Cheetahs in race to survive

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) ― The cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal, survived mass extinction during the last ice age 10,000 years ago.But it has taken just the last few decades for man to place the hunter on the endangered species list, with experts warning it could disappear from the wild by 2030.Unlike rhinos and elephants, the cheetah is not a target in Africa’s poaching bloodbath. But it is the only big cat to adapt poorly in wildlife reserves as its natural habitat is increasingly wiped out.

May 2, 2013

Water expert calls for more collection of rainfall

In 2000, a stifling heat blanketed many parts of Korea for months, triggering severe water shortages especially in rural areas and islands.The prolonged drought had put top water expert Han Moo-young at bay by “depriving him of the stuff to treat,” as he put it. But it was also a watershed moment in his career as it brought home to the engineering professor at Seoul National University the worth of a very basic component of nature: rain. “Then it finally rained, but people didn’t really like it

April 15, 2013

Activist silenced as China island forests destroyed

WANNING (AFP) ― Rumbling earthmovers carve out a seaside golf course among fallen palm trees on a Chinese island, after authorities silenced the man who spoke out against destroying the tropical forest.Vast swathes of Hainan in the South China Sea have been cleared ― a quarter of its woodlands in the last decade according to environmentalists Greenpeace ― for golf courses and exclusive hotels in an attempt to create a tourist paradise.Liu Futang, a former forestry official disgusted by the destr

April 14, 2013

[Graphic News] Summer to be 6 months by 2091: KMA

Seoulites may spend more than half the year sweating in the summer heat during the last decade of this century, according to a forecast by the Korea Meteorological Administration, the nation’s weather agency. A recent KMA report forecast that the summer would last 174.9 days a year from 2091-2100 in the absence of action to reduce greenhouse gases. Summer is predicted to be two months longer than it was in 2001-10, when it lasted 121.8 days on average.Summer days are defined as such when the dai

April 1, 2013

Ministry to introduce test-free semester for middle schools

The Education Ministry said Thursday it would introduce a “test-free semester” in all middle schools to ease the burden of school tests and motivate young students to focusing on career planning.As the first step, the ministry will pick 37 middle schools this year to allow students to spend a semester without tests and assessment. It aims to fully expand the test-free curriculum to all middle schools in the country in 2016.In a policy briefing to President Park Geun-hye, the ministry said it wou

March 28, 2013

Minister pledges joined-up thinking on environment, sustainable development

SEJONG CITY ― Environment Minister Yoon Seong-kyu has pledged to step up policy coordination and communication across government branches in tackling environmental challenges and pushing sustainable development. Former President Lee Myung-bak’s much-hyped green growth policy has been criticized for a lack of shared goals, priorities and effective government leadership, often leading to conflict over matters ranging from emission cuts, to carbon trade and water management. The new government will

March 28, 2013

Korea’s green policy success inspires world forest forum

Korea is often recognized for its fast economic growth over the past decades but it is also an unprecedented model example in forest recovery, an achievement which should be actively promoted in the global society, said an official of the Korea Forest Service.“All senior citizens would remember back in the 1970s when most of country’s landscape was bare,” said KFS director Lee Chang-jae.“But through a series of long-term tree-planting projects, Korea has turned the post-war wreckage into a green

March 21, 2013

Forest key to fostering human development

One-third of the earth’s ecosystem consists of forests. And in order to maintain sustainable and harmonious growth, humankind should learn how not to intrude upon their share of the earth, said an official of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.“It is the function of the FAO Forestry to lead sustainable forest management both for the current and the future generations,” said Eduardo Mansur, director of the Forest Assessment, Management and Conservation Division of FAO.“It is now

March 21, 2013

Korea a role model for land reforestation

Forestation is important to every country, as green spaces give people a number of benefits, such as clean air, food and medicinal resources, and increased biodiversity, as well as carbon dioxide absorption and water source protection. Korea has worked to green up its open spaces for the past 40 years and its reforestation policy has been looked on as a benchmark for countries seeking rapid reforestation.Evolution of forestry policyKorea’s forests cover 64 percent of its land area today, but 40

March 21, 2013

Seoul City nurtures environmental guardians

Fifth-grader Ahn Jae-hoo has the email account ilop642, using the acronym for “I Love Our Planet.” Since entering elementary school in southern Seoul, he has participated in Earth Hour, an international event for conseving energy by turning off lights, every March. “Using air conditioners and electronic fans as little as possible in summer is part of my own energy-saving efforts. And I always unplug my computer after using it,” Ahn said.Lee Doo-yeon, 11, is an “energy guardian” who monitors powe

March 14, 2013

Surging emissions cast doubt on reduction goal

Greenhouse gas emissions in Korea rose at the fastest rate in 17 years in 2010, prompting the government to rethink its goal of cutting emissions by 30 percent from projected levels by 2020.During his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly on Wednesday, Environmental Minister-nominee Yoon Seong-kyu said President Park Geun-hye recently called for a new road map to meet the goal. Greenhouse gases in 2010 marked 669 million tons of CO2 equivalent, a 9.8 percent increase from 609 million ton

Feb. 28, 2013

Air pollution linked to low birth weight: study

For pregnant women, breathing in air pollution from vehicles, heating and coal power plants increases the risk of having a low birth weight baby, an international study said Wednesday.The research, the most extensive of its kind on the link between air pollution and fetal development, found that the higher the pollution, the greater the rate of children born with a low weight. It was published in the US journal Environmental Health Perspectives.Scientists analyzed data from more than three milli

Feb. 6, 2013

Fine particles a stealthy killer

On a murky morning last week, a group of environmental activists wearing face masks and red coveralls gathered at the Chinese Embassy in Seoul. “Beijing smog kills people,” they chanted, calling for measures to tighten pollution control and prevent the inflow of smog from Beijing.A thick brown haze blanketed Seoul and other major cities across the country during the week, promoting environmental groups to step up calls for a swift implementation of standards to regulate the density of extremely

Jan. 24, 2013

Ditch disposable coffee cups

Did you stop by a coffee shop and grab a latte on the way to work this morning? Over the past decade, what was before perceived as a typical American lifestyle has become a daily routine for many Koreans, churning out thousands of tiny takeaway coffee shops on corners of Seoul streets. But do you know that your cup of joy this morning had a negative impact on the environment? An average Korean drinks over 338 cups of coffee a year. There is no official data on how many of those coffees are bough

Jan. 10, 2013