Hydroelectric Dams Take a Toll on Jaguars, Tigers and Lions

As reigning apex #predators of a variety of ecosystems, #bigcats like , and lions are vital for ecosystem health. Yet forest loss for hydroelectric dam building is a real threat to these majestic big cats. Aside from depriving wildlife of a home, forest loss also contributes to #. Its ironic then that hydroelectricity, which is being developed worldwide (especially in and countries) as an alternative energy source to fossil fuels, is a big cause of deforestation. Alternative energy is important however shouldnt come at the cost of species under threat. Better protections are urgently needed. #Boycott4Wildlife

Often lauded as a saviour for the #environment and #climate, hydroelectric dams threaten #bigcats: #jaguars and #tigers Better protection of forests is needed to ensure endangered big #cats are protected #Boycott4Wildlife palmoildetect.bsky.social

Written by , Postdoctoral Researcher, People and Wildlife Research Group, . This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

on Earth. Lions stalk zebra in the African savanna, tigers ambush antelope in the forests of Asia and jaguars hunt deer in the jungles of South America. They play an important role in ecosystems by regulating the numbers of these herbivores, in turn, reducing the deterioration of vegetated habitats and .

Tigers, lions and jaguars must cover large areas to find food, so they need a lot of energy. As with many large carnivores, big cats are under threat from habitat loss, which leaves them with less to eat. Their spread-out populations and slow reproductive rates make them particularly vulnerable. While the habitats in which big cats live range from boreal forests at high latitudes to tropical rainforests at the equator, the causes of habitat loss are largely the same: logging for wood and fuel, plantations, farming and urbanisation.

Aside from depriving wildlife of a home, forest loss also . Its ironic then that hydroelectricity, which is being developed worldwide () as an alternative energy source to fossil fuels, is a big cause of deforestation.

has caused extinctions and spread diseases in rivers globally, but the threat to ecosystems on land has largely been overlooked. In , researchers from China and Portugal investigated how existing and planned hydroelectric dams might affect two carnivores: the near-threatened jaguar (with an estimated global population of 173,000) and the endangered tiger (thought to number between 3,200 and 3,500 worldwide).

Jaguars, currently deemed Near Threatened, face a substantial habitat reduction of up to 25% in just over two decades. This decline stems from rampant deforestation for palm oil, soy,

Fewer than 400 tigers remain in Sumatra due to deforestation for palm oil. Help save this endangered species. #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

Of all the great cats prowling the wild, few inspire as much awe and fascination as the leopard Panthera pardus. Sleek, powerful, and enigmatic, leopards are found across a staggering

The distribution of jaguars and tigers has shrunk 50% and 93% respectively, but the researchers found that hydroelectric plants pose a substantial risk of further declines. They found 164 dams that and 421 dams that do the same for tigers. This equates to one in five tigers that are likely to be affected by dams, compared with one in 200 jaguars. Since , this could have a considerable influence on the populations capacity to recover and may even result in local extinctions.

Damning developments for big cats

Large expanses of land are flooded to create reservoirs when building hydroelectric plants in low-lying, relatively flat areas. Although tigers and jaguars can and do swim, they mainly hunt species such as deer that live on land. Sites chosen for dams typically incorporate floodplains and areas along rivers that are important for both species, since they tend to contain lots of prey.

The flooded area will force both predators and prey into surrounding areas. If the vegetation here can support the influx of herbivores, tigers and jaguars will probably persist. But if it cannot, the predators may be forced further afield in search of food, potentially drawing them into conflict with people who may kill them.

Relatively pristine habitats are under threat. The number of hydroelectric dams is set to with a further 429 planned, while 41 are expected where tigers roam. Aside from the direct loss of habitat, these new constructions can increase the presence of people in remote areas. Roads built to access new dam sites consequently open up areas that were previously impenetrable. Roads can be a barrier to some species and kill those that try to cross. Roads can also encourage new towns and villages, which divide the habitat further.

Mitigating the damage

Where dams exist, the researchers suggest habitat loss could be limited by incorporating the surroundings into a protected area with suitable enforcement. Any new dams, though, especially in conservation areas or areas where top predators prowl, should be avoided. Sadly, most of the dams planned in Asia overlap with significant portions of the tigers range.

One way to mitigate the damage from building new hydroelectric plants may be to do it on slopes outside of areas that are crucial for conserving tigers and jaguars. The amount of flooded area needed to produce electricity from these plants when theyre on a slope is smaller compared to those built on lower ground, reducing the overall damage to the surrounding habitat. But impact assessments would need to confirm the plant wasnt simply creating new issues elsewhere.

Alternative sources of energy are important for a sustainable future, but their benefits should not come at a substantial cost to species already under threat.

Written by , Postdoctoral Researcher, People and Wildlife Research Group, . This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

ENDS

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The Battle Over Solar on Farmland

I also recommend folks check out (and support!) Solar United Neighbors-- they're an advocacy group that helps navigate issues around solar install regulations and they run solar co-ops to get cheaper pricing by having people go solar together!

14.03.2026 - 14:00 Uhr
Chart des deutschen Strommix ber die letzten 6 Stunden.

Weekend Factoid
Since March is the last week of Antarctic summer, it is appropriate to discuss a 2025 international study of the "seasonal vertical migration pump" which sequesters an enormous 65 million tonnes of carbon every year.
Copepods, krill and salps eat phytoplankton in summer, storing energy in lipids and biomass, and descend to deep waters in winter where it is slowly released like a carbon battery.

I can't talk about backup power without talking about solar, because unlike the brittle and expensive gas supply chain, the sun just relentlessly keeps coming up every morning... which is very convenient for recharging your battery:

El Nino watch issued and what it could mean for 2026 hurricane season

Scientists see a rapid shift as models hint El Nino may return this summer, potentially suppressing during peak season...

RE:

And according to Republicans we're alarmist.

Like millions of other people, climate scientists are finding a role for large language models in coding, communication and other parts of their workflow.

Black-and-white thinking - for example in the form of all-or-nothing or "your are either with us, or against us" - is usually a bad oversimplification.

Though, in our comprehension and communication of we do need information more binary than continuous .

We tend to miss the long-term trend due to our mental baseline shifting too quickly:

Well, the same is probably true for other slowly deteriorating things such as and .

The Battle Over Solar on Farmland

DN Debatt Repliker. Alice Teodorescu Mwe drar p sig offerkoftan istllet fr att svara

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- : ,
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Le rchauffement climatique continu pourrait engager une trajectoire irrversible en dclenchant des points de bascule climatiques, mais la plupart des gens nen ont pas conscience.
par Damian Carrington - traduction
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Le monde est plus proche quon ne le pensait dun point de non-retour ...

RE:

"economies can achieve positive social outcomes without perpetual growth"

Scientists left cinderblocks in a barren part of the sea. 3 months later they were ecstatic.

Despite ambitious climate targets, only 3 of the 42 largest clothing brands in the world are on a clear path to limiting global warming to 1.5C. Two Swiss companies, On and Mammut, received middling grades in the Fossil-Free Fashion Scorecard 2025 by NGO Stand.earth

The planet is overheating. Why is the news looking away

Since 2021, global media coverage of climate change has dropped 38 percent. Blame wars, political chaos, and Jeffrey Epstein

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STARTER PACKS BlueSky Llewelyn Pritchard 16 July 2025

Spaniens Ausbau von und stabilisiert die trotz stark steigender infolge des .

Seit 2019 wurden ber 40 Gigawatt zugebaut, deutlich gesenkt und beendet. Die Abhngigkeit von fossilen Importen sank sprbar, Haushalte profitieren von vergleichsweise niedrigen Kosten.
Herausforderungen bestehen noch bei der .

History Repeats but Memory Retreats - Way Out in the Dust Bowl
2026 M.Petter CC BY NC-SA - remix multiple layers/filters and refilters
Texan refugees' car. Coachella Valley. California 1937 Feb.
Alt txt by the altbot

van Westen & Dijkstra 6 Feb. 2026, Commun Earth Environ 7, 197Abrupt Gulf Stream path changes are a precursor to a collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.

How a shift in the Gulf Stream could signal the collapse of a major ocean current system

depiction of the

van Westen & Dijkstra 6 Feb. 2026, Commun Earth Environ 7, 197

Abrupt Gulf Stream path changes are a precursor to a collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.

How a shift in the Gulf Stream could signal the collapse of a major ocean current system

depiction of the

RE:

video lecture and literature review

"when fresh water enters the north Atlantic Ocean (from glacier melt) then the slows and then shuts down. The simulation shows that 25 years prior to the AMOC shutdown, the abruptly moved northward 219 km within a two year time period.
... we have seen a creeping northward movement of the Gulf Stream in this region, from satellite data and data prior to that."

Early dawn cherry

Three weeks earlier than usual. Seeing my garden be affected by climate change makes it puzzling how some folks can still deny it.

14.03.2026 - 08:00 Uhr
Chart des deutschen Strommix ber die letzten 6 Stunden.

that are significantly contributing to the rapid acceleration of atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions, global warming and the collapse of human civilisations on Mother Earth.

and s Health and Country Profile 2025 provides a comprehensive overview of how change is affecting public health in this twin-island nation and the steps being taken to build resilience.

My journey into communism didn't begin with abstract theory, but with the stark, physical reality of our warming planet. It became impossible to ignore that the climate crisis isn't an accident or a "glitch" in the system it is the logical conclusion of a mode of production that demands infinite growth on a finite planet. Once I looked closely at the data and read Greta Thunbergs books, I realized that "green capitalism" is an oxymoron designed to keep us complacent while the foundations of our world are sold off for parts.

Capitalism views nature as a bottomless well of resources to be extracted and a free dumping ground for waste. This creates what is known as a metabolic rift, where the natural cycles of the earth are broken by the relentless drive for profit. I saw that the people most affected by these disasters, the Global South, the working class, and indigenous communities, are the ones who contributed the least to the problem. This isn't just an environmental issue it is a class war waged against the future of humanity.

I became a communist because I realized that we cannot "consume" our way out of an ecological collapse. True climate justice requires more than just a transition to renewables it requires a planned economy that prioritizes the preservation of life over the accumulation of capital. We need a system where the means of production are in the hands of the people, allowing us to democratically decide how to use our resources sustainably. The fight for the earth is inseparable from the fight to end exploitation.

This transition won't come from the boardrooms of the corporations responsible for the damage. It will come from a mass movement of those who have everything to lose and a world to win. We must organize to dismantle the structures that value a billionaire's portfolio over a stable atmosphere. Our struggle is for a world where the air is clean, the water is pure, and our labor serves the collective good rather than the destruction of our home.

Net zero will cost less than fossil fuel price rise, UK climate adviser says

Climate Change Committee report comes after days of turbulence in global energy markets

This is just stupid.

h/t