The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
a quest is underway to find commercially useful microbes. For the first time ever, an international consortium of scientists is exploring the remote areas of Tibet and China's Inner Mongolia province for these tiny organisms. The scientists will scour the inhospitable environs of soda lakes, salt lakes and hot springs …
Chemists have recently found a compound that detects a poisonous substance. The substance, called saxitoxin, is found in coastal waters. It is produced by flourishing algae. The toxin has become a menace in many countries, as it contaminates shellfish. After eating the contaminated fish, humans feel numb, dizzy and weak. …
In a novel approach to marine protection, a private company handed over 4,653 hectares along the bottom of the Great South Bay to an environmental organisation. The deal
ships are using Canada's ocean coast as dumping grounds, which has resulted in the death of 300,000 birds per year. Activists allege that low fines on dumping bilge (a mixture of water, oil and other engine fluids) in Canadian ports has prompted ships to increasingly deposit such waste off the …
A new enemy may be threatening Australia's Great Barrier Reef. A condition scientists are calling white syndrome was found on 33 of 48 reefs surveyed in the national marine park, said Australian Institute of Marine Science ecologist Cathie Page. The syndrome, which leaves white marks where it has killed living …
If sea levels continue to rise at the present rate due to global warming, coastal areas such as Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa would be flooded or even submerged in the near future. Preliminary research on climate change suggests that heavily populated coastal areas, especially cities like Mumbai, will be most …
USA: Domestic and international travellers made nearly 287 million visits to the 378 parks under the US National Park Service in 1998 compared to the 275 million visits in 1997. This travel generated US $14.2 billion and supported almost 300,000 tourist-related jobs during 1996. Nepal: The Annapurna area is the …
If there is an ideal ecotourism destination in India, it is Sikkim. This eastern Himalayan state of India with its pristine mountains, crystal clear lakes and rich cultural and natural diversity, is fast gaining popularity. Attracting some two lakh tourists a year, of which 12,000 are foreigners, it has witnessed …
Not everyone is thrilled with ecotourism. Many believe that the big business of tourism people is only using the people in destinations, who offer their natural, social and cultural resources to make the
If tourism revenues are generated by the quality of natural goods like a healthy tiger habitat or an excellent coral reef, then should tourists not be asked to pay an ecotax to conserve them? This year the socialist-green regional government of the Balearic Islands in Spain has attempted to do …
Seeking nirvana Rich, restless and willing to pay Babu Vargese was thrown out of college because he insisted on wearing his hair long. Vargese likes to do things differently. Like running TourIndia, a Kerala based travel agency he founded 20 years ago. His keen interest in nature and people, coupled …
An environmental data centre will soon come up in the United Arab Emirates (uae). The centre will collect and analyse information on issues, including air pollution and marine ecosystems, from across the globe as an aid to better environmental strategy and policy-making. "It would help a lot of developing countries …
Under siege • 38 per cent of Africa's coastal ecosystems are threatened by development-related activities. Population densities reach 500-1,000 inhabitants per square km along the Nile delta • Almost 25 per cent of Canada's and about 55 per cent of the USpopulations live in coastal areas. The US coastal population …
Global warming could be decreasing the availability of oxygen to marine organisms living in the intermediate depths of oceans. According to a study by Ralph F Keeling and Hernan E Garcia from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, USA, a dip in oxygen concentrations has been observed in …
oil spills could mean far worse for the environment than they have been blamed for till date, shows a recent study conducted in the Galapagos Islands located off the coast of Ecuador. In January 2001 the tanker Jessica, belonging to Petrocomercial, an arm of the Ecuadorian state oil company, had …
Sri Lanka's Kandy lake is losing its glory. The algae mixed with garbage in the beautiful lake is stinking and the odour has spread to the nearby tourist hotels, too. Consequently, the tourists are skipping the site. The lake is not just filled with trash but also with other deposits …
