By Gloria MaenderOctober 2003 The rapid removal of at least half a million great whales from the North Pacific Ocean by intensive industrial whaling more than 50 years ago may have unleashed a complex ecological chain reaction that has since rippled resoundingly from ocean to coastal ecosystems, according to a team of eight scientists, including […]
The Earth is in the throes of its “sixth great extinction event” and Australia and the Pacific are becoming the worst regions for the destruction of animals and plants, a study has found. By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney Land clearing and overlogging of forests have been highlighted as the greatest threats to land-based flora and […]
Scientists confirm computer model predictions that oxygen-depleted zones in tropical oceans are expanding, possibly because of climate change Scripps Institution of Oceanography / University of California, San DiegoMAY 1, 2008 An international team of physical oceanographers including a researcher from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has discovered that oxygen-poor regions of tropical […]
By Matt Walker, Editor, Earth News Two thirds of all species of freshwater crab maybe at risk of going extinct, with one in six species particularly vulnerable, according to a new survey. That makes freshwater crabs among the most threatened of all groups of animals assessed so far. The study is the first global assessment […]
ScienceDaily (July 28, 2009) — Kathmandu, Nepal – The first ever overall nation-wide estimate of the tiger population brought a positive ray of hope among conservationists. The figures announced by the Nepal Government’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) shows the presence of 121 (100 – 194) breeding tigers in the wild within […]
ScienceDaily (July 28, 2009) — When the magnitude 8 Sichuan earthquake struck southern China in May 2008, it left more than 69,000 people dead and 4.3 million homeless. Now ecologists have added to these losses an assessment of the earthquake’s impact on biodiversity. Researchers show that more than 23 percent of the pandas’ habitat […]
SPECIAL REPORT BY XINHUA CORRESPONDENT DANIEL OOKO NAIROBI, (Xinhua) — The Kenyan government on Wednesday raised an alarm of severe food, water and energy shortages facing the east African nation. Prime Minister Raila Odinga told Parliament that over 10 million people are in urgent need of food assistance, noting that a very worrying situation and […]
By Matt Walker, Editor, Earth News Lions in Cameroon are having their kills stolen from under their noses by hungry villagers, say conservationists. Incidences of such kleptoparasitism, the stealing of food from another, usually occur between top predators such as lion, hyena and cheetah. But people are increasingly getting in on the act, conservationists say. […]
By Peter Lord A new study by researchers at Brown University finds that climate change is reducing the diversity of plants in New England salt marshes by causing a decline in small, flowering plants and allowing the spread of salt marsh grasses such as Spartina patens. The study, called “Experimental warming causes rapid loss of […]
As Wetlands Shrink, Oil and Gas Jobs Replace Farming, Fishing and Trapping By Kari Lydersen, Washington Post Staff Writer GOLDEN MEADOW, La. “Every morning is like Christmas morning” during shrimping season, says Whitney Dardar, 73, a Houma Indian who loves fishing in the bayous of southwestern Louisiana as his forebears have done for two centuries. […]
