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Eco-news archive: November-December 2005
Debate heats up over Earth's population
(Dec 27, 2005)
If you thought the planet was already struggling under the weight
of billions of humans, think again. Researchers have worked out
the population's ultimate limit, and claim the Earth could withstand
up to 200,000 times as many of us. The world's population is expected
to rise from 6.5 billion today to around 9 billion in 2050, but
according to Viorel Badescu at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest
in Romania that is nowhere near the limit of the planet's capacity.
Dr Badescu's calculations, which appear in the International Journal
of Global Energy Issues next month, are based on earlier work
by the British physicist John Fremlin.
Read
more. Source: Guardian |
World is at its hottest since prehistory,
say scientists
(Dec 20, 2005)
The world is now hotter than at any stage since prehistoric times,
a top climatologist announced last week. His startling conclusion
comes as NASA reported that 2005 has been the hottest year ever
recorded. Dr Michael Coughlan, head of the National Climate Centre
at the Australian Government's Bureau of Meteorology, said: "One
probably has to go back into prehistoric times – and way
back in them – to be seeing these sorts of temperatures."
Read
more. Source: Independent |
2005 warmest ever year in north
(Dec 16, 2005)
This year has been the warmest on record in the northern hemisphere,
say scientists in Britain. It is the second warmest globally since
the 1860s, when reliable records began, they say. Ocean temperatures
recorded in the northern hemisphere Atlantic Ocean have also been
the hottest on record. The researchers, from the UK Met Office
and the University of East Anglia, say this is more evidence for
the reality of human-induced global warming.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Extinction alert for 800 species
(Dec 14, 2005)
Researchers have compiled a global map of sites where animals
and plants face imminent extinction. The list, drawn up by a coalition
of conservation groups, covers almost 800 species which they say
will disappear soon unless urgent measures are taken. Most of
the 800 are now found only in one location, mainly in the tropics.
Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the
researchers say protecting some of these sites would cost under
$1,000 per year.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Arctic orcas highly contaminated
(Dec 12, 2005)
Killer whales have become the most contaminated mammals in the
Arctic, new research indicates. Norwegian scientists have found
that killer whales – or orcas, as they are sometimes known
- have overtaken polar bears at the head of the toxic table. No
other arctic mammals have ingested such a high concentration of
hazardous man-made chemicals.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Greenland glacier races to ocean
(Dec 8, 2005)
Scientists have been monitoring what they say may be the fastest
moving glacier on the planet. Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier on the east
coast of Greenland has been clocked using GPS equipment and satellites
to be flowing at a rate of 14 km per year. It is also losing mass
extremely fast, with its front end retreating 5km back up its
fjord this year alone. The glacier "drains" about 4% of the ice
sheet, dumping tens of cubic km of fresh water in the North Atlantic.
This gives it significant influence not just on global sea level
rise but on the system of ocean circulation which drives through
the Arctic.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Ocean changes to cool Europe
(Dec 1, 2005)
Changes to ocean currents in the Atlantic may cool European weather
within a few decades, scientists say. Researchers from the UK's
National Oceanography Centre say currents derived from the Gulf
Stream are weakening, bringing less heat north. Their conclusions,
reported in the scientific journal Nature, are based on 50 years
of Atlantic observations.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
The giant earwig that could bring a
country to a standstill
(Nov 28, 2005)
The giant earwig is among the most elusive creatures on the planet
– and is believed by many to be extinct. But its survival
is at the centre of a transatlantic planning row, which could
prevent an airport from being built on the island where Napoleon
Bonaparte spent his final years in exile. Some of the world's
rarest species, including birds, spiders and centipedes, are under
threat from a new £80m airport planned for the island of St Helena.
Read
more. Source: Independent |
Accelerated rise in sea levels blamed
on global warming
(Nov 25, 2005)
Sea levels are rising twice as fast as they were 150 years ago
and man-made greenhouse emissions are the prime cause, a study
by scientists in America has found. Tide lines worldwide are rising
by about 2 millimetres a year, compared to 1 millimetre a year
in 1850, said Kenneth Miller, professor of geology at Rutgers
University in New Jersey. The rate at which sea levels are rising
is probably greater than at any time for thousands of years, suggesting
that greenhouse emissions are accelerating climate change, he
said.
Read
more. Source: Independent |
CO2 'highest for 650,000 years'
(Nov 25, 2005)
Current levels of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane
in the atmosphere are higher now than at any time in the last
650,000 years. That is the conclusion of new European studies
looking at ice taken from 3 km below the surface of Antarctica.
The scientists say their research shows present day warming to
be exceptional.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
UN urges protection for dolphins
(Nov 24, 2005)
The United Nations says additional protection measures are needed
for dolphins and small whales. A new global survey, released at
a conservation meeting in Kenya, finds that more than 70% of species
are at risk through snaring in fishing nets. Other major threats
include intentional catching, pollution, habitat destruction and
military sonar. The UN Environment Programme (Unep) is calling
for an upgrade of international protection on eight species.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Millions face glacier catastrophe
(Nov 20, 2005)
Nawa Jigtar was working in the village of Ghat, in Nepal, when
the sound of crashing sent him rushing out of his home. He emerged
to see his herd of cattle being swept away by a wall of water.
Jigtar and his fellow villagers were able to scramble to safety.
They were lucky: 'If it had come at night, none of us would have
survived.' Ghat was destroyed when a lake, high in the Himalayas,
burst its banks. Swollen with glacier meltwaters, its walls of
rock and ice had suddenly disintegrated. Several million cubic
metres of water crashed down the mountain.
Read
more. Source: Observer |
Climate change map reveals countries
most under threat
(Nov 18, 2005)
Scientists have compiled one of the first comprehensive pictures
of what the world might be like when climate change begins to
trigger a dramatic increase in epidemics, disease and death. Teams
of specialists have assessed the scale of the dangers to human
health when changes in the climate lead to higher incidences of
weather extremes, such as high temperatures, floods and drought.
The findings – published today in the journal Nature –
come weeks before world leaders meet in Montreal to discuss climate
change at the first Conference of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
Read
more. Source: Independent |
Deforestation slowing – UN
(Nov 16, 2005)
The speed of global deforestation is showing signs of slowing
down because of new planting and natural forest extension, according
to new figures. But the world's forests are still being destroyed
at an alarming rate, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization,
presenting details from a new report. The numbers measure net
loss, taking into account forest growth from new planting and
natural expansion. An average 7.3 million hectares was lost annually
over the last five years. This was down from 8.9 million hectares
(22 million acres) a year between 1990 and 2000.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Birds hit by climate, diet shift
(Nov 14, 2005)
A change in the diet of seabirds may be making them less intelligent
and lowering their chances of survival and breeding, a new study
shows. Scientists used lab experiments to mimic changes observed
in the diets of kittiwakes in the Bering Sea – changes probably
caused by a warming ocean. Chicks given a diet low in lipid-rich
fish were less able to find food. The RSPB comments that changes
in the diets of seabird chicks can affect their chances of survival.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Japan's whaling fleet sets sail
(Nov 9, 2005)
Japan's whaling fleet has set sail for Antarctic waters where
it will make its biggest catch in 20 years. The boats will aim
to catch nearly 1,000 whales over the coming months. A global
moratorium on commercial whaling has been in place since the 1980s,
but Japan describes its programme as "scientific." The hunting
is condemned by most conservation groups on the grounds that it
is inhumane, unnecessary and may harm fragile wildlife populations.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Smart directions for green ideas
(Nov 3, 2005)
Electro-car public transport and a scheme to track the proper
disposal of waste are two of smartest ideas for using satellite-navigation
technology. The applications have just triumphed in an international
competition seeking novel ways to employ Galileo, Europe's soon-to-launch
sat-nav system. The multi-billion-euro space venture will transform
the quality of location and timing data available on Earth. And
entrepreneurs are being urged to develop innovative ways to exploit
it.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
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