Avian Flu Spreads its Wings
Two avian-flu deaths took place on the brink of Europe last week, a long way from Southeast Asia. A pair of siblings in eastern Turkey, a 14-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl, succumbed to the same H5N1 virus that has already claimed 74 lives in Asia. The virus has appeared in eastern Europe several times since July, and there have been 15 total infections in Turkey; these are the first avian-flu deaths in the region. The UN warns that H5N1 could become endemic and spread to neighboring countries.
Approximately 500,000 female births are selectively aborted in India every year, according to joint Indian and Canadian research. While most countries have slightly more females than males, India's population grows while maintaining a "girl deficit." In addition, the researchers found that when the previous child was a girl, parents tend to select for a boy more often. Abortions based on sex selections have been banned in India for over a decade.
A frozen pipe burst in China last Thursday, causing oil to seep into the Yellow River, the nations second longest. The oil entered the river, a source of drinking water, at 27 times the national safety standard, causing 63 water-pumping stations along the river's banks to shut down. The nearly 7-million residents in the stricken area are being served by reservoirs. This is the third spill that's affected the country's water supply in three months.
2005: Hot or Not?
Data culled from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and NOAA satellites indicates that the phenomenon of global warming isn't exactly global. Even though last year's average temperatures tied with those of 2002, the second-warmest year since 1978, the most significant warming is confined to the northernmost third of the globe. The warming rate in that section of the planet is over seven times faster than in points south.
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In Sydney on Thursday, the US and Australia pledged to earmark a combined $127 million for lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The two countries, both of which have refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, have teamed up with China, India, South Korea and Japan to form a coalition called the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. This union prefers the promotion of renewable resources over curbing the burning of fossil fuels; they believe the latter will damage their economies.
Going against the textbooks of plant biochemistry, a group of scientists in Germany published a story in Nature announcing that plants regularly produce methane. Common knowledge was that plants would only produce this greenhouse gas when in low-oxygen environments. This new finding doesn't just challenge prior belief—it could account for anywhere from 10% to 30% of the world's methane emissions.
The Worldwatch Institute, a US-based think tank, warned that the booming economies of India and China overshadowed each country's high pollution rate. In its "State of the World 2006" report, the group estimated that the two nations would need "a full planet Earth" unto themselves to allow them to reach the water, energy and agriculture standards enjoyed by Western nations.
The Proof is in the Frogs
Scientists in Costa Rica reported that harlequin frog species native to Central and South America are disappearing at a rate that corresponds to the warming rate. Rising temperatures increase cloud coverage in tropical areas, causing warmer nights and cooler days; the frogs are succumbing to a skin fungus that is thriving in the new climate. The frogs are an indicator species: Changes in their population signal that their environment has been altered.
On a similar note, a University of Montana biologist warned duck hunters that if they want to continue enjoying their sport, they should get serious about global warming. Rising global temperatures will dry up duck breeding grounds across North America, leaving hunters shooting at air.