Impact of urban heat islands on humans, environment
Reading Time: 3 minutesBY VIRMAN JURI, UMAIRAH RAZAK, MARYAM AL-HERWI THE urban heat islands (UHI) effect in Kuala Lumpur (KL) causes a staggering 6°C of temperature increase compared to rural areas with greener canopies and fewer buildings. In perspective, if rural areas with the abundant natural land and green canopy and fewer buildings have temperatures of 30°C, UHI in […]
Expert: Treat mangroves as a precious national asset
Reading Time: 3 minutesBY UMAIRAH RAZAK MANGROVES are vital ecosystems that exist along tropical and subtropical coasts. For decades there have been rising concerns among environmentalists about the disregard for mangrove ecosystems globally. “Mangrove ecosystem worldwide is a natural and effective climate change ‘mitigation plan and strategy’. For this reason, mangroves must be treated as a national asset,” […]
New study provides first comprehensive look at oxygen loss on coral reefs
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA NEW study is providing an unprecedented examination of oxygen loss on coral reefs around the globe under ocean warming. Led by researchers at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a large team of national and international colleagues, the study captures the current state of hypoxia—or low oxygen levels—at 32 different sites, and […]
Ecotourism can give local communities a leg up
Reading Time: 3 minutesKUALA LIPIS: Ecotourism can help boost the socio-economic status of rural communities. To highlight this, Project IC-CFS hosted 10 media people for an immersion experience in Kuala Lipis recently. IC-CFS is the acronym for “Improving Connectivity in the Central Forest Spine” – a project established in 2014 with support from the United Nations Development Programme […]
Higher temperatures make it difficult for fig tree pollinators
Reading Time: 2 minutesRESEARCHERS from Uppsala University and elsewhere have been studying the effect of rising temperatures on the lifespan of pollinating fig wasps. The findings show that the wasps lived much shorter lives at high temperatures, which would make it difficult for them to travel the long distances between the trees they pollinate. Fig trees are very important […]
Who is the real hero of oxygen?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteBY THEEVASHINI SUGUMARAN THE first thing that strikes our mind when we speak about oxygen are trees but the fact is 70% of the Earth’s oxygen is produced by marine plants while rainforests only produce about 28% of the oxygen we breathe. Who is the hero in the ocean that produces oxygen? The real hero […]
COVID waste: Archaeologists have a role to play in informing environmental policy
Reading Time: 2 minutesTHE 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is creating a viral archive, an archaeological record of history in the making. One aspect of this archive is increased environmental pollution, not least through discarded face-masks and gloves, collectively known as PPE, that characterise the pandemic. These items of plastic waste have become symbolic of the pandemic and have now entered […]
COASTAL CLEAN-UP? CLEAN A MANGROVE!
Reading Time: 4 minutesBY CHEE SU YIN MALAYSIA is blessed with wide spans of mangroves lining our coastlines. These emerald green ecosystems are unique to the tropics and is home to diverse forms of flora and fauna. Fishes, crabs, prawns, and other marine animals find habitat, feeding and breeding grounds and a safe haven beneath the water amongst […]
War on plastic is distracting from more urgent threats to environment, experts warn
Reading Time: 3 minutesA team of leading environmental experts, spearheaded by the University of Nottingham, have warned that the current war on plastic is detracting from the bigger threats to the environment. In an article published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews (WIREs) Water, the 13 experts* say that while plastic waste is an issue, its prominence in the […]
Green climate fund approves new projects
Reading Time: 3 minutesROME: The Board of the Green Climate Fund today approved several new projects, including one for Côte d’Ivoire that marks the first time the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has helped an African country obtain a grant from the international entity. Along with the $11.8 million approval for Côte d’Ivoire, other two FAO-led […]