Earthweek: a Diary of the planet
For the week ending Friday, Dec. 10.
Rescue failure
A desperate attempt to save the 30 surviving members of the world’s most endangered marine mammal species by capturing them and keeping them in human care has been abandoned. The plan to rescue the vaquitas by patrolling their small habitat in the Gulf of California with the help of dolphins trained by the U.S. Navy was halted soon after the first vaquita captured quickly showed signs of extreme stress and had to be released. A second died a few hours after being caught. “This is a very, very serious setback,” said project scientist Barbara Taylor of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Global cleansing HeateD growth
The “urban heat island” effect is causing trees around the world’s cities to grow faster than those in the country, a new study finds. Concrete and other heat-absorbing materials that make up the urban landscape store more heat than the ground in the country. This keeps cities significantly warmer, especially at night. Researchers compared core samples of 1,400 trees in both urban and rural settings. Nations have agreed to move toward a pollution-free planet, curbing contamination of the oceans, rivers, soil and air. Every day, 9 out of 10 people worldwide breathe in pollution that exceeds health guidelines, with 17,000 dying prematurely from it. Wildlife is also being poisoned. Meeting at a U.N. Environment Assembly in Nairobi, members called for a shift in how goods are produced and used, especially plastics that wind up in the world’s oceans.
Eruption upDate
Indonesian officials warned those near Bali’s Mount Agung volcano to stay alert even though it calmed down after days of explosive eruptions.
Macaque mischief
Forestry authorities in southwestern China captured a troublesome and elusive wild monkey that had repeatedly broken into homes at night. The macaque evaded capture for about two weeks before being cornered in a school dormitory, according to the China News Service. Macaques are notorious for their thievery and even extortion, according to researchers who recently published a study in the journal Primates. But as a protected species, the serial intruder will be released back into the wild after it gets a clean bill of health from a veterinarian.