Pangolins – Protectors of the environment
Reading Time: 2 minutesA SINGLE pangolin is said to consume up to 70 million ants and termites a year. That’s about 191,780 insects per day! Pangolins [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] are natural pest controllers and save both forest trees and agricultural crops from this insect pestilence. One pangolin can protect an area as large as 31 football fields (41 acres) from termite destruction. […]
Tropical nations worst hit by climate-related fish shifts
Reading Time: 2 minutesTROPICAL countries stand to lose the most fish species due to climate change, with few if any stocks replacing them, according to a study published in the journal Nature Sustainability. This could pose a serious governance challenge that warrants careful policymaking, the researchers say. As sea temperatures rise, fish species migrate towards cooler waters to […]
Indian Ocean phenomenon spells climate trouble for Australia
Reading Time: 2 minutesNEW INTERNATIONAL research has found a worrying change in the Indian Ocean’s surface temperatures that puts southeast Australia on course for increasingly hot and dry conditions. The work led by The Australian National University (ANU) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes has a silver lining, helping to improve our understanding of climate […]
Study: Next-Gen consumers, farmers share hope for future of food and farming
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND global study of Gen Z/millennial farmers and consumers examined views on the future of food and farming in the United States, Brazil, China, France, and Russia. The study of more than 3,000 respondents reveals that participants in different global markets have the same concern about the future of food and farming. The study, […]
Effects of climate change on local rice production
Reading Time: 5 minutesRICE, a global staple food is one among major agricultural crops in Malaysia after oil palm, rubber and cocoa. The production of rice is largely dependent on an efficient irrigation system which will be greatly affected by climate change. Climate change has led to tremendous effects on the yield of rice in the country. The […]
Rice production in constant challenges
Reading Time: 2 minutesSERDANG: An adverse weather pattern that may come with climate change will be a major concern for rice growers in the country. Mohammad Hariz bin Abdul Rahman, Deputy Director of Climate Change Programme at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), says prolonged dry spells unleashed by impending climate change will severely impact national […]
Climate change to hit local rice production
Reading Time: < 1 minuteMALAYSIAN Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) expects rice production in Malaysia to fall by 30-percent once global temperatures rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius. Climate Change Programme Deputy Director Mohammad Hariz Abdul Rahman told BFM News, the country is already experiencing weakened rice productivity, especially on agricultural lands in the east coast. CLIP: “For sure, […]
2019’s top science stories
Reading Time: 2 minutesSCIENCE in 2019. While it wasn’t quite what Blade Runner envisioned, some pretty amazing science happened this year. A picture worth more than 1000 words Think getting a decent Christmas photo with your family is the hard? Spare a thought for the team of 200 scientists who took monitored a network of eight linked telescopes […]
EU Parliament declares climate emergency
Reading Time: 3 minutesTHE European Parliament declared a climate emergency recently, in a largely symbolic move that nonetheless increases pressure on member states to pass more decisive legislation to curb emissions. In recent months, hundreds of similar declarations have been passed – most of them by regional or local administrations. EU’s vote is significant because it was passed […]
Climate change could unlock new microbes and increase heat-related deaths
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI) recently published “Viewpoint” articles by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine professors who warn that global climate change is likely to unlock dangerous new microbes, as well as threaten humans’ ability to regulate body temperature. Ahima, director of Johns Hopkins’ Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, wrote in the […]