· 2 min read
illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The New York Times or enjoy below:
🗞️ Driving the news: In the quest to expand renewable energy, solar farms are sprouting across America, including on lands north of Flagstaff, Arizona, which are prime habitats for wildlife like pronghorn
• The transition to solar energy, necessary for combating climate change, is creating conflicts with the need to preserve biodiversity and animal habitats (read about the other adverse impacts of solar power here)
🔭 The context: The push for solar energy is part of a broader effort to combat global warming
• However, the installation of solar panels often leads to habitat loss, a leading driver of the global decline in biodiversity
• Solutions are being explored to make solar farms less harmful to wildlife, including wildlife-friendly fences and corridors, although these measures are not yet widely implemented
🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The conflict between renewable energy development and biodiversity conservation underscores the challenge of addressing climate change without compromising the planet's ecological balance
• Solutions like wildlife-friendly solar farm designs could serve as a model for harmonizing energy needs with environmental preservation
⏭️ What's next: Efforts to mitigate the impact of solar farms on wildlife are ongoing, with initiatives such as GPS tracking of pronghorn near Flagstaff to understand their interactions with solar infrastructure
💬 One quote: “We’re faced with two truths: We have a climate change crisis, but we also have a biodiversity crisis,” (Meaghan Gade, a program manager at the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies)
Click for more news covering the latest on climate change
