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12 Environmental Commentaries That Defined Our Year in 2025

These expert opinions address opportunities to make a difference — and point out a few of our failures. The post 12 Environmental Commentaries That Defined Our Year in 2025 appeared first on The Revelator.

Some of my favorite emails contain variations on an exciting phrase: “I’ve enclosed an op-ed for your consideration.” These messages — and their accompanying commentaries — come to us from environmental experts all over the world who have something important to say about saving life on this big blue marble we call home. Some of them offer roadmaps for improving our efforts to address problems like conservation, environmental injustice, or climate change. Others point out lesser-known threats we should do more to address. Many authors share personal insights and experiences that most readers would otherwise rarely encounter. Here are 12 of our favorite environmental commentaries of the past year, addressing Indigenous rights, coral reefs, activism, some iconic or lesser-known endangered species, and more: ‘Active Management’ Harms Forests — And It’s About to Get a Whole Lot Worse Birding’s Tragic Blind Spot Ghost Reefs of 2083: The Paleontology of Color (A Speculative ‘Fiction’) The Last Breath of the Himalayas: Can We Stop the Collapse? Nature Is ‘Not for Sale’ Palm Oil Continues to Plague Borneo’s Orangutans, Elephants, and Other Icons Rare Earth Metals Must Not Come at the Cost of Indigenous Rights Saving America’s National Parks and Forests Means Shaking Off the Rust of Inaction Saving the Ryukyu Rabbit Tick: The Posterchild of Parasite Conservation Trump’s Approach to Public Lands? Expanding the Extractive Economy and Declaring a War on Nature What Catastrophes Get Our Attention and Why It Matters Who Heals the Earth’s Healers? Ways to Avert Burnout for Environmental Advocates Truthfully, this list could have been twice as long — and it still wouldn’t have included every inspirational or intriguing expert opinion we published in 2025. I encourage you to scroll through our entire Ideas category, where you’ll find a few dozen more essays worth reading. (While you’re at it, keep going back into 2024 or earlier — most of our commentaries have a long shelf life and remain of interest for quite a while after they’re published.) Meanwhile, don’t forget that a different kind of commentary appears a couple of times a month in our newsletter: exclusive cartoons by Tom Toro. Here’s one of my favorites from the past year: Do you have a story to tell in the year ahead? We’re always open to op-eds and commentaries from activists, scientists, conservationists, legislators, government employees, and others — especially anyone with insight about the regressive and repressive second Trump administration. You can find out how to submit here, or drop me a line at any time. The post 12 Environmental Commentaries That Defined Our Year in 2025 appeared first on The Revelator.

Activism
Climate
Conservation

"Year of octopus" declared after warmer seas leads to record numbers

The Wildlife Trusts say its is "flabbergasted" by the sighting of the highest number of octopuses since 1950

"Year of octopus" declared after warmer seas leads to record numbersJonah FisherEnvironment correspondentWatch: Octopuses filmed by divers off the coast of Cornwall this yearA wildlife charity has declared 2025 "the Year of the Blooming Octopus" after record numbers were spotted off the south-west coast of England.In its annual marine review the Wildlife Trusts says octopus numbers were this summer at their highest level since 1950.Warmer winters, which are linked to climate change, are thought to be responsible for the population spike, which is known as a "bloom".The charity's findings are backed up by official figures which show that more than 1,200 tonnes of octopus was caught by fishermen in UK waters in the summer of 2025. The Wildlife Trusts/Kirsty AndrewsThe Wildlife Trusts says the highest number of octopuses has been seen off the south coast of Devon and Cornwall since 1950. It's a dramatic increase on previous years. Only once since 2021 has more than 200 tonnes of octopus been landed.Experts say most of those spotted are Octopus vulgaris a species commonly seen in the warmer Mediterranean Sea. Wildlife Trusts volunteers in Cornwall and Devon reported an increase in sightings of more than 1,500 percent on 2023 figures along one stretch of the south coast. "It really has been exceptional," says Matt Slater from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. "We've seen octopuses jet-propelling themselves along. We've seen octopuses camouflaging themselves, they look just like seaweeds. "We've seen them cleaning themselves. And we've even seen them walking, using two legs just to nonchalantly cruise away from the diver underwater."It's unclear at this point whether the rise in numbers is permanent or cyclical, which would mean octopus numbers returning to more typical levels after this year's bloom. The eight-armed cephalopods eat shellfish such as lobster, crabs and scallops so the Wildlife Trusts warn that if population numbers remain high, both fishing and eating habits may have to change."They are having an impact on those (shellfish) species around our shores. And as a consequence, they will be having an impact on our fishing industry who target those species as well," Ruth Williams the head of marine for The Wildlife Trusts told the BBC's Today programmme. "But there are opportunities and our fishing industry are doing some research into that at the moment to try and evolve with the changing fisheries that we're seeing as a result of climate change."Government data shows crab landings down on previous years but catches of lobster, crawfish and scallops stable.Wildlife Trusts of South and West Wales/Lynne NewtonA record number of puffins were recorded on Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire this year. Alongside good news for octopus lovers, the Wildlife Trusts' marine review contains more sobering news.The Trusts say this year was bookended by environmental disasters, with a collision between an oil tanker and a container ship in the North Sea in March spilling huge quantities of plastic resin pellets, and nearly 4.5 tonnes of bio-beads released from a water treatment plant in Sussex in November.There was some better news for wildlife elsewhere, with a record 46,000 puffins recorded on Skomer, Pembrokeshire, while the charismatic black and white bird has made a comeback on the Isle of Muck following conservation efforts by Ulster Wildlife Trust to remove invasive brown rats.

Climate
Conservation
Government

Brown bears in central Italy are becoming less aggressive

As Apennine brown bears learned to co-exist with humans in central Italy, they evolved to become smaller and less aggressive, according to a new DNA study. The post Brown bears in central Italy are becoming less aggressive first appeared on EarthSky.

According to a new study, Apennine brown bears have become less aggressive and smaller in size after a long history of close proximity to humans. Image via Marco Tersigni/ Wikipedia (CC BY 2.0). Brown bears in central Italy are becoming less aggressive For generations, brown bears in central Italy have adjusted their behavior to survive in a landscape increasingly dominated by humans. Now, an international team of researchers led by the University of Ferrara has revealed that living in close quarters with villages and human activity has led to genetic changes in the bears. They said on December 15, 2025, that the brown bears today are less aggressive and physically smaller than their ancestors. The DNA studies also show that this isolated and endangered population of bears has less diversity in its genetic makeup and higher rates of inbreeding. The scientists published their peer-reviewed study in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution on December 15, 2025. The research focuses on Apennine brown bears (Ursus arctos marsicanus), which live exclusively in central Italy. Apennine brown bears shaped by history The Apennine brown bears form a small and isolated population with a long history of close proximity to human communities. Previous research indicates this population split from other European brown bears between 2,000 and 3,000 years ago. And it has remained isolated since Roman times. Over the centuries, human presence has had a direct impact on the habitat of these bears. The expansion of agriculture, forest clearing and the growth of settlements reduced and fragmented forests. This limited the available space for bears, affecting their ability to find food and reproduce. According to the authors, these landscape transformations were decisive in shaping the population’s history of isolation. Co-lead author Andrea Benazzo of the University of Ferrara said: One of the main factors driving isolation and decline was probably deforestation associated with the expansion of agriculture and increasing human density in central Italy. Apennine brown bears became isolated following human expansion. Consequently, their genetic diversity has reduced and rate of inbreeding has increased. Image via Bruno D’Amicis/ Molecular Biology and Evolution/ EurekAlert! A look at the bears’ DNA To understand how the bears changed over time, researchers analyzed their DNA: the set of genetic instructions that influence body development and certain behaviors. To do this, the team created a high-quality “reference genome” for the Apennine brown bear. It serves as a detailed map of its genetic material. Plus, it allows researchers to detect differences between individuals and populations. So scientists sequenced the DNA of several bears from this population and compared it with DNA from a much larger population of brown bears in Slovakia. They also compared the Italian bears’ DNA with previously published genomes from North American bears. This comparison made it possible to identify recent genetic changes and distinguish which traits are unique to Apennine brown bears. Genomic analyses show that – due to their isolation and small population size – Apennine brown bears exhibit high levels of inbreeding. Consequently, they have less genetic diversity, in contrast to other brown bear populations. Inbreeding occurs when related individuals reproduce with one another, a common situation in small and isolated populations. Unfortunately, inbreeding can increase the risk of health problems and reduce the ability to adapt to environmental changes. Human pressure as an adaptive force For generations, human presence in the Apennine forests exerted lethal pressure on the bear population. Larger and more aggressive individuals were more likely to come into conflict with people. So they were more frequently hunted or eliminated. Over time, this selective hunting drastically reduced the presence of such bears, favoring the survival and reproduction of smaller, less aggressive individuals. And so it resulted in a population with distinctive physical and behavioral traits. The study detected clear signs of selection in genes related to behavior, indicating that this systematic removal left a genetic imprint. According to co-lead author Giulia Fabbri of the University of Ferrara: The removal or displacement of more aggressive bears by humans likely drove the emergence of less conflict-prone individuals, reflecting how human interaction can shape the behavior of a species. Throughout their history, the larger, more aggressive bears were the targets of hunters. Thus, these bears evolved to be smaller and less aggressive. And over time, the Apennine bear population has exhibited distinctive physical and behavioral traits. Image via Mykola Pokalyuk/ Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Conserving a genetically unique population The study shows human presence had contrasting effects on Apennine bears. On the one hand, human pressure favored traits that reduce conflict with people, such as less aggressive behavior and smaller body size. On the other hand, the population experienced a demographic decline and genetic erosion, increasing its vulnerability to extinction. The researchers emphasize that populations heavily affected by human activities still harbor unique genetic variants that deserve protection. Giorgio Bertorelle, professor of genetics at the University of Ferrara, explained: Even populations that have been strongly affected by human activities may harbor unique genetic variants that should be protected, for example by avoiding their dilution through the introduction of individuals from other regions. These genetic adaptations are valuable and should be taken into account when planning conservation strategies to preserve the population’s genetic identity. Apennine brown bears at risk of isolation and inbreeding At the same time, the population also faces risks stemming from its isolation and small size, particularly inbreeding. Reproduction between related individuals can increase the expression of harmful recessive genes. And that reduces the overall health and adaptive capacity in Apennine brown bears. In this sense, inbreeding is an important factor to consider when assessing the population’s long-term viability. However, the authors note that in populations that have remained small for long periods, some highly deleterious mutations might have been eliminated by natural selection, which does not remove the risk but does moderate its impact. This case illustrates one of the classic dilemmas of conservation biology: whether to intervene to increase genetic variability and reduce the risks of inbreeding, or to preserve a genetically singular population that has developed unique adaptations to its environment. Neither option is risk-free, and conservation decisions must balance long-term genetic health with the preservation of an irreplaceable evolutionary identity. Isolation increases inbreeding risk in Apennine brown bears, potentially reducing population health. This presents conservationists a difficult choice between genetic rescue and preserving a unique lineage. Image via Leonio/ Wikipedia (CC BY 3.0). Bottom line: As Apennine brown bears learned to co-exist with humans in central Italy, they evolved to become smaller and less aggressive, according to a new DNA study. Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution: Coexisting With Humans: Genomic and Behavioral Consequences in a Small and Isolated Bear Population Via EurekAlert! Read more: Polar bears have unique ice-repelling furThe post Brown bears in central Italy are becoming less aggressive first appeared on EarthSky.

Agriculture
Conservation
Extinction

‘Unashamedly capitalist’ rewilders claim ‘Moneyball’ approach could make millions - but experts sceptical

Rich Stockdale says model of ‘regenerative capitalism’ would maximise profits by planting trees, restoring peatlands, and installing windfarms across its estatesThe founder of an investment firm buying large estates across Britain to restore woods and peatland has said it is “unashamedly and proudly” capitalist, and plans to make tens of millions of pounds in profit.Rich Stockdale, the chief executive of Oxygen Conservation, said his model of “regenerative capitalism” was a “force for good” because it would offer investors significant profits by planting trees, restoring peatlands, operating solar farms and holiday homes and installing new windfarms across its estates. Continue reading...

The founder of an investment firm buying large estates across Britain to restore woods and peatland has said it is “unashamedly and proudly” capitalist, and plans to make tens of millions of pounds in profit.Rich Stockdale, the chief executive of Oxygen Conservation, said his model of “regenerative capitalism” was a “force for good” because it would offer investors significant profits by planting trees, restoring peatlands, operating solar farms and holiday homes and installing new windfarms across its estates.The Exeter-based firm, which has bought 13 estates in under four years, plans to rapidly become the UK’s largest private landowner by expanding its current landholding of 50,000 acres (20,234 hectares) over the next five years to 250,000 acres.“We are applying a capitalist model, unashamedly and proudly,” Stockdale said, on a tour of Oxygen’s estate at Dorback near Grantown-on-Spey in the Cairngorms.“We think releasing, activating and motivating more capital into this space is the only way we can scale conservation for the better of climate, wildlife, people and everyone concerned.”He said Oxygen Conservation was creating a new market for “premium” carbon credits because some wealthy private and institutional investors would pay much higher prices to store carbon in new woodlands or peatland if they included high environmental and social benefit.Rich Stockdale, who runs Oxygen Conservation Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The GuardianIts goal is to sell two million tonnes of carbon credits at well above the normal market rate, to prove that “regenerative capitalism” can work, he added.Stockdale likened his firm’s approach to the Brad Pitt movie Moneyball, in which a baseball coach used performance data to build a winning team. Oxygen Conservation uses Lidar laser scanning, thermal imaging to track deer and photogrammetry to build up 3D images of their estates.“We’ve taken very much a moneyball approach to the environment that’s previously been applied to sport. And that’s where you see all these threads that run through data, sport, high performance, US tech culture. We’ve brought that to the environmental world.”Campaigners and experts in natural capital who have been closely watching Oxygen Conservation’s rapid growth are sceptical about its methodology. They say it is based on significant levels of borrowing and speculative bets on the future value of its investments.Residents near Comrie in the Scottish Highlands, where Oxygen Conservation plans to build a large new 50MW windfarm, and around Dartmoor in south-west England where it bought a large hill farm, have accused the firm of ignoring local concerns and opposition.Josh Doble, the policy director at Community Land Scotland, a community-ownership advisory and campaign group, said Oxygen Conservation was the most bullish of a new generation of “mega lairds” accumulating extensive land-holdings.Their profit-driven approach “raised questions about the long-term commitment to restoring nature, rather than treating land as another investible commodity,” Doble said.“If absentee investor landowners own large parts of rural Britain, they must engage with the fact that owning land comes with responsibility. If you have a risky model, you need to be very careful because you’re not just making risky decisions in a boardroom, you’re playing with people’s lives.”Despite insisting Oxygen Conservation would be transparent about its plans and its business model, Stockdale refused to confirm or deny reports from natural capital experts he had already spent £150m and planned to spend another £100m on land.He said he could not say how much he paid the brewing firm BrewDog this summer for its estate at Kinrara near Kingussie or for Dorback because their owners had requested confidentiality.The Kinrara Estate which Oxygen Conservation. bought from BrewDog. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The GuardianCampaigners said withholding the sale price for a Highland estate is unusual, undermined transparency and risked concealing changes in the land market.Its biggest investors include Mike Dixon, a billionaire statistician who holds most of its shares, the self-styled ethical bank Triodos and Tony Bloom, a gambling billionaire who owns Brighton and Hove Albion FC. Bloom is currently being sued in a lawsuit alleging his gambling syndicate used “frontmen” to place bets. It is understood Bloom intends to file a defence to the claim.The latest accounts for its parent company, Oxygen House Group, which is also the majority shareholder in Low Carbon, the firm building its two Scottish windfarms, show the firm has two large bank loans totalling £106m to be repaid by 2033.Its critics point out that the two Scottish estates where it wants to build new 50MW windfarms, at Invergeldie near Loch Lomond and Trossachs national park, and at Blackburn and Hartsgarth estate near Langholm in the Borders, had bank loans worth £20.5m tied to them.Andrew Thompson, who helps run a local group opposing the windfarm, said residents feared those loans meant Oxygen Conservation had to push the windfarm through to pay off that debt, despite well-founded objections to the project from the conservation agency NatureScot and the national park authority. “Otherwise they’re completely screwed,” he said.A stream on the Kinrara Estate bought by Oxygen Conservation. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The GuardianStockdale claimed Oxygen’s investments are already worth more than £300m, and said its backers could see returns as high as 15% a year because the price of its carbon credits would climb to up to £180 a tonne and its biodiversity net gain credits were already worth £25,000 each.The average price for carbon in the UK last year was £37 a tonne. He said the appetite for premium credits had been proven when Burges Salmon, the law firm which acts for Oxygen Conservation, paid £125 a tonne earlier this year. The civil engineering firm Arup also paid £100 a tonne to a nature capital firm called Nattergal which owns rewilding estates in eastern England this year.He said one way to pay its investors was to sell off its estates after five years or so at a significant profit, with Oxygen Conservation remaining in charge of running the estate.He said wealthy investors including pension funds and international companies were willing to pay well above market rates for these credits, similar to some drivers preferring a Prius over a Ford. European investors were clamouring for Oxygen Conservation to invest on the continent.“We’re taking more risk, we’re pushing this out, we are doing things faster and different. I’ve been able to do that because of an incredible set of investors, an incredible team. Please don’t judge us by the norm, we aren’t trying to be,” Stockdale said.

Conservation
Business
Culture

2025 is ‘year of the octopus’ as record numbers spotted off England’s south coast

Milder weather led to a bloom in the invertebrates in south Cornwall and Devon, wildlife charity saysRecord numbers of sightings of one of the world’s most intelligent invertebrates over the summer have led the Wildlife Trusts to declare 2025 “the year of the octopus” in its annual review of Britain’s seas.A mild winter followed by an exceptionally warm spring prompted unprecedented numbers of Mediterranean octopuses to take up residence along England’s south coast, from Penzance in Cornwall to south Devon. Continue reading...

Record numbers of sightings of one of the world’s most intelligent invertebrates over the summer have led the Wildlife Trusts to declare 2025 “the year of the octopus” in its annual review of Britain’s seas.A mild winter followed by an exceptionally warm spring prompted unprecedented numbers of Mediterranean octopuses to take up residence along England’s south coast, from Penzance in Cornwall to south Devon.“The scale of the catch [recorded by local fishers] was of the order of about 13 times what we would normally expect in Cornish waters,” said Matt Slater, a marine conservation officer at Cornwall Wildlife Trust. “When we added up the numbers, approximately 233,000 octopuses were caught in UK waters this year – that’s a huge increase from what you would normally expect.”Octopus walking by Jenny KentThe common or Mediterranean octopus, Octopus vulgaris, is native to UK waters but ordinarily in such small numbers it is rarely seen. A sudden increase in the population – a bloom – is caused by a combination of a mild winter followed by a warm breeding season in the spring. The ideal conditions meant that more of the larvae of the common octopus were likely to survive, said Slater, possibly in part fuelled by the large numbers of spider crabs that have also been recorded along the south coast in recent years.The last time an octopus bloom of the size observed in 2025 was recorded was 1950, with records from the UK’s Marine Biological Association showing the last bloom recorded prior to that was in 1900.The huge numbers of octopuses along the south coast meant they could be easily spotted in shallow waters for the first time in recent history. Video footage from divers shows octopuses gathering in groups – they are usually solitary – as well as “walking” along the seabed on the tips of their limbs. One was even filmed grabbing at an underwater camera.“The first time I dived off the Lizard peninsula this year I saw five octopuses,” said Slater. “And these are big. There are two types of octopus in UK waters. There is the curled octopus, which is quite small, only getting to about the size of a football, but these common octopuses can be up to a metre and a half wide.”Another mild winter going into 2026 meant it was possible there could be a second bloom next year, said Slater, because historically, under these conditions, the blooms have repeated themselves for two consecutive years.Octopus grabbing a camera by Matthew Bradshaw“However, it is unlikely, based on past events, that it will go on for a long time,” he said. “But the sea keeps giving us surprises at the moment so it’s quite an unpredictable situation.”The Wildlife Trusts noted some of the other “surprises, successes and joyful moments” around the UK coastline included a record number of grey seals observed by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust, as well as record numbers of puffins on Skomer, an island off the coast of Wales famed for the birds.Other wildlife was recorded in unusual places. A volunteer with Shoresearch, the Wildlife Trusts’ national citizen science survey programme, recorded the first Capellinia fustifera sea slug in Yorkshire, a 12mm mollusc that resembles a gnarly root vegetable and is usually found in the south-west. In addition, a variable blenny, a Mediterranean fish, was discovered off the coast of Sussex for the first time. Populations had previously been limited to the West Country.A group of grey seals in South Walney, Cumbria. Photograph: Gemma de Gouveia/Wildlife TrustsNot everything was good news, though. “The year was bookended by environmental disasters,” said Ruth Williams, head of marine conservation at the Wildlife Trusts. “[There was] the North Sea tanker collision in March and in November the release of tonnes of biobeads off the Sussex coast. Our Wildlife Trusts staff and volunteers are making huge efforts to protect and restore our shorelines.”

Conservation
Science
Water

The Water Came From Nowhere': Settlements, Hotels and Farms Flooded in Kenya’s Rift Valley

Dickson Ngome's farm at Lake Naivasha in Kenya's Rift Valley has been submerged due to rising water levels

NAIVASHA, Kenya (AP) — When Dickson Ngome first leased his farm at Lake Naivasha in Kenya’s Rift Valley in 2008, it was over 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from shore. The farm was on 1.5 acres (0.6 hectares) of fertile land where he grew vegetables to sell at local markets.At the time, the lake was receding and people were worried that it might dry up altogether. But since 2011, the shore has crept ever closer. The rains started early this year, in September, and didn't let up for months.One morning in late October, Ngome and his family woke up to find their home and farm inside the lake. The lake levels had risen overnight and about a foot of water covered everything.“It seemed as if the lake was far from our homes,” Ngome’s wife, Rose Wafula, told The Associated Press. “And then one night we were shocked to find our houses flooded. The water came from nowhere.” Climate change caused increased rains, scientists say The couple and their four children have had to leave home and are camping out on the first floor of an abandoned school nearby.Some 5,000 people were displaced by the rise in Lake Naivasha’s levels this year. Some scientists attribute the higher levels to increased rains caused by climate change, although there may be other factors causing the lake’s steady rise over the past decade.The lake is a tourism hot spot and surrounded by farms, mostly growing flowers, which have gradually been disappearing into the water as the lake levels rise.Rising levels have not been isolated to Naivasha: Kenya’s Lake Baringo, Lake Nakuru and Lake Turkana — all in the Rift Valley — have been steadily rising for 15 years. “The lakes have risen almost beyond the highest level they have ever reached,” said Simon Onywere, who teaches environmental planning at Kenyatta University in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. Rising lake levels displaced tens of thousands A study in the Journal of Hydrology last year found that lake areas in East Africa increased by 71,822 square kilometers (27,730 square miles) between 2011 and 2023. That affects a lot of people: By 2021, more than 75,000 households had been displaced across the Rift Valley, according to a study commissioned that year by the Kenyan Environment Ministry and the United Nations Development Program.In Baringo, the submerged buildings that made headlines in 2020 and 2021 are still underwater.“In Lake Baringo, the water rose almost 14 meters,” Onywere said. “Everything went under, completely under. Buildings will never be seen again, like the Block Hotels of Lake Baringo.” Flower farms taking a beating Lake Naivasha has risen steadily too, “engulfing three quarters of some flower farms,” Onywere said.Horticulture is a major economic sector in Kenya, generating just over a billion U.S. dollars in revenue in 2024 and providing 40% of the volume of roses sold in the European Union, according to Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Significant research has gone into the reasons behind the rising lakes phenomenon: A 2021 study on the rise of Kenya’s Rift Valley lakes was coauthored by Kenyan meteorologist Richard Muita, who is now acting assistant director of the Kenya Meteorological Department.“There are researchers who come up with drivers that are geological, others with reasons like planetary factors,” Muita said. “The Kenya Meteorological Department found that the water level rises are associated with rainfall patterns and temperature changes. When the rains are plentiful, it aligns with the increase in the levels of the Rift Valley lake waters.”Sedimentation is also a factor. “From the research I have read, there’s a lot of sediment, especially from agricultural related activities, that flows into these lakes,” says Muita. ‘A mess’ made by the government years ago Naivasha’s official high water mark was demarcated at 1,892.8 meters (6,210 feet) above sea level by the Riparian Association in 1906, and is still used by surveyors today. That means this year’s flooding was still almost a meter (3 feet) below the high mark.It also means that the community of Kihoto on Lake Naivasha where the Ngomes lived lies on riparian land — land that falls below the high water mark, and can only be owned by the government.“It’s a mess established by the government … towards the late 1960s,” said Silas Wanjala, general manager of the Lake Naivasha Riparian Association, which was founded some 120 years ago and has been keeping meticulous records of the lake’s water levels since.Back then, a farmer was given a “temporary agricultural lease” on Kihoto, said Wanjala. When it later flooded and the farmer packed up and left, the farmworkers stayed on the land and later applied for subdivisions, which were approved. In the 60-odd years since, a whole settlement has grown on land that is officially not for lease or sale. This also isn’t the first time it’s been flooded, said Wanjala. It's just very rare that the water comes up this high. That’s little consolation for the people who have been displaced by this year’s floods and now cannot go home without risking confrontations with hippopotamuses.To support those people, the county is focusing its efforts on where the need is greatest.“We are tackling this as an emergency," says Joyce Ncece, chief officer for disaster management in Nakuru County, which oversees Lake Naivasha. “The county government has provided trucks to help families relocate. We have been helping to pay rent for those who lack the finances.”Scientists like Onywere and Muita are hoping for longer-term solutions. “Could we have predicted this so that we could have done better infrastructure in less risk-prone areas?” Onywere said.Muita wants to see a more concerted global effort to combat climate change, as well as local, nature-based solutions centered on Indigenous knowledge, such as “conservation agriculture, where there is very limited disturbance of the land,” to reduce sedimentation of the lakes.But all of this is of little help to Ngome and Wafula, who are still living at the school with their children. As the rest of the world looks forward to the holidays and new year, their future is uncertain. Lake Naivasha’s continuous rise over the past 15 years does not bode well: They have no idea when, or if, their farm will ever be back on dry land. The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – December 2025

Water
Agriculture
Conservation

Disaster after disaster: do we have enough raw materials to ‘build back better’?

Disasters like earthquakes and flood destroy homes and generate vast amounts of waste. Is there a better, greener way to rebuild affected communities?

This Christmas Day marks 21 years since the terrifying Indian Ocean tsunami. As we remember the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in this tragic event, it is also a moment to reflect on what followed. How do communities rebuild after major events such as the tsunami, and other disasters like it? What were the financial and hidden costs of reconstruction? Beyond the immediate human toll, disasters destroy hundreds of thousands of buildings each year. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan damaged a record 1.2 million structures in Philippines. Last year, earthquakes and cyclones damaged more than half a million buildings worldwide. For communities to rebuild their lives, these structures must be rebuilt. While governments, non-government agencies and individuals struggle to finance post-disaster reconstruction, rebuilding also demands staggering volumes of building materials. In turn, these require vast amounts of natural resource extraction. For instance, an estimated one billion burnt clay bricks were needed to reconstruct the half-million homes destroyed in the Nepal earthquake. This is enough bricks to circle the Earth six times if laid end to end. How can we responsibly source such vast quantities of materials to meet demand? Demand causes problems Sudden spikes in demand have led to severe shortages of common building materials after nearly every major disaster over the past two decades, including the 2015 Nepal earthquake and the 2019 California wildfires. These shortages often trigger price hikes of 30–40%, which delays reconstruction and prolongs the suffering of affected communities. Disasters not only increase demand for building materials but also generate enormous volumes of debris. For example, the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake produced more than 100 million cubic meters of debris – 40 times the volume of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Disaster debris can pose serious environmental and health risks, including toxic dust and waterway pollution. But some debris can be safely transformed into useful assets such as recycled building materials. Rubble can be crushed and repurposed as base for low-traffic roads or turned into cement blocks . The consequences of poor post-disaster building materials management have reached alarming global proportions. After the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, for example, the surge in sand demand led to excessive and illegal sand mining in rivers along Sri Lanka’s west coast. This caused irreversible ecological damage to two major watersheds, devastating the livelihoods of thousands of farmers and fisherpeople. Similar impacts from the overextraction of materials such as sand, gravel, clay and timber have been reported following other major disasters, including the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China and Cyclone Idai in Mozambique in 2019. If left unaddressed, the social, environmental and economic impacts of resource extraction will escalate to catastrophic levels, especially as climate change intensifies disaster frequency. Urgent need for action This crisis has yet to receive adequate international attention. Earlier this year, several global organisations came together to publish a Global Call to Action on sustainable building materials management after disasters. Based on an analysis of 15 major disasters between 2005 and 2020, it identified three key challenges: building material shortages and price escalation, unsustainable extraction and use of building materials, and poor management of disaster debris. Although well-established solutions exist to address these challenges, rebuilding efforts suffer from policy and governance gaps. The Call to Action urges international bodies such as the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction to take immediate policy and practical action. Building back better and safer After a disaster hits, it leaves an opportunity to build back better. Rebuilding can boost resilience to future hazards, encourage economic development and reduce environmental impact. The United Nations’ framework for disaster management emphasises the importance of rebuilding better and safer rather than simply restoring communities to pre-disaster conditions. Disaster affected communities should be rebuilt with capacity to cope with future external shocks and environmental risks. Lessons can be learned from both negative and positive experiences of past disasters. For example, poor planning of some reconstruction projects after the Indian ocean Tsunami (2004) in Sri Lanka made the communities vulnerable again to coastal hazards within a few years. On the other hand, the community-led reconstruction approach followed after the Bhuj earthquake, India (2001), has resulted in safer and more socio-economically robust settlements, standing the test of 24 years. As an integral part of the “build back better” approach, authorities must include strategies for environmentally and socially responsible management of building materials. These should encourage engineers, architects and project managers to select safe sustainable materials for reconstruction projects. At the national level, regulatory barriers to repurposing disaster debris should be removed, whilst still ensuring safe management of hazardous materials such as asbestos. For example, concrete from fallen buildings was successfully used as road-base and as recycled aggregate for infrastructure projects following the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia and 2011 Tohoku Earthquake in Japan. This critical issue demands urgent public and political attention. Resilient buildings made with safe sustainable material will save lives in future disasters. Missaka Nandalochana Hettiarachchi receives funding from WWF, an environmental NGO, through his role in disaster management

Climate
Crisis
Government

A damaged King County levee awaited fixes for years. Then it failed

As an atmospheric river slammed into the Pacific Northwest, water burst through a damaged levee in Washington.

As rainfall inundated the Pacific Northwest this month, swelling the region’s rivers to record levels, the Desimone levee seemed destined to fail.Severe flooding in 2020 had damaged the 2.2-mile earthen barrier near Tukwila. Muddy waters from the Green River bubbled up on the opposite side and seeped into nearby properties. A King County report months later described the levee’s weakened state as the “most important issue” on the river’s lower reach.The years that followed were filled with red tape and bureaucratic infighting among the agencies most responsible for the region’s levee system: King County, its flood control district and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. All the while, cities in the flood plain clamored for help, and the Desimone awaited repair.Construction was set to begin this summer, but the Corps pulled out of the work in January, revoking promised federal funding and setting the project back years, according to interviews and public records obtained by The Seattle Times.Reagan Dunn, chair of the district’s advisory committee and a Metropolitan King County Council member, described a pattern of “tension” between the flood control district and the Corps.This month’s back-to-back atmospheric rivers pushed the levee system like never before. The Desimone was the first of two to fail.Earlier in the series of storms, water had once again begun to seep through Desimone’s earthen barrier, which shields a mostly commercial and industrial hub in Tukwila. On Monday, the river tore its way through, sparking a widespread evacuation. Officials feared the ensuing flash flood might be deadly. Workers plugged the hole quickly. Knowing the levee’s risk, they had already been watching the site for days. No injuries were reported in the breach.The patchwork nature of repairs at Desimone, and levees like it, illuminates the growing challenge of protecting Western Washington communities from flooding worsened by climate change.For generations, Washington has relied on levees as a simple solution to a complex problem, said Alan Hamlet, a former Seattle resident and scientist who now works as an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Notre Dame. Explosive growth behind them has combined with an overarching desire to spend the minimum required for flood protection, he said. That often means deferring costlier long-term maintenance, mitigation and upgrades of these emergency barriers in favor of more pressing needs. This has resulted in higher risks for the very communities the levees were designed to protect.The state, and much of the country, stands at the nexus of that growth behind the walls of inadequate infrastructure to keep natural disasters at bay, Hamlet said.“Put all those things together and you have a hidden crisis that is going to begin to express itself more and more frequently,” Hamlet said.The 18-year-old King County Flood Control District shuffles its priority levees based on disrepair that changes with the weather. The district has started to plan for the long term, but in its earliest years, it focused on inexpensive and easy fixes in high-risk areas, Dunn said.“In other words, low-hanging fruit,” he said.Flooding in Washington state 2025Bureaucratic tangleThe Desimone levee has been damaged and repaired multiple times over the past six decades. Most recently, years of disagreements among agencies dragged out Desimone’s renovation.The flood control district asked the Corps to step in not long after the 2020 flood. High waters in the Green River then had not only left water seeping through the levee in at least three places, but also bubbling up from underneath.Federal officials agreed to spearhead a plan to repair the levee and cover 80% of the cost. It proposed estimates up to $16.6 million for a project focused solely on restoring the levee to its preflood condition, records show.Such is frequently the case for levee systems nationwide, Hamlet said. Restoring them to their original condition is typically less expensive and complicated. Expanding them or exploring other options takes more time, money and political will.But the flood district wanted more for Desimone: a design that would fix the damage and relieve water pressure further by setting the levee back, restoring some of the river’s natural bank. It was projected to cost the district about $30 million.The district’s plan would take longer and cost more but reduce long-term risks, said Michelle Clark, the district’s director. “We want to do a bigger project so that we’re not coming back to do more repairs.”The flood control district handles planning, but the project hinged on King County finding land along the river for the new work, records show. But it fell short.These types of repairs are more complicated than they might seem, Hamlet said. Strengthen a levee in one place, and you’ll send floodwaters careening into another. Set a levee back from the river, or remove one to restore a flood plain, and first you have to clear out any homes or businesses already there. These structures aren’t the only way to hold back floodwaters, but in many places, they’re the system that’s already there.A failed dealThe Corps worked in fits and starts, at one point in 2022 halting its involvement due to staffing challenges. Even when the county made headway securing land, the Corps said it had used the wrong language in the agreements. At the same time, the county accused the Corps of clerical errors that dragged out the planning process, according to county records.The county — officials for which said they were unable to immediately comment, citing the ongoing flood emergency — was confident it could secure the land, just not on schedule, according to a county brief from April. It proposed breaking ground in 2026 instead.Citing the county’s “inability” to provide the needed land along the highly developed and industrial area, the Corps backed out of the agreement in a January letter.“We have been pushing them since 2020,” Clark said. “And it’s frustrating.”The Corps “worked diligently with King County” but couldn’t move forward without land for construction, the agency wrote in an email to The Times. Levee rehabilitation can be “complex,” it added. “The federal process, sponsor timelines and real estate actions do not always align well, but we are committed to finding a solution when possible,” the agency wrote.Abandoned by the Corps, the county and its partner cities faced their biggest setback, Clark said.Everybody blamed each other as the flood season approached.Concerns heightened after the Corps pulled its support. In July, city leaders from Tukwila, Kent and Renton asked the flood district to more immediately prioritize the levee repair project.Tukwila officials declined to comment, and Kent and Renton officials did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.As the fall rains approached — and without significant improvements on the levee — officials from Tukwila, Kent, King County and the Corps of Engineers spoke in late October to review the contingency plan in case the structure failed, according to Tukwila city records. They walked the levee bank to flag logistical challenges and clarified roles and responsibilities in case of an emergency.The Corps passed along its nearly complete project design for the Desimone levee, according to its January letter to the district. But without the federal government to offset the cost, the county’s grand plan was too pricey. The district has years of research and $25 million set aside for the levee repairs, but it might not be enough, Clark said; it needs to prepare options before it can move forward with a plan.The King County Flood Control District is now, in many ways, exactly where it was in 2020: waiting for the water to recede, preparing to assess the damage and on the verge of once again planning how to fix the Desimone.--Conrad Swanson and Lulu Ramadan© 2025 The Seattle Times. Visit www.seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Water
Business
Crisis

Challenging Long-Held Theories: Evolution Isn’t One-and-Done, New Study Suggests

Repeated environmental changes can lead evolution in unexpected directions, and research from Vermont shows that studying a single population does not capture the full story of an entire species. All forms of life exist in environments that are constantly shifting. Seasons change, wet years follow dry ones, and conditions that once favored survival can quickly [...]

Repeated environmental changes can lead evolution in unexpected directions, and research from Vermont shows that studying a single population does not capture the full story of an entire species. All forms of life exist in environments that are constantly shifting. Seasons change, wet years follow dry ones, and conditions that once favored survival can quickly [...]

You think you’ve seen a big tree? Why we can no longer recognize a real forest

Environmental educator Ross Reid, also known as Nerdy About Nature, explains why we don't understand the scale of true old-growth forests.

Stand in awe before a towering Douglas fir in an Oregon forest, and you might believe you’re experiencing the majesty of old growth. But according to environmental educator Ross Reid, what most of us consider impressive forest landscapes are merely shadows of what once existed. In an archived episode of the Peak Northwest podcast, Reid, who is known for his presence on social media as “Nerdy About Nature,” explains why our perception of forests has been fundamentally altered by what we’ve lost.“It’s this concept known as shifting baseline syndrome where we’re limited in what we think is normal based on our experiences,” Reid said on the podcast. “The people who are living in this part of the world a hundred years ago had a radically different perception of the forest around them versus the one we have now.”Generative AI was used to summarize a recent episode of the Peak Northwest podcast. This story was reviewed and edited by The Oregonian/OregonLive.This psychological phenomenon, where each generation accepts a more diminished version of nature as “normal,” has profound implications for conservation efforts, Reid said. If we can’t recognize what we’ve lost, how can we work to protect or restore it?Bushwhacking through the rain forest of the Devil's Staircase Wilderness, one of Oregon's last true old-growth forests, in the Coast Range.Jamie Hale/The OregonianReid offered tangible examples of the differences between second-growth and old-growth forests that go beyond just tree size. “Pit mound topography is a concept in an old growth forest where you have bigger, older trees falling over naturally ... and you end up with a really undulating bit of terrain,” Reid said. “A lot of the forests we have in the Pacific Northwest, especially the second growth ones, you walk around, it’s fairly easy to walk off trail because it’s all kind of flat.”Throughout the episode, Reid explained how old-growth forests create unique habitats that are impossible to replicate in younger stands. For instance, bears in British Columbia rely on hollowed-out cavities in old Western red cedar trees for denning — structures that take centuries to form.A towering western redcedar tree is the highlight of the Rockaway Beach Old Growth Cedar Preserve on the north Oregon coast.Jamie Hale/The OregonianThe conversation reveals how industrial forestry has not just changed how forests look, but fundamentally altered their ecological function. Second-growth forests managed for timber production lack the structural complexity, genetic diversity, and ecological relationships that develop in forests allowed to mature naturally over centuries, Reid said.For anyone who loves hiking through Pacific Northwest forests, the interview offers a new lens through which to view familiar landscapes. Reid challenges listeners to look beyond their initial impressions of big trees and green canopies to recognize the subtler signs of ecological complexity that distinguish truly ancient forests from their younger counterparts.Listen to the full episode here: Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive’s travel and outdoors podcast Peak Northwest on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or anywhere else you listen to podcasts. Hosts Jamie Hale and Chiara Profenna take you to some of the greatest destinations in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Check out more Peak Northwest episodes below.

Forests
Nature

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