5 Environmental Stories You Don't Want To Miss

By Catherine Schuknecht

October 15, 2015

Insect hijackers ground a plane in Texas and Dole Food Company announces a recall on packaged spinach.

Photo by iStock/mychadre77

EARLY BLOOMER: Spring is coming—three weeks early. Scientist have released a report projecting that the emergence of spring plants will shift by three weeks on average in the United States over the next 100 years.

BEES ON A PLANE: An American Airlines flight was delayed for takeoff in Texas by a swarm of 1,000 bees. The insect hijackers followed their queen into the plane’s wing and had to be removed by experts.

LION HEART: A zoo in Denmark is facing heavy criticism for hosting a public dissection of a one-year-old male lion in front of an audience of several hundred people. The lion was one of three lions that the zoo killed this year in order to avoid inbreeding between siblings.

OH, THE IRONY: Govenor Bill Walker of Alaska argued that drilling for oil in the Arctic is necessary to cope with the expensive impacts of climate change. Coastal erosion is threatening many remote native communities in the state.

BOY PROBLEMS: Global warming is producing an unbalanced sex ratio between male and female sea turtle hatchlings, according to a recent study. Because colder conditions are required to produce male sea turtles, warmer temperatures may threaten the species ability to effectively reproduce.