Natural Environment Blog

Dolphins can be deafened by loud noises, which can lead to death.

A new study has found that loud sonar can cause deafness in dolphins.

The study found that loud, repeated blasts of sonar caused dolphins to temporarily lose their hearing for 20 to 40 minutes.

Published in the British journal Biology Letters on Wednesday, the findings could provide further evidence that human made noises can be attributed to dolphin and whale deaths. 

The study, led by Aran Mooney Marine Biologist at the University of Hawaii, exposed an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin to progressively louder pings of mid-frequency sonar. The dolphin was born in captivity and was trained. 

A suction cup was fitted to the dolphin’s head, with a sensor attached that monitored the animal’s brainwaves.

“What we found was if you play sound you can cause temporary hearing loss. The sounds have to be surprisingly loud and they have to be repeated over an extended period of time – two to three minutes.” Mooney said. “In that time you would expect them to swim away as fast as possible. They have to be within 40 metres of a ship, but when you have certain oceanographic conditions it’s hard for the animals to get out of the way.” 

Many people believe that human made noises, also referred to as acoustic smog, has been the cause of whale and dolphin beachings around the world.

Mooney acknowledges that, given the study was undertaken in a lab with a captive-born dolphin, it does not provide proof that military sonar is to blame for mass strandings. 

“We definitely showed that there are physiological and some behavioural effects [from repeated, loud sonar], but to extrapolate that into the wild, we don’t really know,” Mooney told AFP.

Last year I mentioned that this year’s Earth Hour will be the biggest to date, but it’s also turning out to be even bigger than the organizers expected. 

No less than 1,539 cities and towns in 80 countries will participate in this year’s Earth Hour 2009. 

This number, which will almost certainly grow over the next eleven days, exceeds the organizers’ target of 1,000 cities. 

With more and more cities and towns signing up every day, the event organizers say that the success of Earth Hour 2009 is limited only by the will of the global community to want a say in the future of their planet.

“Earth Hour is an opportunity for the global community to speak in one voice on the issue of climate change, while at the same time coming together in celebration of the one thing every single person on the planet has in common – the planet” said Earth Hour Executive Director, Mr Andy Ridley.

“Whether it’s joining your community in a town square to watch the city lights go dark or hosting a lights out party in your own home, I encourage everybody across the world to be a part of this historic occasion. Turn off your lights, celebrate the planet, enjoy the moment and cast your vote for Earth,” he added.

With increased involvement from populous countries such as China, it is hoped that Earth Hour 2009 will be observed by over 100 million people around the world.

Earth Hour 2009 will be at least 3 times bigger than 2008 with more than 76 cities officially participating. These before/after photos were taken during Earth Hour 2007 in Sydney. Photo: madradish.

Earth Hour 2009 stands to be the biggest Earth Hour to date. Last year, 26 cities officially participated in Earth Hour. The current count for 2009 is almost 3 times that figure - and we’re still more than 3 months away from the event.

Furthermore, organizers anticipate that over 1 billion people will take part in 2009 - up from 50 million in 2008. This is largely due to China’s involvement in 2009, where populous cities such as Beijing and Shanghai will participate

The official number of cities to participate in Earth Hour 2009 currently stands at 76 cities.

Official Cities To Particpate In Earth Hour 2009

Here are the cities currently listed for participation in Earth Hour 2009. Note that this figure is sure to increase over the coming months as more cities are announced.

Australia

• Adelaide
• Brisbane 
• Canberra 
• Darwin 
• Hobart 
• Melbourne 
• Perth
• Sydney

Bolivia

• Santa Cruz de la Sierra 

Bulgaria

• Sofia

Canada

• Toronto 

China

• Beijing
• Hong Kong
• Shanghai

Costa Rica

• San Jose

Denmark

• Aalborg
• Copenhagen
• Odense

Federated States of Micronesia

• Ponphei

Fiji

• Suva

Finland

• Espoo
• Helsinki

Guatemala

• Guatemala City

Italy

• Bologna
• Florence
• Milan
• Naples
• Palermo
• Rome
• Turin
• Venice

Jordan

• Amman

Mexico

• Mexico City

New Zealand

• Auckland
• Christchurch
• Hamilton

Norway

• Oslo
• Tromso
• Trondheim

Phillipines

• Manila

Poland

• Gdansk
• Lodz
• Poznan
• Torun
• Warsaw

Portugal

• Lisbon

Russia

• Moscow
• Petropalovsk-Kamchatsky

Singapore

• Singapore City

South Africa

• Cape Town

Sweden

• Ekero
• Gothenberg
• Kalmar
• Kiruna
• Lilla Edet
• Malmö
• Mullsjo
• Nassjo
• Norrkoping
• Orebro
• Sodertalje
• Ulricehamn
• Vaxjo
• Ystad

Turkey

• Istanbul

United Arab Emirates

• Abu Dhabi
• Dubai
• Fujairah
• Sharjah

United Kingdom

• London

United States

• Chicago
• Las Vegas
• Los Angeles
• San Francisco
• Miami 
• Nashville

Note that China has already indicated that more chinese cities will be announced in the future.

About Earth Hour 2009

Earth Hour is a global WWF climate change initiative. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour on Saturday March 28, 2009 at 8:30 PM to show their support for action on climate change.

With less than 60 remaining, the Javan Rhinoceros is probably the world's most critically endangered large mammal. This photo shows a young Javan Rhino shot dead by a hunter in 1895 in Ujung Kulon National Park, Java, Indonesia.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has just released its list of threatened species to watch in 2009.

The list, entitled 9 to Watch in 2009, is a list of animals that could be on the verge of extinction.

Included in the list are well-known animals such as tigers, rhinos, elephants and pandas.

WWF says that these species are at greater risk than ever before because of poaching, habitat loss and climate change-related threats.

Tom Dillon, WWF’s senior vice president for Field Programs warns that these creatures could become extinct if we don’t do something to save them.

“If we don’t get serious about saving these spectacular species, it’s quite likely that many won’t be around in the years to come,” he said.  

“The potential loss of some familiar and beloved wildlife should be a wake-up call that immediate action must be taken if we want to live in a world with wild elephants, polar bears, and tigers.” he continued.

Mr Dillon wants to see a major effort to save these animals in 2009.

“At the dawn of the new year, our global resolution for 2009 should be to save these amazing species before it’s too late.”

The 9 Species to Watch in 2009

According to WWF, the 9 species to watch in 2009 are:

1. Javan Rhinoceros

   Population: Less than 60
   Location: Indonesia and Vietnam 

   Probably the rarest large mammal species in the world, the Javan Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is critically endangered. Poaching and pressure from a growing human population pose greatest risk to the two protected areas where they live. 

2. Vaquita

   Population: 150
   Location: Upper Gulf of California, Mexico 

   The world’s smallest and most endangered cetacean, the Vaquita (Phocoena sinus) is a tiny porpoise that is often killed in gillnets. This mammal could soon be extinct.     

   Other names for Vaquita include “Cochito”, “Gulf of California Harbor Porpoise”, “Gulf of California Porpoise”, “Gulf Porpoise”, “Hafenschweinswal”, and “Marsouin du Golfe de Californie”.

3. Cross River Gorilla

   Population: 300. 
   Location: Nigeria and Cameroon.  

   Possibly the world’s rarest ape, the Cross River Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) was once thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in the 1980s. This primate, a subspecies of the western gorilla, lives in the few remaining forest patches of southeastern Nigeria and western Cameroon.    

   But as its forests are opened up by timber companies, hunters move in. Pressure on forests for farming and logging, and on gorillas for bushmeat, is intense in this area.

4. Sumatran Tiger

   Population: 400-500
   Location: Sumatra, Indonesia   

   The Javan and Balinese tigers are already extinct and the Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is not far behind. Accelerating deforestation and rampant poaching could push the Sumatran tiger to extinction within a short space of time.

   Tigers are poached for their body parts, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine, while skins are also highly prized.  

5. North Pacific Right Whale

   Population: Unknown, but less than 500
   Location: Northern Pacific, U.S., Russia and Japan

   The North Pacific Right Whale (Eubalaena japonica) is one of the world’s rarest cetaceans and was almost hunted to extinction until the 1960s. The large mammal is rarely sighted and has a poor prognosis for survival due to collisions with ships, entanglement in fishing nets and the prospect of offshore oil and gas development in Alaska’s Bristol Bay. 

6. Black-Footed Ferret

   Population: 500 breeding adults
   Location: Northern Great Plains, U.S. and Canada

   Found only in the Great Plains, the Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) is one of the most endangered mammals in North America. This is because its primary prey, the prairie dog, has been nearly completely wiped out by ranchers who consider it a nuisance.

   The Black-Footed Ferret is actually recovering from a near brush with extinction. In 1986, it was thought that only 50 individuals remained. Since then, captive breeding and reintroduction has showed signs that the species is slowly recovering. 

7. Borneo Pygmy Elephant

   Population: Perhaps fewer than 1,000
   Location: Borneo, Malaysia

   The Borneo Pygmy Elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis) is a subspecies of the Asian Elephant and is found in northern Borneo. The smallest of all elephants, it must compete with logging and agriculture for space in the lowland forests of Borneo.  

   The Borneo Pygmy Elephant is also known as simply the Borneo Elephant.

8. Giant Panda

   Population: 1,600
   Location: China

   The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces.

   Restricted and degraded habitat is the greatest threat to the giant panda. It once lived in lowland areas, but farming, forest clearing, and other development now restrict the giant panda to the mountains. Also, its forest habitat in the mountainous areas of southwest China has become fragmented, creating small and isolated populations.

9. Polar Bear

   Population: 20,000-25,000
   Location: Arctic

   The polar bear (Ursus maritimus), is the world’s largest predator found on land. It’s native habitat is the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding seas. 

   The greatest threat to the polar bear today is climate change. Designated a threatened species by the U.S., if warming trends in the Arctic continue at the current pace, polar bears could become extinct within a century.
    

To find out more about what WWF is doing to protect these animals, see the 9 Species to Watch in 2009.

On Monday, WWF officially announced that China will participate in Earth Hour in 2009.

Back in April,  WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) indicated that China would have more involvement in Earth Hour next year, but the extent of its involvement was largely unknown.

Hong Kong is already on the list of cities to take part in Earth Hour 2009. On Monday it was announced that Beijing and Shanghai would also participate.

WWF has also indicated that more Chinese cities will be announced in the future. 

2009 To Be Bigger Than 2008

In 2008, 26 cities were officially part of Earth Hour (although more than 370 cities, towns and councils took part unofficially). 

For 2009, the official count currently stands at 76 cities across 62 countries. It is anticipated that more than 1,000 cities, towns and councils will participate unofficially in 2009.

About Earth Hour

Earth Hour is a global WWF climate change initiative. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour on Saturday March 28, 2009 at 8:30 PM to show their support for action on climate change.

The event began in Sydney in 2007, when 2 million people switched off their lights. In 2008, more than 50 million people around the globe participated. In 2009, it is anticipated that more than 1 billion people in 1,000 cities will participate in Earth Hour.

The Gumprechts Green Pitviper is among the 1068 new species discovered in the Greater Mekong Subregion between 1997 and 2007. Photo: Rene Ries.

More than 1,000 new species have been found in the Greater Mekong Subregion over the last 10 years, according to a report from WWF.

The report, entitled First Contact in the Greater Mekong,  says that 1068 species previously unknown to science were discovered in the region between 1997 and 2007.

WWF also say that potentially thousands of new species of invertebrate was also discovered during this period.

Highlights include the discovery of the world’s largest huntsman spider. WWF say the spider has a leg span of 30 centimeters across. That’s 12 inches - about the size of a dinner plate. 

The Gumbrechts Green Pitviper (Trimeresurus gumprechti), a bright green snake first described in 2002, was also a key discovery.

Another star discovery was the dragon millipede, which according to WWF, is “startingly hot pink” in color and produces cyanide.

The New Species

Among the new species discovered in the Greater Mekong were: 

• 519 plant species
• 279 fish species
• 88 frog species
• 88 spider species
• 46 lizard species
• 22 snake species
• 15 mammal species
• 4 bird species
• 4 turtle species
• 2 salamander species
• 1 toad species

Total Species Count in the Greater Mekong

According to WWF, there is more than 23,000 species of fauna and flora in the Greater Mekong.

These include:

• 20,000 species of plant
• 1,200 bird species
• 800 species of reptiles and amphibians
• 430 mammal species
• 1,300 fish species in the Mekong River basin

The Mekong River has more species per unit than the mighty Amazon. This photo was taken where the Mekong and the Nam Kahn rivers converge. Photo: Alcyon.

More Species Per Unit Than The Amazon

Although the mighty Amazon River contains more species than the Mekong River, the Mekong actually contains more species per unit than the Amazon.

This makes the Mekong, by length, the richest waterway for biodiversity on the planet.

Threats to The Greater Mekong

The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) encompasses nations and territories located in Mekong River basin. These regions/territories are Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma and Yunnan Province of China

Conservation International has ranked the Greater Mekong as one of the top five most threatened biodiversity hotspots in the world.

Specific threats to the Greater Mekong include:

• forest conversion for agricultural plantations
• unsustainable logging and the illegal timber trade
• wildlife trade over fishing
• dam and road construction
• mining

WWF indicates that these threats are increasing due to accelerating economic development, population growth and increased consumption patterns of the region.

Full Report [pdf file, 7.26 MB]

Just a reminder for anyone interested in submitting photos for The Nature Conservancy’s photo challenge that I mentioned a few weeks ago.

The deadline is 11:59 p.m. PST on December 11, 2008.

The challenge is “Oceans & Seas”.

So, if you’ve been meaning to enter this challenge, you’d better hurry up!

Scientists are excited by the discovery of a new Tonkin snub-nosed monkey population in northwestern Vietnam. Photo: Tilo Nadler.

Fauna & Flora International (FFI) has discovered a new population of the critically endangered Tonkin snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus avunculus) in northwest Vietnam.

A team of biologists, led by FFI, observed between 15 and 20 individuals after a tip off from locals prompted them to visit the area.

The monkeys were found in forests near the Tung Vai Commune by the Chinese border. This makes it the first known population in Vietnam’s Quan Ba District.

FFI is excited by the fact that some of the monkeys were infants - indicating that the population is breeding, and therefore (hopefully) increasing.

Reviving the Species’ Population

“All recent indications suggest that we have a fantastic opportunity to secure this population and significantly increase the chances of survival of this species,” said Paul Insua-Cao, FFI’s Vietnam primate programme manager.

But conservation biologist Le Khac Quyet, who observed the monkeys, says urgent action is needed.

“When I saw the Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys in Tung Vai Commune I was overjoyed.” said Quyet, who is also credited with discovering another 70-strong population of the species in Khau Ca forest in 2002.

“This new discovery further underlines the importance of learning more about the Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys’ range and distribution. There is still time to save this unique species, but with just 200 or so left and threats still strong, we need to act now” 

Hopeful of More Sightings

And FFI would no doubt be hopeful to find more of this primate species in the area. Reports from locals suggest that there is also another, larger population of the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey yet to be seen by the FFI team.

Conservation Status

Until the late 1980s, the monkey was believed to be extinct. Since then, only around 200 Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys have been known to exist.

The monkey is currently listed as “Critically Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 1996 when it was upgraded from “Endangered”.

Video Footage

Below is rare video footage of the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey:

As I wrote an update about Live Earth India on November 26, little did I know that the city was about to become subject to a series of coordinated terrorist attacks.

Unfortunately, due to those attacks, the Live Earth organizers decided to cancel the event, which was due to be held in Mumbai tomorrow.

Here’s the press release from the Live Earth organizers:

Everyone involved with Live Earth India, from our U.S.- and India-based staff, artists and crew to our India-based broadcast, production, non-profit and marketing communications partners, is stunned and saddened by the tragic events of the past few days in our host city Mumbai. We always felt very welcomed and safe as we spent more time on the ground in Mumbai to finalize plans for Live Earth India, scheduled for December 7.

Due to circumstances far beyond our control, we are saddened to announce that Live Earth India has been cancelled. We will continue to work for solutions to the climate crisis for the good of the people of India and around the world. But for now, our thoughts and our prayers are with the victims of this terrible attack, with the bereaved, with the people of Mumbai and with everyone in India.

——————————————————————

Information on getting refunds for tickets already purchased to Live Earth India will be available vialiveearth.org next week so please check back.

Please direct any comments to info@liveearth.org.

For further information please contact:
US/UK Media: Ehrin Cummings, (310) 550-3883, ecummings@controlroom.com
Global & India: Ron Roecker, (310) 384-5641, rroecker@liveearth.org
India Media: Varun Gambhir, +91 98199 76446, varun.gambhir@edelman.com
Moritz Kaffsack, +91 99202 3461, moritz.kaffsack@edelman.com

Environmentalists have concerns over Brazil’s recently announced plan to save the Amazon rainforest. 

The plan, unveiled by the government on Monday, would result in a 72 percent decrease in deforestation by 2017. 

But environmental groups, while commending the government for finally taking action, believe the plan doesn’t go far enough.

Greenpeace Brazil’s View

Greenpeace doesn’t appear to be impressed with Brazil’s deforestation plan. Greenpeace maintains that deforestation of the Amazon needs to be completely eliminated - not just reduced.

Sergio Leitao, Greenpeace director of public politics in Brazil says “In adopting timid targets the government is showing that it is going in the right direction, but at the wrong speed, because the problem requires urgent solutions”

Leitao also suggests that Brazil is using its reliance on funding from rich nations as a convenient escape clause.

“By connecting the reduction of deforestation to obtaining international resources, in a moment of economic crisis, the government has an argument ready for not achieving targets in the future,” he said.  

Greepeace UK’s View

And Greepeace UK has said on its blog:

On the surface, this might sound ambitious and visionary but of course even if these targets are met, they’ll reduce deforestation but they won’t stop it.

Greenpeace UK highlights the fact that Brazil’s government seems happy to lose rainforest:

As environment minister Carlos Minc noted, if all goes to plan then in 2017 we’ll still be losing 5,000 sq km of rainforest every year (although I think he saw that as a good thing)

And, importantly, Greepeace points out that the deforestation plan only appears to be applicable to illegal deforestation.

Therefore, legal clearance of the rainforest will be unaffected. This means that a new bill soon to be voted on in Brazil’s parlaiment would effectively undermine the new plan. The bill, if passed, would allow land owners to clear as much as 50% of their forests (currently, they’re allowed to clear 20%).

On this point, Greenpeace comments:

So right there you can see that, even if illegal deforestation is cut or even eliminated, state sanctioned destruction could balloon in its place and so completely undermine any efforts to bring the rate of deforestation down.

WWF Brazil’s View 

In the meantime, WWF-Brazil has labeled the plan as “commendable but short on ambition and detail“.

However, Carlos Alberto de Mattos Scaramuzza, Conservation Director at WWF-Brazil still agrees that it is “reasonably” ambitious:

“This goal is reasonably ambitious,” he says. “To achieve it, next year deforestation will have to drop 23% in relation to this year.”

But he wants to see a plan that’s more than “reasonably ambitous”.

Instead, WWF-Brazil wants to see a goal of zero deforestation by 2015.

“This goal is achievable if key actors—ranging from indigenous peoples to ranchers—are compensated for conserving the forest and thereby avoiding deforestation” Scaramuzza says.

And WWF-Brazil’s CEO Denise Hamú agrees.

“This fund appears to be geared primarily to supporting government command-and-control programmes,” she says

“To achieve more ambitious reductions in deforestation, it will be effective mechanisms to compensate the key actors on the ground who determine the fate of the forest.”