Oyster Reefs Are In Rough Shape Over Much Of The World, Threatened By Over-harvesting In Combination

Rhino poaching in South Africa decreased for the third year in a row, according to South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa. But the number is still unsustainably high, with about 3 rhinos killed per day in South Africa.

Rising incomes in Asian nations, such as Vietnam and China, is driving a renewed poaching boom for rhino horns, and poachers are finding new ways to avoid detection of exports.

Original Article

The eclipse fingerprint on solar panels in Missoula, MT.

Source: https://twitter.com/mfrank406/status/899986864303611905

A recent study looked at the demographics of an elephant population in Samburu, Kenya, and the impact of poaching. This graph shows the annual PIKE, or Proportion of Illegally Killed Elephants. PIKE is calculated as the number of illegally killed (poached) elephant carcasses divided by the total number of elephant carcasses discovered that year. The graph shows a recent dramatic increase in poaching.

The authors state:

Illegal human killing caused over half the recorded mortality in the Samburu elephants over the age of 9 (and indirectly caused the deaths of all victim’s dependent calves under 2 years). The high illegal killing in the latter part of the study had serious ramifications for the structure and organization of the population... the illegal killing appeared to select adult individuals in Samburu and particularly males resulting in increasing skew in the sex ratio over the course of the fourteen year study. Social disruption also resulted, with numerous well known and stable family groups being completely lost (i.e. no surviving breeding females) causing increased numbers of unaffiliated juveniles (orphans)

According to the New York Times, the recent spike in poaching, the greatest in decades, is driven by rising demand for ivory in Asia.

Demand for ivory in Asian markets is driving illegal elephant poaching, with China posing the greatest threat.

Carbon dioxide emissions in the UK are falling. CO2 emission fell 5.8% in 2016 from the previous year. Current emissions represent a 36% reduction from 1990 levels, and are at their lowest level since 1894 (outside the 1920s general strikes).

Why? The decline of coal. Coal use in the UK has declined steadily from its peak in 1956, and has experienced a dramatic decline since 2012. Coal use in 2016 dropped 52% from 2015.

The reduction in coal use is a result of multiple factors. The biggest is the expanded use of natural gas and renewables displacing coal. Other factors include an overall reduction in energy demand, the closing of Redcar Steelworks in 2015, and the UK’s carbon tax.

Source

“Over the past year, seven of the estimated 80 remaining Texas ocelots were killed by vehicles. Six of these mortalities were adult males. Among ocelots, it is not easy to be a maturing male. In order to prevent competition for access to breeding females, older males often force the younger males to leave the area where they grew up, sending them out to find females and territory of their own. Once out of protected, dense brush habitat areas, these younger males encounter the human-developed world and all of its dangers, in particular roads and vehicles. In reaction to the large proportion of road mortalities being males, Dr. Hilary Swarts, a wildlife biologist who monitors ocelots in south Texas with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) said, ‘I can’t say it’s surprising that six of the seven deaths were males, since they have such a rough time of it once the older males start to see the younger males as competition for mates and territory.’” - See more at: http://blog.cincinnatizoo.org/#sthash.YjGoogOC.dpuf

From Bloomberg:

Coal, the most polluting fuel that was once the world’s fastest growing energy source, has been a target of countries and companies alike as the world begins to work toward the goals of the Paris climate agreement. Consumption is falling as the world’s biggest energy companies promote cleaner-burning natural gas, China’s economy evolves to focus more on services than heavy manufacturing and renewable energy like wind and solar becomes cheaper.

Global consumption dropped 1.7 percent last year compared with an average 1.9 percent yearly increase from 2005 to 2015, according to BP. China, which accounted for about half of the coal burned in the world, used 1.6 percent less of the fuel, compared with an average 3.7 percent annual expansion in the 11 preceding years.

Average annual net loss and gain of wetlands in the lower 48 states of the U.S. Wetlands protection regulations (such as those under the Clean Water Act 404), incentive programs (such as the Wetlands Reserve Program) and disincentive programs (such as the Swampbuster provision of the Food Security Act of 1985) have substantially reduced wetlands losses.

From the International Energy Agency:

Global carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil-fuel combustion reached a record high of 31.6 gigatonnes (Gt) in 2011, according to preliminary estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA). This represents an increase of 1.0 Gt on 2010, or 3.2%. Coal accounted for 45% of total energy-related CO2 emissions in 2011, followed by oil (35%) and natural gas (20%).