insert_link Environment Rhinos can’t sweat, making them vulnerable to overheating: global warming could wipe them out in southern Africa By Timothy Randhir, UMass Amherst Southern Africa is home to 22,137 of the world’s 23,432 white and black African rhinos. But they’re facing grave threats because of a warming planet. Now, the first study of how climate change affects rhinos in southern Africa has found that they will cease to exist in the region’s national parks by 2085 if the world takes the worst-case scenario climate change […] todayFebruary 16, 2024 16
insert_link Environment HEATED: Challenging objectivity in climate journalism By Mike DiGirolamo, Rachel Donald Objectivity has been a main tenet of journalism since early in the 20th century, but its application is loosely defined and humanly impossible to achieve, some media experts argue. Presenting an issue like climate change as a debate with two sides, as is still somewhat common, is often justified under the banner of objectivity, but it’s only one of many dissonant standards that environmental reporters are […] todayFebruary 14, 2024 16
insert_link Lifestyle Migrating animals face collapsing numbers – major new UN report By Joseph Ogutu, University of Hohenheim The world’s travelling animals – marine turtles, whales, sharks, elephants, reptiles, wild cats, birds, and even insects – have entered a period of sharp decline, new research has found. The first ever State of the World’s Migratory Species report, released today by the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, showed that the conservation status of […] todayFebruary 13, 2024 32
insert_link Environment Global warming tops 1.5°C for the first time The average global temperature has for the first time breached the 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels mark for an entire year - as 2024 saw the hottest January on record. Professor Morgan Hauptfleisch, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Natural Resources and Spatial Sciences at Namibia University of Science and Technology, reacts to the news. Meanwhile, other scientists say the world is now closer to breaching the […] todayFebruary 8, 2024 40
insert_link World In Today’s Troubled World, Building Peace ‘Humanity’s Greatest Responsibility’, Secretary-General Stresses, Outlining Organization’s Priorities for 2024 UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ briefing to the General Assembly meeting on the priorities of the Organization for 2024, in New York: Let me begin by extending my very best wishes for 2024. I wish health and happiness for you and your families — and peace for our world. Our Organization was founded on the pursuit of peace. Peace is our raison d’être. Yet as I scan the landscape of today’s […] todayFebruary 8, 2024 5
insert_link Environment ‘Healthy humans without a healthy planet is a logical fallacy’ A nomadic community preparing a meal in Ladakh, India. Image by Prabhu B Doss via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). By Sonam Lama Hyolmo via Mongabay Dr. Sakib Burza says his fondest memories are climbing the majestic pine trees in the Kashmir Valley where he spent most of his childhood with his family. On a normal day, he would go trekking up the hills into the mountains above the tree line, watching over […] todayFebruary 7, 2024 16
insert_link Environment From exporting coral to restoring reefs, a Madagascar startup rethinks business Koraï divers prepare to install a frame housing young hard corals in the protected waters of Antsoha Island, off northwestern Madagascar. Image courtesy of Koraï. By Valisoa Rasolofomboahangy via Mongabay With coral cover declining in Madagascar, Koraï, a Franco-Malagasy startup, has shifted its focus to coral reef restoration from its predecessor’s specialization in coral export. Jeimila Donty, its founder and CEO, is part of a young “pro-climate” generation keen to […] todayFebruary 7, 2024 16
insert_link Environment ‘A deeply troubling discovery’: Earth may have already passed the crucial 1.5°C warming limit By Malcolm McCulloch, The University of Western Australia Global temperatures have already exceeded 1.5°C warming and may pass 2°C later this decade, according to a world-first study I led. The worrying findings, based on temperature records contained in sea sponge skeletons, suggest global climate change has progressed much further than previously thought. Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions drive global warming. Obtaining accurate information about the extent of the warming […] todayFebruary 6, 2024 21
insert_link Africa Madagascar: giant tortoises have returned 600 years after they were wiped out By Grant Joseph, University of Cape Town A six-year-old project to return giant tortoises to the wild in Madagascar could result in thousands of the 350kg megaherbivores re-populating the island for the first time in 600 years. The first group of Aldabra giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea) were brought in from the Seychelles in 2018, and have been reproducing on their own since. Ecologist Grant Joseph explains how reintroducing […] todayFebruary 5, 2024 17