Environment

May, 2019

• 8 May

  Phytoplankton decline coincides with warming temperatures over the last 150 years

  

  In a paper appearing today in Nature, the researchers report that phytoplankton’s productivity in this important region has gone down around 10 percent since the mid-19th century and the start of the Industrial era. 
• 8 May

  Global centers of unsustainable harvesting of species identified

  

  Unsustainable harvesting, including hunting, trapping, fishing and logging, is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity. Yet, no previous assessment has investigated which areas are most vulnerable to this threat globally.   
• 7 May

  The last of the Arctic’s old sea ice is on the verge of vanishing

  

  The latest sign comes courtesy of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), which released its monthly sea ice update on Thursday. It shows that just 1.2 percent of ice in the Arctic Ocean is older than four years.  
• 6 May

  Shrimp farms threaten Myanmar’s remaining mangroves

  

  Myanmar’s growing shrimp aquaculture industry has sparked controversy in recent years after allegedly claiming illegal land permits to further deplete the country’s remaining mangrove forests.
• 6 May

  UN warns of ‘biological annihilation’ as the 6th extinction event unfolds on our planet

  

  An ever-growing body of evidence suggests the planet may be in the midst of a sixth mass extinction. 
• 6 May

  Overfishing risks ocean deserts as stocks plummet

  

  With bigger boats, deeper nets and better sonar than ever before, the fishing industry’s response to our insatiable appetite for fish risks transforming much of the world’s oceans into aquatic desert. 

April, 2019

• 30 April

  Biodegradable bags can hold a full load of shopping after three years in the environment

  

  Biodegradable and compostable plastic bags are still capable of carrying full loads of shopping after being exposed in the natural environment for three years, a new study shows.  
• 30 April

  Rapid melting of the world’s largest ice shelf linked to solar heat in the ocean

  

  An international team of scientists has found part of the world’s largest ice shelf is melting 10 times faster than expected due to solar heating of the surrounding ocean.  
• 25 April

  Antarctica: the final frontier for marine biological invasions?

  

  The research is an important step in the quest to understand whether invasive species, introduced by shipping, will find the Antarctic marine environment more hospitable as Antarctica’s climate changes.
• 25 April

  Ocean species are disappearing faster than those on land

  

  With fewer ways to seek refuge from warming, ocean-dwelling species are disappearing from their habitats at twice the rate of those on land, notes the research published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
• 24 April

  One million species risk extinction due to humans: draft UN report

  

  Up to one million species face extinction due to human influence, according to a draft UN report that painstakingly catalogues how humanity has undermined the natural resources upon which its very survival depends.
• 18 April

  Damning report warns New Zealand’s environment is in serious trouble

  

  Species are at risk in marine, freshwater and land ecosystems. Cumulatively 4000 native species are currently threatened with or at risk of extinction – 90 percent of seabirds, 76 percent of freshwater fish, 84 percent of reptiles, and 46 percent of vascular plants.