CONTACTS:Kymberly Escobar, 202.441.9995Jamie Shor, 202.339.9598 Ten months after releasing a landmark report revealing the planet’s top 20 shark-fishing catchers, the Pew Environment Group is expressing concern about new images and video taken in Taiwan that detail the expansive and unregulated nature of shark fishing globally. The depictions show fins and body parts of biologically vulnerable […]
By AMELIA HOLOWATY KRALES18 October 2011 Tuvalu, a tiny archipelago of nine South Pacific islands threatened by rising seas, is on the front lines of the planet’s climate change debate. Current projections indicate that it will become unlivable within 50 years, resulting in an exodus and the erasure of a rich 3,000-year-old culture. In global […]
Caption by Holli Riebeek14 October 2011 The green scum shown in this image is the worst algae bloom Lake Erie has experienced in decades. Such blooms were common in the lake’s shallow western basin in the 1950s and 60s. Phosphorus from farms, sewage, and industry fertilized the waters so that huge algae blooms developed year […]
October 18, 2011 (AFP) – More than twice as many tonnes of Atlantic bluefin tuna were sold last year compared with official catch records for this threatened species, according to a report released on Tuesday. This “bluefin gap” occurred despite enhanced reporting and enforcement measures introduced in 2008 by the 48-member International Commission for the […]
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanaian Chronicle10 October 2011 An increased body of evidence shows that climatic variability is adversely affecting Ghana’s natural resources such as land, water, forests, and vegetation, as well as human capital. Climate change is, therefore, expected to have significant impact on key resource-dependent sectors, such as agriculture and food production, and […]
The elemental form of mercury is not as toxic to humans and wildlife as the organic form of mercury, methylmercury, which can accumulate in blood, feathers, and fur. An inorganic element found in the earth’s crust, mercury is naturally released into the environment through geological events such as volcanic eruptions. Elemental mercury (abbreviated Hg, from […]
BY RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, ASSOCIATED PRESS13 October 2011 HOUSTON — In a 30-mile area of the Texas Panhandle, biologists found 76 white-tailed deer — but zero babies. Not far away, they located only three quail on a stretch of road where they would see 15 in a normal year. In South Texas, a biologist reports a […]
By Faimon A. Roberts, Advocate Florida Parishes bureau11 OCtober 2011 This year’s white shrimp harvest in the waters off Louisiana’s southeastern coast is significantly lower than in the past, forcing some people in the industry to look elsewhere for product and scale back operations while others blame the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. “I […]
By Hayley Baker 6 October 2011 We’ve been investigating overfishing in West African waters for a long time and our new report, Empty Nets, Empty Future shows, in a stark light, how the local fishing industry in West Africa is under threat. The report focuses on how millions of Senegalese people depend on the fish […]
September 28 (AFP) – Academics from James Cook University in Queensland on Wednesday said there was mounting evidence of widespread and substantial declines in shark populations around the world, with some species now listed as threatened. [Population Growth Rates of Reef Sharks with and without Fishing on the Great Barrier Reef: Robust Estimation with Multiple […]
