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Updates: polution; hunting; animal slaughter; climate change

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 1:23 am
Author: Anthea
Torrential rain and burst dams

Libya flooding: What caused sheer scale of death and destruction in eastern city of Dernas

With thousands feared dead, Sky News looks at what could have caused the devastating flood that wiped out a quarter of the eastern city of Derna.

Satellite images show the Wadi Derna river, which runs from the mountains through the city and into the sea, has been dry for most of the year, though it floods semi-regularly when it rains.

But on Sunday night, Storm Daniel pounded the coast and residents of Derna reported hearing loud explosions before they realised dams outside the city had collapsed, unleashing flash floods down Wadi Derna that eventually crashed into the city.

Some 414mm of rain fell on the nearby town of Bayda, according to a local weather organisation, which the Sky News weather team described as a "huge amount of rainfall" that likely quickly ran off rather than soaked into the hard dry ground.

The first dam is about 12km upstream from the city where two river valleys converge, and footage has shown it has been completely destroyed.

After breaching the first dam, the floodwater would have continued downstream along the canyon towards the second, which sits on the southern edge of the city.

Downstream of the second dam, a wide torrent of water cascaded through the city centre, smashing into buildings on either side.

Multi-storey apartment blocks that were well back from the river had their facades ripped away and concrete floors had collapsed, while cars lifted by the flood were left stacked on top of each other.

Estimates suggest 2,000 may have died in Derna alone
Libya asks for international help after storm

Researcher warned repeated flooding threatened city

Libya has been contorted by years of war and lack of a central government after autocratic leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in a coup in 2011, which has left it with crumbling infrastructure that was vulnerable to intense rains.

In a research paper published last year, hydrologist Abdelwanees A R Ashoor of Libya's Omar al Mukhtar University warned repeated flooding of the seasonal riverbed, or wadi, was a threat to Derna, citing five floods since 1942.

His paper called for immediate steps to ensure regular maintenance of the dams and added: "If a huge flood happens the result will be catastrophic for the people of the wadi and the city."

The floods are the most fatal environmental disaster in Libya's modern history and also hit other areas, including the town of Bayda, where around 50 people were reported dead.

Hundreds of families were also displaced and took shelter in schools and other government buildings in Benghazi and elsewhere in eastern Libya.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

Link to Article - Video - Photos:
https://news.sky.com/story/libya-floodi ... r-12959945

We all know which country destroyed Libya and it's infrastructure

Re: Time to stop the wars and stop the torture of animals

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 3:17 pm
Author: Anthea
Many thousands of people died as refugees fleeing conflicts

Those countries that supplied weapons to rebels are guilty of mass murder

Those countries that killed innocent people and harmless animals, while attempting to drive out ISIS, are guilty of mass murder

Those countries that thought it better to destroy communities and encourage refugees to flee rather than stop the fighting and allow people to live in peace in their homes, are guilty of mass murder

Those countries that have ignored the plight of the Yazidis are guilty of mass murder

Re: If we don't end war, war will end us. H. G. Wells

PostPosted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 11:34 pm
Author: Anthea
Orphaned for an inch of horn: Tank the baby white rhino is found desperately trying to befriend other rhinos after poachers murder his mother for her tiny nub of horn

Please click to enlarge
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The mother-of-four had previously been 'dehorned' to deter roaming poachers
Her youngest, Tank, has been seen trying to befriend another mother

This horrific picture shows the bloody wound poachers left on a rhino so they could snatch less than an inch of its horn in a deadly attack.

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Hunters tore into the 20-year-old white rhino's face in South Africa despite it previously being 'dehorned' for its own protection.

The attackers killed Bella, who was a mother to four, in Kragga Kamma Game Park in Eastern Cape.

Keepers say her youngest, Tank, was seen this morning trying to befriend another mother and calf while mourning his dead parent in the protected site.

He was injured but this is likely to have resulted from being pushed away by the mother rather than being the work of poachers.

Ayesha Cantor, who runs the park, put out a heartfelt message on Facebook about the tragic death.

'Its just so unreal, for 1cm of horn - we cannot comprehend the waste of it all,' she wrote.

'We have always been acutely aware that these rhino are everyone's rhino, that we are merely their custodians, this has been evident in your outpouring of emotions.

'Thank you dear friends, we know that you are as devastated by this as we are.'

The white rhino is the only one of the five types not to be endangered, but is classified as 'near threatened' by conservationists.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -horn.html

Re: If we don't end war, war will end us. H. G. Wells

PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 5:17 pm
Author: Piling
Chinese people are real bastards.

Re: If we don't end war, war will end us. H. G. Wells

PostPosted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 12:51 am
Author: Anthea
Trophy hunter children pose next to bodies of grizzly bears and lions

PARENTS are causing outrage by flooding social media to proudly share pictures of their young children involved in big game hunting, posing alongside the corpses of huge lions and grizzly bears.

Trophy hunter posing with dead giraffe sparks outrage online

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The latest anger comes after photos emerged of trophy hunter Tess Thompson Talley posing alongside the corpse of a rare black giraffe.

On the same day, Jaco van Vuuren Safaris from Limpopo Province in South Africa, which is owned and operated by professional hunter Jaco van Vuuren and his wife Tanya, also shared a snap of what appeared to show a father and son from Tajikistan alongside a lion they had killed.

They wrote: “Congratulations on hunting this majestic animal.”

Alaskan hunter Kyle Virgin posted a picture of his daughter Aubrey with her first grizzly bear kill, sending a chilling warning that a spate of animal killings by young children is only just beginning.

He said: “I despise the thought that kids are too young to take hunting.

“We’ve been having people claim there’s no way a nine year old could have killed this bear. Keep watching, we’ve only just begun.”

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Leo Murray from Queenstown in New Zealand posted a picture of a young boy with a toy gun alongside the decapitated head of a stag, adding: “Hunting is in our blood. Zeb, you little legend.”

Another chilling image shows a young boy staring at his tablet computer while leaning against the corpse of a dead female lion.

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Pictures are flooding social media of young children involved in big game hunting

Hunter ‘Ryan the Buddha from Wisconsin’ proudly shared a family photo in the driveway with his wife and two daughters alongside a stuffed mountain lion.

He wrote: “The girls said they wanted another cat.”

Tess Thompson Talley posted the snaps of herself with the corpse of the rare black giraffe on Facebook after a trip to South Africa last year.

She wrote alongside the photos: “Prayers for my once in a lifetime dream hunt came true today! Spotted this rare black giraffe bull and stalked him for quite awhile,' the 37-year-old posted alongside the photos.

A boy is seen using his tablet computer while leaning against the corpse of a dead female lion

“I knew it was the one. He was over 18-years-old, 4,000lbs and was blessed to be able to get 2,000lbs of meat from him.”

But her pictures have caused outrage, with Africland sharing her pictures on their Twitter page on June 16, attracting 8,200 mostly furious comments and 45,000 retweets.

It said with the post: “White american savage who is partly a neanderthal comes to Africa and shoot down a very rare black giraffe courtrsey of South Africa stupidity.

“Her name is Tess Thompson Talley. Please share.”

Tess Thompson Talley's pictures with a dead giraffe have caused outrage

She has since made her Facebook profile private following the backlash.

But US singer Ted Nugent defended her on his Facebook account, claiming giraffes must be managed like deer and elk and beers and cougars.

He wrote: “Ignorance is one thing but the insanity of scrambling to avoid information and truth to eliminate ignorance is downright toxic and obscene.

“Giraffes must be managed just like deer and elk and bears and cougars. How stupid and embarrassing can people be.”

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/98 ... cial-media

Re: If we don't end war, war will end us. H. G. Wells

PostPosted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 4:33 pm
Author: Anthea
Three poachers are eaten by lions at South African nature reserve :ymapplause:

Three poachers are EATEN by lions after the men broke into South African nature reserve to slaughter rhinos for their horns

    At least three poachers are believed to have been eaten by lions at game reserve
    Men had entered Sibuya Game Reserve in Eastern Province, South Africa
    A head, bloody limbs and three pairs of shoes recovered from the scene
    Staff also found hunting rifles and axe used by poachers to cut off rhino horns
A gang of poachers who broke into a South African game reserve to hunt rhinos came off second best when they were attacked and eaten by a pride of hungry lions.

Nature's justice: At least three poachers are believed to have been eaten by lions at the Sibuya Game Reserve :ymparty:

At least three hunters are believed to have been devoured by the predators, judging by the bloody scene on the Sibuya Game Reserve near Kenton-on-Sea in Eastern Province, South Africa.

One head and a number of bloodied body parts and limbs have been recovered from the area, along with three pairs of empty shoes.

Gruesome: Staff found a head, along with a number of bloodied body parts and limbs at the scene along with three pairs of empty shoes

Staff at Sibuya also found high powered hunting rifles with silencers, wire cutters and an axe used by poachers to cut off rhino horns.

A helicopter was called in to search for more possible poachers, but none have so far been found.

Owner Nick Fox, 60, said: 'We found enough body parts and three pairs of empty shoes which suggest to us that the lions ate at least three of them but it is thick bush and there could be more.

'They came heavily armed with hunting rifles and axes which we have recovered and enough food to last them for several days so we suspect they were after all of our rhinos here.

'But the lions are our watchers and guardians and they picked the wrong pride and became a meal.

Illegal hunt: The poachers had brought high powered hunting rifles with silencers, wire cutters and an axe known to be used by poachers to cut off rhino horns

At least three hunters are believed to have been devoured by the reserve's lion pride, pictured, judging by the bloody scene on the Sibuya Game Reserve

'Whilst we are saddened at any loss of life the poachers came here to kill our animals and this sends out a very clear message to any other poachers that you will not always be the winner'.

The game reserve is one of the most popular in the Eastern Cape, and it is visited by many British tourists.

As well as rhinos and lions, Sibuya's 30 square miles is also is home to the rest of Africa's Big Five: elephant, buffalo and leopard.

In 2016, the reserve lost three rhinos when poachers got into the park and shot them dead and cut off their horns.

However, this time the hunters became the hunted, when they got in the way of the resident lion pride.

Mr Fox said: 'The lions may have eaten more of them it is difficult to tell as the area is very thick with bush and you cannot be sure what they have taken off to feed on elsewhere.

'The best estimate we have so far is that three of the gang were eaten.

'They were armed with high powered rifles with silencers, an axe for the horns, wire cutters and side arms, so were clearly intent on killing rhinos and cutting off their horns.'

Poachers not welcome: A helicopter has searched the area, as more poachers may remain in hiding on the reserve

The remains of the bodies were found as darkness fell on July 3rd, but staff had to wait until daylight on July 4th when the area could be declared safe to go in and recover what was left

Police spokeswoman Captain Mali Govender confirmed that the remains had been found in the lion camp and that detectives were on the scene trying to work out how many were eaten.

Captain Govender said: 'We do not know identities but firearms have been taken by the police and will be sent to the ballistics laboratory to see if they have been used in poaching before'.

Poaching is a major issue on the Eastern Cape with nine rhinos killed by illegal hunters on reserves this year.

In February a poacher was killed by lions in the Umbabat Game Reserve near the Kruger National Park, and his family were forced to identify him using all that was left - his head.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... serve.html

Re: If we don't end war, war will end us. H. G. Wells

PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2018 2:55 am
Author: Anthea
Brutal: How plastic is killing off Arctic wildlife

This bear’s horrific ordeal, witnessed by Geir Wing Gabrielsen, one of the world’s top experts in Arctic toxicology, is just another illustration of plastic pollution in what is supposed to be one of the world’s last pristine wildernesses.

Other victims include reindeer, Arctic foxes, seabirds such as Arctic terns and fulmar, seals and fish which are increasingly being found with pieces of plastic in their stomachs.

Svalbard has a population of just 2,600, most of it in the tiny capital of Longyearbyen, but the plastic is carried here, sometimes over decades, from as far away as America, Canada and the UK on ocean currents, the wind and the sea ice.

Much of it is invisible, ground down by the waves into microplastic pieces smaller than a fifth of an inch (5mm) and microscopic nanoplastic.

Dr Gabrielsen, 63, of the Norwegian Polar Institute, said the crisis is going to get worse without urgent action.

He said: “Worldwide, the industry expects to see a threefold increase in plastic production by 2050. Very little, only 14 per cent, of plastic is being recycled or burned to generate energy.

“We need to recycle much more and even incineration is an interesting way to solve the problem.”

Dr Gabrielsen, who also teaches at the University Centre in Svalbard, said: “We were in a helicopter when we saw the polar bear lying in the snow in the north of Svalbard in 2014 while volunteers were cleaning the beaches of plastic litter.

A dead Reindeer with antlers that have been stuck in plastic netting on the Island of Spitzbergen

We are seeing more and more cases of animals getting caught in plastic

“It was a female bear weighing about 200kg [440lb] and had got entangled in a 150kg net. The bear had been tagged in an ear and the net had got caught around that.

“It dragged the net with its teeth from the beach about 300 metres [330 yards] to the snow. We were going to tranquillise it and free it but somehow it wriggled free.

“But we are seeing more and more cases of animals getting caught in plastic – seals with plastic strapping bands around them, seabirds caught in ‘ghost’ fishing nets that have been abandoned at sea, reindeer getting their antlers tangled in strapping bands, ropes or fishing nets, as well as Arctic foxes.”

Other sad images show a dead Arctic tern tangled in plastic rope – one of the world’s most graceful birds denied the chance to perform the world’s longest migration from the Arctic to the Antarctic.

Even the Arctic flowers are contaminated.

On the tundra we found a beautiful pinkish compass flower, which blooms only on its south side, with a strand of rope fibre entwined in its heart.

Dr Gabrielsen, who has carried out research on Svalbard for 37 years, also has the evidence that the problem is getting worse.

In 1983 the Norwegian Polar Institute analysed the stomachs of 40 fulmar, a northern relative of albatrosses which ranges far out to sea plucking krill, squid and fish from the surface.

The NPI found that four fulmar had small bits of plastic in their stomach.

But in 2013 Dr Gabrielsen and a British postgraduate student, Alice Trevail, repeated the experiment and found the situation reversed – with only four birds without plastic in their stomach.

Worse still, in 1983 the affected birds were carrying on average 0.75 pieces each but in 2013 the average was 15.3 pieces, with some having swallowed more than 200 pieces of microplastic.

The average burden carried in the affected birds was 0.08grams – very near the limit recommended by the Ospar Convention (The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the NorthEast Atlantic).

Dr Gabrielsen said: “Over 0.1g there are indications that the birds will struggle to digest other food and therefore will not get enough energy and die of starvation. “But further south this is a bigger problem for fulmars. Five years ago 24 per cent of the Svalbard birds were above the 0.1g limit.

“In the North Sea 60 to 70 per cent of UK fulmars are over 0.1g. These are birds that can live to be 70 and only start breeding at about eight years old.”

The pollution can be seen on the beaches of Svalbard.

On a short walk along the coast by Longyearbyen, we found plastic sheets, a tyre, plastic bags, old ropes and plastic fibres, all near where Arctic terns were nesting.

Dr Gabrielsen said that on Svalbard about 80 per cent of the plastic comes from the fishing industry which, thanks to climate change, is now trawling waters once inaccessible due to ice.

But plastic is also drifting to this Arctic haven from as far away as America, Canada and China.

Dr Gabrielsen said studies of sea ice have found between 50 and 350 particles of plastic per litre but samples taken between Greenland and Svalbard by Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute revealed up to 12,000 particles per litre.

He said: “Studies show that 90 per cent of all plastic in the sea is on the sea floor, five per cent on the beaches and five per cent on the surface. What you see on the beaches is just the tip of the iceberg.

“It is getting into the food chain. A Swedish study showed that plankton pick up nanoplastics, get eaten by zooplankton which get eaten by fish and it crosses the blood to brain barrier, changing the behaviour of fish.

“A study by the Norwegian Water Institute of 302 cod caught the length of Norway found that three to five per cent have microplastics in their stomachs but off Bergen, where there is a big human population, the figure rose to 27 per cent.

“We have not yet been able to discover whether this plastic ends up on the plate but the World Economic Forum says that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the sea than fish. If we continue like this, I am sure this will be the case.”

Link to Article - Photos:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/98 ... ard-norway

Re: STOP killing animals and destroying environment

PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 11:09 pm
Author: Anthea
Amazonian 'lost world' spanning TWICE size of Wales
becomes planet’s largest national park


AN Amazonian “lost world” has become the planet’s largest national park – spanning across a vast area of rainforest twice the size of Wales. The 17,000 square miles of impenetrable Colombian jungle contain some of nature’s most remarkable structures famed for their living fossils.

It is also becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Chiribiquete National Park boasts a series of tepuis – the native American word for huge table top mountains – that are not only held sacred by native tribes but inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write one of his most famous novels.

In the Lost World, the creator of Sherlock Homes tells of an expedition to the Amazon where adventurers find dinosaurs still stalking the peaks of these remote, rocky edifices.

The sheer-sided, sandstone tepuis of the Chiribiquete National Park might not host pterodactyls or tyrannosaurus but they have long been revered as the haunt of the South America’s most fearsome predator, the jaguar.

More than 75,000 rock paintings dating back 20,000 years and depicting hunting, battle and dance scenes coat the walls of rock shelters at the base of the tepuis and are believed to be linked to a religion devoted to the big cat, hailed as symbol of fertility and power.

Today jaguars, river dolphins, giant otters, manatees, tapir and woolly monkeys, along with a colourful array of tropical kingfishers and hummingbirds, are found across the park which has become a living museum because of its unique location.

Chiribiquete stands at the confluence of four South American regions – the Amazon, Andean, Orinoco and Guyanas – so giving it a unique and rich biodiversity of more than 3,000 plant and animal species.

This week has not only seen the park’s landmass increased by nearly 6,000 square miles, UNESCO has decreed it a World Heritage Site to recognise its “outsanding universal value” for nature and people.

Colombia’s Amazon region has been at the heart of vital conservation efforts having suffered 66 per cent of the country’s deforestation.

Climate change, illegal logging and the growing of illicit crops for the drugs trade are all conspiring to destroy the rainforest landscape.

Chiribiquete was originally declared a national park in 1989, doubling in size to 11,000 square miles five years ago, before this week’s major extension.

WWF has been heavily involved in conservation work to preserve Colombia’s wildernesses and welcomes the park’s expansion and new World Heritage Site status.

Rainforest critters are notoriously elusive but can you spot them hidden in these camouflaged snaps? From wood-like stick insects to bark coloured butterflies, these animals are having their own hide-and-seek competition.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/9 ... f-colombia

Re: STOP killing animals and destroying environment

PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 3:24 am
Author: Anthea
Elephant crisis as one is killed every 25 minutes

AFRICAN elephants could become extinct within decades unless poaching is halted, British campaigners warned yesterday. The Born Free Foundation said an elephant is being killed every 25 minutes to feed the illegal trade in ivory, treasured in the Far East for its alleged medical properties.

201,000 elephants have been poached in the past six years

In the past century the population plunged from five million elephants to fewer than 500,000.

Yet the animals, among the noblest on the planet, are vital for the environment, spreading plant seeds, digging for water which helps other species and modifying landscapes by uprooting trees.

Charity founder Virginia McKenna, 87, who starred in the hit 1966 movie Born Free, said: “Elephants are living treasures.

“Nature’s gardeners. Nature’s great teachers. Tragically some people don’t give a damn. We must challenge the bloody ivory trade with all our might.

“We must bring shame on those who would condone it.

“It’s time to be kind.”

She urged the public to support Born Free’ campaign to end the ivory trade by signing its online petition and donating funds to support its work with elephants in Cameroon, Ethiopia and Kenya.

Born Free president Will Travers said: “We have witnessed first-hand the brutal aftermath of poaching and the pressure that the species is under.

As a wildlife photographer, I constantly have to be aware of the scene around the subject I'm wanting to photograph. The background is as important as the animal. Arriving at the scene of sleeping lions, I was very aware of the beautiful colours behind hi

“Steps are finally being taken in the right direction – China officially closed its domestic ivory market back in 2017, the US has taken resolute action, the majority of Africa countries are calling for the trade to end and the UK Government plans to end almost all domestic ivory trade by October 2018.

“However, there is still a great deal more to be done.

“Just two years ago I stood on the edge of Nairobi National Park in Kenya and watched 105 tons of ivory burn.

“Eleven towering pyres of tusks from an estimated 10,000 elephants were ceremoniously torched to send a defiant message to the world that – as far as Kenya was concerned – elephants are worth more alive.

“While there is still a demand, poachers, and the criminal networks that support them, will continue to destroy a symbol of all that is wild and free.”

Sign the petition at www.bornfree.org.uk/ivory-trade-petition.

Donate via https://give.bornfree.org.uk/products/e ... risis-1052

https://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/9 ... 25-minutes

Re: Elephant crisis as one is killed every 25 minutes

PostPosted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 12:18 am
Author: Anthea
Almost 200 years ago Mary Somerville about the interdependencies and interconnectedness of creation:

Please click on image to enlarge:
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Shame NOBODY took any notice

Re: Interdependencies and interconnectedness of creation

PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 7:46 pm
Author: Anthea
Half the planet should be set aside for wildlife – to save ourselves

If we want to avoid mass extinctions and preserve the ecosystems all plants and animals depend on, governments should protect a third of the oceans and land by 2030 and half by 2050, with a focus on areas of high biodiversity. So say leading biologists in an editorial in the journal Science this week.

It’s not just about saving wildlife, says Jonathan Baillie of the National Geographic Society, one of the authors. It’s also about saving ourselves.

“We are learning more and more that the large areas that remain are important for providing services for all life,” he says. “The forests, for example, are critical for absorbing and storing carbon.”

At present, just 3.6 per cent of the planet’s oceans and 14.7 per cent of the land is protected by law. At the 2010 Nagoya Conference of the Convention on Biological Diversity, governments agreed to protect 10 per cent of the oceans and 17 per cent of land.

Extinction crisis

But this isn’t nearly enough, says Baillie. He and his coauthor, Ya-Ping Zhang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, want governments to set much bigger targets at the next major conference in 2020.

“We have to drastically increase our ambition if we want to avoid an extinction crisis and if we want to maintain the ecosystem services that we currently benefit from,” says Baillie. “The trends are in a positive direction, it’s just we have to move much faster.”

It’s very difficult to work out how much space is needed to preserve biodiversity and ecosystem benefits, the pair say, because there’s so much we don’t know about life on Earth – like how many species there are. However, most estimates suggest that between 25 and 75 per cent of regions or major ecosystems must be protected. And we should err on the side of caution when setting targets.

Could we feed a global population that may reach 10 billion people by 2050 if half the planet is set aside? We won’t be able to do so if we don’t, says Baillie. “That’s why we need an intact planet,” he says. “If we want to feed the world’s population, we have to be thinking about maintaining the ecological systems that allow us to provide that.”

Which areas should we protect?

“There is no doubt we need far more land and sea secured for conserving and retaining nature,” says James Watson at the University of Queensland in St Lucia, Australia. “Targets like 50 per cent are in the right ball park when it comes to the minimal amount of area needed to conserve biodiversity.”

But Watson and others stress that which areas get protected is even more important than the overall number.

“The key thing is to protect the right areas,” says Jose Montoya of the Station for Theoretical and Experimental Ecology in Moulis, France. “If we merely protect a proportion of the territory, governments will likely protect what’s easy, and that’s usually areas of low biodiversity and ecosystem service provision.”If we want to avoid mass extinctions and preserve the ecosystems all plants and animals depend on, governments should protect a third of the oceans and land by 2030 and half by 2050, with a focus on areas of high biodiversity. So say leading biologists in an editorial in the journal Science this week.

“We have to do both,” responds Baillie. “I don’t think they are mutually exclusive.”

What’s more, a third of the 3.6 per cent of land that is already meant to be protected is actually being exploited, Watson’s team reported last month. So merely declaring areas to be protected is not enough.

“These protected areas must be well managed,” says David Lindenmayer of the Australian National University in Canberra. “The basis for conservation will need to change so that it becomes a key part of economies and livelihoods.”

Journal reference: Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.aau1397

https://www.newscientist.com/article/21 ... fg.twitter

Re: Half the planet should be set aside for wildlife

PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2018 9:05 pm
Author: Anthea
Final call to save the world from climate catastrophe

It's the final call, say scientists, the most extensive warning yet on the risks of rising global temperatures

Their dramatic report on keeping that rise under 1.5 degrees C says the world is now completely off track, heading instead towards 3C.

Keeping to the preferred target of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels will mean "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society".

It will be hugely expensive - but the window of opportunity remains open.

After three years of research and a week of haggling between scientists and government officials at a meeting in South Korea, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued a special report on the impact of global warming of 1.5C.

The critical 33-page Summary for Policymakers certainly bears the hallmarks of difficult negotiations between climate researchers determined to stick to what their studies have shown and political representatives more concerned with economies and living standards.

Despite the inevitable compromises, there are some key messages that come through loud and clear.

"The first is that limiting warming to 1.5C brings a lot of benefits compared with limiting it to two degrees. It really reduces the impacts of climate change in very important ways," said Prof Jim Skea, who co-chairs the IPCC.

"The second is the unprecedented nature of the changes that are required if we are to limit warming to 1.5C - changes to energy systems, changes to the way we manage land, changes to the way we move around with transportation."

What's the one big takeaway?

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"Scientists might want to write in capital letters, 'ACT NOW, IDIOTS,' but they need to say that with facts and numbers," said Kaisa Kosonen, of Greenpeace, who was an observer at the negotiations. "And they have."

The researchers have used these facts and numbers to paint a picture of the world with a dangerous fever, caused by humans. We used to think if we could keep warming below two degrees this century, then the changes we would experience would be manageable.

Not any more. This new study says that going past 1.5C is dicing with the planet's liveability. And the 1.5C temperature "guard rail" could be exceeded in just 12 years, in 2030.

We can stay below it - but it will require urgent, large-scale changes from governments and individuals and we will have to invest a massive pile of cash every year, about 2.5% of global gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all goods and services produced, for two decades.

Even then, we will still need machines, trees and plants to capture carbon from the air that we can then store deep underground - forever.

What can I do?

Here's five things we can do to help prevent global temperatures rising more than 1.5 degrees C.

The report says there must be rapid and significant changes in four big global systems:

    energy • land use • cities • industry

But it adds that the world cannot meet its target without changes by individuals, urging people to:

    buy less meat, milk, cheese and butter and more locally sourced seasonal food - and throw less of it away • drive electric cars but walk or cycle short distances • take trains and buses instead of planes • use videoconferencing instead of business travel • use a washing line instead of a tumble dryer • insulate homes • demand low carbon in every consumer product

Lifestyle changes can make a big difference, said Dr Debra Roberts, the IPCC's other co-chair.

"That's a very empowering message for the individual," she said. "This is not about remote science; it is about where we live and work, and it gives us a cue on how we might be able to contribute to that massive change, because everyone is going to have to be involved."

"You might say you don't have control over land use, but you do have control over what you eat and that determines land use.

"We can choose the way we move in cities and if we don't have access to public transport - make sure you are electing politicians who provide options around public transport."

Five steps to 1.5

    1 - Global emissions of CO2 need to decline by 45% from 2010 levels by 2030

    2 - Renewables are estimated to provide up to 85% of global electricity by 2050

    3 - Coal is expected to reduce to close to zero

    4 - Up to seven million sq km of land will be needed for energy crops

    5 - Global net zero emissions by 2050

How much will all this cost?

It won't come cheap. The report says to limit warming to 1.5C, will involve "annual average investment needs in the energy system of around $2.4 trillion" between 2016 and 2035.

Experts believe this number needs to be put in context.

"There are costs and benefits you have to weigh up," said Dr Stephen Cornelius, a former UK IPCC negotiator now with WWF. He says making big emissions cuts in the short term will cost money but be cheaper than paying for carbon dioxide removal later this century.

"The report also talks about the benefits as there is higher economic growth at 1.5 degrees than there is at 2C and you don't have the higher risk of catastrophic impacts at 1.5 that you do at two."

The coldest 10 years compared to the 20th century average were in the early 1900s, while the warmest years have all been since 2000, with 2018 on course to be the fourth warmest year on record

Re: Half the planet should be set aside for wildlife

PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2018 9:10 pm
Author: Anthea
What happens if we don't act?

The researchers say that if we fail to keep temperature rises below 1.5C, we are in for some significant and dangerous changes to our world.

You can kiss coral reefs goodbye, as the report says they would be essentially 100% wiped out at two degrees of warming.

Global sea-level will rise about 10cm (4in) more if we let warming go to 2C. That may not sound like much but keeping to 1.5C means that 10 million fewer people would be exposed to the risks of flooding.

There are also significant impacts on ocean temperatures and acidity, and the ability to grow crops such as rice, maize and wheat.

"We are already in the danger zone at one degree of warming," said Kaisa Kosonen, from Greenpeace. "Both poles are melting at an accelerated rate; ancient trees that have been there for hundreds of years are suddenly dying; and the summer we've just experienced - basically, the whole world was on fire."

Is this plan at all feasible?
Analysis by David Shukman, BBC science editor

The countdown to the worst of global warming seems to have accelerated. Seriously damaging impacts are no longer on a distant horizon later this century but within a timeframe that appears uncomfortably close.

By the same token, the report's "pathways" for keeping a lid on temperatures all mean that hard decisions cannot be delayed:

    a shift away from fossil fuels by mid-century

    coal phased out far sooner than previously suggested

    vast tracts of land given over to forests

It's mind-bending stuff and some will say it's hopelessly unrealistic, a climate scientists' fantasy. So is any of it plausible? On the one hand, the global economy relies on carbon and key activities depend on it. On the other, wind turbines and solar panels have tumbled in price and more and more countries and states such as California are setting ambitious green targets.

Ultimately, politicians will face a difficult choice: persuade their voters that the revolutionary change outlined in the report is urgently needed or ignore it and say the scientists have got it wrong.

Is all this about saving small island states?

The idea of keeping the global temperature rise to 1.5 is something very close to the hearts and minds of small island and low-lying states, which fear being inundated with flooding if temperatures go to two degrees.

But over the three years that the report was in preparation, more and more scientific evidence has been published showing the benefits of staying close to 1.5C are not just for island nations in the Pacific.

"If you save a small island country, then you save the world," said Dr Amjad Abdulla, an IPCC author, from the Maldives. "Because the report clearly states that no-one is going to be immune. It's about morality - it's about humanity."

How long have we got?

Not long at all. But that issue is now in the hands of political leaders. The report says hard decisions can no longer be kicked down the road. If the nations of the world don't act soon, they will have to rely even more on unproven technologies to take carbon out of the air - an expensive and uncertain road.

"They really need to start work immediately. The report is clear that if governments just fulfil the pledges they made in the Paris agreement for 2030, it is not good enough. It will make it very difficult to consider global warming of 1.5C," said Prof Jim Skea.

"If they read the report and decide to increase their ambitions and act more immediately, then 1.5C stays within reach - that's the nature of the choice they face."

Campaigners and environmentalists, who have welcomed the report, say there is simply no time left for debate.

"This is the moment where we need to decide" said Kaisa Kosonen. "We want to move to clean energy, sustainable lifestyles. We want to protect our forests and species. This is the moment that we will remember; this is the year when the turning point happened."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45775309

Re: Final call to save the world from 'climate catastrophe'

PostPosted: Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:12 am
Author: Anthea
Mass loss of wildlife caused by human consumption, WWF says

"Exploding human consumption" has caused a massive drop in the global wildlife population in recent decades, the WWF conservation group says.

In a report, the charity says losses in vertebrate species - mammals, fish, birds, amphibians and reptiles - averaged 60% between 1970 and 2014.

"Earth is losing biodiversity at a rate seen only during mass extinctions," the WWF's Living Planet Report adds.

It urges policy makers to set new targets for sustainable development.

The Living Planet Report, published every two years, aims to assess the state of the world's wildlife.

The 2018 edition says only a quarter of the world's land area is now free from the impact of human activity and the proportion will have fallen to just a 10th by 2050.

The change is being driven by ever-rising food production and increased demand for energy, land and water.

Although forest loss has been slowed by reforestation in some regions in recent decades, the loss has "accelerated in tropical forests that contain some of the highest levels of biodiversity on Earth", the report notes.

It says South and Central America suffered the most dramatic decline in vertebrate populations - an 89% loss in vertebrate populations compared with 1970.

Marine freshwater species are particularly at risk, the report says. Plastic pollution has been detected in the deepest parts of the word's oceans, including the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific.

Freshwater species - living in lakes, rivers and wetlands - have seen an 83% decline in numbers since since 1970, according to the report.

The WWF calls for "a new global deal for nature and people" similar to the 2015 Paris agreement to tackle climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"Decision makers at every level need to make the right political, financial and consumer choices to achieve the vision that humanity and nature thrive in harmony on our only planet," the report says.

The data, gathered from peer-reviewed studies, covers more than 16,700 populations belonging to 4,000 species around the world.

The WWF's methodology has been criticised. One conservationist told the BBC in 2016 that the data in the 2016 report was skewed towards western Europe, where figures were more readily available.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46028862

Re: Mass loss of wildlife caused by human consumption

PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:03 am
Author: Piling
Too many humans on earth, that's the problem. Our planet is crowded, no place for other species.