No image available
/ 24 January 2008

Hurricanes, global warming devastate Caribbean reefs

Warmer seas and a record hurricane season in 2005 have devastated more than half of the coral reefs in the Caribbean, according to scientists. In a report published on Wednesday, the World Conservation Union warned that this severe damage to reefs would probably become a regular event given current predictions of rising global temperatures due to climate change.

No image available
/ 14 January 2008

Threatened flamingos breed on man-made island

Lesser flamingos have started breeding on a specially constructed artificial island at the Kamfers Dam, the Northern Cape department of tourism, environment and conservation said on Monday. The birds at Kamfers Dam are of historic significance because it is only the sixth breeding locality in the world for the near-threatened species.

No image available
/ 9 January 2008

Where humans live, coral fails

The world’s coral reefs are in alarming decline, but what — or who — is most to blame? A groundbreaking study published on Wednesday singles out human settlement, especially coastal development and agriculture, as the main culprit, even more so than warming sea waters and acidification linked to global warming.