First Mammal Species Wiped out by Human-induced Climate Change
- An Australian rodent found only on a tiny island on the Great Barrier Reef declared extinct. It’s the first mammal known to be wiped out by human-caused climate change.
- The Bramble Cay melomys, which looked like a small brown rat, lived on Bramble Cay, a hump of coral just 340 m long and 150 m wide that juts out three metres or less.
- The rodent was known to have lived only on Bramble Cay, a minuscule atoll in the northeast Torres Strait, between the Cape York Peninsula in the Australian State of Queensland and the southern shores of Papua New Guinea.
- The long-tailed, whiskered creature, called the Bramble Cay melomys, was considered the only mammal endemic to the Great Barrier Reef.
- The key factor responsible for the death of the Bramble Cay melomys Is almost certainly high tides and surging seawater, which has traveled inland across the island.
China’s First Dark Sky Reserve Launched in Tibet
- China launched its first Dark Sky Reserve in the Tibet autonomous region’s Ngari Prefecture bordering India and Nepal, that alms to limit light pollution and preserve sites for making astronomical observations on June 23, 2016.
- The reserve covering an area of 2500 sq km was jointly launched by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation and the regional government of Tibet.
- The reserve will also try to seek accreditation from the International Dark-Sky Association, a non-profit organisation based in the USA that is devoted to preserving and protecting the night time environment and dark skies globally.
