Human-dominated marine ecosystems are experiencing accelerating loss of populations and species, with largely unknown consequences. We analyzed local experiments, long-term regional time series, and global fisheries data to test how biodiversity loss affects marine ecosystem services across temporal and spatial scales. Overall, rates of resource collapse increased and recovery potential, stability, and water quality decreased exponentially with declining diversity. Restoration of biodiversity, in contrast, increased productivity fourfold and decreased variability by 21%, on average.

The Indonesian government has decided to dump tonnes of hot mud, which forced at least 10,000 Indonesians out of their homes, into the Java Sea. The foul-smelling mud has been spurting from a crack

Oil spill: The Sri Lankan government is still striving to deal with the oil spill that occurred in mid-September, after a Bangladeshi ship sank off the country's southern coast of Habaraduwa. The

• Philippines president Gloria Arroyo banned fishing in the waters of Guimaras, which needs rehabilitation from an oil spill that has occurred in early August. Local leaders, residents, and a

Five nations bordering the Caspian Sea have reached an agreement to safeguard the waterbody and also pave the way for an equitable sharing of its resources. The treaty, called the Framework

As Israel continues airstrikes on Lebanon, the country is now threatened by its worst ecological disaster. At least 35,000 tonnes of oil gushed into the Mediterranean, after Israeli warplanes hit

Himachal Pradesh clears ski village project

Considering the increasing urban population and the resulting urban liquid waste, an attempt has been made to ascertain the quality of the Pondicherry coastal water. Four sampling stations-two on the 1 fathom line and two on the 5 fathom line were fixed. The results revealed that the total coliform bacterial population showed seasonal variation viz. between post and pre-monsoon periods.

A globalising world requires multilateralism to attain shared goals particularly the preservation of ecological security. While this can happen without the leadership of one country, citizens of the world increasingly look to the US for leadership in ad