Articles tagged with: Eco-News
Posted in Earth, Environment on 21 July 2008
Scientists and environmentalists from world over have expressed their concerns over the far-reaching devastating effects of rapid destruction and drying of wetlands.
Gathered at the 8th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference (Cuiaba, Brazil), some 700 experts from 28 nations believe that quickly drying up wetlands invariably lead to climate change via global warming.
Wetlands store a vast amount of carbon (in form of CO2). Their complete destruction will lead to massive release of this stored up CO2 into atmosphere, thereby heating it up. Besides, carbon dioxide other greenhouse gases like methane (more potent than the former) will also be released which will further strain our Earth’s atmosphere.
It is interesting to note that, wetlands (including peat bogs, swamps, river deltas, marshes, mangroves, tundra, lagoons and river floodplains cover only 6% of Earth’s land surface. But, they store upto 20% of its terrestrial carbon! According to an estimate these waterlogged areas contain nearly 771 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases (this is equivalent to present-day carbon levels found in atmosphere).
To understand the graveness of the concerns voiced by these scientists it is very important that we all should know how wetlands play an important part in maintaining ecological balance on our planet. The peat bogs of Siberia, North America and Scandinavia contain a third of all carbon in the world’s soils.
Besides soaking up carbon,
• Wetlands slow the decay of organic material trapped and locked away over the ages in low oxygen conditions.
• They support biodiversity in form of unique water ecosystems.
• Wetlands act as reservoirs of water supply.
• They can soak-up flood water.
• Wetlands filter nitrate and phosphate runoff from surrounding land.
Studies reveal that 60% of wetlands worldwide and up to 90% in Europe have been destroyed in the past 100 years by human activities like drainage for agriculture, construction of dams& canals, groundwater pumping, urban development, peat extraction and other activities that are polluting by nature.
At this international gathering of scientist, this grave situation will be dealt with in terms of solution-generation that can be suitably adapted by the governing bodies of the world in order to stabilize the condition of wetland decay. Wetland preservation and their rehabilitation represent viable measures, which should be immediately applied to check the rampant destruction and drying up of world’s swamps.
Source: sciencedaily
Posted in Animals, Earth, Environment, Global warming on 3 July 2008
Tuatara, the ancient reptile found in New Zealand is under survival threat from none other than global warming. Also, known as a “living fossil” / “living dinosaur”, this reptile has lived on our planet from the past 220 million years! That’s quite a long time. But now, this endangered animal known for its “spiny back” is facing extreme pressure on survival front due to rising global temperatures. The phenomenon of climate change has started showing its true colors in various parts of the world now. In wake of an impending threat to humans due to catastrophic events popping out as a result of both global warming and climate change, one can only imagine what little chance a reptilian species has! Tuatara is one of the oldest and relatively un-evolved species alive today. Commonly mistaken for lizards or mini crocs this animal is very different from the two and has a very primitive bone structure.
Reptiles as such are known for their sensitivity to thermal changes. Mostly being endothermic or cold-blooded creatures, the population of reptiles faces a challenge when their breeding cycles get disturbed owing to fluctuations in temperature. Something similar is happening with this New Zealandian reptile as well. Australian researches predict that with every 3-4 degree rise in air temperature the tuatara will only be able to produce male offspring by 2085. This means complete wipeout of females of the species! The researchers say their finding highlights the need for ways to predict climate change impacts in animals where sex of the offspring is determined by temperature.
A radio interview with Dr. Nicola Mitchell, from the Centre for Evolutionary Biology at the University of Western Australia, on www.radioaustralia.net reveals that by the predicted time frame, the sex change in tuatara newborns will lead to a drastic situation. In a scenario where no biological females would be found, the species will face a big question mark upon its reproductive propagation in natural habitats. Upon being asked by presenter Steve Holland as to what could be the preventive measure to this situation,
Dr. Mitchell informed about the ongoing breeding program that might be the only hope to see the species flourish some 75yrs ahead in future. But, she had her doubts on the profound effects of such artificial intervening measures. We all know that nature has her own mechanisms and one of the most powerful of them being natural selection followed by reproduction of animal species which leads to variation. The latter being very important from the point of view of survival of any species on earth.
Reflecting upon the grave issue, I’m just left wondering when are we actually going to start respecting other organisms as living beings, esply. Those, who have been sharing Earth for millions of years with us!
The picture is taken from nationalgeographic.com
Via RadioAustralia