Endangered vaquitas hanging on in Gulf of California & more environmental news.

[View this email in your browser]( Friday, June 9, 2023 "We need to save the Arctic not because of the polar bears, and not because it is the most beautiful place in the world, but because our very survival depends upon it." — Lewis Gordon Pugh ‘People Didn’t Listen to Our Warnings’: Scientists Say It’s Too Late to Save Arctic Summer Ice Even with dramatic shifts in emissions, summer sea ice in the Arctic is doomed. A new analysis has found that even greatly and swiftly reducing greenhouse gas emissions will not prevent the disappearance of sea ice in September over the coming decades. Researchers predict the first summer without Arctic sea ice will happen in the 2030s, about a decade earlier than previously estimated. [Read More]( Related: [‘Scary’ Study Finds Ice Sheets in the Past Retreated at Rates of Nearly 2,000 Feet per Day]( Smoke From Canada Wildfires Expected to Reach Norway Earlier this week, officials predicted that [Canada is facing its worst wildfire season]( on record. Hundreds of fires are already burning around the country, with many concentrated in the Quebec province. Officials in Norway are now expecting the smoke to reach the country. [Read More]( Related: [Canada Facing Record Wildfire Season, Officials Say]( Makers of PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Covered Up Health Risks, Secret Industry Documents Reveal Makers of [PFAS]( (per and polyfluoroalkyl substances) “[forever chemicals]( have a lot to hide. Exposure to the toxic compounds — found in everything from nonstick cookware and personal care products, like [shampoo]( and dental floss, to waterproof rain gear — has been shown to cause cancer, thyroid disease, liver damage and [fertility]( issues. [Read More]( Related: [PFAS 101: Everything You Need to Know About ‘Forever Chemicals’]( ‘Encouraging News’: Endangered Vaquitas Hanging On in Gulf of California, Expedition Finds The shy, elusive [vaquita]( is the smallest and most endangered porpoise in the world, with fewer than 20 remaining in their small range in the Gulf of [California]( Sea of Cortez. Vaquitas have been hanging on against all odds, despite the consistent threat of entanglement in [gillnets]( used to illegally catch totoaba, a large fish that is also endangered and exclusively inhabits the Gulf of California. Totoaba are illegally caught for their swim bladders, sold to [China]( at a premium for their purported medicinal properties. According to a report from a recent [research expedition]( that took place from May 10 to 26, from 10 to 13 vaquita were spotted by experts while sailing in a corner of the gulf where a similar number of the cetaceans were last seen in 2021, reported The Associated Press. [Read More]( Related: [Vaquita Porpoise Reproducing Despite Low Numbers and Continued Threats From Illegal Gillnets]( Do you get this newsletter daily? If not, [sign up here]( or forward to a friend. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Website]( [Instagram]( Copyright © 2023 EcoWatch, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up for EcoWatch Top News of The Day Our mailing address is: EcoWatch 1122 Oberlin RoadRaleigh, NC 27605 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. [Mailchimp Email Marketing](