Plastic pollution is a major problem in Nigeria. Recent research identified the country as a plastic pollution hotspot, second to India. India emits 9.3 million tons of plastic into the environment…Continue readingNigeria is the world’s second biggest plastic polluter
Tag: biodiversity
Microplastic particles turned up in the vast majority of waste samples taken from Hong Kong wildlife in a Greenpeace study, the group said Monday, suggesting that animals still ingest plastics even…Continue readingGreenpeace sounds alarm on microplastics ingested by Hong Kong wildlife
Twenty more plants and animals, including a type of waratah, have been added to Australia’s list of threatened wildlife. One ecological community – the King Island scrub complex ecological community –…Continue reading‘A symbol of our nation’: waratah among 20 more species added to Australia’s threatened wildlife list
The Great Barrier Reef will continue to deteriorate, largely due to climate change, and the window to secure its future is rapidly closing. That is the sobering conclusion of a major…Continue reading‘Humanity is failing’: Official report warns our chance to save the Great Barrier Reef is fast closing
Costa Brava resorts in Spain’s north-east are struggling to cope with an influx of jellyfish as rising sea temperatures facilitate reproduction and drive species farther north. Between May and August almost…Continue readingResorts on Spain’s Costa Brava struggle with invasion of jellyfish as seas warm
PFAS is a group of human-made chemicals used to resist heat, water, grease and stains, which are known as ‘forever chemicals’ as they don’t break down. Lead researcher and Ph.D. candidate…Continue readingPFOS chemical pollution in platypuses
The Brazilian government wants to develop the upper 435 miles (700km) of the Paraguay River into the Paraguay-Paraná hidrovia (waterway). In 2022 and 2023, preliminary licences were issued for the construction…Continue readingPantanal waterway project would destroy a ‘paradise on Earth’, scientists warn
Hot weather inflamed by carbon pollution killed nearly 50,000 people in Europe last year, with the continent warming at a much faster rate than other parts of the world. Heatwaves have…Continue readingHeat aggravated by carbon pollution killed 50,000 in Europe last year
The wildfire has already destroyed a third of the popular tourist town of Jasper — and officials say the flames could stay ablaze for months. The wildfire in Alberta, Canada, broke…Continue readingJasper National Park’s largest wildfire in a century destroys a third of Canadian town — and could continue for months
Seasonal change in the north is rapid and, for local people, summer marks a brief reprieve from months of bitter cold. But a heatwave that is currently hovering over the community…Continue reading‘It’s devastating’: summer in Canada’s Arctic region brings severe heatwaves
The Great Barrier Reef is under critical pressure, with warming sea temperatures and mass coral bleaching events threatening to destroy the remarkable ecology, biodiversity, and beauty of the world’s largest coral…Continue readingNew 400-year temperature record shows Great Barrier Reef is facing catastrophic damage, researchers warn
Less than half of stunned or injured birds survive a collision with a window, research has found, pushing up estimates that more than 1 billion birds may die each year from…Continue readingDeath toll for birds hitting buildings may be over 1 billion a year in US
A world where global mean surface temperature has increased 3°C will be characterized by widespread and intense heat stress, extreme weather events, ruptured and unproductive marine and terrestrial ecosystems, broken food…Continue readingEarth at risk: An urgent call to end the age of destruction and forge a just & sustainable future
Butterfly numbers are the lowest on record in the UK. Butterfly Conservation, which runs the Big Butterfly Count, sounded the alarm after this year’s count revealed the worst numbers since it…Continue reading‘Warning sign to us all’ as UK butterfly numbers hit record low
Nickel has upended life on the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi, Halmahera and Obi. Over a decade the region has gone from modest ore exporter to the world’s foremost refiner of the…Continue readingCheap coal, cheap workers, Chinese money: Indonesia’s nickel success comes at a price
With thousands of species at risk of extinction, scientists have devised a radical plan: a vault filled with preserved samples of our planet’s most important and at-risk creatures located on the…Continue readingScientists propose lunar biorepository as ‘backup’ for life on Earth
A James Cook University report has revealed severe damage in about 80% of mangroves along the Great Barrier Reef, from Cairns to Gladstone. JCU TropWATER researcher Professor Norm Duke said mangroves…Continue readingSurveys reveal vast mangrove damage along Great Barrier Reef
Deforestation at one of Indonesia’s largest nickel processing hubs is threatening an Indigenous group that is among the country’s last uncontacted tribes, rights groups allege. Deforestation is a longstanding problem in…Continue readingNickel hub ‘apocalyptic’ for uncontacted Indonesia tribe, say NGOs
The demise of the Key Largo tree cactus is the first recorded case of sea level rise driving a local species to extinction in the United States. Tree cactus is a…Continue readingEulogy for a cactus
Conservation groups across England are seeing more malnourished bats, as wildlife experts warn the washout summer is driving down the insects, butterflies and moths they feed on. Groups across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk,…Continue readingWhere are all the bats? – alarm as numbers fall in England
On average, “the background extinction rate” will bump off about one species, per million species, per year. But what we’re seeing now is a bit more extreme. “If we look at…Continue readingLiving in a ‘mass extinction’
The Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland and one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, is on fire. Huge stretches of land resemble the aftermath of a battle, with thick green…Continue readingDevastation as world’s biggest wetland burns: ‘those that cannot run don’t stand a chance’
At least 97% of corals on a reef in the Great Barrier Reef’s north died during one of the worst coral bleaching events the world’s biggest reef system has ever seen,…Continue reading‘Most of it was dead’: scientists discover one of Great Barrier Reef’s worst coral bleaching events
The frequency and intensity of extreme wildfires has more than doubled worldwide over the past two decades as human activity has warmed the planet. The intensity of the 20 most extreme…Continue readingExtreme wildfires doubled over past two decades: Study
Regional authorities in Brazil on Monday declared a state of emergency as the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetlands, faces “out of control fires,” according to a decree. The surge of…Continue reading‘Out of control fires’ in Brazil wetlands spark state of emergency
Pesticide Action Network says some modern pesticides are 10,000 times more toxic than DDT, a notoriously noxious chemical that was banned for its impact on human health and the environment. And…Continue reading‘I have seen the decline’: pesticides linked to falling UK insect numbers
In recent years, concerns have been raised over earthworm populations, which have fallen by a third in the past 25 years. A citizen science project that monitors flying insects in the…Continue readingWildlife experts urge action on pesticides as UK insect populations plummet
An activist with an environmental group campaigning to block a $5bn internationally financed oil pipeline running through Uganda has been released from detention, his employer says. The Environmental Governance Institute (EGI)…Continue readingDetained Uganda anti-pipeline activist released
Bangladeshi weather experts said Tuesday that a deadly cyclone that carved a swath of destruction was one of the quickest-forming and longest-lasting they’d experienced, blaming climate change for the shift. Cyclone…Continue readingDeadly Bangladesh cyclone one of longest seen
Deforestation in Brazil’s Cerrado region, a vast tropical savanna renowned for its rich biodiversity, increased sharply in 2023 and overtook that of the Amazon, according to a report published Tuesday. In…Continue readingDeforestation in Brazil’s Cerrado higher than in Amazon: Report
Dozens of rivers and streams in Alaska are turning rusty orange, a likely consequence of thawing permafrost, a new study finds. The Arctic is the fastest-warming region in the globe, and…Continue readingWarming climate is turning rivers rusty with toxic metals
Mountain rivers in the US state of Colorado are going rusty and the warming climate is to blame, according to research. An increase in toxic heavy metals has also been observed…Continue readingWarming climate is turning rivers rusty with toxic metals
Rangelands cover 80 million square kilometers—more than half the land surface of earth. Mostly natural grasslands used by livestock and wild animals to graze, they also include scrubland, mountain plateaus, deserts…Continue readingDemise of rangelands ‘severely underestimated’: Report
More than a third of the Amazon rainforest is struggling to recover from drought, according to a new study that warns of a “critical slowing down” of this globally important ecosystem.…Continue readingMore than third of Amazon rainforest struggling to recover from drought, study finds
It’s so hot in Mexico that howler monkeys are falling dead from the trees. At least 83 of the midsize primates, who are known for their roaring vocal calls, were found…Continue readingMonkeys ‘falling out of trees like apples’ in Mexico amid brutal heatwave
Migratory fish populations have crashed by more than 80% since 1970, new findings show. Populations are declining in all regions of the world, but it is happening fastest in South America…Continue readingMigratory freshwater fish populations ‘down by more than 80% since 1970’
A once-thriving population of little penguins on a tourist island off Perth’s coast has plummeted to no more than 120 birds, with plans to build a container port in nearby foraging…Continue readingLittle penguins at risk of vanishing from WA island as once-thriving colony reduced to 120 birds
Swallows, swifts and house martins were once a common sight over UK towns and cities, dextrously catching insects on the wing. But these spring and summer visitors are becoming increasingly rare,…Continue readingSwallow, swift and house martin populations have nearly halved, finds UK bird survey
Hunger and disease are rising in Latin America after a year of record heat, floods and drought, a report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has shown. The continent, which is…Continue readingDisease and hunger soar in Latin America after floods and drought, study finds
Mubadala Capital, a fully owned asset management arm of UAE’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment, is reportedly planning to invest approximately $13.5bn in a biofuels project in Brazil over the next…Continue readingUAE’s Mubadala Capital likely to invest $13.5bn in biofuels project in Brazil
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Microsoft is doubling down on a controversial plan to capture carbon dioxide emissions from wood-burning power plants. It announced a contract with energy company Stockholm Exergi to capture 3.33 million metric…Continue readingMicrosoft ramps up plans to capture carbon from burning wood
For decades, concerns about automobile pollution have focused on what comes out of the tailpipe. Now, researchers and regulators say, we need to pay more attention to toxic emissions from tires…Continue readingTire toxicity faces fresh scrutiny after salmon die-offs
Noise pollution from traffic stunts growth in baby birds, even while inside the egg, research has found. Unhatched birds and hatchlings that are exposed to noise from city traffic experience long-term…Continue readingNoise from traffic stunts growth of baby birds, study finds
In past bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef, the southern region has sometimes been spared worst of the bleaching. Not this time. This year’s intense underwater heat has triggered the…Continue readingMore than coral: The unseen casualties of record-breaking heat on the Great Barrier Reef
Trees more than a century old are barely alive. Some of these giant jarrahs might survive, but some won’t. It’s a scene that’s being replicated in forests and coastal shrublands spanning…Continue readingWestern Australia’s eucalypt forests fade to brown as century-old giant jarrahs die in heat and drought
Global heating has pushed the world’s coral reefs to a fourth planet-wide mass bleaching event that is on track to be the most extensive on record, US government scientists have confirmed.…Continue readingGlobal heating pushes coral reefs towards worst planet-wide mass bleaching on record
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, which stretches for some 2,300km (1,429 miles) off the country’s northeastern coast, is suffering its worst bleaching event on record. The extent of the bleaching was revealed…Continue readingAustralia’s Great Barrier Reef suffers worst bleaching on record
Peregrine falcon populations across North America are heavily contaminated with harmful flame retardants–including those that have been phased out for years—according to a new study published in Environmental Science & Technology.…Continue readingPeregrine falcons expose lasting harms of flame retardant use
The destruction of the world’s most pristine rainforests continued at a relentless rate in 2023, despite dramatic falls in forest loss in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon, new figures show. An…Continue readingGlobal rainforest loss continues at rate of 10 football pitches a minute
On 18 March, 2022, scientists at the Concordia research station on the east Antarctic plateau documented a remarkable event. They recorded the largest jump in temperature ever measured at a meteorological…Continue reading‘Simply mind-boggling’: world record temperature jump in Antarctic raises fears of catastrophe
Experts realised there was a problem: frogs, toads, salamanders and newts were disappearing in their thousands around the world and nobody understood why. A master’s student was looking into a string…Continue readingI discovered why seemingly healthy amphibians were being wiped out
In recent years, Antarctica has experienced a series of unprecedented heat waves. On 6 February 2020, temperatures of 18.3°C were recorded, the highest ever seen on the continent, beating the previous…Continue readingClimate change is speeding up in Antarctica
Longtime forest advocates have expressed disgust at the ongoing logging of koala habitat in northern New South Wales despite promises the state government would protect the species, with one seasoned campaigner…Continue readingContinued logging of NSW koala habitat is ‘a profound tragedy’, conservationist says
About 44% of migratory species across the world are in decline while 20% the threat of all-out extinction, according to a new report from the United Nations. About 14% of migratory…Continue readingWhy are one-fifth of the world’s migratory species facing extinction?
The polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctica are increasingly experiencing the impacts of plastic reaching floating ice and land, not solely as larger macroplastics (>5 cm), but as microplastics (0.1…Continue reading97% of sampled Antarctic seabirds found to have ingested microplastics
Geologists on an international subcommission recently voted down a proposal to formally recognize that we have entered the Anthropocene, a new geological epoch representing the time when massive, unrelenting human impacts…Continue readingViewpoint: What the Anthropocene’s critics overlook, and why it really should be a new geological epoch
Rain used to be rare in most parts of the Arctic: the polar regions were, and still are, usually too cold and dry for clouds to form and absorb moisture. When…Continue readingRain Comes to the Arctic, With a Cascade of Troubling Changes
Months of record breaking temperatures and the El Niño weather phenomenon pushed the heating up of the world’s oceans to a new peak in February, scientists said. Oceans cover 70 percent…Continue readingCarbon emissions and El Nino push oceans to record temperatures
The Great Barrier Reef is in the grip of a mass coral bleaching event driven by global heating – the fifth in only eight years – the marine park’s government authority…Continue readingFifth mass coral bleaching event in eight years hits Great Barrier Reef, marine park authority confirms
The quest to declare the Anthropocene an official geological epoch has descended into an epic row, after the validity of a leaked vote that apparently killed the proposal was questioned. The…Continue readingQuest to declare Anthropocene an epoch descends into epic row
Many traditional Malaysian fishermen have found themselves increasingly affected by the climate crisis, which is changing weather patterns that have long governed when and where they can fish. Such fishermen are…Continue readingClimate change pushes Malaysia’s coastal fishermen away from the sea
Dozens of koalas have been killed or injured and left for dead during logging of blue gum plantations in South Australia, according to former employees of the harvesting company and a…Continue readingDozens of koalas allegedly killed or injured during plantation logging on Kangaroo Island
More than 2 million hectares (4.94 million acres) of bushland in Queensland that included large swathes of possible koala habitat has been cleared over a five-year period, new analysis shows. The…Continue readingLand clearing: 2 million hectares of Queensland forest destroyed in 5 years
The world generated 2.3 billion tonnes of municipal waste last year and the pile of trash is set to grow another two-thirds by 2050, the UN said Wednesday, warning of devastating…Continue readingWorld must act to stem surge of polluting trash, UN warns
Wind project costs in Europe have risen by 30-35% since before the pandemic, according to one senior banker who works in renewables. The profitability of new projects in Spain, measured by…Continue readingThe problem with Europe’s ageing wind farms
Dr Stuart Rowland, a retired principal research scientist who worked for NSW Fisheries for 36 years and remains a mentor to scientists in the agency, says there is a conflict within…Continue reading‘The river has been destroyed’: expert says agriculture has overshadowed science in the Murray-Darling Basin
Fipronil and imidacloprid are highly toxic pesticides that are no longer approved for use in outdoor agriculture, but continue to be widely used in pet flea treatments, typically applied to the…Continue readingHandwashing is a major source of pet pesticide pollution in UK rivers
The EPA told stakeholders it was ditching specific search requirements for glider den trees, which must currently be retained with a 50-metre logging exclusion zone around each one. Instead, Forestry Corporation…Continue readingGreater glider put on path to extinction by NSW environmental watchdog
The Queensland government approved the Vulcan South coalmine in the Bowen Basin earlier this month without requiring an environmental impact statement (EIS). But the project still needs approval from the federal…Continue readingTanya Plibersek urged to block ‘climate-wrecking’ Queensland coalmine that would raze koala habitat
The world’s main system for warning about heat stress on the planet’s coral reefs has been forced to add three new alert categories to represent ever-increasing temperature extremes. Underlying the warning…Continue reading‘Literally off the charts’: global coral reef heat stress monitor forced to add new alerts as temperatures rise
Plastic microparticles released into the environment from common road tires should be treated as a “high concern” pollutant that may exceed chronic safety limits in some heavily contaminated environments, new research…Continue readingMicroparticles from road tires are ‘high concern’
Despite strict EU regulations on plastic recycling, there is little oversight on plastic waste shipped from the EU to Vietnam. About half of Europe’s plastic waste is exported to a number…Continue readingA large percentage of European plastic sent to Vietnam ends up in nature
The climate crisis turned the drought that struck the Amazon rainforest in 2023 into a devastating event, a study has found. The drought was the worst recorded in many places and…Continue readingDevastating drought in Amazon result of climate crisis
Rainfall has been lower than the average in Catalonia for the past three years, with the drought lasting more than twice as long as the previous dry spell of 2008, the…Continue readingHeavens remain shut over Catalonia as three-year drought persists
A total of 144 animals, plants and ecological communities were added to the list, five times more than the yearly average and double the previous record year (2009). “The problem is…Continue readingMore Australian wildlife added to threatened species list in 2023 than ever before
A team of researchers at the University of Sassari, in Sardinia, used GPS collars equipped with motion sensors to track the activity of the Alpine ibex, a species of mountain goat,…Continue readingGlobal heating pushes mountain goats into more nocturnal lifestyle
Tropical raptor species including the martial eagle, the bateleur and the dark chanting goshawk have vanished from swathes of the African continent over the past 40 years, new analysis shows, as…Continue readingBirds of prey in Africa experiencing population collapse
Warm-water coral reefs are facing unprecedented Anthropogenic driven threats to their continued existence as biodiverse, functional ecosystems upon which hundreds of millions of people rely. We draw upon a literature search…Continue readingAssessment of warm-water coral reef tipping point thresholds
Hundreds of thousands of people rely on the Amazon’s rivers and streams for food, transportation and income. But the historically low water levels have forced residents to reimagine their relationship to…Continue reading‘Everything is dead’: How record drought is wreaking havoc on the Amazon
Flowers are “giving up on” pollinators and evolving to be less attractive to them as insect numbers decline. A study has found the flowers of field pansies growing near Paris are…Continue readingFlowers ‘giving up’ on scarce insects and evolving to self-pollinate
My colleagues and I overlaid the projections of climate models with data on the geographic distributions of more than 35,000 species on land and in the ocean. We found that limiting…Continue readingClimate change research: If warming approaches 2°C, a trickle of extinctions will become a flood
Leaders of the IUCN updated their Red List of Threatened Species, a tracker of biodiversity around the globe. It was mainly bad news. The list includes information on 157,000 species, about…Continue readingEndangered species list grows by 2,000. Climate change is part of the problem.
The elephants are gone. The trees are logged out. The Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary in central Cambodia is largely destroyed, after being handed over by the government to a politically well-connected…Continue readingHow Mounting Demand for Rubber Is Driving Tropical Forest Loss
Nearly a quarter of the world’s freshwater fish are at risk of extinction due to global heating, overfishing and pollution, according to an expert assessment. Nearly a fifth of all threatened…Continue readingQuarter of world’s freshwater fish at risk of extinction
Most people expect that if a system, like someone’s body, an ecosystem, or part of the climate system, becomes stressed, it’ll respond fairly predictably—double the pressure, double the impact, and so…Continue readingClimate tipping points are nearer than you think. Our new report warns of catastrophic risk.
Norway has secured a parliamentary majority for its plans to open up for deep-sea mining despite opposition from environmentalists and the fishing industry, who warn the move risks further damage to…Continue readingNorway’s parliament backs deep-sea mining plans
In the ocean, tropical species are moving from the equator towards the poles as sea temperatures rise. Meanwhile, temperate species are receding as it gets too warm, they face increased competition…Continue readingGlobal marine life is on the move due to sea temperature rises
Haiyan was one of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall. More than 6,300 people were killed as the storm swept across the island of Leyte, flattening homes and causing a…Continue reading10 years after Haiyan, are mangroves protecting Philippine coastal areas?
The number of listed threatened species in Australia’s world heritage northern rainforests has increased by 25% since 2020, as ecologists say they are now clearly observing the long-predicted impacts of global…Continue readingQueensland’s wet tropics see 25% rise in threatened species in three years as climate change bites