OCEANS ARE DYING: Ocean deserts where very few organisms can survive due to scanty supply of nutrients are expanding. These vast stretches of barren sea could affect the marine food chain, and in turn the global fish stock, said scientists from North America who analyzed satellite data between 1997 and 2007. There are five ocean deserts, one each in the North and South Pacific, North and South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean.

INVEST IN NATURE: Instead of investing in industrial projects for carbon capture, governments can help combat climate change by investing in areas like forests and mangroves, said a European study. An investment of US $45 billion in protected areas could save ecologies that provide services worth US $4.5-US $5.2 trillion a year, more than the value of the automobile, steel and IT sectors, said the report.