CBD News Headlines

• Tracking The Movement Of All Plastic Litter In The Ocean Is Crucial
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  At the end of October the European Parliament approved EU's plans to ban, by 2021, throwaway plastics, which make up over 70% of the marine litter. This is part of the newly launched EU's plastics strategy and of speeding up global action on marine plastics pollution. The G7 summit in Canada in June adopted a Plastics Charter, signed by all five EU countries that are represented in the group and were known as the seven world leading economies.
• Climate change effecting blue economy of India: Scientists
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  There would be a drop in productivity of marine species as there was a gradual damage being caused to the ecosystem and biodiversity, the Vice-Chancellor said.
• Reframing perspectives on climate change
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  Where should investors be putting their money to make a real impact when it comes to climate change? And how should businesses react? Shifting the perspective from risk to opportunity can create an unexpected leverage point that could present the answer.
• Climate change causing more severe wildfires, larger insect outbreaks in temperate forests
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  A warmer, drier climate is expected is increase the likelihood of larger-scale forest disturbances such as wildfires, insect outbreaks, disease and drought, according to a new study.
• Amazon Forests Failing To Keep Up With Climate Change
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  A team of more than 100 scientists has assessed the impact of global warming on thousands of tree species across the Amazon to discover the winners and losers from 30 years of climate change. Their analysis found the effects of climate change are altering the rainforest's composition of tree species but not quickly enough to keep up with the changing environment.
• 'Support your local school and biodiversity'
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  The future's looking bright as a growing number of schools jump on board Towards Predator-Free Taranaki, safeguarding our local biodiversity. "Having students, teachers and school communities on board is a massive boost, helping unite our community," says Toby Shanley, ecologist and Towards Predator-Free Taranaki Project Manager.
• Sisi welcomes hosting Biological Diversity Conf. in Sharm El Sheikh Tuesday
  [released on: 07/11/2018]
  President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi welcomed Egypt's hosting of the COP 14 - Fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh on Tuesday.
• Environment min. probes with Polish amb. joint coop.
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  Environment Minister Yasmine Fo'ad discussed with Polish Ambassador here Michal Labenda means of promoting bilateral cooperation in the environmental fields of mutual interest.
• Florida Monarch Butterfly Populations Have Dropped 80 Percent Since 2005
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  A 37-year survey of monarch populations in North Central Florida shows that caterpillars and butterflies have been declining since 1985 and have dropped by 80 percent since 2005.
• It's time to take a stand for natur
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  The World Wildlife Fund has just released its 2018 Living Planet Report. Humans have wiped out 60 percent of animals between 1970 and 2014. The figures contained in the report are just a few symptoms of the dire state the planet is in.
• Federal government must act on national pine beetle problem
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  'Once a population begins expanding, they present a threat to forests for hundreds of kilometres downwind'Alberta is the frontline of a pine beetle epidemic that threatens to decimate forests from coast to coast. If you've been to Jasper National Park recently, you have seen the widespread devastation. Large swathes of mature pine in the park are red and dead.
• Untouched' not always best forestry plan
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  One hundred and ten years ago, a major forest fire swept through Wendell State Forest, resetting the forest ecosystem with new trees of a uniform age. One hundred and ten years later, this 88-acre parcel is cherished by many residents "as a living, wild and natural asset" with towering oaks that are approaching "old growth" status. Beyond the benefits of scenic beauty, wildlife habitat and recreation, the forest helps deter climate change by sequestering carbon in its trees.
• The Case of India's Disappearing Wetlands
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  The 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was recently held in Dubai. It brought into focus one of the most pressing environment issues around the world- deteriorating wetlands. The meeting adapted 25 resolutions to stimulate wetland conservation with the theme 'Wetlands for a Sustainable Urban Future'.
• Butterflies and their big implications for biodiversity
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  Dipping and weaving through the crisp mountain air, a fuzzy dot of orange and black flitters back and forth on a sunny fall morning on Mount Lemmon, just north of Tucson.
• South Africa's Invasive Species Guzzle Water and Harm the Financial system
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  The country's pioneering first report on its biological invaders paints a dire picture for resources and biodiversity.South Africa is losing its battle against biological invaders, according to the first attempt by the government to comprehensively assess the status of the country's alien species.
• Marine Protected Areas overlook a large fraction of biodiversity hotspots
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  Current marine protected areas (MPAs) leave almost three-quarters of ecologically and functionally important species unprotected, concludes a new performance assessment of the Finnish MPA network. Published in Frontiers in Marine Science, the study finds the MPAs were designated with little knowledge of local marine biodiversity -- and that increasing existing networks by just 1% in ecologically most relevant areas could double conservation of the most important species.
• Smallholder clearing found to be dominant reason for forest loss in the Congo Basin
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  A team of researchers from the University of Maryland and the State University of New York has found that smallholder clearing is the dominant driver of forest loss in the Congo Basin. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes the techniques they used to assess forest loss in the area over the period from 2000 to 2014 and what they found.
• Bugs could be key indicator of reclaimed soil health
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  When assessing the health of reclaimed land, look for the bugs, says a University of Alberta land reclamation researcher.Current industry standards examine the soil and its vegetation to assess the health of a site that was disturbed-such as a mine or oil or gas well-and reclaimed.
• Far fewer lakes below the East Antarctic Ice Sheet than previously believed
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  AWI researchers recently assessed subglacial lakes detected by satellite, and found very little water. But if that's the case, what is the source of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet's massive ice streams?
• Scientist gets the dirt on what could be the planet's oldest soil
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  UO geologist Greg Retallack has dirt on his hands-and at 3.7 billion years old, it might be some of the oldest dirt on Earth.Found in a metamorphic rock formation in southwestern Greenland, the soil in question was exposed beneath a retreating ice cap and spotted during a helicopter survey by study co-author Nora Noffke. A sedimentologist at Old Dominion University, Noffke noticed certain soil-like characteristics in the exposed rock, including mudcracks and sand crystals.
• Biodiversity draws the ecotourism crowd
  [released on: 08/11/2018]
  Nature - if you support it, ecotourists will come. Managed wisely, both can win. The balancing act of protecting and fostering biodiversity with hordes of tourists in pristine nature parks is a global challenge.