Tag: climate

This week in biodiversity news – 19th February 2024

Climate Crisis 

A new study reveals the Amazon rainforest’s worst drought on record in over half a century, with human-caused climate change acting as the driving force behind these weather extremes. The Amazon rainforest plays an important role in the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere, and accounts for around 10% of the world’s species. However, scientists suggest the Amazon could soon reach a “tipping point”, with droughts such as these expected every 13 years if global temperatures increase by a further 2°C. 

Conservation

Black Rhinos have returned to Kenya’s Loisaba Conservancy as species recovers following local extinction 50 years ago. This translocation project, the result of a collaboration between Loisaba Conservancy and Kenya Wildlife Service, was prompted by the news that Kenya’s 16 Black Rhino sanctuaries are rapidly running out of space due to a boost in population numbers. Twenty-one of these critically endangered Black Rhinos were released into a specially created fenced sanctuary that covers nearly half of Loisaba’s total area, marking an important moment in the long-term future of Black Rhino populations in Kenya. 

Black Rhinoceros stood in a plain full of grass.
Black Rhinoceros, by Andy Morffew via Flickr.

Hedgehog populations are on the rise according to BBC Gardeners’ World survey. Previous reports have found that since 2000, the number of hedgehogs has fallen by 30%-75% depending on the area due to increased habitat loss, fragmentation, pesticides, and a reduction in food sources. However, the annual hedgehog survey highlighted a 33% increase in sightings, up from 31% in 2022, which has been aided by the instillation of ‘hedgehog highways,’ and nationwide rewilding efforts. CEO of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, Fay Vass, stated that urban populations are still lower than they should be, however these results provide cautious optimism for the future of hedgehogs. 

Environment 

Hailed as one of the world’s most ambitious environmental policies, Biodiversity Net Gain came into effect in England on the 12th February 2024. It is now mandatory for all new developments in England to deliver at least a 10% net gain in biodiversity or habitat on all new sites. In light of the government target of building 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s, it is hoped that the scheme will minimise or mitigate the environmental effects of these new developments. 

Iceland may be entering a new volcanic era, with increasing volcanic activity reported across the island. The most recent short-lived eruption on the Reykjanes peninsular marks the third since December 2023, and the sixth since 2021. Researchers think this wave of volcanic activity may be following a pattern that could last for decades, or even centuries. Scientists are trying to work out how to predict future eruptions by tracking ground inflations as magma rises, from which they can estimate when the magma will break the surface.

Litli-Hrútur - Volcanic Eruption in Iceland July 2023. Litli-Hrútur – Volcanic Eruption in Iceland July 2023, by Anthony Quaintano via Flickr.

Science and discoveries

The latest strain of bird flu has decreased Great Skua populations by 75% and Northern Gannet populations by 25% in the past 2 years alone, says the RSPB and British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). According to a recent report, the H5N1 strain has been noted as one of the biggest conservation threats facing numerous seabird species across both UK and Europe. The latest Seabird Count survey, published in November 2023 – which did not take into account the effects of bird flu – found that almost 62% of seabird populations were already in decline across the UK due to other factors such as fishing and offshore wind developments. 

The most vulnerable migratory species are at risk due to increased human activity, with one in five threatened with extinction according to the UN. Despite the signing of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals over 40 years ago, researchers suggest that more focus has been placed on preventing illegal animal trading rather than upholding the law on illegal killing. The report recommends that countries need to establish key biodiversity areas on the migration pathways of endangered species, reduce infrastructure obstructing migration routes, create corridors of protected land, and restore 30% of degraded marine and land areas. 

Sandwich Terns stood on a beach in a colony looking out to sea.
Sandwich Terns, by Gary Leavens via Flickr.

This week in biodiversity news – 5th February 2024

Climate crisis

The UK has approved 24 new North Sea oil and gas licenses in the face of significant criticism. The move angered many environmental campaigners and MPs who labelled the decision as “grossly irresponsible”. The government defended the move stating that the oil would be imported from overseas if it wasn’t extracted from the North Sea. Environmentalists have argued that granting the licenses will do relatively little to improve the UK’s energy security and undermines Britain’s move towards net zero emissions.

Oil drilling platforms in the North Sea by chumlee10 via Flickr.
Conservation

The National Trust has committed to recreating lost rainforests by planting 100,000 trees in North Devon. Temperate rainforests once covered vast swathes of western Britain, but the rare habitat declined due to historic deforestation and continues to face threats from air pollution, invasive species and diseases. It is now one of the most endangered habitats in the UK covering only 1% of Britain’s landmass mostly in Cumbria, Devon, Cornwall, North and West Wales and the West of Scotland. Exceptionally heavy rainfall and high humidity levels allow moisture-loving plants like mosses and lichens to thrive in these areas and the restored rainforest will be a haven for rare specialist plants that depend on this habitat.

Wistmans Wood, Dartmoor, Devon.
Wistmans Wood, Dartmoor, Devon by Steve Knight via Flickr.
Environment

Toxic run-off from roads has been found not to be monitored, according to the BBC. Rivers close to major roads have been tested by campaigners and have been found to contain a cocktail of chemicals and particles from the roads. National Highways has a statutory responsibility to make sure that discharges from its network do not cause pollution and the Environment Agency is responsible for monitoring water pollution in England. However, in response to a freedom of information request, the agency said that it did not regularly monitory run-off. Oil, chemicals and wear from tyres are washed down drains in heavy rain and subsequently flow into rivers and streams causing damage to sensitive aquatic ecosystems.

The government remains largely off track to meet its environmental targets, according to the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP). The OEP’s annual progress report concludes that while some progress has been made, the government is largely off track to meet both targets and legal obligations and that the government must speed up its efforts and implement policies quickly to bridge the gap.

Extinction risk

The Greater Glider is on course for extinction due to a controversial decision by the Australia’s New South Wales environmental watchdog, according to experts. The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) told stakeholders that it was scrapping measures that required a government-owned forestry corporation to search for Glider dens which currently have to be given a 50-metre logging exclusion zone. Experts have told the EPA in no uncertain terms that they are effectively locking in the Glider’s extinction. Greater Gliders rely on between six and 20 den trees for its habitat which is already under significant pressure due to summer bushfires and logging activity.

Great Glider in its den by Victorian National Parks Association via Flickr.
Science and discoveries

A new map has revealed that England’s hedges would wrap around the Earth ten times if lined up end to end. The map is the most comprehensive to date revealing a total of 390,000 km of hedgerows. Researchers from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology used Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) remote sensing data. They found that the South West of England boasted the largest share of hedges accounting for 24% of England’s total with Cornwall leading at the county level. Around half of Britain’s hedges were lost in the post-war period, and while losses have slowed since the 1990s, major threats to Britain’s hedgerows remain.

The birth of a Great White Shark may have been captured on video for the first time. Wildlife filmmaker Carlos Gauna and UC Riverside biology doctoral student Phillip Sternes were filming California’s coastal waters with their drone when they spotted something unusual. By enlarging the images from their video footage and putting it in slow motion, they realised a white layer was being shed from the body of a shark. They believe it was a newborn white shark shedding its embryonic layer.