6 November 2017 (BBC News) – A huge mass of plastic bottles, cutlery and polystyrene plates has been found floating in the Caribbean. The “sea of plastic” stretches for miles. Underwater photographer Caroline Power was there to witness it first-hand. Photos don’t exactly do it justice. It was one of the most devastating and disgusting […]
By Hans Nicholas Jong 29 October 2017(Mongabay) – The wholesale destruction of rainforests across parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra island to make way for cash-crop plantations has not just devastated animal and plant biodiversity in the region, but may also be driving an alarming rise in temperatures on the ground, a new study suggests. Average temperatures […]
By Morgan Erickson-Davis 27 October 2017 (Mongabay) – A new study in PLOS ONE reveals a 76 percent reduction in Germany’s flying insect biomass over the past 27 years while another reports the country’s bird abundance has declined 15 percent in just over a decade. While the causes behind the insect decline haven’t yet been […]
By Alister Doyle 23 October 2017 OSLO (Reuters) – Forest fires in Brazil and Indonesia contributed to a record loss in global tree cover in 2016, equivalent to the size of New Zealand, that could accelerate deforestation blamed for climate change, an independent forest monitoring network said on Monday.Man-made global warming increased the risks of […]
By Angela Boldrini 27 October 2017 (Folha de São Paulo) – More than a quarter of Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park has been consumed by the largest fire in its history. According to the latest report, on Tuesday (24th), 64,000 hectares (about 158,000 acres) of the Park’s 240,000 hectares (593,000 acres), were hit by the […]
By Roger Harrabin 22 October 2017 (BBC News) – All sea life will be affected because carbon dioxide emissions from modern society are making the oceans more acidic, a major new report will say. The eight-year study from more than 250 scientists finds that infant sea creatures will be especially harmed.This means the number of […]
By Devin Henry 22 October 2017 (The Hill) – The Senate’s budget vote on Thursday was the opening salvo in what’s likely to be a bitter fight over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). President Trump, key officials in his administration and leading Republicans support drilling in ANWR, an expanse of 19 million […]
18 October 2017 (IWWR) – Since 1989, in 63 nature reserves in Germany the total biomass of flying insects has decreased by more than 75 percent. This decrease has long been suspected but has turned out to be more severe than previously thought. Ecologists from Radboud University together with German and English colleagues published these […]
19 October 2017 (The Siberian Times) – Around 20 beasts have surrounded Ryrkaypiy, with one bear cub trying to get into a house through the window.The polar bears were attracted by 5,000 walruses that appeared this year at a special protection zone in Chukotka.Many of the frightened flippered marine mammals fell off cliffs at Kozhevnikova […]
By Manisha Ganguly 13 October 2017 (CNN) – A penguin colony in Antarctica has suffered a massive breeding failure, with only two chicks surviving the disaster. Terre Adélie (Adélie Land) is home to more than 18,000 pairs of Adélie penguins, but this year almost all the seabirds’ babies starved to death, a situation one expert […]
