2009 has been a big year for the environment: most notably, with the election of President Barack Obama and his administration’s swift subsequent undoing of many of former President Bush’s less-than-green initiatives. But that’s not all that went right for the planet this past year.
National Geographic has an outstanding roundup of 10 important environmental gains of 2009, starting with the many new species discovered around the globe. And guess what? The third one is the work of none other than George W. Bush.
Here are the first three:
New Species Discovered Around the Globe
This giant woolly rat found in Papua New Guinea is just one of hundreds of species previously unknown to science that were brought to light in 2009 (more on the rat).
Discoveries such as these “reaffirm the magic of the planet,” said Brendan Cummings, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity in Joshua Tree, California.
Among the hundreds of new species are a subterranean snail that lives in Australia’s outback, a ghostshark whose males have sex organs on their heads, and a tadpole-toting frog from Ecuador.
Critical Habitat for Polar Bears Proposed
In October the U.S. government proposed designating more than 200,000 square miles (500,000 square kilometers) of land, sea, and ice along Alaska’s north coast as critical habitat for the polar bear, which is listed as threatened with extinction under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
“That is a huge, positive affirmation that losing the polar bear is unacceptable,” said the Center for Biological Diversity’s Cummings. “If we are truly going to protect this habitat, we are going to have to deal with the climate crisis.”
Massive Marine Monument Created
Undersea mud volcanoes, submerged islands, and waters teeming with sharks and other predators got a new lease on life when the Marianas Trench National Marine Monument was designated a federally protected area during the final days of U.S. President George W. Bush’s time in office.
The Pacific sanctuary, broken up into three distinct regions, encompasses 95,216 square miles (246,608 square kilometers), making it the largest marine protected area in the world.
Head on over to National Geographic for the rest, which include advances in renewable energy technology and important green steps made by big corporations.
Link [National Geographic]
