Mining exploration of the seabed could seriously affect certain mammals, such as whales, dolphins and porpoises, scientists warn in a study published in Frontiers in Marine Science. According to researchers from the universities of Exeter (UK), Oregon State (USA) and the Greenpeace Research Laboratory, these mammals are at risk of being particularly affected by noise pollution caused by underwater mining activities. These activities would likely produce a range of noises with frequencies similar to those used by these animals to communicate. Scientists point out that cetaceans are very sensitive to acoustic disturbances, particularly when they are diving.
This is the cruel question answered by a recent report released by the Somali government. The drought affecting the country is estimated to have caused an additional 43,000 deaths in 2022, half of whom were children under the age of 5. For the first six months of 2023, the Somali study says it expects 34,000 additional deaths. The report was prepared with the collaboration of researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of London (Imperial College London).
This is the number of ants on Earth estimated by a team of researchers from the University of Würzburg, Germany. This figure is much higher than previous estimates, which were between 1 and 10 million trillion ants. Twenty million trillion means that there are 2.5 million ants for every human on the planet. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
If eco-anxiety is more and more frequent, particularly among young people, it seems that the lack of access to green spaces is a determining factor that influences the mood of the population. That’s according to the results of a poll commissioned by Woodland Trust, a non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to protecting forests. Seven out of ten British young people said they were concerned about environmental issues, but 86% of them said that being in a natural environment had a positive impact on their mental health. According to Woodland Trust, forest cover in the UK is one of the lowest among European countries. The organization campaigns for all citizens to have access to a green space within a 15-minute walk of their homes by 2030.
Species living in Australia’s coral reefs are in steep decline, according to a recent study published in the journal Nature. Researchers from the University of Tasmania cataloged 1,057 species and found that 57% of them had experienced population declines in recent years. Worse, 300 of these species have declined so quickly that they should now be considered endangered, according to scientists. Of note, 28% of assessed species have experienced population declines of at least 30% in less than 10 years. The warming and acidification of the oceans are among the main causes of this decline.
