To all the dangers coral reefs have to fight with, like pollution and urbanism, a recent study of the European Commission adds another one: sunscreen lotions tourists use on the beach. And this is not a minor problem, as many would think, because there aren’t just two or three people using them. (more…)
Shocking images of a lost village discovered at the Brazilian-Peruvian border display members of a lost tribe, with red and black painted bodies, aiming their bows at the helicopter that took the pictures. The National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) from Brazil stated they had known of the tribe of over 20 years, but they published the photos just now to ‘raise the alarm over the risk threatening them’. (more…)
The ozone hole over the Antarctica is currently being “treated” with ozone-depleting substances which are used in refrigerators and aerosol cans. We should be very happy that the ozone blanket will protect us once again, but a recent research of the University of Colorado at Boulder, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, proves us wrong.
Well, I shouldn’t put it that way because the ozone recovery is essential, but this study shows that the temperatures over the Antarctica will increase because the winds that protect Antarctic’s interior from the warmers air masses will be weakened.
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According to the British Antarctic Survey, the Wilkins Ice Shelf is disintegrating, as an iceberg seven times the size of Manhattan is breaking away from it. Professor David Vaughan of the BAS said that ‘the ice shelf is hanging by a thread’, as there is just a portion less than 4 miles long that keeps the iceberg attached to the Antarctic continent.
Wilkins is one of the largest northern ice shelves, with a surface of 5,282 square miles. Although the iceberg is very big, this breakup is not expected to raise the sea level, because it is floating already. The Wilkins ice shelf is believed to be at least a few hundred years old, but is already the largest victim of global warming so far.
Jim Elliott was sent with a Twin Otter aircraft to capture images of the process, after researchers were amazed by the satellite photos showing how the ice was melting with each day passing by. He was impressed by what he described as ‘big hefty chunks of ice, the size of small houses’ that looked like they just got out of an explosion.
US researchers discovered that soot produced by burning wood, coal, diesel, and dung causes even more damage to the environment than we previously thought. The so-called ‘black carbon’ may be three to four times greater than most estimates, and that would be almost 60% of the current warming effect of carbon dioxide, becoming an important target for the efforts to slow global warming.
Because of dung stoves in developing countries and indoor cooking on wood, statistics show that around 400,000 people per year die due to inhaling soot particles and most of them are women and children. V. Ramanathan, atmospheric scientist, and Greg Carmichael, a chemical engineer from The University of Iowa analyzed data from satellites, aircraft and surface instruments to establish the real threat of black carbon. They could tell that almost a third of the carbon that gets into the atmosphere comes from India and China, most likely from burning coal and wood to heat homes or cow manure.
The soot is very noxious when inhaled, in may cases leading even to the death of the subject. Researchers now try to develop at least a short-term strategy against carbon pollution.
