Space Industry and Business News
WATER WORLD
Freshwater fish swim into trouble as climate change increases threat: IUCN
File image of a mass fish death in Australia's longest waterway the Darling River.
Freshwater fish swim into trouble as climate change increases threat: IUCN
by AFP Staff Writers
Dubai (AFP) Dec 11, 2023

A quarter of freshwater fish species worldwide are at risk of extinction, according to an update to the global red list of threatened species on Monday, highlighting the escalating impacts of human-caused climate change on the planet's wildlife.

The assessment published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) also updated its list to reflect climate change threats to Atlantic Salmon, green turtles and Big leaf mahogany trees.

"Climate change is menacing the diversity of life our planet harbours and undermining nature's capacity to meet basic human needs," IUCN Director General Grethel Aguilar said in a statement.

Of the nearly 15,000 freshwater fish species assessed, 25 percent were at risk of extinction and of those at least 17 percent were suffering consequences of climate change, including fluctuating water levels and shifting seasons.

The IUCN ranks a species' risk of extinction along nine categories ranging from "not evaluated" to "extinct".

Atlantic salmon experienced a 23 percent decrease between 2006 and 2020, rising along the list from of "least concern" to "near threatened".

Global warming is affecting "all stages" of its lifecycle -- reducing prey, allowing invasive species to expand, and increasing deaths of young salmon due to water pollution linked mostly to logging and agriculture, IUCN said in a statement.

Green turtles in the Central South Pacific and East Pacific were classified as "endangered" and "vulnerable" respectively in the update.

Rising sea temperatures decrease hatching success and reduce the seagrass green turtles rely on for food. Rising sea levels flood nests and drown the young, while adult turtles are often caught and killed as a by-product of industrial fishing.

The big leaf mahogany tree was reclassified from "vulnerable" to "endangered" due to the unsustainable harvesting of sought-after timber and agricultural encroachment on the tropical forests where it grows.

But the updated list also showed the power of conservation efforts.

The scimitar-horned oryx improved from "extinct in the wild" to "endangered" after conservationists successfully reintroduced the species in Chad.

The previously "critically endangered" saiga antelope rose to "near threatened" on the list. Between 2015 and 2022 its population, living mostly in Kazakhstan, increased by 1,100 percent as a result of stringent anti-poaching measures and enforcement.

But both species are at risk of rising threats from climate change in the regions where they live.

The scimitar-horned oryx faces more frequent and severe droughts in the Sahel region of Africa. And in 2015 saiga antelopes suffered "mass mortality" due to "abnormally high temperatures and humidity" in the region, according to the authors.

"To ensure the results of conservation action are durable, we need to decisively tackle the interlinked climate and biodiversity crises," said IUCN President Razan Al Mubarak.

The IUCN Red List now includes 157,190 species, of which 44,016 are threatened with extinction.

The updated list comes as nations race against the clock to reach an agreement during this year's COP28 climate conference in Dubai, scheduled to end Tuesday.

Related Links
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
WATER WORLD
Britain's Thames Water plans 'radical' turnaround
London (AFP) Dec 5, 2023
Thames Water on Tuesday pledged a "radical" turnaround but warned it would take time to deliver change after announcing a slump in profits and mounting debt during its first half. ... read more

WATER WORLD
Innovative 3D printing technology shapes future of Australian housing

NASA Laser Reflecting Instruments to Help Pinpoint Earth Measurements

Closing the design-to-manufacturing gap for optical devices

MIT engineers develop a way to determine how the surfaces of materials behave

WATER WORLD
HawkEye 360's Pathfinder constellation complete five years of Advanced RF Detection

New antenna offers unprecedented flexibility for military applications

WVU Team Tackles Radio Interference in Astronomy with NSF Funding

Quantum Space launches Sentry to pioneer deep space communications network

WATER WORLD
WATER WORLD
Airbus presents first flight model structure for Galileo Second Generation

Galileo Gen2 satellite production commences at Airbus facility

Galileo Second Generation satellite aces first hardware tests

PASSport project testing

WATER WORLD
China shows off homegrown C919 jet in Hong Kong

U.S. pilot ejects as F-16 crashes off South Korean coast

Seventh Osprey crash victim's body found

NASA and Moog advance quiet flight technology in air taxi noise tests

WATER WORLD
Researchers safely integrate fragile 2D materials into devices

With eye on China, Dutch and Koreans vow stronger chip ties

World's first logical quantum processor

DARPA-Funded Research Leads to Quantum Computing Breakthrough

WATER WORLD
Satellite-based method measures carbon in peat bogs

NASA Sensor Produces First Global Maps of Surface Minerals in Arid Regions

New NASA Satellite To Unravel Mysteries About Clouds, Aerosols

Satellogic and Uzma Join Forces to Revolutionize Geospatial Services in Southeast Asia

WATER WORLD
Brazil caimans fight to survive in polluted Rio waters

UK watchdog probes Unilever on 'greenwashing'

UK anti-terror police probe London vehicle pollution camera 'bombing'

'Stay home': Pollution chokes Iran's capital

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.