Governments meeting in New York next week for the Opening of the United Nations General Assembly should seize the opportunity to accelerate efforts to combat illicit wildlife trafficking, WWF says. “Sadly, as we approach World Rhino Day on Sunday we are headed toward another year of record poaching. More than 600 rhinos have been killed in South Africa alone,” said Jim Leape, Director General of WWF International. “The criminal syndicates targeting rhinos, elephants, tigers and other species are also undermining peace, security and economic development in many countries.” Because of its transnational nature spanning source, transit and demand countries, ending wildlife trafficking requires both international collaboration between countries, and internal coordination between government agencies. WWF urges heads of state to establish national task forces consisting of police, customs, justice, defence, environment and other specialized agencies.

A frightening disease has been ravaging amphibians across the planet. At least 350 species have been infected, two hundred of which have suffered massive population reductions or extinctions, some even occurring within the space of weeks. In 1999, a single fungal species called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), commonly known as the chytrid fungus, was identified as the causative agent for these rapid die-offs.

In honor of Green Building Week, we have searched high and low to showcase one of the greenest buildings in the world -and on a recent press trip to Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, we may have found a winner. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens may be known for its glass Victorian greenhouse built in the late 1800s, or even as the location where President Obama hosted the G-20 summit in 2009. But the real piece de resistance that puts the Conservatory on the map is their new Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL). The CSL is primarily home to many of the administrative, educational, and research offices associated with Phipps, however parts of the building are open to the public and there are plans in the works to connect the building’s indoor space to the outdoors by means of artwork and sound installations. So why does this building rank among the greenest in the world? For one, the facility is expected to meet or exceed three of the world’s highest green standards. So far the facility has achieved LEED Platinum status, the highest of the US Green Building Council’s certifications. Beyond LEED certification, the CSL is striving to achieve the Sustainable Sites Initiative SITES certification for landscapes. The CSL is currently in the process of obtaining state permits and will find out in October if they have achieved 4-star status which has yet to be achieved by any other project. Finally, the CSL is involved with the Living Building Challenge. Projects that achieve this level of performance must document net zero energy, which defines the most advanced measures of sustainability in the built environment.

The only thing natural about the “natural” label is that such branding, naturally, often confuses consumers. But such misleading terms such as “natural” and “healthy” could soon become history, or at the very least score a makeover. Large food companies have hijacked such terms with dubious results—and never mind the fact “natural” is a loaded term. Is a food product only “natural” if it still has dirt on it after being yanked out of the ground? Is it still natural if ingredients, from whole wheat flour to goji berries to flax seeds, are pulverized, brominated, pasteurized and homogenized?

Motoring giant Ford has today announced plans to introduce a further 200 electric vehicle charging stations across its US and Canadian offices, development campuses and manufacturing facilities. This is in addition to the existing 1700 charging stations currently installed across dealerships and Ford owned operations in the US and Canada. This is just one of many ongoing initiatives in the EV market that should see a dramatic increase in the number of charging stations in the short to medium term. So why is Ford looking to introduce more charging stations and what benefit will they be to Ford employees?

Four previously unknown species of legless lizard have been described in California, report researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and Cal State-Fullerton. The species, all members of the Anniella genus, were hiding in plain site, living in marginal habitats that included “a vacant lot in downtown Bakersfield, among oil derricks in the lower San Joaquin Valley, on the margins of the Mojave desert, and at the end of one of the runways at LAX”, according to a statement from UC Berkeley.

New report, Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources, analyzes the impacts of global food waste from an environmental perspective, looking specifically at its consequences for the climate, water and land use, and biodiversity.

Following an agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity to speed decisions for protection of 757 imperiled species across the country, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized Endangered Species Act protection today for Nevada’s Mount Charleston blue butterfly. The butterfly occurs in just a few locations at very small numbers and is threatened by fire suppression, fuel reduction activities and recreational development. “This is great news for one of Nevada’;s rarest species. The beautiful Mount Charleston blue butterfly is in desperate need of help and we’ve got to move quickly,” said Rob Mrowka, a Center ecologist based in Nevada. “Even before prime areas of habitat were severely damaged by this summer’s Carpenter 1 wildfire, there were very few of these butterflies left in the world.”

The Earth has a solid iron core. That has been known since the days of Edward Halley, the discoverer of Halley’s comet. The inner core also rotates, but details of its rotation have defied explanation, until now! Scientists at the University of Leeds have solved a 300-year-old riddle about which direction the centre of the Earth spins. The Earth’s inner core, made up of solid iron, ‘superrotates’ in an eastward direction – meaning it spins faster than the rest of the planet – while the outer core, comprising mainly molten iron, spins westwards at a slower pace.

Kenya is no stranger to adaptation when it comes to food production. Kenya’s cultural and political underpinnings are reliant upon adaptation to current climatic conditions. Present predictions are that drastic adaptation will be necessary once again. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), climate change is likely to threaten maize production for farmers in certain areas of Kenya. Conversely, other arable landmasses that have been less suited to maize production are likely to become better suited to this important crop forcing agricultural officials and farmers to reassess their farmland use and suitability.