biodiversity – News Stories About biodiversity - Page 3

Ecuador Chases Citizens Off Galapagos to Save Islands

Oct 8, 2008 9:48 AM CDT

Ecuador Chases Citizens Off Galapagos to Save Islands

UN says too many people on islands is destroying animal habitats

(Newser) - Ecuador is forcing those without permission to live in the Galapagos to leave, over fears that a growing human population threatens the species that make the islands unique. Even Ecuadorean citizens need special visas to visit the Galapagos, but thousands of mainland migrants have been staying illegally, drawn by high...

Big Sugar's Exit
Gives Hope to
Everglades

Analysis

Jul 9, 2008 10:22 AM CDT

Big Sugar's Exit Gives Hope to Everglades

Florida land deal boosts ecological preservation efforts

(Newser) - Everglades restoration may finally be a reality, writes Michael Grunwald in Yale Environment 360 during his “vacation from defeatism.” Florida's tentative $1.75 billion land deal with US Sugar would halt sugar production (and pollution) on nearly 300 square miles, and have an ecological ripple-effect that extends beyond...

Homosexuality: It's
Perfectly Natural

May 19, 2008 7:28 PM CDT

Homosexuality: It's Perfectly Natural

Gay relationships abound in animal kingdom

(Newser) - It may throw a wrench in Noah's ark-stocking plans, but same-sex relationships appear in many animal species, reports LiveScience.com. The long list of animals that practice gay sex includes bears, penguins, gorillas, and dolphins, among others. But scientists question the act's evolutionary purpose, because it doesn't aid in reproduction....

Wildlife Populations Plunging

May 16, 2008 8:25 AM CDT

Wildlife Populations Plunging

One of 'great extinction episodes in history' unfolding: report

(Newser) - Humanity is rapidly wiping out the planet's species, sending wildlife populations plunging, the BBC reports. Pollution, habitat loss, and overfishing have cut wildlife numbers as much as a third since 1970 and wipe out 1% of species each year. One of the "great extinction episodes" in Earth's history also...

Climate Killing Medical Hopes

Apr 23, 2008 1:53 PM CDT

Climate Killing Medical Hopes

UN conference highlights the dangers of fading biodiversity

(Newser) - The loss of biodiversity on Earth will seriously hamper efforts to cure human disease, AFP reports. Researchers at the UN-backed Business for the Environment conference highlighted undiscovered cures for pain, infections and even cancer that risk being lost forever if humans fail to reverse the widespread extinction of thousands of...

'Doomsday' Seed Vault to Open

Feb 25, 2008 3:57 PM CST

'Doomsday' Seed Vault to Open

Norwegian project will house all known crop species

(Newser) - The North Pole is no Fertile Crescent, but it will house collections of the world's crop seeds in a doomsday vault that will open tomorrow, AFP reports. The vault, built on Norwegian territory, contains three cold chambers that can hold a total of 4.5 million seed samples—twice the...

Did Bug Bites Do in Dinos?

Jan 9, 2008 1:07 PM CST

Did Bug Bites Do in Dinos?

Disease-carrying insects may have contributed to dinosaur extinction

(Newser) - Disease-carrying insects may have contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs around 65 million years ago, entomologists write in a new book. Scientists found malaria and other parasitic pathogens in insects preserved in amber, and the same parasites were found in fossilized dinosaur waste, the Guardian reports. New plants, pollinated...

Half of All Species Risk Extinction as Earth Warms

Oct 24, 2007 4:15 AM CDT

Half of All Species Risk Extinction as Earth Warms

Humans will survive climate change, many other species won't: study

(Newser) - Global warming could trigger the extinction of half the world's plant and animal species—although humans will probably survive, according to a new British study of the likely effects of climate change. Researchers studied links between mass extinctions and climate changes over 520 million years. In one event, 95% of...

'Extinction Crisis' Threatens 40% of Species

Sep 12, 2007 1:46 PM CDT

'Extinction Crisis' Threatens 40% of Species

Watchdog group sees serious danger to one in four mammals

(Newser) - More than 16,000 species are in serious danger of extinction, including one in four mammals and one in three amphibians being monitored by a global conservation group. With 40% of 40,000 surveyed species facing the highest levels of threat, “We’re at code red,” a top...