I gave a presentation last week in my environmental biology class.
As honor to birthday of John James Audubon, a French-American artist who focused on the views of nature, here is my presentation notes as the following;
Recent Environmental News
By
Oo Thein Maung
(Biology 1110)
Thunderstorms
According to the new research by Global Network of Monitoring Stations,
•About 760 thunderstorms every hour
•Each continent shows peaks during its daytime
•Globally, the peak time is around noon GMT
Mass Rat Migration in Australia
•After a run of high rain fall seasons, a mass migration of rats is under way into inland.
•The native long-haired rat, or Rattus villosissimus, normally lives in the Barkly Tableland.
•Ability to produce 12 babies every three weeks gives it the highest reproductive potential of any rodent in Australia.
An Election for Cobra’s Name
•Escape and subsequent capture at New York's Bronx Zoo
•New York Daily News asked the public to vote on the best name for the cobra
•More than 34,000 votes – “Mia”
Mine Project Cancelled for Environmental
•A controversial titanium mine project has cancelled in Cambodia’s southwest because of environmental concerns.
•Due to concerns about the impact on the environment and biodiversity as well as the living standards of the people.
United for Climate
•Rich and poor nations agreed on a roadmap for UN climate talks.
•But the poor nations say rich countries must take, particularly over cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that are blamed for global warming.
•A Green Climate Fund established $100 billion annually by 2020 to help poor nations.
New York at Risk!
•Sea Level would rise at least 28cm (1ft), according to IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) by 2100.
•Because ice sheets such as those on Greenland or Antarctica gravitationally attract the water.
Lucky Lizards!
•Customs officials in Thailand have seized 1,800 protected lizards said to be destined to be sold as food.
•The 3ft (1m)-long lizards were tied up and stuffed into bags
•Destined for Chinese kitchens.
Sooner? Or Later?
•Scientists who predicted a few years ago that Arctic summers could be ice-free by 2013.
•Now say summer sea ice will probably be gone in this decade
•And one of the projections say by 2016
Poor Young Penguins
•Young penguins in the Antarctic may be dying because they are having a tougher time finding food.
•Melting sea ice cuts back on the tiny fish they eat.
•Now - 2 to 3 million pehguins in Antarctic.
•7 to 8 millions two decades ago.
Correlation between Conflict and Violence and Poverty
•Conflict and violence are holding back global economic growth
•1.5 billion people in dire poverty (World Bank)
•Poverty rates in conflict, violent countries have 20 percentage points higher than in other countries
Babies! Babies!
•7,000 stillbirths that occur each day (WHO)
•Around 2.6 million stillbirths occur each year strike middle and low-income countries
•Middle-income countries such as Columbia, China, Mexico and Argentina, have reduced their stillbirth rates by 40% to 50% in recent years.
•Finland has the lowest rate.
•Nigeria and Pakistan are the highest.
Cuban Drought
•Cuba is facing its worst drought in half a century
•The drought started two years ago
•Tens of thousands of families almost entirely reliant on water trucks for essential supplies.
•More than 100,000 people in the worst affected areas of the capital, Havana.
Expensive Mangoes
•Alphonso mangoes shortage because of cold winter and unseasonable rains in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay).
•A dozen - 2,500 rupees ($56).
•India produces nearly 13 million tonnes of mangoes - about 40% of the world's output
$1.25 a day!
•Rising food and fuel prices are pushing millions of people into extreme poverty. (World Bank)
•That has pushed 44 million people into poverty since last June.
•1.2 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day.
Laos’ Dam Problem
•Laos faced pressure from its neighbors on its controversial dam construction project on the Mekong River that has sparked deep environmental concerns.
•The wildlife organization WWF has warned that dams could irreversibly change the Mekong's ecosystem.
•China already has several dams on the upper Mekong
Ancient Humans?
•Footage of a chimpanzee being born has shown that the animals give birth in a way that was thought to be unique to humans.
•Scientists had believed that this birth position evolved in the primate ancestors of modern humans.
Multiracial America Ahead
•Multiracial people now number 9 million, about 2.9 percent of the total U.S. population
•New figures from the 2010 Census show a 32 percent increase
•Perhaps, future Americans will have to fight for identifying themselves as white or black or brown?
Sources:
Bangkok Post
BBC
CNN
SMH
24 Hour News
Thank You!
