CBD News Headlines

• Google's 'dragonscale' solar-powered roof signals growing demand for sustainable workspaces
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  About 40 miles south of San Francisco, three futuristic structures rise from the earth. With sloping roofs clad in thousands of overlapping tiles, the buildings could be mistaken for the world's most architecturally advanced circus tent.
• Nearly half of countries' shared fish stocks are on the move due to climate change, prompting dispute concerns
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Climate change will force 45 per cent of the fish stocks that cross through two or more exclusive economic zones to shift significantly from their historical habitats and migration paths by 2100, a challenge that may lead to international conflict, according to a new UBC study.
• Snakes in Bengaluru city
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  "Sun's out, snakes out!" exclaimed Shuayb Ahmed, and Yatin Kalki as they jumped to action. Ahmed, an independent snake rescuer, had received a frantic call from a woman who spotted a snake - claimed to be a juvenile spectacled cobra - in her house in Bengaluru.
• Earth Observations Toolkit for Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Cities around the world face numerous environmental hazards, such as extreme heat events, landslides, pollution, and flooding. Cities must monitor and address these hazards to reduce risks to, and enhance resilience of, their residents to climate change impacts.
• Documentary examines Cuba's 21st-century plan to combat climate change
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Cuba's location in the Caribbean Sea makes it especially vulnerable to the impacts of global warming, but the island nation has embarked on a plan to combat that threat that began in 2017 and is envisioned to span the entire 21st century.
• Climate change, extreme weather among top risks facing humanity: 3 stories you may have missed
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Climate change and environmental degradation are among the gravest threats to humanity, says a new report.
• 2021 joins top 7 warmest years on record: WMO
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Last year joined the list of the seven warmest years on record, the UN weather agency said on Wednesday, and was also the seventh consecutive year when the global temperature has been more than 1°C above pre-industrial levels; edging closer to the limit laid out under the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
• Climate change will limit choice for Winter Games hosts, says study
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Of the 21 cities to host the Winter Olympics, only Sapporo, Japan would be able to provide fair and safe conditions to stage them again by the end of the century if greenhouse gases are not dramatically reduced, said a University of Waterloo study released on Tuesday.
• Ocean heat is at record levels, with major consequences
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  The world witnessed record-breaking climate and weather disasters in 2021, from destructive flash floods that swept through mountain towns in Europe and inundated subway systems in China and the U.S., to heat waves and wildfires. Typhoon Rai killed over 400 people in the Philippines; Hurricane Ida caused an estimated $74 billion in damage in the U.S.
• Transforming a ghost village with hill-centric livelihood and tourism opportunities
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  India's northern state of Uttarakhand, known as the Land of Gods, is facing the dual challenge of climate change and migration. The incidence of glacier bursts, flash floods, unseasonal torrential rains, forest fires, and landslides have swelled in the state. The dwindling population is another crisis that is making life harder for the residents.
• In Africa, temperatures rise, but adaptation lags on West's funding failure
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  For Africa, 2021 was the third-warmest year on record, tied with 2019. Even as the continent clocks record-breaking temperatures, adaptation efforts are failing to keep pace, marred by planning gaps and financing woes.
• Ilona Szabó de Carvalho: It will take diverse networks to solve global threats like climate change
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Ilona Szabó de Carvalho, Co-Founder and President, Igarapé Institute, has spent most of her life working to build coalitions for collective action and says it will take broad and diverse networks of people to tackle the biggest challenges in the world.
• 'There's a shift happening': McCain and food's old guard look to the future as climate change threatens crops
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Among the flurry of futuristic investments that Canadian French fry empire McCain Foods Ltd. has been making, probably the most interesting has been an indoor lettuce farm.
• Lumber Prices Are off the Rails Again. Blame Climate Change.
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Last year, lumber turned into the surprise superstar of the U.S. economy when it briefly outperformed bitcoin, gold, and the S&P; 500 to become "the hottest commodity on the planet."
• 8 Ways to Make Tackling Climate Change Your Top Priority in 2022
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  If 2021 was the wake up call, then 2022 is the year of taking the urgent action needed to combat climate change. The past year has been rife with alarming extreme weather events and rapidly changing weather patterns that have brought urgent action to tackle climate change to the top of the world's agenda.
• Siam City Cement Group and IUCN continue partnership to support SCCC Group's sustainability ambition 2030 and biodiversity conservation in Asia
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Siam City Cement Group (SCCC Group) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) extended their partnership for another three years by formalizing a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently to support the implementation of the INSEE Sustainability Ambition 2030 targeting Net Positive Impact (NPI) on biodiversity at sites where SCCC Group operates.
• Trees bear fruit in winter thanks to charity for birds in Turkey
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Reviving what they call an Ottoman tradition, crews from a municipality in eastern Turkey adorn the dried branches of trees amid a harsh winter with fruit for birds who cannot find food easily during the bad weather.
• Scientists discover tarantula-killing worms: New parasite named after actor Jeff Daniels
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Scientists have named a newly discovered species of worm that kills tarantulas after American actor, musician and producer Jeff Daniels, a distinction no other entertainer can claim.
• It's time for business and government to get together on climate change
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  What do you get when a banker, an oil executive, a miner and a big-agriculture player walk into a virtual conference together? A big ask for federal government activism - and that's no joke.
• Business leaders must rethink their goals to tackle climate change. Here's why
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Most nations today recognize both the importance and the urgency of the battle against global warming; but there are still significant differences on how best to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions and how to share the cost of doing so. In the polarized world we unfortunately live in, this creates a lot of room for conflict - conflict between cultures, geographies and even generations.
• First NI environment strategy 'should be more ambitious
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  More than 30 organisations and individuals have called for greater ambition in Northern Ireland's first-ever environment strategy. It comes after a Stormont committee was told the target for increasing woodland cover was outdated.
• As Malaysian state resumes log exports, Indigenous advocates warn of fallout
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Activists in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, say they fear logging will ramp up following the state government's decision to overturn a ban on exporting unprocessed timber.
• Cutting the food chain? The controversial plan to turn zooplankton into fish oil
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  A few times a day, off the Faroe Islands' coast, the crew of the Jákup Sverri marine survey ship test the water, measuring its salinity, temperature and oxygen at different sea depths. But they also look for something else.
• Migratory bird species in Coimbatore wetlands decline: survey
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Migratory bird species have declined in Coimbatore wetlands as per a recent survey conducted by the Coimbatore Nature Society (CNS) in 29 wetlands in the district as part of the Asian Waterbird Census which was held from January 9 to 15
• Biodiversity faces its make-or-break year, and research will be key
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Biodiversity is being lost at a rate not seen since the last mass extinction. But the United Nations decade-old plan to slow down and eventually stop the decline of species and ecosystems by 2020 has failed. Most of the plan's 20 targets - known as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets - have not been met.
• Expanding national parks not enough to protect nature, say scientists
  [released on: 18/01/2022]
  Expanding national parks and protected areas will not be enough to halt the destruction of nature, warn leading scientists, who say urgent action on overconsumption, harmful subsidies and the climate crisis is also required to halt biodiversity loss.
• More protected areas won't save biodiversity, warn experts
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Expanding nature preserves will not be enough to stem a rising tide of extinctions, a panel of experts warned Wednesday, taking aim at a draft treaty tasked with rescuing Earth's animal and plant life.
• Smart soil bugs offer farmers an ecofriendly route to controlling crop diseases
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  An innovative method of controlling a range of damaging crop diseases using native, beneficial soil bacteria has emerged from a research-industry collaboration.
• Giant panda's gut bacteria help it remain chubby despite bamboo diet, researchers say
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Giant pandas stay chubby and health despite a low-quality bamboo diet due to their gut bacteria, a study has found. Though no longer considered an endangered species, giant pandas are still considered "vulnerable," with just 1,800 outside of captivity.
• Brighton bee bricks initiative may do more harm than good, say scientists
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  An initiative in Brighton aimed at helping protect the bee population could do more harm than good, scientists have warned.
• New research collection highlights indigenous perspectives on conservation biology
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  A collection of 17 papers in Pacific Conservation Biology aims to transform the field of conservation biology. The special issue titled "Transforming Conservation Biology Through indigenous Perspectives," edited by University of Hawai?i at Manoa (UH) researchers Kawika Winter and Melissa Price, and Anne-Marie Jackson of the University of Otago (Aotearoa New Zealand), features papers by indigenous authors from UH and across the Pacific.
• Small gardens as vital as big ones for conserving bees, says study
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Small gardens are as important as big gardens for conserving bees and other pollinators in UK cities, a study has found. Worldwide, bee populations are declining. Habitat destruction, pesticide use, and climate change have led to the disappearance of some pollinators, but researchers found that small urban gardens are some of the most pollinator-friendly places.
• Humans are adapting to climate change, but not quickly enough, according to new research
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  The evidence is overwhelming: climate change is here, and with it come catastrophes, soaring costs, migration and now, in the face of reality, human adaptation. Across the globe, people are learning to live with a climate that is unlike the one they and generations before them experienced.
• Penguin takes astounding selfie video of its diving and feeding activity
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Just in time for Penguin Awareness Day (Thursday, January 20th), the Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) Argentina Program has released amazing underwater selfie video recently taken by a male Gentoo penguin fitted with a special camera.
• Fish study shows role of estrogens in sense of smell
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Steroid estrogens play an important role as embryos develop a sense of smell, new research shows. The study, which examined zebrafish embryos, discovered a type of astrocyte glial cell that is new to science, and have been named estrogen responsive olfactory bulb (EROB) cells.
• High protein diet may harm polar bears
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  A high protein diet appears linked to kidney disease and shortened lifespans for captive polar bears, a relationship similarly suspected in humans, according to a review led by Washington State University wildlife biologist Charlie Robbins.
• Climate crisis drives Mediterranean coral populations to collapse
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  A new study led by teams of the Faculty of Biology, the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona, and the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) of Barcelona has revealed that marine heatwaves associated with the climate crisis are bringing down the populations of coral in the Mediterranean, the biomass of which in some cases has been reduced by 80 to 90%
• Hollow fossil melanosomes suggest earliest appearance of brilliant iridescent color in bird feather
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  SEM and TEM observations of the feathers on an Early Cretaceous basal bird Eoconfuciusornis, from 130-million-year old lake deposits in Fengning, Hebei Province in northern China, present the earliest record of hollow melansomes from feathers.
• Bee appearance and behavior may be related, genetic study reveals
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Recently discovered genetic knowledge of two nuisance western honey bee subspecies will help commercial and hobby beekeepers. A new UF/IFAS study identified genetic characteristics relevant to the production and behavioral attributes of these two key bee subspecies.
• Leaf oysters: The unsung heroes of estuaries are disappearing
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Camouflaged by a layer of silty mud, most people probably wouldn't notice the large flat oysters lurking beneath shallow water in Australia's coastal estuaries. These are remarkable "leaf oysters," and they can form reefs, produce mauve pearls, and reach the size of a dinner plate.
• How Barcoding Technology Is Rescuing Aquatic Animals
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Researchers in Kenya are developing a special barcoding technology method in order to achieve a challenging and urgent goal: protecting aquatic life.
• Scientists Warn Tonga's Historic Volcanic Eruption May Harm Environment for Years
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Scientists reviewing satellite photographs and looking to the past to anticipate the future of the isolated region warn that Tonga's enormous undersea volcanic eruption might cause long-term harm to coral reefs, eroding coasts, and disrupt fisheries.
• Across the boreal forest, scientists track warming's toll
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  A sign hanging above the door of a giant open-top glass chamber in a remote part of Minnesota's Marcell Experimental Forest explains why so many scientists from around the world have worked hard to get a piece of this boreal woodland.
• Secret life of sponges
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Sponges are ancient marine animals, very common throughout the world's oceans and seem less affected by ocean warming and acidification.
• Scientists predict Tonga ash-seawater cocktail will be toxic hazard
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Following an underwater volcano eruption on Saturday, Tonga has suffered significant damage and is blanketed in ash that closed runways and threatens water supplies.
• Particles formed in boreal forests affect clouds in the troposphere
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  A study shows that through aerosol formation and growth, the forests are capable of mitigating climate change and have a regional effect on the climate of an entire continent at the most.
• Tonga eruption: we are watching for ripples of it in space
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  The ongoing volcanic eruption in Tonga began in December 2021, but it wasn't until 5:15pm local time on January 15 2022 that the powerful explosion occurred. It generated an enormous cloud of ash, earthquakes, and tsunamis that reached as far as the distant coastlines of Peru on the other side of the Pacific.
• Direct linkage between intensified volcanism and immediate weathering
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  The Triassic-Jurassic transition (~ 201 Ma) saw one of the most catastrophic volcanic eruptions during the Phanerozoic, namely the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP), and it has been suggested to have triggered a series of environmental/climatic perturbations which eventually caused the end-Triassic mass extinction.
• The 'other side' of Amazon forest drought
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  New findings published by MSU researchers examine how climate change shapes the future of the world's largest rainforest and the impacts drought has on the forest growing on various soil water and water table conditions.
• Scientists urge quick, deep, sweeping changes to halt and reverse dangerous biodiversity loss
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  Halting, then reversing the dangerous, ongoing loss of Earth's plant and animal diversity requires far more than an expanded global system of protected areas of land and seas, scientists warned today.
• Whanganui River tribes draw global focus to indigenous knowledge
  [released on: 19/01/2022]
  A Maori development leader says the Whanganui River tribes have helped bring attention to global perspectives on indigenous knowledge, collaboration and trade.