January 2026

SAN FRANCISCO, 18 January – Three in five or, almost 7000 bird species are in steep decline, many from logging native forests. One in eight kinds of birds are facing near-term extinction. Human health, too, is in dire jeopardy. Poisons in freshwater, fossil fuel smog and transnational organised crime are levelling earthly life.

Lest we forget that combusting fossil fuels, wood pellets and palm oil has brought agony and starvation to four million Common Murres, forced Caspian Terns to mate and lay eggs 1700 kilometres farther north than the species has ever been seen before and driven Snowy Owls extinct in Sweden. Elsewhere across the Arctic tundra, this iconic warm-blooded vertebrate is vanishing. It’s simply too hot.

The British newspaper The Guardian recently posted an article about a podcast named “The Birth Keepers” which is part of The Free Birth Society, an organization that “encourages women to give birth without medical support – no midwives, no doctors, no ultrasounds – just faith and ‘instinct.’” According to The Guardian, the FBS is linked to “at least 18 cases where the group played a significant role in the mother or birth attendant’s decision-making, leading to potentially avoidable tragedies.”