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archive: Sep-Oct 2007
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Eco-news archive: September-October 2007
Third of primates 'under threat'
(Oct 26, 2007)
Almost a third of the world's primates are in danger of extinction
because of destruction of their habitats, a report by conservation
groups has warned. The report says many apes, monkeys and other
primates are being driven from the forests where they live or
killed to make food and medicines. The research is being presented
at the International Primatological Society (IPS) on the Chinese
island of Hainan.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Natural decline 'hurting lives'
(Oct 26, 2007)
Continuing destruction of the natural world is affecting the health,
wealth and well-being of people around the globe, according to
a major UN report. The Global Environment Outlook says most trends
are going the wrong way. It lists degradation of farmland, loss
of forest cover, pollution, dwindling fresh water supplies and
overfishing among society's environmental ills.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Climate threat to biodiversity
(Oct 24, 2007)
Global temperatures predicted for the coming centuries could trigger
a mass extinction, UK scientists have warned. The temperatures
are within the range of greenhouse phases early in the Earth's
history when up to 95% of plants and animals died out, they say.
Experts examined the link between climate and diversity over 520
million years, almost the entire fossil record.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Oceans are 'soaking up less CO2'
(Oct 21, 2007)
The amount of carbon dioxide being absorbed by the world's oceans
has reduced, scientists have said. University of East Anglia researchers
gauged CO2 absorption through more than 90,000 measurements from
merchant ships equipped with automatic instruments. Results of
their 10-year study in the North Atlantic show CO2 uptake halved
between the mid-90s and 2000 to 2005.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
'Warm wind' hits Arctic climate
(Oct 18, 2007)
The Arctic is being hit by melting ice, hotter air and dying wildlife,
according to a US government report on the impact of global warming
there. A new wind circulation pattern is blowing more warm air
towards the North Pole than in the 20th Century, scientists found.
Shrubs are now growing in tundra areas while caribou herds are
dwindling in Canada and parts of Alaska.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Gore says prize must spur action
(Oct 14, 2007)
Al Gore says his Nobel Peace Prize is an "honour" and a chance
to "elevate global consciousness" about the threat posed by climate
change. The former US vice-president was awarded the prestigious
prize jointly with the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC).
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Lovelock urges ocean climate fix
(Sep 27, 2007)
Two of Britain's leading environmental thinkers say it is time
to develop a quick technical fix for climate change. Writing in
the journal Nature, Science Museum head Chris Rapley and Gaia
theorist James Lovelock suggest looking at boosting ocean take-up
of CO2. Their idea, already being investigated by a US firm, involves
huge flotillas of vertical pipes in the tropical seas.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Man causing climate change – poll
(Sep 26, 2007)
Large majorities in many countries now believe human activity
is causing global warming, a BBC World Service poll suggests.
A sizeable majority of people agreed that major steps needed to
be taken soon to address global warming. More than 22,000 people
were surveyed in 21 countries and the results show a great deal
of agreement on the issue.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Ice withdrawal 'shatters record'
(Sep 22, 2007)
Arctic sea ice shrank to the smallest area on record this year,
US scientists have confirmed. The National Snow and Ice Data Center
(NSIDC) said the minimum extent of 4.13 million sq km (1.59 million
sq miles) was reached on 16 September. The figure shatters all
previous satellite surveys, including the previous record low
of 5.32 million sq km measured in 2005.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Call to protect shark-filled sea
(Sep 17, 2007)
Conservationists are urging the Australian government to protect
the Coral Sea, one of its last tropical marine wildernesses. The
sea was recently declared a "predator diversity hotspot" because
of its abundant shark populations. Campaigners fear the region
could be targeted by illegal shark fishermen as well as oil and
gas prospectors.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Warming opens Northwest Passage
(Sep 15, 2007)
The most direct shipping route from Europe to Asia is fully clear
of ice for the first time since records began, the European Space
Agency (ESA) says. Historically, the Northwest Passage linking
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans has been ice-bound through the
year. But the agency says ice cover has been steadily shrinking,
and this summer's reduction has made the route navigable.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Gorillas head race to extinction
(Sep 13, 2007)
Gorillas, orangutans, and corals are among the plants and animals
which are sliding closer to extinction. The Red List of Threatened
Species for 2007 names habitat loss, hunting and climate change
among the causes. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has identified
more than 16,000 species threatened with extinction, while prospects
have brightened for only one.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Starving whales point to depleted oceans
(Sep 12, 2007)
Starvation may be impeding the recovery of the Pacific gray whale
population, say researchers. The gray whale population was thought
to have recovered from commercial whaling, but now a new genetic
study suggests the marine mammals once numbered between three
and five times the 22,000 population estimated today.
Read
more. Source: New Scientist |
US predicts polar bear meltdown
(Sep 12, 2007)
Two-thirds of the world's polar bears will be gone by the middle
of the century, says a US government agency. The US Geological
Survey (USGS) says parts of the Arctic are losing summer ice so
fast that no bears will be able to live there within several decades.
Scientists believe Arctic ice will hit a record low this year.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
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