Demand for exotic pets threatens numerous species

According to an article in the Guardian, countries in South East Asia are at risk for losing a large number of species due to illegal trade for exotic pets and traditional medicine.

The situation is so serious that experts have invented a new term – empty forest syndrome – to describe the gaping holes in biodiversity left behind. “There’s lots of forest where there are just no big animals left,” says Chris Shepherd of Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring network. “There are some forests where you don’t even hear birds.”

Great White Sharks more at risk than Tigers

According to an article in the Guardian, the great white shark is closer to extinction than tigers. This recent estimate is consistent with older research from Dalhousie University, which found decreases in the shark population of approximately 97% off the east coast of the US.

“The estimated total population of great white sharks in the world’s oceans is actually less than the number of tigers,” said Ronald O’Dor, a senior scientist at the Census of Marine Life, an international collaboration that is cataloguing marine life.

Deep sea trawling devastates marine habitats

According to an article in the Guardian, deep sea trawling is destroying marine habitats that were otherwise unchanged since the last ice age. The nets are dragged over the sea floor, at depths of a kilometer or more, and destroy coral reefs that provide habitats for fish and other marine organisms.

“It doesn’t matter what ocean you go to, these habitats are being trashed by international fishing fleets. What is urgently needed is a network of protected areas where any type of fishing gear that involves dragging equipment across the sea bed is banned.”

Photos of the world’s most endangered primates

The Guardian notes that half of the primates on the planet are endangered, and presents a photo gallery of 15 of the most threatened.

Morning sickness remedy contains arsenic, lead

According to Consumer Reports (as reported by the Consumerist), a popular remedy for morning sickness contains both lead and arsenic. The remedy, calabash chalk, is popular in African herbal stores.

“Using calabash chalk is unhealthy for pregnant women and their unborn children,” said Nancy Clark, assistant commissioner for the New York City Health Department’s Environmental Disease Prevention Bureau. “And the sale of these products is illegal.”

Fog decline threatens Redwoods

According to an article in Wired, the average daily hours of fog has decreased by 3 hours during the past century. Redwoods have developed the ability to get as much as 40% of their needed water from fog, as it would otherwise not be possible to get water from the roots all the way to the tops, as much as 300-400 feet higher. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that on foggy days, the trees lost less water to the air and help the trees survive the drier summer months.

Some emerging evidence does suggest the vanishing fog may be more than a California phenomenon. Early studies show some of the formerly foggy coasts off of Chile and South Africa have become less so in recent years.

Even oil companies warning of impending oil crunch

According to an article in the Guardian, the CEOs of Total and Petrobras are joining the people warning of an oil crunch, when supply will no longer keep up with demand. Despite this, the UK government asserts that there is at least 40 more years, as do many major oil companies.

With modern economies geared to their rivets on just-in-time supply of copious amounts of affordable oil, society surely ignores this risk issue at its massive peril.

People in poor areas die 7 years sooner

According to a report by the BBC, people living in England’s poorest areas have an expected lifespan that is 7 years less than those living in the richest areas. One major reason for the difference is quality and accessibility of preventative healthcare .

People in the poorest neighbourhoods will also spend a greater proportion of those shorter lives unwell.

More people developing fatal allergies

According to an article in the Guardian, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people with fatal allergies over the last 10-15 years. The British National Health Service issued 211,040 injectors to combat anaphylactic shock  in 2008, compared with 101,032 in 2003 and just 25,320 in 1995.

“It could be to do with changes in our environment, a change in allergen exposure, pollution or diet. The only thing we know is that it is clearly related to modern, western ways of living.”

Drug-resistant superbugs profliferate in China

According to an article in the Telegraph, overuse of antibiotics in both farming and health care in China is resulting in more and more “superbugs”, drug-resistant strains of bacteria. Such strains can easily travel to other countries via air travel and in food and other products.

Particular alarm has been raised by resistance rates of MRSA in Chinese hospitals, which has more than doubled from 30 per cent to 70 per cent, according to Professor Xiao Yonghong of the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology at Beijing University.