Save the Ocean Life and Save Earth

'We are last generation that can stop climate change' – UN summit Big cuts in carbon emissions and a rise in protection from extreme weather urgently needed Damian Carrington    Environment editor @dpcarrington Mon 3 Dec 2018   00.01 GMT                              Scientists recommend that warming is limited to 1.5C. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images The UN climate change summit begins on Monday with a warning that today’s generation is the last that can prevent catastrophic global warming, as well as the first to be suffering its impacts. Almost  200 nations  were set to meet  in Poland  for two weeks, aiming to hammer out a vital agreement to turn the carbon-cutting vision set in Paris in 2015 into reality. Moves to rapidly ramp up action would be another key goal, with current pledges leaving the world on track for a  disastrous 3C of wa...

There Might Be Shark In Your Sunscreen ANIMALS Oil derived from shark livers is a common ingredient in cosmetics, and the demand for it could be putting deep-sea sharks in peril. BY  ANNIE ROTH PUBLISHED  JULY 23, 2018 The basking shark is hunted throughout much of its range for its oil-rich liver. The livers of these sharks, which can account for up to 25 percent of their body weight, are worth a sizeable sum of money. PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN J. SKERRY, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION Millions of rare, deep-sea  sharks are killed each year to support a multimillion-dollar industry —but which one might surprise you. In remote regions around the world, fishermen pull sharks out of the deep and harvest their livers. Shark livers contain an oil, known as squalene, that’s widespread in sunscreen, lipstick, foundation, lotion, and many other cosmetics. High in fatty acids and antioxidants , squalene is a key moisturizing agent, and its source varies by brand. Squalene ca...

Deadly heat, wildfires, heavy rain point to global warming: experts Aug 09, 2018   by  Donovan Vincent   Toronto Star This summer’s extreme heat, wildfires, heavy rains, flooding are all indicators of global warming, experts say          Police officers wade through water flooding an underpass on King St. W. during heavy rain in Toronto on Tuesday. - Shlomi Amiga,                 THE CANADIAN PRESS Extreme and deadly heat in Europe, Asia and across Canada and the U.S. Wildfires in California, British Columbia and here in Ontario, in Parry Sound and North Bay. Tuesday night's flood in Toronto that saw more than 70 millimetres of rain dumped downtown in two hours. Climate experts say it's all part of a trend the planet has been experiencing for the past 30 years, one we should expect to continue over the coming decades. "It's not new weather, just a more extreme (version) of the old weather. T...

The planet has seen sudden warming before. It wiped out almost everything! By  CARL ZIMMER The New York Times Fri., Dec. 7, 2018 Some 252 million years ago, Earth almost died. In the oceans, 96 per cent of all species became extinct. It’s harder to determine how many terrestrial species vanished, but the loss was comparable. According to recent research from a global collaboration of scientists, the Antarctic ice sheet has tripled its rate of ice loss over the last 25 years.   ( JILL SCHENSUL  /  TNS ) This mass extinction, at the end of the Permian Period , was the worst in the planet’s history, and it happened over a few thousand years at most — the blink of a geological eye. On Thursday, a team of scientists offered a detailed accounting of how marine life was wiped out during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. Global warming robbed the oceans of oxygen, they say, putting many species under so much stress that they died off. And we may be repeatin...