Pages tagged with “pollution”

• Freshwater

  Although they cover less than one per cent of the world’s surface, freshwater ecosystems are proportionately richer in biodiversity and more threatened than either terrestrial or marine habitats, harbouring approximately 40% of all fish species. Despite this, freshwater biodiversity receives significantly less conservation attention than most other ecosystems. In addition to the 126,000 identified species that directly depend on freshwater,…

• Emerging Problems

  Because of our limited knowledge of deep-sea ecosystems, little is known about the potential impacts of deep-sea oil and gas extraction, mining of hydrothermal vents and seamounts, and geo-engineering schemes to offset the impacts of global warming.

• Pollution

  There are a great number of substances polluting freshwater systems, many of which come from industrial practices, methods of sanitation and waste management, direct use of water for transportation and sedimentation due to logging.

• Palm Oil

  The palm oil boom in South East Asia – 86% of the world’s supply comes from Indonesia and Malaysia – has had significant environmental impacts. Half of new oil palm plantations are established on highly diverse lowland forests in Borneo, Sumatra and Malaysia, causing extinctions and threatening others such as the orangutan. Peatland drainage for oil palm plantations has helped…

• Oceans

  ‘We have underestimated the overall risk [to the oceans] … the whole of marine degradation is greater than the sum of its parts, and that degradation is now happening at a faster rate than predicted’. IPSO, 2011 Oceans make up over 70% of our planet. They provide many millions of people with food and livelihoods, buffer coastal communities against storms…

• Pollution

  Although they make up over 70% of the planet’s surface, there is no part of the oceans that is untouched by humans in some form. One of the most visible effects of this anthropogenic domination is pollution. This can take many forms; for example, agricultural fertilisers travel down rivers and spill out into estuaries, along with sediment and chemical waste.…