Your News in Brief item 'Cancer forces Tasmanian devil onto endangered list' highlights the plight of this carnivorous marsupial (Sarcophilus harrisii), driven towards extinction by devil facial-tumour disease, which is contagious (Nature 453, 441; 2008). The animal will soon also be uplisted by the 2008 IUCN Red List from its category of Least Concern to Endangered. (Correspondence)
Your News story 'Sterile mosquitoes near take-off' (Nature 453, 435; 2008) discusses the likely release of genetically engineered mosquitoes to help contain dengue fever. It demonstrates just how close we are to a radically new set of strategies for managing a whole range of diseases and wildlife using genetically modified organisms (GMOs). But after assessing the risks and benefits, nations may reach different conclusions about their use. And that's quite a problem, considering that genetically modified bugs won't recognize national borders. (Correspondence)
A year after sending its first fully fledged expedition to the Arctic, India has established a research station in Svalbard, about 1,200 kilometres from the North Pole.
Here the authors show the effects of acidification on benthic ecosystems at shallow coastal sites where volcanic CO2 vents lower the pH of the water column. Along gradients of normal pH (8.1
Rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide lead to acidification of the oceans. A site in the Mediterranean, naturally carbonated by under-sea volcanoes, provides clues to the possible effects on marine ecosystems.
The world's most pressing problems will be the focus of G8 talks next week, when leaders from rich nations and major emerging economies meet in Toyako on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. More than 30 years on, oil prices are again high on the agenda for the G8 gathering, which has climate change as its main focus. It is also expected to cover global food shortages, nuclear non-proliferation, African development and peace building.
As was clear from a wide-ranging survey of nutrition issues at last month's Pacific Health Summit in Seattle, Washington, behavioural change is a key element in tackling the twin crises of under-nutrition and obesity, which are all too easily forgotten in the competition for the world's attention. (Editorial)
Increasing tropospheric ozone levels over the past 150 years have led to a significant climate perturbation; the prediction of future trends in tropospheric ozone will require a full understanding of both its precursor emissions and its destruction processes. A large proportion of tropospheric ozone loss occurs in the tropical marine boundary layer and is thought to be driven primarily by high ozone photolysis rates in the presence of high concentrations of water vapour.
Halogens are known to decrease the levels of stratospheric ozone. The latest measurements show that something similar occurs in the lower atmosphere over tropical oceans
