.

USAid has provided around a third of US climate finance in recent years, reaching nearly $3bn in 2023, according to Carbon Brief analysis.

Another $4bn of US funding for the UN Green Climate Fund (GCF) has also been cancelled by the president’s administration.

One expert tells Carbon Brief that more climate funds will likely end up on the “cutting block”.

Another warns of an “enormous gulf” to meeting the new global $300bn climate-finance goal nations agreed last year, if the US stops reporting – let alone providing – any official climate finance.

Carbon Brief’s analysis draws together available data to explain how the Trump administration’s cuts endanger global efforts to help developing countries tackle climate change.

 

Increasing greenhouse gas emissions will reduce the atmosphere’s ability to burn up old space junk, MIT scientists report.

 

There are still hurdles to overcome, but growing the seaweed industry in a state known for lobster could be a win for local fishermen, dairy and cattle operations, and the planet.

 

The US government is eschewing paper straws and going back to plastic. So why are the plastic variety restricted in many countries around the world in the first place?

 

The terminology will be stricken in classes for future officers in a service that confronts global warming every day, a move some say will weaken it.

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