Uranbayar was rescued by a Mongolian fishing club.

A Mongolian fishing club saves a lost boy in the wilderness

• Great story and photos inside about how a Mongolian fishing club saved a boy who was lost in the wilderness for 11 days.

The world’s rarest otter has been rediscovered in Borneo

• “The world’s rarest otter has been rediscovered in Borneo, after a single individual was photographed by a camera trap set by conservation scientists.”
• “The world’s rarest otter has been rediscovered in Borneo, after a single individual was photographed by a camera trap set by conservation scientists.”

China faces serious water shortages as its economy booms and urbanization increases

• “With 20 percent of the world’s population but just 7 percent of its available freshwater, China faces serious water shortages as its economy booms and urbanization increases. The government is planning massive water diversion projects, but environmentalists say conservation — especially in the wasteful agricultural sector — is the key.”

Air conditioners account for 1/5 of total electricity use in the US. So, what’s a sweltering A/C addict to do? 5 tips:

• “Not only will you save on your electricity bill, you’ll keep your house cooler. Cox writes that CFLs produce ‘30 percent as much heat for a given amount of illumination’ as their incandescent counterparts.”

A man crossed the Pacific in a boat made out of plastic bottles to raise awareness for the mess we have created

• “A catamaran constructed from 12,500 recycled plastic bottles reached Sydney harbour today after a four-month voyage across the Pacific Ocean to raise awareness of the dangers posed to the environment by plastic waste.”

To work, Pride campaign mascots must tap into local emotions and identity. Campaign manager Zhuoma Sina explains the thinking behind her Pride campaign mascot:

“The snub-nosed monkey, like China’s precious giant panda, is known throughout our country. They are believed to bring people happiness, safety and give the mountains endless good fortune. We gave the mascot a human name because the snub-nosed monkey has facial features and expressions that are startlingly like people, right down to their red lips. The name “Lulu” is significant because in local Tibetan culture, the family’s youngest child, often nicknamed Lulu, is the most pampered – in hopes that he or she grows up strong, healthy and successful. Because we want to treat the reserve with the same kind of care, the name seemed perfect.”

“It’s important that we not assume our conservation program is having a good effect, but that we actually monitor it against hard data.”

WWF Mongolia’s Rare Pride campaign will protect the taimen fish in the Onon River by working with local fishing people to adopt catch-and-release fishing practices in order to reduce illegal fishing.

Some 180 to 200 rhinos may be killed by the end of the year in South Africa

• “Poaching of the endangered African rhino is on the rise, driven by increased demand for horns from Asia and the Middle East for use in traditional medicine and ornaments.”
• There are 18,500 white rhinos and 1,500 black rhinos left in the wild in South Africa.

June was the 304th month in a row above average temperatures

• “Data released from the US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Climatic Data Center shows that June 2010 was a record breaker. It was the warmest month of June globally since record-taking began in 1880 and it is the 304th month in a row that has been above the 20th Century average. The last month to fall below the average was February 1985: the month Nelson Mandela, who recently celebrated his 92nd birthday, rejected an offer of freedom from the then apartheid government.”
• June averaged globally at 61.1 degrees Fahrenheit (16.2 degrees Celsius). The temperature was 1.22 degrees Fahrenheit (0.68 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average for June.”

Transition to ‘Cool Roofs’ Could Offset Two Years of CO2 Emissions

• “Using lighter colors for rooftops and streets worldwide could help reduce global temperatures and offset the heat from as much as two years of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study.”

Why soft toilet paper is rough on forests

• “Popular in U.S. households, plush toilet tissue requires pulp from virgin timber, some harvested from old-growth boreal forests. Increasingly, greener options are becoming available.”

Study: Climate change grasped better as health issue

• “Framing climate change as a public health problem helps people, even skeptics, better understand the issue’s significance, reports George Mason University researchers.”

This photo of a tiger comes courtesy of Flickr user catlovers.

Officials seek ways to double the number of tigers in the world, at an international forum in Bali, Indonesia

• There are just 3,200 tigers left. The lowest number ever.
• The WWF has warned that a lack of global action could kill off the endangered species.
• Rare has several campaigns to protect tigers across the world, including Thailand, Laos, Indonesia and China.

How Cap & Trade Would Help Wildlife (Or: Cap Pollution, Trade Otters!)

• “Let’s say Congress enacted a cap-and-trade system and pollution permits were selling for about $20 a ton. If [scientist Chris] Wilmers is right and a healthy sea otter population could sequester ten million tons of carbon, that’d be worth $200 million. So polluters might decide that it’s cheaper to fund sea otter preservation programs than cut power use (at least in the short term), and new offset projects could get approved. Voila: There’s suddenly money to try this sea otter strategy.”

Black bears may escape Gulf oil contamination, experts hope

• “Two subspecies of the American black bear, the Florida black bear (Ursus americanus floridanus) and the Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus), have received less attention. But they also serve as umbrella species in the Gulf Coast region for a diversity of fauna living in somewhat disparate zoogeographic regions where these occasional and common peri-domestic, and highly adaptable opportunistic omnivores find themselves, as suitable and available habitat continues to shrink.”
• “In March of 2009 the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) designated critical habitat for the Louisiana black bear in the state of Louisiana, where the bear is also celebrated as the state mammal. The designated area covers 1,195,821 acres spanning 15 parishes.”

A GAO study indicated by 2013, 36 states could face water shortages. Enter WaterSense

• “WaterSense is a partnership program paralleling the agency’s Energy Star program for electric appliances. Working with manufacturers, retailers, water utilities, state governments and nonprofits, the agency has established guidelines for fixtures, like toilets, shower heads and faucets, that use less water without sacrificing performance. WaterSense-labeled products use about 20 percent less water than standard models, the E.P.A. estimates.”
• “Although the agency has been addressing water efficiency issues for some years, said Stephanie Thornton, a marketing specialist with the WaterSense program, the impetus for starting up WaterSense in 2006 came from a Government Accountability Office study indicating that water managers in 36 states were anticipating shortages by 2013.”
• “A family of four uses 400 gallons of water every day; homes fitted with WaterSense-labeled toilets and bathroom faucets could save more than 11,000 gallons a year, the E.P.A. estimates.”

BP Says Cap Is Repaired and Oil Cutoff Test Can Proceed

• “After a new setback because of a hydraulic leak, BP prepared Thursday to pick up where it left off the day before: with a crucial test that could stop the rush of oil from its well in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since the disaster began three months ago.”

When it comes to lobster tails and sustainability, size does matter

• Check out the Size Matter t-shirt for our campaign to protect the spiny lobster.
• Friend’s of the Environment’s Rare Pride campaign will protect local lobster populations off the coast of Abaco Island by motivating local fishers to support and observe regulations of size limits and closed seasons in order to reduce illegal juvenile lobster fishing.

MIT: Simply dispatching natural gas plants before coal would cut U.S. power-sector CO2 emissions 10%

• “Gas can be a bridge to low-carbon future if we put a price on CO2.”
• “Ernest J. Moniz, Director of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), noted that the analysis determined that natural gas could serve as a bridge between coal and renewable energy: Much has been said about natural gas as a bridge to a low-carton future, with little underlying analysis to back up this contention.  The analysis in this study provides the confirmation — natural gas truly is a bridge to a low-carbon future. The study notes that the best way to spur this path forward is with a cap on carbon pollution.  It recommends that, “a CO2 price for all fuels without long-term subsidies or other preferential policy treatment is the most effective way to achieve this result.”

Great interview with Jane Goodall 50 years after she first embarked to study chimps

• “During Goodall’s six-month sojourn in the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve, now Gombe National Park, Goodall saw a chimp strip leaves off twigs to fashion tools for fishing termites from a nest. Until then, scientists thought that humans were the only creatures that created and used tools. This was just the first of many Goodall discoveries that have redefined the relationship between humans and other animals.”

Tons of rare Asian pangolins are seized. Will anything curb China’s insatiable appetite for rare wildlife?

• “Pity the scaly anteater, or  pangolin. It is hardly what anyone would call charismatic megafauna, so it doesn’t spark big campaigns by wildlife conservation groups. The reclusive, nocturnal animals could surely vanish from southern Asia with hardly anyone noticing (there are  other species in Africa). Two of the four Asian pangolin species are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. (The Malayan pangolin pictured above is safe, living in one of Singapore’s national parks.)”
• “The total population of the Malayan pangolin is estimated to have been cut  50 percent in 15 years, mainly through poaching for its scales, which fetch a high price in Chinese markets  in exotic meat and animal products with supposed medicinal properties. So should you or I care that there are still tons of these odd mammals being  pulled from their nests by poachers to end up scaled and then  served in stews to China’s fast-growing upper class?”

Jimmy Buffett revises Margaritaville lyrics in Gulf concert: “But I know, it’s all BP’s fault.”

If the above embedded video does not show up, click here.

The Red Muntjac mascot giving a poster and comic book on legal hunting practices to a local villager. All household members who showed up to this event received a poster and comic book.

Wildlife Conservation Society’s Rare Pride campaign will protect the prey of the last tiger population in Laos by celebrating hunters who hunt wild animals legally and by promoting the reporting of poachers who threaten the food security of local communities.

Much-vindicated Michael Mann and Hockey Stick get final exoneration from Penn State

• “An Investigatory Committee of faculty members with impeccable credentials” has unanimously “determined that Dr. Michael E. Mann did not engage in, nor did he participate in, directly or indirectly, any actions that seriously deviated from accepted practices within the academic community for proposing, conducting, or reporting research, or other scholarly activities.”
• “Today, Penn State issued its final and complete exoneration (click here) of Dr. Michael Mann in the matter of his scientific practices “for proposing, conducting, or reporting research,” primarily related to the famous — and thoroughly vindicated — Hockey Stick.  We can be more confident than ever that the “Earth is hotter now than in the past 2,000 years” (a post which discusses the PNAS study that is the source of the above graph).”

BP Oil Spill Causing More Gulf Dead Zones as Methane Levels Increase

• “It’s only been a few days since NOAA-backed scientists forecasting the size of this year’s Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone–that area of ocean so deprived of oxygen than little can live in it–mentioned that it wasn’t clear yet what effect the BP oil spill would have on its size. The Guardian gives us a glimpse: Two separate scientists studying the issue have found the low-oxygen areas around the Gulf Gusher.”
• “Samantha Joye, from the University of Georgia, says there’s up to 50% as much methane and other gases being spewed from the wreckage of the Deepwater Horizon as there is oil. This methane is settling in a 200-meter layer in the water column at a depth of 1,000 to 1,300 meters.”

World’s largest oil skimmer arrives in Gulf as Alex disrupts oil cleanup

• “A ship billed as the world’s largest skimming vessel has arrived in the Gulf of Mexico and was awaiting approval to begin cleaning, according to a spokesman for the Taiwanese company that owns it. The A Whale arrived in the Gulf on Wednesday and was anchored in Boothville, Louisiana, about an hour south of New Orleans.”
• “Rough seas in the wake of Hurricane Alex kept oil skimming boats out of the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday and could keep many tied up through the weekend, the retired admiral in charge of the federal response to the Gulf oil disaster said.”

Five Species Most Likely to Become Extinct in the Next 40 Years (but this doesn’t have to be written in stone)

• “Conservationists estimate that one-eighth of all bird species, one-fifth of mammal species and one-third of amphibian species are at risk of extinction.”

Susan Shaw Launches Independent Research Group to Study Effects of Oil and Dispersants in Gulf

• “BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill is the largest spill in US history, and potentially the largest spill in world history. Crude oil contains hundreds of compounds including petroleum that are acutely and chronically toxic to marine organisms and people. Compounding the threat of the oil, between one and two million gallons of toxic Corexit chemical dispersants have been sprayed and injected into the Gulf. The use of dispersants is seen as a “trade-off” to keep the oil slick from reaching the marshes and beaches. But their massive application has created large subsurface plumes of dispersed oil that threaten the ocean food web itself.”
• “The Marine Environmental Research Institute (MERI) proposes a collaborative, region-wide investigation of toxic impacts of oil and dispersants on the Gulf ecosystem – from phytoplankton, fish, and birds to marine mammals and humans. This broad-based, multi-species, multi-habitat approach can provide essential information in a timely way that will inform public health measures (seafood safety), as well as current and future restoration efforts.”

“Focusing on what is working, however small, and generating enthusiasm for taking what works, taking a bright spot and replicating it and taking a bright spot to scale is a very simple but powerful idea.” — Brett Jenks

If the above embedded video does not show up, please click here to view it.

Dan Heath, Rare Trustee and co-author of the bestselling business book Switch: How to Change Things When Cha nge Is Hard, and Rare CEO Brett Jenks were recently interviewed by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as part of its Ideas and Advice series. They discuss how focusing on bright spots, instead of what is not working, is a great way to improve yourself, your projects and your company.

“Let’s go out there and find out what’s working.” — Dan Heath

This photo of a sea turtle comes courtesy of Flickr user Nemo’s great uncle.

Gulf Oil Spill: 70,000 Turtle Eggs To Be Moved From Oily Beaches In Massive Relocation Effort

• “An effort to save thousands of sea turtle hatchlings from dying in the oily Gulf of Mexico will begin in the coming weeks in a desperate attempt to keep an entire generation of threatened species from vanishing.”
• “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will coordinate the plan, which calls for collecting about 70,000 turtle eggs in up to 800 nests buried in the sand across Florida Panhandle and Alabama beaches.”
• “It’s never been done on such a massive scale. But doing nothing, experts say, could lead to unprecedented deaths. There are fears the turtles would be coated in oil and poisoned by crude-soaked food.”

Ocean Acidification – What It Is and How It’s Changing The World

• The oceans absorb 1/3 of the CO2 in the atmosphere, causing ocean acidification that can kill marine life
• Global Warming or not, extra CO2 released by human activity is greatly negatively effecting our oceans.
• “Called “global warming’s evil twin,” ocean acidification is a real and pressing danger for our planet. It’s a change in the ocean’s chemistry that we’re causing, and it’s a change that is occurring at a catastrophic rate. If you think that overfishing and plastic pollution is the only thing we need to worry about when it comes to the ocean’s health, you’ll be surprised to know that ocean acidification is a far more worrisome issue.”

Ever console someone after a fight? Ravens do that too, says new study

• “The findings of this study represent an important step towards understanding how ravens manage their social relationships and balance the costs of group-living,” Drs Fraser and Bugnyar write. “Furthermore, they suggest that ravens may be responsive to the emotional needs of others.”

“What have they done to the earth? What have they done to our fair sister?”

• “From the air I could see 3000-5000 feet of black smoke… and what seemed like one fire was actually dozens of fires… recently heard a story of a captain who was rescuing sea turtles and realized that they were getting caught in the skimming nets that were being lit on fire.. the captain ended up checking up on the nets too much that BP let him go from his contract… the reality is that all kinds of wildlife are getting caught in the nets… and no one is getting them out before the burns.”

Nature rocks: Lightning strikes three of the tallest buildings in Chicago at the same time!

Lightning strikes three of the tallest buildings in Chicago at the same time! from Craig Shimala on Vimeo.