- Deadly Malaria on the Decline
A new research study has found that malaria is killing twice as many people that previously believed. However, as efforts to combat the deadly steam have picked up, the total number of deaths is declining. In 2010, 1.2 million people died of malaria, twice as much as the last survey suggested. Researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington believe that the discrepancy is due to the previous studies assuming that malaria only kills children under age five. In actuality, 42 percent of malaria deaths are people aged five and older.
- London falls behind on targets to become electric car capital of Europe
London faces an uphill battle if it is to deliver on the target of 100,000 electric vehicles on the streets of the capital, a new report from the London Assembly warns today. Charging Ahead?, by the Assembly's Environment Committee, says progress has been made since 2009, when the Mayor committed to making London the electric car capital of Europe, but he faces a formidable challenge ahead to achieve his targets.
- Are Nuisance Jellyfish Really Taking Over the World's Oceans?
In recent years, media reports of jellyfish blooms and some scientific publications have fueled the idea that jellyfish and other gelatinous floating creatures are becoming more common and may dominate the seas in coming decades. The growing impacts of humans on the oceans, including overfishing and climate change, have been suggested as possible causes of this apparently alarming trend.
- Penguins From Texas happy in Dubai
10 King and 10 Gentoo Penguins imported from Texas are now living at Ski Dubai – an indoor ski slope in the desert!
It's bizarre enough that Dubai has an indoor ski slope despite outdoor summer temperatures averaging at over 40 degrees Celsius, but now a colony of penguins has taken up residence at this popular tourist attraction. Ten King Penguins listed as "least threatened" on the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species, and ten Gentoo Penguins which are "near threatened" were relocated from Seaworld in Texas, where a penguin breeding program has been underway for several years. Ski Dubai insists the animals are treated like royalty and are there to raise awareness, but animals rights activists are already criticizing at the move.
- Ancient Lake Vostok
After 20 years of drilling, a team of Russian researchers is close to breaching the prehistoric Lake Vostok, which has been trapped deep beneath thick ice layers (2 miles thick) in Antarctica for the last 14 million years. Lake Vostok is actually the third largest lake in the world, measured by the amount of water it holds. In the early 1990s, the Russians re-created a history of the Earth's atmosphere throughout the past 400,000 years — a record of our planet's air during the past four ice ages. The lakes are rich in oxygen (making them oligotrophic), with levels of the element some 50 times higher than what would be found in your typical freshwater lake. The high gas concentration is thought to be because of the enormous weight and pressure of the continental ice cap.
- Nuclear Power - environmental advantages
Renewable energy and nuclear power increasingly factor into the evolving American energy equation to replace polluting coal. Even some environmentalists acknowledge that nuclear is a viable emissions-free option to dirty coal while renewable-energy technologies continue to advance.
Nuclear fission reactors generate electrical power by splitting the atomic nuclei of uranium. This process creates a massive amount of heat — thermal energy — and radiation. The resultant heat is in turn utilized to make steam from water that then moves turbine blades to drive generators to produce electricity.
- A Turtle Success Story in the Philipines
In 2011, green sea turtles laid a staggering 1.44 million eggs on just one island in the Philippines thanks to conservation efforts, breaking all previous records.
The graceful and enigmatic green turtle faces a variety of threats globally, and as a result is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Yet there is some good news for this marine reptile, as Conservation International (CI) announces that the species has laid a record number of eggs on a small island in the Philippines.
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~ Environmental Protection Agency