#CNN - With Man Gone, Will There Be Hope For Elephants???

SPECIAL CNN REPORTS

With Elephants Gone, Will There Be Hope for Man?

China's skyrocketing appetite for ivory is leading to the unsustainable slaughter of African elephants.

As prices for precious ivory goods have surged in China, the number of poached elephants has also escalated. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder of Save the Elephants, said 100,000 African elephants have been killed for their ivory in just the past three years. READ MORE

(CNN)Elephants could be extinct in the wild within a few decades, leading experts warned late last month in Botswana at the Kasane Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade, which gathered 150 delegates from countries that are sourcing, transiting and demanding ivory.

The participants signed onto 15 new commitments to stop the slaughter of elephants which have been hailed as significant not only for Africa but globally.

Yet, some conservationists feel unless China -- the leading consumer of ivory -- commits to ending the ivory trade, elephants will be doomed. Read More.

CNN ASKS: 

What Are Ishmael's Prophetic Warnings ?

Paula Kahumbu, Special for CNN -   Kenyan conservationist Paula Kahumbu is the Executive Director of WildlifeDirect and heads the "Hands Off Our Elephants" campaign. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely hers. 

Are #Oceans Buffering Climate Shocks? For How Long?

How Long Can Oceans Continue To Absorb Earth's Excess Heat?

The main reason soaring greenhouse gas emissions have not caused air temperatures to rise more rapidly is that oceans have soaked up much of the heat. But new evidence suggests the oceans’ heat-buffering ability may be weakening.

by cheryl katz

For decades, the earth’s oceans have soaked up more than nine-tenths of the atmosphere’s excess heat trapped by greenhouse gas emissions. By stowing that extra energy in their depths, oceans have spared the planet from feeling the full effects of humanity’s carbon overindulgence. Read More 


Those Warmer Waters Affect Fish And...?



ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cheryl Katz is a San Francisco Bay Area-based science writer covering energy, environmental health, and climate change. She has reported from Iceland to Africa on issues ranging from geothermal power to flood control. Her articles have appeared in Scientific American, National Geographic.com, and Science News. Previously for e360, she reported on promising new solar energy technologies and challenges inforecasting extreme weather.
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