A snapshot of environmental news from around the world.
Jul 15 2008 by Gloria McShane, Evening Gazette
Reefs facing extinction
A THIRD of coral reefs are threatened with extinction because of climate change and other human activities such as coastal development, scientists warned.
Dr Alex Rogers, senior research fellow at the Zoological Society of London’s Institute of Zoology, one of the study’s authors, said that while coral reefs covered just 0.1% to 0.2% of the earth’s surface they played host to an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million species.
Plug into to clean transport
PRIME MINISTER Gordon Brown has called for all new cars sold in the UK to be electric or hybrid (electric and petrol) driven by 2020. His call followed the first agreement by all G8 countries on a plan to tackle climate change.
Energy push is ‘failing’
THE Government is “failing to deliver” on aims to improve energy efficiency in the UK, a coalition of green groups and business organisations said.
Key areas where it was judged to have failed included introducing incentives such as council tax rebates to encourage energy savings in homes, and encouraging businesses to adopt energy efficient technology.
Native plants under threat
GARDEN and countryside plants in the UK are increasingly under threat from foreign pests and diseases imported on exotic species, a study by The Royal Horticultural Society found.
The garden charity called for an industry code of conduct to protect species in Britain against new diseases on plants imported into the country.
Help urged for coffee growers
THE G8 countries were urged to take action to help African and Latin American coffee farmers suffering dramatic declines in their harvests to cope with climate change.
Fairtrade company Cafedirect said coffee farmers were reporting reductions of as much as two-fifths in their annual yields, due to drought, reduced soil fertility and severe tropical storms.
Alternative way to fly
BRITISH Airways and aero-engine giant Rolls-Royce launched a test scheme to look at the possibility of alternative fuels for the aviation industry.
The test will try to identify practical alternatives to the current industry-standard fuel kerosene, with the potential of making planes “greener”.
