Welcome ! As a young French Marketing professional with a Master's in International Management I have been selecting since January 2007 the latest headlines and best researches on sustainable development, climate change, cleantech and the world energy sector. Sounds great ? Don't hesitate to subscribe now !
If climate change, rising sea levels and the threats to global peace and food production weren’t enough to you, here is another reason to fight carbon dioxide : ocean acidification. To Mongabay :
” Emissions of carbon over the last two centuries have raised the acidity of the oceans to the highest levels in 21,000 years and likely beyond, according to a new study in Nature Climate Change. “
This could have serious implications for marine biodiversity, notably corrals and mollusks. So, what are we waiting for to act ?
Here are some stunning news. To TreeHugger : ” Scientists have just completed the most accurate tally of the planet’s species yet (though the projection still has a pretty healthy margin of error). The magic number?”
” 8.7 million, according to the study, which was recently published in the journal PLoS Biology. But the amazing thing is, we’ve only actually ‘discovered’ 86% of them – and thousands of them will be extinct before we do. “
Oddly enough, despite oceans are covering over 70 percent of our planet, there are home to less than a third of all species… This can be explained by the huge amounts of insects on land. Continue »
According to Cleantechies : “A new study finds that animal and plant species are responding to the effects of climate change at a rate two to three times faster than previously believed.
Researchers in the Department of Biology at the University of York in the United Kingdom found that in more than 2,000 instances, species are changing their habitats to adapt to warming temperatures.
On average, they found that species are moving toward higher elevations at 12.2 meters (40 feet) per decade and toward the poles at 17.6 kilometers (11 miles) per decade.”
While browsing old articles on Sustainablog, I found one that I particularly liked on successful huge reforestation projects. I learned many cool things and thought that was well worth a post.
” Governments, NGOs, and even for-profit companies recognize the environmental and economic losses caused by deforestation, and are working to restore the health of these important ecosystems.”
This reminds me of an old post I published in 2009 about afforestation projects. Meanwhile, the Billion Tree Campaign is nearing 12 billion planted trees. This is absolutely stunning ! Continue »
To TreeHugger : “ That’s a lot of species. And it’s roughly 9,000 more than were endangered just over ten years ago, in 2000. That’s the finding of the latest report from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).”
” There are now roughly 19,000 species that are currently threatened with extinction around the world. So why the jump? The usual suspects – deforestation, poaching, climate change, pollution, and invasive species – are largely to blame. ”
But the situation is not completely dark as to The Economist “The news is best for mammals, whose complete dataset has made evaluation easier. The percentage of endangered species has actually fallen since 2000. “
To the UNEP : ” A new international body aimed at catalyzing a global response to the loss of biodiversity and world’s economically-important forests, coral reefs and other ecosystems was born yesterday. “
Dubbed the “IPCC for Nature”, the new Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) will have a tough job at protecting endangered species and stopping what more and more call the anthropocene.
I just hope this new organization will face less opposition than the IPCC. For further details on this event please read the press release here. Continue »
I know it since I read Collapse, Jared Diamond’s fantastic book about how various societies disappeared : trees matter ! Between soil erosion prevention and climate change mitigation, there are many reasons for keeping forests alive.
Now comes a British study noting that the annual cost of deforestation is five trillion dollar. This research is carried out under the UNEP program known as The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)
We have seen it here on multiple occasions, protecting Nature and its fantastic biodiversity is as a matter of fact the best way to protect ourselves. Continue »
After no less than ten years of exploration all around the world ( with no less than 2,700 scientists, 80+ nations, 540 expeditions) the Census Of Marine Life is finally out. And the findings are more than interesting.
The wealth of the planet Ocean is astonishing as it is estimated there are over a million species. A quarter of it have been formally described. All this includes an estimated total of 21,800 fish species (5,000 haven’t been discovered yet).
If you want to discover the associated published books, maps and wonderful images and videos, the website is yours to visit ! Continue »
To the UNEP : ” For millennia, medical practitioners have harnessed substances from nature for treatments and cures: aspirin from the willow and, more recently, Taxol – the groundbreaking anti-cancer drug – from the bark of the Pacific yew.
Some of the biggest breakthroughs may be yet to come. But this can happen only if nature’s cornucopia is conserved, so that current and future generations of researchers can make new discoveries that benefit patients everywhere.”
Given the astonishing breakthroughs we are witnessing today I wonder what could happen tomorrow if we preserve our common treasure. I hope we will find out !
Biodiversity is a vital issue to us all as to the United Nations the disappearance of both fauna and floral species costs six percent of the world GDP, or more than $3,100 billion (2,000 billion euros) per year.
The Mother Nature Network published recently a splendid infographic with the Top 20 countries with most endangered species. The list is as impressive as it is truly scary.
This is another issue to be tackled fast as even if “only” 900 species disappeared over five centuries, we are currently on the verge of losing 10,000 in a short period of time. Continue »
