UN specialists estimate 60 acres of tropical forest are felled worldwide every minute.

In the gloomy shade deep in Africa’s rain forest, the noontime silence was pierced by the whine of a far-off chain saw. It was the sound of destruction, echoed from wood to wood, continent to continent, in the tropical belt that circles the globe.
From Brazil to central Africa to once-lush islands in Asia’s archipelagos, human encroachment is shrinking the world’s rain forests, AP reported.
The alarm was sounded decades ago by environmentalists--and was little heeded. The picture, meanwhile, has changed: Africa is now a leader in destructiveness. The numbers have changed: UN specialists estimate 60 acres of tropical forest are felled worldwide every minute, up from 50 a generation back. And the fears have changed.
Experts still warn of extinction of animal and plant life, of the loss of forest peoples’ livelihoods, of soil erosion and other damage. But scientists today worry urgently about something else: the fateful feedback link of trees and climate.
Global warming is expected to dry up and kill off vast tracts of rain forest, and dying forests will feed global warming.
“If we lose forests, we lose the fight against climate change,“ declared more than 300 scientists, conservation groups, religious leaders and others in an appeal for action at December’s climate conference in Bali, Indonesia.
The burning or rotting of trees that comes with deforestation--at the hands of ranchers, farmers, timbermen--sends more heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than all the world’s planes, trains, trucks and automobiles.
Forest destruction accounts for about 20 percent of manmade emissions, second only to burning of fossil fuels for electricity and heat.
Conversely, healthy forests absorb carbon dioxide and store carbon.
“The stakes are so dire that if we don’t start turning this around in the next 10 years, the extinction crisis and the climate crisis will begin to spiral out of control,“ said Roman Paul Czebiniak, a forest expert with Greenpeace International. “It’s a very big deal.“
The UN body said in its latest “State of the World’s Forests“ report, “Deforestation continues at an alarming rate of about 13 million hectares (32 million acres) a year“.

The thrill of hacking through dense African forest in search of the majestic mountain gorilla is an eco-tourist’s dream. And for those fortunate enough to encounter these great apes, it is a memorable highlight to be captured in photographs and shared later with family and friends.
Ape tourism has never been more popular, despite the high costs. Tens of thousands of visitors each year are willing to pay fortunes to commune with nature. But scientists are growing increasingly alarmed following the publication of evidence that great apes are dying from respiratory viruses directly transmitted to them by humans, the Guardian reported.
They fear that existing safety measures to protect the animals do not go far enough and are calling for stricter precautions, including the mandatory wearing of face masks for all who come into close contact with gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees.
Their concern follows the first evidence that chimpanzees in Ivory Coast, west Africa, died from HRSV (human respiratory syncytial virus) and HMPV (human metapneumovirus) during outbreaks at the Ta• chimpanzee research station.
The findings pose a major problem for those protecting the declining populations of gorillas in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, now numbering less than 650, as well as orangutans in Borneo, thought to number around 15,000. The tourist dollar is essential.
It protects the endangered apes from poachers and funds vital work aimed at halting their decline. But this positive aspect of eco-tourism must now be balanced against the negative side-effects if apes, and ape tourism, are to survive.
One of the problems is that tourists may not know they are carriers of the viruses, as there are often no symptoms.
The only way to eradicate risks is by the wearing of masks, such as the N95 masks recommended for protection against avian flu.
Scientists want to increase the distance that tourists are supposed to keep from the apes from seven meters to at least 10 meters. And they are calling for tourists and research workers alike to produce proof of vaccinations and to disinfect all clothing and footwear before being allowed near the animals.

Researchers from San Diego State University and the University of California have been using computer models to mimic the effects of underwater noise on an unusual whale species and have discovered a new pathway for sound entering the head and ears.
Advances in Finite Element Modeling (FEM), Computed tomography (CT) scanning, and computer processing have made it possible to simulate the environment and anatomy of a Cuvier’s beaked whale when a sonar signal is sent out or received by the whale, ScienceDaily wrote.
The research paper is a catalyst for future research that could end years of speculation about the effects of underwater sound on marine mammals.
FEM is a technique borrowed from engineering used, for example, to simulate the effect of an earthquake on a building. By inputting the exact geometry and physical properties of a building the effect of forces such as an earthquake, or in this case noise vibrations, can be accurately predicted.
Dr. Cranford of San Diego State University triggered the research into Cuvier’s beaked whales almost ten years ago when he undertook the first ever CT scan of a large whale, which provided researchers with the very complex anatomic geometry of a sperm whale’s head.
Since 1968, it has been believed that noise vibrations travel through the thin bony walls of toothed whales’ lower jaw and onto the fat body attached to the ear complex.

A 3-month polar bear cub takes his first steps in the snow.

Animal activists on Monday pressed the US government to add the polar bear to the list of endangered animal species before the sell-off of oil and gas drilling rights in Alaska begins.
“An endangered listing can affect the sell-off of the oil drilling rights,“ Brandon Frazier, a spokesman for global animal welfare group International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said.
“The authorities would have to get approval through the Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct drilling if there is an endangered species that inhabits the area.“
The US government was expected on Wednesday to offer several million acres of polar bear habitat in the Chukchi Sea in Alaska for sale for oil and gas exploration leases, reported AFP.
The lease-sale would make the polar bears’ habitat “vulnerable to big business interests and jeopardize the government’s ability to protect it,“ IFAW said in a statement.
US lawmakers have proposed listing the polar bear as “threatened“, but IFAW said that did not go far enough.
“A ’threatened’ listing leaves open the possibility for exemptions and doesn’t shut loopholes, such as the one that allows Americans to trophy-hunt for polar bears in Canada and bring their heads and hides back to the US,“ Frazier said.
But listing polar bears as endangered before the sell-off of the drilling rights it would also “truly complicate getting the lease-sale in Alaska,“ he added.
“That’s why the decision on listing the polar bear has been delayed,“ Frazier said.

A tree covered with frost in the Iranian city of Shiraz, Fars province.

While people spend more time communing with their televisions and computers, the impact is not just on their health, researchers say. Less time spent outdoors means less contact with nature and, eventually, less interest in conservation and parks.
Camping, fishing and per capita visits to parks are all declining in a shift away from nature-based recreation, researchers report in online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the US, according to AP.
“Declining nature participation has crucial implications for current conservation efforts,“ wrote co-authors Oliver R. W. Pergams and Patricia A. Zaradic. “We think it probable than any major decline in the value placed on natural areas and experiences will greatly reduce the value people place on biodiversity conservation“.
“The replacement of vigorous outdoor activities by sedentary, indoor videophilia has far-reaching consequences for physical and mental health, especially in children,“ Pergams said in a statement.
“Videophilia has been shown to be a cause of obesity, lack of socialization, attention disorders and poor academic performance.“
By studying visits to national and state park and the issuance of hunting and fishing licenses the researchers documented declines of between 18 percent and 25 percent in various types of outdoor recreation.
The decline, found in both the United States and Japan, appears to have begun in the 1980s and 1990s, the period of rapid growth of video games, they said.
There was a small growth in backpacking, but that may reflect day trips by some people who previously were campers, wrote Pergams and Zaradic. Pergams is a visiting research assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, while Zaradic is a fellow with the Environmental Leadership Program, Delaware Valley, in Bryn Mawr, Pa. While fishing declined, hunting held onto most of its market, they found.

Drivers of high-polluting lorries face a 200-pound (266 euro, $400) daily charge to enter London, as Britain’s first low emission zone comes into effect to cut air pollution.
The zone--billed as the world’s largest--is the latest initiative to improve the quality of life for the 7.5 million people living in the 609-square-mile (1,577-square-kilometer) Greater London area, AP reported.
Older, diesel-engined trucks, motorhomes and horseboxes weighing more than 12 tons and which fail to meet EU emissions standards will be liable to pay when driving into an area broadly within London’s orbital motorway the M25.
Buses, coaches, smaller lorries, vans and minibuses that fall short of European guidelines will also have to pay as the scheme is rolled out over the next two years.
A road pricing scheme charging drivers to enter central London was introduced five years ago, which supporters claim has cut congestion and increased take-up of public transport and cycling.
Backers of the latest scheme claim it will deliver a 16 percent reduction in the most harmful emissions in the most polluted areas by 2012 and cut healthcare bills, particularly for breathing problems, by 250 million pounds.

The Dutch government said it would explore new ways of protecting its coastline from the effects of climate change, including the use of ground-breaking sensor technology.
The Netherlands, which has a quarter of its territory below sea level, will spend 22 million euros ($32.7 million) on anti-flooding projects. Companies and research organizations will contribute an additional 23 million euros, according to Reuters.
One project aims to equip all flood defenses with sensors and electronics to monitor sudden changes in water levels.
“The climate changes. It is therefore of great importance to be able to predict flooding at an early stage,“ the Dutch cabinet said in a statement.
Water has long been a threat to the Netherlands, which translates as “Low Countries,“ while global warming has contributed to a rise in sea levels, adding to flood concerns.
The world’s largest computer services company IBM, one of the firms involved in the project, said it planned to set up a center for water management which would use data and forecasting models to give earlier flood warnings.
The Dutch have a long history of pioneering technology to help claw back land in the sea and fight flooding. In 1953 a massive North Sea storm breached the country’s dikes and killed about 1,800.

An animal rights group called for China to treat rats with kindness and respect, as millions across the nation begin to celebrate the coming Year of the Rat.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, said it has asked the Chinese government to consider animal welfare laws for rats used in laboratory experiment. The group also recommended a series of guidelines for animals used in science, AP said.
“Rats sing, they dream, and they express empathy for others,“ Coco Yu of PETA’s Asia-Pacific branch said in a statement.
China has increasingly become a place of business for international pharmaceutical companies, the group said.
The country has a shoddy animal rights record. There is little animal welfare legislation, many zoos are poorly run and animal parts are traded for use in traditional Chinese medicine.
Activists have called on China to phase out bear farms, where bile is harvested for traditional medicine, complaining that the animals are often raised in inhumane conditions.
The rat is one of 12 animals in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac, which follows the lunar calendar. The Lunar New Year is Thursday.