Monarch butterflies wintering in Mexico rebound this year
The number of monarch butterflies wintering in the mountains west of Mexico City rebounded this year, doubling the area they covered in 2024 despite the stresses of climate change and habitat loss, experts said Thursday.
The annual butterfly count doesn't calculate the individual number of butterflies, but rather the number of acres they cover as they gather on tree branches in the mountain pine and fir forests.
Monarchs from east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada overwinter there. Mexico's Commission for National Protected Areas (CONANP) said that this year, butterflies covered 1.79 hectares) compared to only 0.9 hectares the year before.
Last year's figure represented a 59% drop from 2023, the second lowest level since record keeping began.
After wintering in Mexico, the iconic butterflies with black and orange wings fly north, breeding multiple generations along the way for thousands of miles. The offspring that reach southern Canada begin the trip back to Mexico at the end of summer.
Gloria Tavera Alonso, the Mexican agency's director general of conservation, said the improved numbers owed to better climatic factors and humidity.
Drought along the butterflies' migratory route had been listed as a factor in last year's decline. The impact of changes in weather year after year mean fluctuations are expected.
For that, Jorge Rickards, Mexico director general for the World Wildlife Fund, said "you can't let down your guard" and must continue to expand conservation efforts.
Tavera Alonso credited ongoing efforts to increase the number of plants the butterflies rely on for sustenance and reproduction along their flyway.
Butterflies have not been faring well north of the border. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation has been counting western overwinter populations of monarch butterflies — a separate population from those that winter in central Mexico — along the California coast, northern Baja California and inland sites in California and Arizona for the last 28 years. The highest number recorded was 1.2 million in 1997.
The organization announced in February that it counted just 9,119 monarchs in 2024, a decrease of 96% from 233,394 in 2023. The total was the second-lowest since the survey began in 1997. And the first countrywide systematic analysis of butterfly abundance in the United States found that the number of butterflies in the Lower 48 states has been falling on average 1.3% a year since the turn of the century, with 114 species showing significant declines and only nine increasing, according to a study in Thursday's journal Science.
Experts say that monarchs face risks across North America in large part due to the reduction in milkweed where the monarchs lay their eggs. The plant has been disappearing due to drought, wildfires, herbicides and urbanization.
In December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that monarch butterflies receive protection as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
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Voice of America
08-03-2025
- Voice of America
Monarch butterflies wintering in Mexico rebound this year
The number of monarch butterflies wintering in the mountains west of Mexico City rebounded this year, doubling the area they covered in 2024 despite the stresses of climate change and habitat loss, experts said Thursday. The annual butterfly count doesn't calculate the individual number of butterflies, but rather the number of acres they cover as they gather on tree branches in the mountain pine and fir forests. Monarchs from east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada overwinter there. Mexico's Commission for National Protected Areas (CONANP) said that this year, butterflies covered 1.79 hectares) compared to only 0.9 hectares the year before. Last year's figure represented a 59% drop from 2023, the second lowest level since record keeping began. After wintering in Mexico, the iconic butterflies with black and orange wings fly north, breeding multiple generations along the way for thousands of miles. The offspring that reach southern Canada begin the trip back to Mexico at the end of summer. Gloria Tavera Alonso, the Mexican agency's director general of conservation, said the improved numbers owed to better climatic factors and humidity. Drought along the butterflies' migratory route had been listed as a factor in last year's decline. The impact of changes in weather year after year mean fluctuations are expected. For that, Jorge Rickards, Mexico director general for the World Wildlife Fund, said "you can't let down your guard" and must continue to expand conservation efforts. Tavera Alonso credited ongoing efforts to increase the number of plants the butterflies rely on for sustenance and reproduction along their flyway. Butterflies have not been faring well north of the border. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation has been counting western overwinter populations of monarch butterflies — a separate population from those that winter in central Mexico — along the California coast, northern Baja California and inland sites in California and Arizona for the last 28 years. The highest number recorded was 1.2 million in 1997. The organization announced in February that it counted just 9,119 monarchs in 2024, a decrease of 96% from 233,394 in 2023. The total was the second-lowest since the survey began in 1997. And the first countrywide systematic analysis of butterfly abundance in the United States found that the number of butterflies in the Lower 48 states has been falling on average 1.3% a year since the turn of the century, with 114 species showing significant declines and only nine increasing, according to a study in Thursday's journal Science. Experts say that monarchs face risks across North America in large part due to the reduction in milkweed where the monarchs lay their eggs. The plant has been disappearing due to drought, wildfires, herbicides and urbanization. In December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that monarch butterflies receive protection as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
Voice of America
16-12-2024
- Voice of America
Mayans Ask Mexican Court to Recognize Lakes as Legal Persons
In the Mexican state of Yucatan, hundreds of underground lakes form a semicircular shape in the northwestern part of Yucatan state. They are called the Ring of Cenotes. The lakes provide water for the area, but they are also part of a dispute between local people and pig farmers. The cenotes are also important to local people who earn a living by leading foreign visitors into the caverns to swim and explore. Maribel Ek lives in the community of Homun, near the cenote known as Santa Maria. To native Mayans like Ek, cenotes are holy. She calls the Sant Maria cenote her "neighbor." That belief is behind a legal action, or lawsuit, that aims to have the Ring of Cenotes legally recognized as a person. Personhood would give the lakes the same rights and protections of law that human citizens have. A Mayan organization called Guardians of the Cenotes has brought the lawsuit. It aims to keep large pig farms out of the area because they are affecting the water quality of the underground lakes. If the group wins, the lakes will become the first ecosystem in Mexico to be considered a person. There have been other such cases worldwide, such as the Whanganui River in New Zealand or the Komi Memem River in the Brazilian Amazon. Ek is a member of the Guardians group. Polluting the waters The threats to cenotes have been growing. Cities in Yucatan are growing and there are new breweries and soybean fields in the area. But what most worries the Guardians of the Cenotes are the pig farms. Mexico's Ministry of the Environment reports that 507 pig farms are operating near the Ring of Cenotes. There is little to no control over what happens to the thousands of liters of water containing pig waste from the farms. Yameli Aguilar is a biologist from the Autonomous University of Yucatan. He said the polluted water goes into the aquifer. A study carried out last year by the Ministry of the Environment found E. coli bacteria in 20 cenotes near pig farms. The state has named the land a natural protected area, and it is an important wetland. Lourdes Medina is a lawyer who represents the Guardians in the legal case. She said the government still has failed to prevent 'serious contamination' from taking place. Ek and others created the Guardians of the Cenotes group to lead the fight against one pig farm built near Homun in 2017. They organized protests and legal actions without any effect. A year later, six children from Homun brought a case demanding their right to water and a healthy environment. A judge ordered the farm closed. In 2022, the group began its personhood legal action. If successful, it would affect 52 communities within the Ring of Cenotes. A Yucatan state judge has ordered officials not to give permission to any project that could affect the area until the lawsuit is settled. That could happen at the beginning of next year. What do the pig farmers say? Pig farms and other large industries come to the area because of the availability of water. The farms use a lot of water to cool the animals and clean their waste. The industry says it is not causing the contamination. Carlos Ramayo Navarrete is director of the Pig Farmers Association in Merida. It represents the largest pig farms in Yucatan. He said the problem comes from a lack of drainage systems in cities and small pig farmers. Navarrete said small pig farms are not as officially regulated as the big farms he represents. He said around half the water the farms use is reused. In addition, he said all of the farms have treatment systems to reduce pollution in their wastewater. The remaining water is then used as fertilizer. However, both the Ministry of the Environment and Aguilar, the biologist, have said that the measures taken by the industry are still not enough. What will the future bring? Back in Homun, Maribel Ek enjoys swimming in the waters of the cenote. She said that she has learned the cenote is "a blessing, a dark hole that becomes a friend," and she added "That's why we demand rights for our cenotes." I'm Jill Robbins. Teresa de Miguel reported this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. ______________________________________________ Words in This Story cavern – n. a large cave ecosystem – n. everything that exists in a particular environment brewery – n. a company that makes beer aquifer - n. a layer of rock or sand that holds a lot of water contamination –n. when a substance, like pollution, gets into places where it is not supposed to be drainage –n. related to systems that carry rain or wastewater away from streets and buildings regulate – v. to make rules or laws that control activities like business or travel What do you think of this story? Write to us in the Comments Section.
Voice of America
07-12-2024
- Voice of America
Mexico study finds killer heat hit harder for the young than the elderly
A surprising study of temperature-related deaths in Mexico upends conventional thinking about what age group is hit hardest by heat. Researchers found at higher temperatures and humidity, the heat kills far more young people under 35 than those older than 50. For decades, health and weather experts have warned that the elderly and the youngest children were most vulnerable in heat waves. But this study looking at all deaths in Mexico from 1998 to 2019 shows that when the combination of humidity and temperature reach uncomfortable levels, around 30 degrees Celsius and 50% relative humidity, there were nearly 32 temperature-related deaths of people 35 years old for every temperature-related death of someone 50 and older. The study in Friday's journal Science Advances shows an especially surprising spike of heat-related deaths in an age group thought to be young and robust: people between 18 and 35. That age group alone had nine times as many temperature-related deaths as those older than 50. Study authors and outside experts are scrambling to figure out why. Demographics alone don't explain why more young adult Mexicans are dying in high heat than their elders. Two theories: Outdoor workers who can't escape the heat, and young people who don't know their limits. The trend is likely to widen as the world warms from human-caused climate change, according to computer simulations run by the study team. "We found that younger people are especially vulnerable to humid heat," study co-author Jeffrey Shrader, a climate economist at Columbia University, said. "As the climate warms, we're really going to be shifting the burden of temperature-related mortality towards younger individuals and away from older individuals who tend to be more vulnerable to cold temperatures." Data from cold weather shows more than 300 deaths of Mexican residents 50 and older for every young person dying from cold temperatures, according to the study. "People of all ages are increasingly at risk from the rising temperatures, and this study shows that those that we might have considered relatively safe from heat-related adverse health outcomes might not be so much so," said Marina Romanello, executive director of the Lancet Countdown that monitors health effects of climate change. She was not part of the study team. "Heat is a much more dangerous silent killer than most people acknowledge it to be, and that heat is increasingly putting our health and survival at risk," Romanello said in an email. Study authors decided to examine weather-related deaths in Mexico because that country not only has detailed mortality data, but it has a variety of different climates making it an ideal place to study in depth, Shrader said. Researchers also want to figure out whether this is just a situation in Mexico or other warmer sections of the globe have similar spikes in young adult deaths in high heat and humidity. Initially the team just wanted to look at deaths and what scientists call wet-bulb globe temperatures, but when they looked at age differences, they were surprised and looked in more detail, Shrader said. Wet-bulb temperature, which is intended to mirror how the body cools itself, is derived using a complicated measurement system that factors in humidity and solar radiation. A wet-bulb globe temperature of 35 degrees Celsius is thought to be the limit for human survivability. Most places don't reach that level. Researchers determined temperature-related mortality by complex statistical analysis that compares numerous factors in the number of deaths and removes everything they can except temperature fluctuations, said study co-author Andrew Wilson, a Columbia climate economics researcher. Researchers also calculated the ideal temperature for when there are the fewest excess deaths at each age group. Younger adults' sweet temperature spot is about 5 degrees Celsius cooler than it is for older people, Shrader and Wilson said. Some outside health and climate experts were initially puzzled at the higher youth mortality seen in the study. Co-author Patrick Kinney, a professor of urban health and sustainability at Boston University, said it was likely the study included a higher proportion of outdoor workers exposed to heat than prior studies did. Study co-author Tereza Cavazos, a climate scientist at the Ensenada Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education in Mexico, said she remembers her father's generations taking siestas in the high heat of the day and that was healthy. That doesn't happen so much now, she said. "There is a lot of population that is vulnerable in the future. Not even in the future, right now," Cavazos said. She mentioned three Mexican heat waves this year that hit in the middle of the country and kept the deadly heat going overnight so people had little relief. Usually cool nights allow a body to recover. Younger people often have a sense of invulnerability to weather extremes and do things that increase their risk, such as play sports in high heat, Cavazos said. "High humidity makes it a lot harder for the body to cool itself through sweating – which is how our body primarily stays cool," said Dr. Renee Salas, an emergency medicine physician and climate change expert at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She was not part of the study team. "So someone young and healthy working outside in heat and high humidity can reach a point where the body can no longer cool itself safely – causing a deadly form of heat injury called heat stroke."
