20-Feb-2019: Bramble Cay melomys is first mammal to go extinct due to climate change
Climate change induced by human beings has claimed its first victim in ‘Class Mammalia’ of the ‘Animal Kingdom’: the Bramble Cay melomys — a ‘little brown rat’ found in Australia.
The Melomys rubicola, also referred to as the Bramble Cay Mosaic-tailed rat, was found in Bramble Cay, a small vegetable coral key at Australia’s extreme north.
The rodent, which built furrows in herd fields and among strandline plants, has been feared to be extinct for some time now.
The government of Australia’s Queensland province reported the species to be extinct in June 2016. Any member of the species had not been seen for about a decade. Some researchers though maintained that there was still an outside chance of its survival. It was placed in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species.
On February 19, 2019, however, the media reports quoted Australia’s environment minister Melissa Price saying that the species was now extinct.
A five-year plan to save the species was introduced in 2008. The plan, however, did not give due importance to the risk at hand.
Australia has been the theatre of several extinction, be it megafauna (including giant marsupials like Diprotodon) of prehistorical time or the more recent cases since the advent of European colonisers. Varieties of emu like the dwarf emu and black emu vanished in the 1820s, less than half a century after Arthur Phillip’s First Fleet landed in Sydney (1788).
Since then scores of species of birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals have gone extinct. They range from being as small as sterlings and parrots to as big as the Tasmanian tiger, with kangaroos, bandicoots, frogs and a whole lot of other animals in between.
14-Feb-2019: Dolphin numbers have shrunk in Odisha
Odisha’s recent annual census of dolphins in its waters have thrown up some shocking numbers, with the aquatic mammals’ population declining from 469 in 2018 to 259 this year.
The census was carried out by the state’s forest and environment department on January 19 this year. The census report was released on February 14.
The census covered important aquatic ecosystems in the state including the Chilika lake, India’s largest brackish water lagoon, spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts, the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary and its nearby areas within the Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara district, Balasore district and the mouth of the Rushikulya river in Ganjam district.
The 2019 dolphin census report revealed that Gahirmatha is the home of the state’s largest dolphin population, having 126 animals. More dolphins were found in Gahirmatha than Chilika due to its bigger areas. But even 126 is a smaller number than the 307 sighted in 2018.
After Gahirmatha, Chilika had the next largest population at 113, followed by the Rushikulya river in Ganjam district, with 15 dolphins and finally, Balasore, with 5 individuals.
The dolphin species sighted during the state-wide census included the Irrawaddy, the Bottle Nose and the Humpback. The sighting of dolphins depended on the weather condition of the day the census was carried out.
The Irrawaddy dolphin is not a true river dolphin, but an oceanic one that lives in brackish water near coasts, river mouths and in estuaries. Across Odisha, 130 Irrawaddy dolphins were sighted on January 19, 2019. Out of these, 113 were sighted in Chilika, where 162 animals had been sighted last year and 123 in 2017. In Gahirmatha, 14 Irrawaddy dolphins were sighted. In Balasore district, 3 animals were sighted.
A total of 16 Bottle Nose dolphins were seen in Odisha. Out of these, 2 were sighted in Balasore and 14 in Gahirmatha.
The third species, the Humpback, totaled around 113 animals of which 98 were sighted in Gahirmatha and 15 in Ganjam.
Dolphins have been included in Schedule I of the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972, in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), in Appendix II of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and categorised as ‘Endangered’ on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List.
The reduction in the number of dolphins compared to last year could be due to the migration of species from the Chilika lake and other water bodies to the deep sea.
Forest officials conduct dolphin censuses in the sea at a distance of only 10 kilometres from the coast as it is not possible for us to count dolphins in the deep sea. Climate change and bad weather may be also the reasons for the dolphins to migrate towards the deep sea. Death is not the reason behind the decline in numbers as only a few carcasses of dolphins washed ashore on the state’s beaches.
30-Jan-2019: “Wetlands: A natural solution to climate change”
The science is clear. Wetlands are the most effective carbon sinks on our planet. The Paris climate change agreement recognizes the role wetlands play in limiting the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. They are a critical natural solution to the most daunting challenge we face – how to cope with climate change as well as limit global warming to well below 2ºC.
Today as people come together to celebrate World Wetlands Day, it is an ideal moment to reflect on the value of wetlands and how we can harness the natural power of this ecosystem to turn the tide on climate change.
Peatlands for example cover just three per cent of our world. Yet they store nearly a third of all land-based carbon. This is twice as much as all the world’s forests.
Coastal wetlands such as salt marshes, mangroves and sea grass beds are also some of the most carbon dense ecosystems on earth.
Coral reefs and mangroves absorb the shock of storms surges and tsunamis in coastal areas, while Inland, wetlands soak up rain, reduce flooding and delay the onset of droughts. They are critical for climate adaptation and building resilience.
Yet more than a third of all our wetlands were lost in just 45 years. Today, wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests. The world’s corals face near extinction at 1.5ºC and certain extinction at a global warming of 2ºC.
Wetland loss and degradation is a major concern, as it contributes to global warming by transforming these natural carbon sinks into emission sources. The burning and draining of peatlands accounts for a tenth of annual fossil fuel emissions - while wetland degradation contributes to nearly a quarter of global methane release.
In 2018, Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands agreed to measures that protect, restore and sustainably manage peatlands and coastal eco-systems – As a recognition of the important role of wetlands in mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
By restoring nearly 25 per cent of lost mangrove forests in two regions, Senegal will store half a million tons of CO2 over 20 years –This restoration project will also buffer 200,000 people against storms and strengthen food security by increasing fish and rice production.
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden are intensively restoring the Nordic-Baltic peatlands to help regulate climate change and restore biodiversity. The loss of nearly half of these peatlands produces approximately a quarter of the region’s annual CO2 emissions.
In Asia, the storm protection benefits of mangroves in southern Thailand have been valued at USD 10,821 per hectare. Mangroves are being restored along the Krabi River Estuary to protect the coastal communities against tropical storms. While Indonesia will be restoring two million hectares of peatlands to ensure the devastating fires of 2015 and 2016 caused by drought and peatland draining - don’t happen again.
The benefits are clear - what is required is more ambition to urgently amplify such initiatives.
I encourage decision-makers to include wetland conservation and restoration in their national policies on climate change, in order to meet the ambition of the Paris Agreement.
We can all contribute to reversing the loss of wetlands, so that we continue to benefit from the critical services they provide to nature and people.
We have the solutions. We just need the will and action. We are not powerless against climate change.
Statement by Martha Rojas Urrego,
Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.