Elephant

• SAN FRANCISCO, March 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Conservation , the only international non-profit organization focused on direct protection of endangered National Parks and Indigenous Territories in developing countries, is proud to present its new film series War on Nature .
• "Without these Heroes in Protection, the Earth would not stand a chance against humankind's War on Nature," said Jeff Morgan, Founder and Executive Director of Global Conservation.
• Upcoming episodes in 2024 in the War on Nature series include Panama, Georgia, Zimbabwe, Borneo, and Marine Protection.
• For more information on the War on Nature film series, please visit WaronNature.org .

• Southern Africa is home to 22,137 of the world’s 23,432 white and black African rhinos.
• But they’re facing grave threats because of a warming planet.

Why are rhinos in danger of being wiped out?

Rhinos cannot sweat. If they want to cool their large bodies down in the heat, they need to consume a lot of water. They also rely on wallowing in water holes and resting in the shade. As Earth heats up, rhinos will only survive if they have more opportunities to cool down.

How did you calculate that rhinos will not survive the worst scenario?

• We looked at the temperature and rainfall averages in each of the best locations for rhinos, and then we mapped out the extremes.
• Our conclusion was that if the world enters the 8.5 Representative Concentration Pathway, there is zero probability of rhinos surviving in southern Africa.

Is there a Plan B to avoid the worst for rhinos?

• Our view is that governments and societies should start planning immediately to ward off the worst-case scenario.
• For rhinos to survive this climate change scenario, corridors will also need to be set up for rhinos to move between parks.
• This will be very challenging for the parks and they must start planning their landscapes now.

How much will all this cost?

• One of the ideas is that when you protect a species like rhinos, elephants and gorillas, the investment you make in that species will help multiple species.
• Until recently, our mindset about rhinos was about how they benefit us by bringing in revenues.
• We have to start looking at rhinos as an essential part of an ecosystem that is providing services to society.

2085 isn’t far away. Could it really be over for rhinos by then?

• These pathways are the global standard for predicting how the climate will change based on the actions of humans.
• We chose to map the future of rhinos based on the 4.5 and 8.5 Representative Concentration Pathways.
• This will warm the climate on the planet by an average of 2.4°C (between 1.7 and 3.2 degrees celsius) by 2100.
• But Earth will only get onto this pathway if we manage to cut methane gas and carbon dioxide emissions.
• By 2100, carbon dioxide emissions would also need to drop by half the level reached in 2050.

Timothy Randhir does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• VALENCIA, Calif., Feb. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cunard is proud to continue their partnership with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and announces an extensive speaker line-up for the Alaska 2024 season, showcasing an RCGS speaker on every Alaska voyage starting June 21.
• Experts from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, one of Canada's largest non-profit geographical and educational organizations, will be featured on 2024 voyages from June to September.
• RCGS speakers include celebrated and accomplished explorers, naturalists, geographical experts, astronauts, and indigenous advocates who will custom-curate exclusive programming for Cunard guests.
• For Travel Advisors interested in further information, please contact your Business Development Manager, visit OneSource Cruises.com or call Cunard at 1-800-528-6273.

• And that suggests their demise came suddenly, with the impact of a giant asteroid.
• The discovery of the 180km-wide Chixculub asteroid impact crater in Mexico suggested a sudden extinction of dinosaurs and other species, driven by the impact.
• But others have argued that a long, slow decline in dinosaur diversity contributed to their extinction.
• It’s not just that dinosaur fossils are so rare; the fossil record is also patchy.
• Because it’s such a huge landmass, Africa probably had far more dinosaur species than North America.

What we’ve found

• Dinosaurs may have swum out to islands searching for food, as deer and elephants do today, and some might have drowned.
• Other dinosaurs might have been washed out to sea by floods or storms, or drowned in rivers that carried them downstream to the ocean.
• And so, studying marine beds, and working over many years, we’ve slowly put together a picture of Africa’s last dinosaurs, bone by bone.
• It was smaller than Chenanisaurus, about five metres long – small by dinosaur standards, but large compared to modern predators.
• If so, that means dinosaurs were cut down in their prime; burning out rather than fading away.

What our findings show

• For over 100 million years, they evolved and diversified, producing a remarkable range of species: predators, herbivores, aquatic species, even flying forms, the birds.
• Then in a single, catastrophic moment, everything was wiped out in the months of darkness caused by dust and soot from the impact.

Nicholas R. Longrich does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.