Loss of Biodiversity
Scientists now report that rapid species loss has joined climate change and the greenhouse effect as a major global threat. Computer modeling suggests that Mediterranean climate and grasslands ecosystems are likely to see the greatest changes, principally because these regions have the most left to lose. (ESN, 3/10/00)

Sierra Club Alert
Sea turtle strandings reached dangerously high numbers in 1999 along the Texas coast, with a majority of turtles found dead. Of the 450 stranded turtles, 95 were the critically endangered Kemp’s ridley and 212 were loggerhead turtles, federally listed as threatened. Shrimping is a leading culprit in sea turtle strandings. The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club is urging Texas Parks and Wildlife to protect endangered sea turtles by expanding the current closures to shrimping along the Texas coast.

Decommissioning Glen Canyon Possible
A detailed analysis in the Stanford Environmental Law Journal found that the main obstacle to decommissioning the Glen Canyon Dam is political, not “technical, economic or legal,” says the Glen Canyon Action Network (2/14/00). The effects on water availability would be “surprisingly minimal,” and any power loss could be made up from the “significant surplus of power in the Colorado Plateau region.” The greatest beneficiaries would be the wildlife in the Sea of Cortez and delta area, which may not be able to “wait for decades of study.”