Updates: polution; hunting; animal slaughter; climate change

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Brazilian Amazon deforestation

Annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen 11.27% from the previous year, according to official data

New government data show that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has decreased in the 12 months through July, as incoming President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva seeks to restore protection for the vital rainforest.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva cannot take credit for the reduction in deforestation as he has only just become President

According to INPE data released on Wednesday, 11,568 square kilometers (4,466 square miles) of forest cover were destroyed in the Brazilian Amazon from August 2021 to July 2022.

This was an 11% decrease from the same period last year when deforestation reached a 15-year high under far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

“It’s better to have a lower number than a higher number, but it’s still a very high number – the second highest in 13 years,” said Marcio Astrini, head of the Climate Observatory, an environmental advocacy group.

The data released on Wednesday marked the end of four years of what environmentalists call disastrous Amazon management under Bolsonaro, who has been accused of weakening environmental and Indigenous protection agencies in favor of agribusiness and mining interests.

Under Bolsonaro, the average annual deforestation increased by 59.5% over the previous four years and 75.5% over the previous decade, according to INPE figures. “The Bolsonaro government was a forest-destroying machine… The only good news is that it’s about to end,” Astrini said in a statement.

“The devastation remains out of control. Jair Bolsonaro will hand his successor a filthy legacy of surging deforestation and an Amazon in flames.”

Bolsonaro's office and the environment ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Experts say the vast majority of the clear-cutting and fires erasing the Amazon are to create new farmland -- especially for cattle ranches in Brazil, the world's top beef exporter.

The deforestation figures show the Amazon is being pushed toward a "tipping point", warned Mariana Napolitano, science director at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Brazil office.

"Significantly reducing deforestation... is imperative for humankind in the face of the twin climate and nature crises the world is facing," she said in a statement.

However, Lula, a left-wing leader who won elections last month in a close race, has promised to work toward zero deforestation when he takes office on January 1, knowing that annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by 75% during Lula's first presidency.

“Brazil is ready to resume its leading role in the fight against the climate crisis,” he said shortly after being declared the winner of the October 30 presidential run-off.

He also spoke at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt earlier this month, telling hundreds of attendees that "Brazil is back in the world."

Indigenous leaders have raised concerns about the threats to their communities in the Brazilian Amazon under Bolsonaro, particularly in areas with little government oversight that farmers, miners, and poachers are attempting to control and exploit.

Last year, the Indigenous Missionary Council recorded 305 cases of "invasions, illegal exploitation of resources, and property damage" on Indigenous territories, affecting 226 Indigenous lands in 22 Brazilian states.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/env ... r-bolsonar

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World’s oldest tortoise is 190

Jonathan, a huge tortoise from Seychelles given to Saint Helena in 1882, is also the oldest known living land animal

Jonathan, the Seychelles big tortoise, is set to celebrate his 190th birthday with a three-day feast this weekend.

The big tortoise has been living on Saint Helena since 1882 when he arrived as a gift to the governor of the small south Atlantic island.

He is no stranger to fame, having won Guinness World Records awards for being the oldest known living land animal and the oldest chelonian - an order that includes tortoises, turtles, and terrapins - ever recorded.

Jonathan is also a local celebrity: in addition to being a popular attraction, he has appeared on the reverse of the local five-pence coin. He has long been wrinkled, but he is also blind from cataracts and has lost his sense of smell. Although his exact birth date is unknown, it is believed he was born in about 1832. 

But it wasn't until November of this year that Nigel Phillips, the governor of the British foreign colony, gave him an official birthdate, December 4, 1832.

"Jonathan's age is an estimate based on the fact that he was completely adult, and hence at least 50 years old, when he landed in Saint Helena from Seychelles in 1882," as per Guinness World Records. He is almost certainly older than we assume."

Jonathan was a child when Queen Victoria ascended to the throne, and he has lately experienced the birth of the technology age.

However, Jonathan did not meet Saint Helena's most famous resident: French general Napoleon Bonaparte, who arrived in 1815 and died there six years later.

The three-day celebration, which will bring together residents from across the island, will begin on Friday at the governor's house, with highlights including a tortoise-friendly "birthday cake" and an animated video about his life.

He'll also get some nibbles and a talk with the governor and his wife, Emma, while attendees will get a special diploma, be able to buy Jonathan-related stamps, and see the winners of an art competition created to honor the famous reptile.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/env ... h-birthday

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Forest-eating bug spreading

Malnourished trees are a favorite of these bugs, and the extremely hot temperatures of the climate crisis is serving to their aid

Trees in the forests of Finland are increasingly being killed by the spruce bark beetle, which is increasingly breeding and spreading faster. 

These bugs seem to target the Picea abies, one of Finland's most common tree species, causing tremendous damage to forests by eating the bark, thus impeding water and nutrients from reaching branches to make them grow. 

A scientist at the Natural Resources Institute Finland, Markus Melin, relayed to AFP, "The species has caused huge damage across Central and Eastern Europe, especially since 2018," as he added that their spreading is more facilitated and a "lot higher now" through the climate crisis. 

"We have to accept it and adapt to it. Things are changing fast up here," Melvin stated, as he informed that this type of insect "is one of the species that benefit most from global warming."

Malnourished trees are a favorite of these bugs, and the way that the climate crisis is benefitting them is that very hot summers mean droughts, and as a result of the environmental crisis, hot temperatures in winter do not aid in holding the trees in the ground when storms hit.

"Extreme warm summers benefit the bark beetle directly. They have less mortality, reproduction is faster," Melin said.

The bad news is that once they raid all the weakened trees, healthy trees become the next target, which Melvin calls "a nasty loop."

The scientist warned that if no action is taken before it's too late by getting rid of the weakened spruce trees, "suddenly there are so many beetles that they can attack healthy trees," exacerbating the speed of the "cycle of destruction."

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/env ... global-thr

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EU law on deforestation

Unless companies prove "precise geographical information on farmland" where the commodities were sourced, the products will not be sold on EU markets

The EU agreed on Tuesday to pass a new regulation banning the import of goods and products considered to contribute to deforestation, such as coffee, cocoa, and soy.

The text was initially proposed in November 2021 and was agreed upon today by members of the European Commission.

"The new law will ensure that a set of key goods placed on the (European Union) market will no longer contribute to deforestation and forest degradation in the EU and elsewhere in the world," said the commission, adding that "all relevant companies will have to conduct strict due diligence if they place on the EU market." 

Among banned products are palm oil, cattle, soy, coffee, cocoa, timber, and rubber - unless companies prove that their products are deforestation-free.

Companies also have to prove "precise geographical information on farmland" where the commodities were sourced.

— Virginijus Sinkevičius (@VSinkevicius) December 6, 2022

"This is a first in the world!" said Pascal Canfin, the chairman of the European Parliament's environment committee, in a press release. 

"It's the coffee we have for breakfast, the chocolate we eat, the coal in our barbecues, the paper in our books. This is radical," he said.

The next step involves EU members formally adopting the regulation before it can enter into force.

As for traders, they will have 18 months to implement the rules.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/env ... deforestat

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Erbil Solar power station
Wladimir van Wilgenburg

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s Minister of Electricity, Kamal Mohammed on Monday signed a contract to establish a solar power station in Erbil province with Pluto Otto Cycle company, the KRG said in a press statement

The minister signed the deal with the company to set up a 25-megawatt solar power station. 

The project will be implemented within 90 days and will produce 25 megawatt of electricity using solar energy, the KRG said.

The Ministry of Electricity in the KRG’s ninth cabinet aims to develop the electricity sector, through numerous different projects, especially using solar energy to provide electricity amidst climate change challenges.

In addition to solar projects, Kurdistan 24 earlier reported that the KRG also aims to develop the biomass energy sector, according to its 2022 green investment vision and plans to establish several bio power generating stations across the Kurdistan Region.

Also in Sept, US Consul General Irvin Hicks Jr. visited Diwan World’s Erbil showroom to help cut the ribbon on a new 200-kilowatt solar power system built by GIRS Solar, a Tennessee (USA) company.

“The Diwan group is leading by example, reducing its carbon footprint and doing his part to address the causes of climate change,” US Consul General Irvin Hicks Jr. said.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/30 ... vince:-KRG

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PM approves 2 billion IQD for water

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Monday approved to the allocation of over a billion and 500 dinars for drinking water projects in Duhok, according to a statement

“The Prime Minister agreed to assign 1 billion and 624 million Iraqi dinars to provide cleaning materials for suitable water drinking projects and wells in Duhok,” the statement from Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) reads.

This money was allocated as a part of the Ninth Cabinet’s work and efforts; the statement added.

The Prime Minister previously allocated more than one billion dinars for Dukan’s water facility, a district of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate, in the Kurdistan Region.

Barzani also allocated a whopping amount of money for Erbil’s water facility in November.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/30 ... s-in-Duhok

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Snowfall in Kurdistan

Economic crisis and early snowfall hit animal husbandry in Kurdish areas

The economic crisis in Turkey continues to affect animal husbandry. Farmers are worried about the price rise in animal feed and hay amid early snowfall.

The economic crisis in Turkey has reduced the purchasing power of people. Due to the economic crisis and high prices, people are unable to buy many products, especially food.

The economic crisis has not only hit the food sector, but all sectors, including animal husbandry.

Animal husbandry is the main source of livelihood in Kurdistan. Currently, millions of people in Kurdistan earn money from animal husbandry in their villages. Animal husbandry, the traditional livelihood of the Kurds, is going through hard times as the severe economic crisis hits the country.

A bale of hay, which cost 10 Turkish Lira (TL) last year, has increased to 50 TL this year, while one ton of straw has increased to 5 thousand TL, which cost a thousand TL a year ago. Moreover, a 50-kilogram feed bag has increased from 60 TL to 500 TL.

WE CANNOT FEED OUR ANIMALS

Halil İhtiyatoğlu, who has been doing animal husbandry in Hakkari for years, said that the early snowfall interrupted farmers’ activities amid the ongoing economic crisis. İhtiyatoğlu remarked that farmers could not buy grass and hay for their animals due to the high prices. “The snow has fallen very early this year.

Grasses we were planning to collect for our animals remained under snow. We could not operate the irrigation system we had installed for irrigation of our fields and gardens, as the grass was covered in snow. We are financially devastated. There is famine in the country. The economic crisis is affecting us adversely in every aspect. We can no longer take care of our animals.

Hay, grass and animal feed prices have skyrocketed. A bale of grass which cost 10 TL last year costs 50 TL this year. Furthermore, the prices of food have also increased significantly. A small can of tomato paste costs 50 TL, a bag of flour is 600 TL. We can barely afford our basic needs. There is already a serious crackdown on us and the economic crisis has worsened this persecution.”

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1 in 10 species could go extinct

The report comes as the largest biodiversity conference, COP15, takes place in Montreal focusing on biodiversity and finalizes its negotiations this week

The Earth could become a graveyard to a tenth of its plant and animal species by the end of the century, according to new research after close to 3,000 scientists urged governments to stop harming nature during the final talks at the COP15.

In a report published on Friday in Science Advances, scientists exhibited their analysis of more than 150,388 species with more than 42,000 threatened with extinction as a result of human action.

Animals such as dugongs, commonly known as "sea cows", considered as an important source of ecotourism in their tropical habitats, are now threatened with extinction. 

To better understand the effect global heating and land use could have on life, new research, using a supercomputer to model a synthetic Earth with virtual species, shows that 6% of plants and animals will disappear by 2050, increasing to 13% by the end of the century. As a worst-case scenario, 27% of plants and animals could disappear by 2100.

'With nothing to eat'

Dr. Giovanni Strona, a co-author and a scientist at the University of Helsinki, stated, “We have populated a virtual world from the ground up and mapped the resulting fate of thousands of species across the globe to determine the likelihood of real-world tipping points.” 

The researcher's co-author, Prof Corey Bradshaw of Flinders University in Australia, also chimed in adding, “This study is unique because it accounts also for the secondary effect on biodiversity, estimating the effect of species going extinct in local food webs beyond direct effects. The results demonstrate that interlinkages within food webs worsen biodiversity loss.”

He continued, “Think of a predatory species that loses its prey to climate change. The loss of the prey species is a ‘primary extinction’ because it succumbed directly to a disturbance. But with nothing to eat, its predator will also go extinct (a co-extinction). Or, imagine a parasite losing its host to deforestation, or a flowering plant losing its pollinators because it becomes too warm. Every species depends on others in some way.”

The report comes in light of the largest biodiversity conference, COP15, taking place in Montreal with a special focus on biodiversity. More than 100 environment ministers from around the globe set targets to meet while seeking to bridge the gap between the global north and south in order to safeguard 30% of the Earth.

'We can't wait any longer'

Over 2,700 scientists have called on governments in an open letter to end the overconsumption and exploitation of resources and urged them to begin reversing biodiversity loss by the year 2030 - that's only in 7 years. 

The letter stated, “The Parties to Cop15 must commit to halting and starting to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, to set us on a pathway to recovery where ecosystems can provide the functions that people need. There is a moral obligation to do so. Furthermore, it makes scientific sense, and is achievable if we act now, and act decisively. We owe this to ourselves and to future generations – we can’t wait any longer.” 

Conversation groups expressed concern last Saturday as the conference shows no transparent mechanisms for implementing the targets, leading protesters to urge for more action. 

According to the letter, agricultural transformation must be a part of the COP15 framework and guidelines that are due to be set, as it warns that a delay in action would potentially aggravate human inequality, death, and poverty. 

“We will not succeed without putting as much effort into the goals and targets relating to the fundamental drivers of ecosystem destruction and biodiversity loss, including making our supply chains resilient and sustainable,” the letter continued.

In its conclusion, the letter read, “This requires attention to the disproportionately harmful consumption of wealthy nations, and to the rights and priorities of disadvantaged groups. Critically, this means that wealthy nations and actors need urgently and rapidly to reduce the impacts of their consumption, rather than imposing all the costs of nature recovery on less-wealthy nations where the biodiversity predominately remains.”

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/env ... y-if-cop15

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UN talks to save nature

MONTREAL, Canada - Top officials at high-stakes UN biodiversity negotiations said Saturday they were confident of securing a major deal to save the natural world from destruction

Observers had warned the COP15 talks aimed at sealing a "peace pact for nature" risked collapse due to disagreement over how much the rich world should pay to protect ecosystems in developing countries.

The talks that started on December 7 had appeared to be on the verge of breakdown when developing countries walked out days ago over the question of funding. But the mood among leaders turned upbeat on Saturday.

"I am greatly confident that we can ... keep our ambitions as well as achieve consensus," China's Environment Minister Huang Runqiu told reporters in Montreal, where the COP15 meeting is being held.

His Canadian counterpart Steven Guilbeault echoed his statement, saying: "We've made tremendous progress... I don't know about how many of us thought we could get there."

Huang said he would publish a draft agreement at 8:00 am EST (1300 GMT) on Sunday and hear lead delegates' feedback later in the day.

The negotiations officially run until December 19, but could go longer if needed.

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: "With just a few days to go before the end of the COP 15 Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, my message to our partners is: now is not the time for small decisions, let's go big!

"Let's work together to achieve the most ambitious agreement possible. The world is depending on it."

- Million species threatened -

Delegates are working to roll back the destruction and pollution that threaten an estimated one million plant and animal species with extinction, according to scientists that report to the UN.

The text is meant to be a roadmap for nations through 2030. The last 10-year plan, signed in Aichi, Japan in 2010, did not achieve any of its objectives -- a failure blamed widely on its lack of monitoring mechanisms.

Major goals in the draft under discussion include a cornerstone pledge to protect 30 percent of the world's land and oceans by 2030.

The more than 20 targets also include reducing environmentally destructive farming subsidies, requiring businesses to assess and report on their biodiversity impacts, and tackling the scourge of invasive species.

Representatives of Indigenous communities, who safeguard 80 percent of the world's remaining biodiversity, want their rights to practice stewardship of their lands to be enshrined in the final agreement.

"Indigenous Rights are not negotiable," said Orpha Novita Yoshua, an Indigenous Namblong woman from West Papua, in a statement released by Greenpeace.

"We are the ones doing the work. We protect biodiversity," said Valentin Engobo, leader of the Lokolama community in the Congo Basin. "You won't replace us. We won't let you."

- Money matters -

The issue of how much money the rich countries will send to the developing world, home to most of the world's biodiversity, has been the biggest sticking point.

"If the framework is not accompanied by adequate resources, then we will be destined to repeat the same failures that we saw after Aichi," warned Brian O'Donnell, director of the NGO Campaign for Nature.

"If it's weak we would certainly oppose it and encourage parties to oppose it and not sign up to a weak deal," he added. "We're still remaining hopeful that we can get there."

Several countries have announced new commitments. The European Union has committed seven billion euros ($7.4 billion) for the period until 2027, double its prior pledge.

But these commitments are still well short of what observers say is needed, and what developing countries are seeking.

Brazil has led that charge, proposing flows of $100 billion annually, compared to the roughly $10 billion at present.

Whether international aid is delivered via a new fund, an existing mechanism called the Global Environment Facility (GEF), or a halfway solution involving a new "trust fund" within the GEF is still up for debate.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/world/19122022

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20% of iKurdistan's power is renewable

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Monday claimed that 20 percent of the electricity produced in the Kurdistan Region is clean and renewable while affirming that this number is set to increase within the decade

“20 percent of electricity production is through clean and renewable energy,” the KRG’S Ministry of Electricity said.

The Kurdistan Region sees its fair share of electricity cuts and power shortages, a reality that is deemed unacceptable by the Region’s citizens due to the area being rich in natural resources such as oil and gas. 

The concept of 24-hour electricity remains unfamiliar to the Region’s locals, who often lament the insufficient power supply, especially in the brutally hot summer months when temperatures often surpass the 50 degrees Celsius mark.  

Alongside the statement, the electricity ministry claimed that it plans to more than double the Kurdistan Region’s renewable energy production by 2028. 

“In the next six years, Kurdistan’s electricity production through clean and renewable energy will reach about 50% of electricity production,” it said. 

The Kurdistan Region and Iraq rely mainly on fossil fuels to generate electricity, a method often considered by environmentalists as harmful and outdated. 

In September, the United States consul general Irvin Hicks Jr. inaugurated a solar panel product in the Region’s capital of Erbil, which reportedly provides 200kW of clean energy for the Region’s consumption.

Iraq also depends on importing natural gas from Iran in a bid to keep the lights on in the country, and an increase in solar panels would also reduce the country’s cost of importing gas. 

Gas flaring is also a major nuisance in Kurdistan, with residents that live close to flaring sites often suffering from deteriorating health. The Region's flaring directive deadline to phase out gas flaring is fast approaching, and data suggests that the KRG is unlikely to meet the deadline.

The flaring process is when oil wells burn the excess gas they can't store or use, and is a convenient way to deal with the waste product known as associated petroleum gas.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/191220221

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Tiny gecko population doubles

Conservation groups almost doubled the number of tiny geckos after they decreased significantly

A Critically endangered gecko, only a little bigger than a paperclip, has been saved by diligent conservationists on St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

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The Union Island gecko has nearly doubled in number from 10,000 to 18,000 in just four years.

When the small gecko was found in 2005 in a 123-acre patch of undeveloped jungle on Union Island, it immediately attracted the attention of illicit pet traffickers. It was believed that the animal would completely vanish by 2017 due to its overtrafficking.

Conservation groups Fauna & Flora International, Re:Wild, and Union Island Environmental Alliance worked together with the country’s forestry department to develop a strategy to save the gecko utilizing camera surveillance and anti-poaching patrols.

The government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines also inscribed in 2019 the Union Island gecko on Appendix I of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), with I representing the highest standard of protection and enforcement.

Their efforts had an immediate effect, rapidly expanding their tiny footprint on the small island.

“As a Unionite and a community leader, I am extremely proud to be a part of this success story,” Roseman Adams, co-founder of the local Union Island Environmental Alliance, said in a press release.

“Without a doubt, our shared, unwavering dedication and sacrifice has brought us this far. We now have to be entirely consistent with further improvements in our management and protection of the gecko’s habitat for this success to be maintained.”

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/env ... e-grenadin

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Extreme weather devastates UK wildlife

This year’s extreme weather conditions have devastated some of the UK’s most valuable flora and fauna, a leading conservation charity has said

Survival has been very difficult for various animals, such as toads, birds, butterflies, and bats, as well as great trees and meadowland flowers.

The climate emergency shows that 2022's extreme events are going to become the new norm and create major challenges for many species, according to the National Trust, which makes a Christmas audit every year on how the weather has affected nature.

“This year’s weather has been challenging for nature. Drought, high temperatures, back-to-back storms, unseasonal heat, a cold snap and floods means nature, like us, is having to cope with a new litany of weather extremes," the charity’s Climate Crisis advisor, Keith Jones, said.

Jones warned of the “stark illustration” of the difficulties many of the species could face in the UK if action to tackle climate change and help nature cope is not taken.

“Weather experts predict that the future will see more torrential downpours, along with very dry and hot summers. We’re going to experience more floods, droughts, heatwaves, extreme storms and wildfires – and they will go from bad to worse, breaking records with ever alarming frequency if we don’t limit our carbon emissions,” he added.

Wildfires that devastated heathland areas in Devon, Cornwall, and Dorset were one of the most obvious consequences of the hot summer. Habitats for species like the silver-studded blue butterfly, smooth snakes, and rare sand lizards, have been damaged.

The drought dried up the ponds at Formby in Merseyside and shortened the flowering season, affecting pollinators and natterjack toads, which need clusters of pools to travel across dune slacks.

Young bats have been dehydrated and disoriented. 

Several butterfly species also had a poor year due to depleted food sources over their peak summer period.

While numbers of the black darter have been declining for half a century, none were found this year at one of its strongholds, Black Down in the South Downs national park. Experts are concerned that the summer was too dry for the black darter larvae to survive.

Lower numbers of swifts returned to the east coast of England, and those had low breeding success, most probably because of the scarcity of flying insects.

One's loss is another's gain

The terrible weather consequences had some advantages for other species. It has been a good year for the chough, with the number booming to around 200 birds.

Wildlife that has a broad range of habitats, "such as robins, wood pigeons or common blue butterflies that we may see in our gardens, are better able to respond to the pressures of extreme weather as there is more space to support them," Ben McCarthy, the National Trust’s head of nature conservation, said.

However, McCarthy pointed out the demanding requirements of such species, saying they are vulnerable as they are more restricted by specific needs. 

"These are the species which currently face the biggest challenges and need our help to join up habitats and to make landscapes more resilient to change," he said.

The lack of late frosts in the spring led to a decent apple harvest, and it has been an excellent year for some nuts and berries, but even this could partly be the consequence of the stress caused to trees by the drought conditions.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/env ... tional-tru

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Old oak trees chopped down

An enormous amount of centuries-old oak trees have been cut down in the Erbil province's Balisan valley by locals who use them for warming amid high heating oil prices as temperature degrees in the mountainous region drop below zero

Fakhir Tutmaiy, a local resident of the village of Badinar in Balisan Valley told Rudaw’s Bakhtyar Qadir on Monday that woodcutters sell one tractor fully loaded with cut-down trees for 250,000 dinars ($160).

Tutmaiy believes that the woodcutters are licensed by local authorities and that nothing would be done to stop them from cutting down trees.

"Such old trees that may take hundreds of years to regain their shapes have been chopped down. Only the local authorities are to blame if the woodcutters have been able to do it because they are supported by the government," Tutmaiy said, claiming that "places, where the trees are cut down, are just a few metres from the forest rangers and the buildings of the local authorities."

But Karwan Karim Khan, the mayor of Shaqlawa district where the region is within the borders of his area says otherwise, vowing that they will take serious measures and start a probe into those charged with chopping trees.

"Despite taking punishable measures against those who encroach onto the nature and the environment of Kurdistan, we have decided to investigate any shortcomings reported with respect to the violations of the law and investigate against relevant authorities who are found to be negligent," Karim Khan said.  

This is not the first time that people have been arrested and held accountable for cutting trees in the Kurdistan Region.

Several people across the Kurdistan Region on a monthly basis are arrested for cutting down trees, including a man who cut down more than 1,000 oak trees in Duhok province last year

In addition to woodcutters, green spaces in the Kurdistan Region are also severely damaged due to sporadic armed clashes and aerial bombardments of Turkey with Duhok province bearing the brunt of the natural crisis.

The Kurdistan Region's Forest Police and Environment Directorate has previously told Rudaw that more than 4,000 dunams of land and green spaces had been burned by Turkish bombardments and myriads more cut down in Duhok province since the beginning of 2021.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/281220222

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Burning down of old oak tree

Unidentified picnickers have set fire to an old tree, estimated to be around 200 years old, according to locals in the village of Demka in Duhok province, triggering public outcry in the area

Locals are frustrated that picnickers have burned down one of the 200-year-old oak trees in their area and they call on the government to take action against the perpetrators and anyone else involved in ruining the nature of the Kurdistan Region.

"We are very saddened by the burning of this tree. This tree was 200 years old. We were making a lot of use of it," Arif Gulli, chieftain of Demka village said, adding “this is indeed a catastrophe.”

He went on to add that the burned-down oak tree was of great importance for the beauty of the nature of their area.

Forest rangers have vowed to arrest those found guilty of having burned down the tree.

"Our investigations are ongoing to reveal the identity of the violators, those who had gone to the area for picnicking and set fire to the tree. As soon as they are tracked down, we will apprehend them and execute legal actions against them," Jamal Saado, commander of the Duhok environment protection directorate said.

This is not the first time that people have been involved or held accountable for cutting trees in the Duhok province. Last year, a man was arrested by forest rangers for cutting down more than 1,000 oak trees in the province.

Locals and officials in many other parts of the Kurdistan Region, including Erbil province, have warned that the cutting down of trees, mainly old oak trees, is becoming a dangerous phenomenon, especially in the mountainous regions.

Green spaces in the Kurdistan Region are also severely damaged due to sporadic armed clashes and aerial bombardments of Turkey with Duhok province bearing the brunt of the natural crisis.

Kawa Sabri, head of Duhok’s forestry and agriculture directory, told Rudaw in April that around 50 square kilometers of woodland have been damaged in Duhok in 2021 due to the conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/04012023

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Half of glaciers could melt

Even at 1.5 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels of warming, the Earth will lose nearly half of its glaciers, a new study suggests

A comprehensive study of all the world's glaciers other than the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets shows that over half of them will melt by the end of the century, even if the world fulfills its most aggressive global warming target.

The study, published Thursday in the journal Science, discovered that even with only 1.5 °C (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming above preindustrial levels, 104,000 of the world's more than 215,000 mountain glaciers and ice caps will melt, raising global sea levels by just under 4 inches.

A 1.5°C increase above preindustrial temperatures is currently extremely difficult to avert, implying that such a development may be nearly unstoppable. The outlook worsens with each extra degree of temperature rise.

According to the study, 3°C (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming would result in the disappearance of more than 70% of the world's glaciers and a 5-inch rise in global sea level. Even though many losses are already baked in, the authors argue that it is still worthwhile to attempt to avert as much warming as possible.

David Rounce, the study’s lead author and a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, said, “Any reduction in the temperature increase will have a substantial impact on sea-level rise and the loss of glaciers globally.”

Rounce collaborated with an international team of glaciologists from Austria, Canada, France, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States on the study.

Since the end of the last major ice age 20,000 years ago, the earth has been progressively losing glacial ice. However, there is still much to contribute. The majority of remaining ice is concentrated in Greenland and Antarctica's ice sheets, which offer the greatest threat of major sea-level rise.

However, many high mountain locations in the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as in the planet's more temperate latitudes, have numerous glaciers, where thick ice has accumulated due to centuries or even millennia of snowfall.

These glaciers then gather more ice during the winter and frequently lose some of it during the spring and summer, supplying rivers downstream.

Human communities rely largely on these ice masses for water supplies, like in the case of the vast glaciers of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region, sometimes referred to as the planet's "third pole". This region's glaciers feed water into enormous river systems such as the Indus and Ganges. According to the study, glaciers provide water to an estimated 1.9 billion people globally.

According to the study, this process of shrinkage, up to and including total loss, will disproportionately affect many of the world's smaller glaciers, those less than 1 square kilometer (0.39 square miles) in area.

The current study goes beyond previous studies by attempting to forecast the individual fates of all 215,000 or more of the world's recorded glaciers, as well as adding methodologies to account for some of their unique characteristics. 

Many glaciers, for example, flow far forth into the sea and even partially float on the surface, particularly near the poles. This means that they can be melted by both warm air and warm ocean water.

The study implies that glaciers are more vulnerable than previously thought, particularly at lower emissions scenarios fit with a 1.5 to 2°C warming goal (2.7 to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The research implies that at these temperatures, glaciers could contribute 14 to 23% more to sea level rise than previous studies revealed.

It's part of a trend in which newer research finds increasingly more dramatic effects at ever-lower levels of warming - levels very near to where we are now.

Despite the grim news concerning the world's glaciers, some researchers see the reason for optimism.

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