Climate change: Emperor penguins at risk of extinction

The total population of Emperor penguins of Antarctica can reduce about one-third by the end of the century due to melting of the ice caps, putting the species at risk of extinction, a new study reveals.

"The population is decreasing. Unless something changes to prevent this, the population goes extinct, "said Hal Caswell, a researcher at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and one of the study authors, quotes the Guardian.

As a top predator in the Antarctic, the greatest threat to the survival of the emperor penguins stems from the lack of territory, as global warming melts the ice, which is essential to the species. The loss of sea ice reduces the amount of krill, small shrimp-like crustaceans that are the main source of food for the penguins.

Changes in the nearby ice of Antarctica can, in the short term, boost the increase of some populations of penguins. The ice it gives off the Mainland is increasing, which offers more territory to animals. However, by 2100 the Emperor Penguin colonies 45 known should decrease due to the loss of territory, when global warming does not preserve the icebergs that slough off the continent.

Foto:  Christopher.Michel / Creative Commons

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The American teenager who's shocked animal lovers

Kendall Jones, a 19-year-old American, is the shock the community of animal lovers â€" and not only! â€" with your photos along with hippos, elephants, leopards, zebras, Lions or Tigers ... all hunted for African safaris.

Jones, who puts all these photos on Facebook, explained that these photos are proof of their hunting qualities and, oddly, "dedication to conservation". "Control the male population of Lions is important in large areas such as these. The financing of these hunts are for the Government but also to the owner of the property, as an incentive for him to create lions, "explains Jones.

When the young page on Facebook became known to the public, was launched a petition for his own Facebook to remove â€" in just a week, the petition has gathered 40 thousand signatures.

"For the sake of animals, especially those in the African region, where the hunters just for fun to kill an animal", can be read in the petition.

In one of the photos, in which Jones is beside a rhino facing extinction, the young claims that the animal was not killed. "The vet take blood, DNA samples, measured the head and a leg wound. I'm a lucky girl to be part of this great program and help the population of white rhino, "he explained.

A second petition, originating in South Africa, wants to ban Jones from entering the Mainland. See some of the photos, which may shock â€" and, if you find these shocking photos, sign petitions.

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New underwater world discovered in the Pitcairn Islands

An expedition has revealed a unique marine ecosystem in the waters of the Pitcairn Islands, British territory in the Pacific Ocean. The Islands are one of the most remote locations on the planet, thousands of miles from any continent and, so far, the Islands were able to escape the pollution and overfishing that decimates various marine ecosystems around the world.

The Islands are inhabited only by 53 people, most descended from mutineers 18th century sailors. Was the isolation of the territory which attracted the Pristine Seas expedition of National Geographic to the site.

"The isolation means that the Islands have been preserved the most possible crystalline," says the leader of the expedition Enric Sala, the Guardian. "As soon as you jump into the water and oxygen bubbles disappear is surrounded by sharks," indicates. Unlike other places in the world, the expedition found that on this site are the sharks who dominate the marine ecosystem around the Islands.

The grey-de-Shark Reef is the most common species, followed by the White tip of recife and xaréu-black. As for the carnivorous fish, the fish-unicorns and the fish-surgeon-de-bar-white are the most common species.

In addition to the marine diversity, the waters are extremely clear and transparent. "We couldn't believe it. The water was so clear that we could see up to 75 meters ", reveals the room. The clarity of the water means that the coral barriers thrived at depths greater than 100 metres, even at normal, which is a world record. In total, the exploration team identified 80 new species of fish, corals and algae in Pitcairn.

To preserve the marine and terrestrial ecosystems of the Islands, the inhabitants of Pitcairn are advancing a plan to create a protected area of 830,000 square miles around the Islands. If they are successful, this will be the largest marine protected area, higher than that which the Government of the United States wants to create.

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The macabre scenario of an abandoned asylum

Urban explorers, photographers who venture into long-abandoned buildings, are fashionable. Responsible for this new photographic trend is human curiosity, which searches the loneliness of a building all your old life and, perhaps, traces of explanations for leaving â€" so many times in a hurry, as we have read in Green Savers.

This time, the pictures are even more frightening. Johnny Joo documented the former Forest Haven asylum in Laurel, Maryland (United States), and collected evidence of a Dantesque scene: a 1925 building abandoned in 1991, when the 15 patients were moved to another location, most modern.

Composed of 22 buildings, this gigantic asylum still retains the appearance of the years 90-chairs, beds and even frames with messages. "The size of the complex was incredible, and as we jumped from building to building, trying to figure out how big it was. Each of the buildings was enormous, and at one point was 15, 14 to be visited. I loved ", explicuo Joo.

In addition to finding written records of former patients, Joo got several surgical equipment â€" a scary scenario and do remember movies or video games of terror and suspense.

Beyond all the mystique of abandoned buildings, there is a real problem of urban planning and sustainability. All these buildings could be reclaimed â€" some, all over the world, already are being â€" and it is necessary to send for recycling all the panoply of trash there found, much of it with toxic compounds, as seems to be the case.

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Land claimed by foreign investors could feed 550 million people

Land suitable for private and foreign investors in some of the poorest countries in the world could feed about 550 million people, reveals a new study.

The crops cultivated in these lands â€" dropped to wild life and natives â€" are often exported or used to produce biofuels, but this new study indicates that could end with malnutrition if the land was used to grow food for local populations.

Since 2000, at least 31 million hectares of land were acquired by foreign investors, seeking to ensure secure food supplies for developed countries or to increase production of its business. Most of these territories claimed lies in Africa, especially in Sudan. But Indonesia and Papua New Guinea are also sought-after locations, referred to the Guardian.

Buyers argue that foreign investment can increase the income of those countries, promote development and create jobs. However, opponents to these acquisitions indicate that in most cases the purchase takes place without the consent of the people who live there.

"Crucial to this debate is the knowledge of the magnitude of the phenomenon: how many people could be fed," indicates Maria Cristina Rulli, Professor at the Milan Polytechnic Institute and author of the study. The study found that even with the lands that are used for the production of biofuels, land purchased could handle between 300 to 500 million people if the returns offered by land were increased to the levels of Western industrialized agriculture. Even without this improvement, about 190 to 370 million people could be fed.

Foto: hdptcar / Creative Commons

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London: a bus stop made with 100,000 legos

To celebrate the 200 years of the movement of buses in London, Transport for London â€" in partnership with the LEGO and the Trueform mattress â€" installed a bus stop in London built from 100,000 legos.

The stop can be found in Regent Street, right in the heart of London. Everything was thought to detail and built using only legos, including signage, benches and walls, referred to Inhabitat. The installation took 14 days to build and are in operation between June 19 and July 15.

This year, Transport for London and the London Transport Museum celebrate various ephemeris bus-related, including the 60th anniversary of the iconic Routemaster and the 75th anniversary of the introduction of the bus models RT, as well as the year of the bus and the 100 years since London buses were sent to the line of combat in World War I.

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Climate change will make dangerous outdoor activities

If temperatures increase sharply by the end of the century, as is anticipated, open-air activities can be dangerous. According to a study led by climatologist Robert Kopp, of Rutgers University, in the United States, one hour of outdoor activity, even in the shade, you can take a moderately healthy person having a stroke.

According to Kopp, a blend of heat and humidity could be responsible for this situation. The ability of the body to cool down depends on the evaporation of sweat, but if the humidity is high, sweat cannot evaporate and people can die as a result.

Until recently, it was believed that climate change would remove people from their homes or cities, especially in developed countries, due to floods, floods or other storms and extreme phenomena that make life impossible. However, in recent years, there is growing evidence that the increase in temperature is the main environmental force that will remove people from their homes and countries of origin.

The study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, accompanies more than 7,000 homes in Indonesia, over a period of 15 years, and concluded that the extreme disasters have a much smaller impact on migration than the stress caused by the heat.

Thus, people who live in these homes react especially at high temperatures. On the other hand, advances the Scientific American, the breakdown of agricultural productivity as a result of heat is probably the greater cause of migrations that existed in these 15 years.

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