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Salmon fraud increases during winter. -

An Oceana study found that when wild salmon was out of season, people ordering it in restaurants got the wrong thing 67 percent of the time. That's a problem economically, when diners get salmon worth less than what they're paying, and ecologically, when diners are trying to opt for the most sustainable optionNPR

Africa's vultures are in severe decline. -

A new report finds that poachers, poisoning, and traditional medicines are threatening 6 of the continent's 11 vulture species with extinction. Their disappearance has consequences—by eating carcasses, vultures prevent diseases from spreading and keep numbers of more dangerous scavengers, like jackals, in check. The Guardian

Plants and animals are a patina on the microbial world.

Margaret J. McFall-Ngai, a coauthor of two new papers calling for an international research initiative on microbiomes, discusses the significance of studying how these ubiquitous communities affect human health and ecosystem function.

Haze from Indonesian wildfires has now killed 19 people. -

Since the fires began in July, some half a million people have suffered from respiratory illnesses. This year's blazes—an annual consequence of illegal slash-and-burn agriculture—are on track to be the worst in history. President Joko Widodo plans to tour the destruction later this week. Agence France-Presse

Shell takes a $2 billion hit as it shelves a tar sands project in Alberta. -

As crude prices drop and oil pipelines continue to face environmental scrutiny, several energy companies have canceled plans for future extraction in the tar sands region. The move to halt the 80,000-barrel-a-day project comes just a month after Shell suspended its Arctic drilling. Bloomberg

Wine will survive climate change. -

For the medium term, at least. The International Organisation of Vine and Wine says grapevines are highly adaptable—plus, winemakers are adopting smarter practices in response to changing conditions. Cheers! Reuters