Number of wild tigers could treble

The number of tigers living in the wild could rise in the next 20 years.

At the moment there are only around three-thousand wild tigers living in Asia. The WWF believe that's 97% fewer than there were 100 years ago. Now experts say that number could treble if action is taken to protect their habitats.

Tigers can be found in 13 different countries around the world

Tiger populations have been affected by hunting, poaching and the loss of their habitats, to make way for roads, railways and towns.

Four of the sub-species of tigers are thought to be endangered and two are listed as 'critically' threatened.

Tigers are poached for their skin, which some people use as decoration or rugs

But experts in the US say the population could grow.

A team at the University of Minnesota in the US have studied satellite images of places where tigers live, like forests.

The technology has helped identify specifically where tigers are losing their habitat.

They say that if the animals are given special 'corridors' or areas to make their territory bigger, the numbers could treble.

Dr Anup Joshi said: " Enough wild habitat remains to allow a range-wide doubling of the wild tiger population."

"The global population could approach a trebling in the next two decades." he added.

From CBBC Newsround

Climate predicts bird populations

Populations of the most common bird species in Europe and the US are being altered by climate change, according to an international study.

Bee-eaters seem to be benefitting from climate change, increasing their population in Europe in recent years

For the first time researchers showed climate to be having a similar, significant impact on bird populations in large, distant areas of the world.

Their study used population-predicting models and three decades of field data, gathered by bird-watching volunteers.

The findings are published in the journal Science.

Led by Durham University scientists, the team developed models that related each species' habitat to long-term climate patterns.

Using annual climate records - from 1980 to 2010 - these models were able to predict where a species had experienced an improvement or a decline in suitable climate.

Climate is remapping habitat for many familiar birds, such as the wren

"We then had this amazing data set collected by thousands of volunteers over decades - where people have gone out and counted birds across different countries in Europe and the United States," explained lead researcher Dr Stephen Willis.

"We can use that to see to what extent our predictions match what people are finding on the ground."

The outlook is different for each species. Increasing temperatures in the UK, for example, allow some species to expand their range and increase their population, while the same temperature patterns have made the UK a less suitable habitat for others.

But the overall trends, this study shows, are strikingly similar in the US and Europe; populations are increasing in species predicted to benefit from climate change and decreasing in those predicted to be negatively affected.

"One important thing is that we're looking at the most common birds," said Dr Willis. "These birds are doing a lot of good in the countryside - eating crop pests and helping our ecosystems work.

"So we need to understand how they'll respond."

Shifting flocks

The American robin has declined in some southern states, but increased further north.

The research shows how the climate is gradually remapping the avian habitat across two continents.

In Europe, for example, birds such as the wren have been increasing in northern areas as winters become milder, but declining in some southern countries. The American robin has declined in some southern states, but increased further north.

"This is really the first time anyone's ever looked at changes in climate across two really extensive parts of the world," said Dr Willis. "So we're getting an idea that [the impacts of] climate change on wildlife are more far-reaching than individual countries."

David Noble from the British Trust for Ornithology, who was also involved in the study, told BBC News that the findings highlighted the value of such extensive data sets generated by volunteers.

"The similarities in results between the two continents, despite very big differences in their landscapes, geographic barriers and patterns of vegetation, are compelling evidence for the climate change effects," he added.

Dr Willis agreed, saying: "This is work carried out by thousands upon thousands of volunteers; it really demonstrates the power of citizen science."

The study was carried out in partnership with the RSPB and United States Geological Survey (USGS).

From BBC News- Science/ Environment

Ash tree set for extinction in Europe

The ash tree is likely to be wiped out in Europe, according to a review of the evidence.

The chalara dieback has devastated ash trees across Europe

The trees are being killed off by the fungal disease ash-dieback along with an invasive beetle called the emerald ash borer.

According to the research, published in the Journal of Ecology, the British countryside will never look the same again.

The paper says that the ash will most likely be "eliminated" in Europe.

This could mirror the way Dutch elm disease largely wiped out the elm in the 1980s.

Warning over ash dieback disease

100,000 trees destroyed over disease

How to spot ash dieback

Ash trees are a key part of the treescape of Britain. You don't have to go to the countryside to see them. In and around towns and cities there are 2.2 million. In woodland, only the oak is more common.

However, according to a review led by Dr Peter Thomas of Keele University and published in the Journal of Ecology, "between the fungal disease ash dieback and a bright green beetle called the emerald ash borer, it is likely that almost all ash trees in Europe will be wiped out - just as the elm was largely eliminated by Dutch elm disease".

Ash dieback, also known as Chalara, is a disease that was first seen in Eastern Europe in 1992. It now affects more than 2 million sq km, from Scandinavia to Italy.

UN: 2015 record year for global renewables investment

Global investment in renewable energy hit a record US$285.9bn (£202.3bn) in 2015, beating the previous high of $278.5bn set in 2011, a study shows.

The solar and wind industries remain the driving force behind the growth in investment in the global renewable energy sector

The 10th Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment also showed that investment in developing nations exceeded that in developed countries.

In another first, more new renewables capacity than fossil-fuel generation came online during 2015.

But it warned that much more had to be done to avoid dangerous climate change.

The assessment, produced by the Frankfurt School-Unep Collaborating Centre for Climate and Sustainable Energy Finance and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, showed that the developing world committed a total of US$156bn (up 19% on 2014 levels) in renewables (excluding large hydro) while developed nations invested US$130bn (down 8% from 2014 levels).

"A large element in this turnaround was China, which lifted its investment by 17% to US$102.9bn, or 36% of the world total," the report observed.

However, other developing nations also contributed as six of the top 10 investors were developing nations.

In the foreword, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said the report's findings increased confidence that a low-carbon world was obtainable.

He wrote: "We have entered a new era of clean energy growth that can fuel a future of opportunity and greater prosperity for every person on the planet."

However, he warned that in order to avoid dangerous climate change required an "immediate shift away from fossil fuels".

At the Paris climate talks, nations agreed to decarbonise the global economy by the end of the 21st Century

UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative's Eric Usher, one of the assessment's co-authors, said the findings were, overall, positive and seemed to indicate that a shift was occurring.

"Renewables investment is at a new high, and investment is shifting geographically with developing countries investing more than developed countries for the first time (55%/45%)," he observed.

However, he did add that there were areas that caused concern when the focus shifted to regional or national levels.

"There is a still a lot of uncertainty, especially within Europe, with a degree of policy backtracking or the phasing down of support for the (renewables) industry," he told BBC News.

Fellow co-author Ulf Moslener, head of research at the Frankfurt School-Unep Centre, said the latest figures indicated that shifts in attitude, as well as structure, were occurring.

"This level of investment means... more than half of the capacity added to the global energy mix is renewables-based," he said.

Prof Moslener added that renewable generation was still dwarfed by fossil fuel-based sources, and only accounted for 10% of the global mix.

"That shows us that we are quite far from having a system that is based on renewables," he told BBC News.

Lead author Angus McCrone, chief editor at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said that although global oil prices had fallen sharply recently, the cost of generating electricity via renewables had also decreased significantly, adding that there were also other factors that made the industry attractive to investors.

"One advantage that renewables has is that it can be built very quickly," he explained.

"If you are a power-hungry emerging market in Africa or South America, for instance, you can put up a wind farm in six to nine months, or a solar plant in three to six months.

"However, if you want to put up a coal-fired power station, it is going to take three or four years. A nuclear power plant is going to take substantially longer than that."

From BBC News-Science / Environment

READ MORE ABOUT THIS