Galapagos Islands marine life in danger
QUITO, Ecuador, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Over fishing and climate change have devastated the coastal wildlife of the Galapagos Islands, scientists in Ecuador said.
The 24-rayed sunstar and the black-spotted damselfish are believed extinct, while the Galapagos penguin is within "a hair's breadth of annihilation," said a report in the journal Global Change Biology.
Another six species are possibly extinct while 36 species are classified as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature said.
Scientists blame rising water temperatures caused by global warming and over fishing and tourism, Sky News (Britain) reported Friday.
"If marine species are going extinct in one of the most famous and most cherished world heritage sites, what is happening in the rest of the world that has been so little studied," asked Scott Henderson, a marine researchers from Conservation International.
The Galapagos Islands are famed for the vast number of species studied by Charles Darwin, whose observations led to Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.
Ginger prices rise on flu fears
BEIJING, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Ginger prices could skyrocket this year because of a supply shortage coupled with an increase in demand during flu season, a Chinese research firm said.
Wholesale prices for ginger prices have increased 85 percent so far this year and could go the way of garlic prices, which increased by 1,500 percent since March, Global Markets China Research said in a release Thursday.
Garlic and ginger are believed by many Chinese to have health benefits that include flu-fighting properties, the firm said.
Ginger prices began to rise after a 3-year drop, which led many farmers to stop growing ginger and turn to more profitable crops. That has led to a shortage in ginger supplies at a time when demand is increasing, Global Markets said.
Ginger and garlic also are two of the most important ingredients in the cuisines of India, China, Thailand and Japan.
Iron Curtain limited invasive species
BERLIN, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The Iron Curtain that divided Europe for nearly a half-century protected Eastern Europe from invasive bird species introduced by people, scientists said.
During the 46 years that the wall stood, people in Eastern Europe introduced just a few game bird species for hunting, while people in Western Europe introduced parrots, weavers and other exotic and invasive bird species, said a report in the journal Biological Conservation.
"We obviously do not want to go back to the Iron Curtain days. However, there are some important policy lessons," Salit Kark, a researcher at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told the BBC in a story aired Friday.
Invasive bird species such as the rose-ringed parakeet from India and the monk parakeet from South America have spread quickly since their introduction in Western Europe, mandating the need for European countries to work together on wildlife policy decisions, Kark said.
"The timing is urgent and countries need to start enacting policies soon," Kark said.
The Iron Curtain, comprising government-built walls and fences, divided Europe from the end of World War II in 1945 until 1991.
Lava beneath Hawaii forming new islands
HONOLULU, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- A volcanic plume that formed the Hawaiian islands remains active and suggests new islands could continue to form for millions of years, scientists said.
The lava plume created 75 million years ago emanates from a mantle deep in the Earth and feeds magma to a chain of volcanoes that created and continues to create the islands, University of Hawaii geophysicist Cecily Wolfe said.
"We live in Hawaii and enjoy it, but we forget how special and unique it is," Wolfe told The Honolulu Star Bulletin in a story published Friday.
Three-dimensional computer images that "opened a window into the Earth" were constructed with data gathered from 73 seismometers placed on the sea floor, said Wolfe, principal investigator of the PLUME project, a decade in the making.
"We also had land seismometers at sites all over the islands, in schools, in a community college and even in peoples' back yards," Wolfe said.
The images allowed Wolfe and her team to form images nearly 930 miles below the sea -- about halfway through the Earth's mantle.
