Generally, giving struggling species a helping hand is considered a good thing — like saving the vaquita porpoise and anything cute and cuddly (read: koalas). But there’s hot debate over whether helping plants migrate as climate change transforms their habitat is positive or not. Read on for the latest on these cool green topics, and more.

1. We’re getting closer to regulating U.S. greenhouse gas emissions — yesterday the EPA took one more step through the obstacle course of government process, inspiring much optimism.
2. Is it too late to save the vaquita porpoise from extinction? Scientists are hoping not. Only 150 remain, threatened by fishing practices, but there’s new hope: the Mexican government has passed a resolution to ban trawling in the vaquita’s only habitat, in the Gulf of California. 
3. Melting glaciers often seem purely symbolic of the climate change problem, but they have real consequences: a new report says the melting of India’s Kashmir glaciers will threaten the water supply of millions of people in the Himalayas, where 90 percent of glaciers are receding.
4. The situation for the koala is nowhere near as dire as the vaquita dolphin, but cute and cuddly can get you a lot of publicity. New estimates indicate Australia’s koala population is getting smaller due to habitat loss, prompting an all-out media campaign by the Australia Koala Foundation.
5. Botanists are in a debate over whether assisted migration of plants — helping them relocate in the face of climate change — is a wise endeavor. Opponents worry that the science isn’t accurate enough to predict if a plant species will become invasive once moved. 

Posted: November 10th, 2009 under Animals, Australia, Climate Change, Conservation Issues, Cool Green Morning, Energy, Oceans & Coasts, United States, Water Conservation.
Tags: assisted migration, Australia, Australia Koala Foundation, botanists, EPA, Gulf of California, habitat loss, Himalayas, India water supply, Kashmir glacier, koala, melting glacier, Mexico, plant relocation, receding glaciers, regulating emissions, saving species, trawling ban, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, vaquita porpoise