Reefs at Risk Report, Revisited: A Wakeup Call to Protect Coral
The new Reefs at Risk Revisited report is out, 13 years after the original Reefs at Risk, which was the first global assessment of the threats to Earth’s coral reefs and painted an alarming picture of their future. Today’s edition is even less rosy: three-quarters of the world’s coral reefs are at risk due to overfishing, pollution, climate change and other factors.
Testing the Limits of Where Humans Can Live
Understanding what made residents stay and how they survived could inform how we adapt to modern vulnerabilities, including climate change.The findings also have implications for how we rebound from contemporary catastrophes, such as the Indonesian tsunami in 2004, hurricanes Katrina and Rita and last year’s earthquake in Haiti.
Impacts Of Intensive Salmon Farming On Coastal Ecosystems
A new salmon-farming trade deal with China has terrifying implications on Scotland’s coastal ecosystem.
50 million environmental refugees by 2020, experts say
These are people who can no longer gain a secure livelihood in their homelands because of drought, soil erosion, desertification, deforestation and other environmental problems, together with the associated problems of population pressures and profound poverty.
Pilot Whales Die on New Zealand Beach
A pod of 107 pilot whales stranded on a remote New Zealand beach have died, including 48 that were put down, the government’s conservation department said.
Darwin’s Elevation Changes Theory Confirmed, Cape Verde
More recent geologic studies in Cape Verde have confirmed Darwin’s conclusions about elevation changes and that multiple geologic processes under the ocean floor have raised Cape Verde at varying rates over the past 6 million years.
Border battle in Russia’s Arctic over oil, BP to Drill In Protected National Park
Oil drilling licenses have been distributed for drilling operations in the Kara Sea, off the coast of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, which borders the sea along the west and up to the north.
Scientist finds Gulf bottom still oily
These results contrast with other studies that show a more optimistic outlook about the health of the gulf, saying microbes did great work munching the oil.
Global warming could spur toxic algae, bacteria in marine environment
Unhealthy oceans impact not only human and animal health but also affect countries’ economies, said Lubchenco, noting that US coastal states are home to eight in 10 Americans and generated 83 percent of US GDP in 2007.