Most Viewed, Species Extinction

Close to 10 million turtles are traded each year in Asian food markets despite global efforts to stem the practice that many experts say is causing the rapid extinction of some species of the shelled reptiles.

This year could see the biggest "dead zone" since records began form in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The dead zone is an area of water virtually devoid of oxygen which cannot support marine life.

Caribbean coral species are dying off, indicating dramatic shifts in the ecological balance under the sea, a new scientific study of Caribbean marine life shows. The study found that 10 percent of the Caribbean’s 62 reef-building corals were under threat, including staghorn and elkhorn corals.

The World Conservation Union's Red List collects information about species that are in danger of extinction. In 2006 the number reached 16,119 species

What in blazes is going on with the world's bees?

Goes through a list of species under stress because of global warming. What troubles scientists especially is that if we are only in the early stages of warming, all these lost and endangered animals might be just the first of many to go. One study estimates that more than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by the year 2050.

Overfishing further depleted U.S. fish populations in 2006, a government report said on Friday, a finding that prompted conservation groups to call for catch limits and tougher enforcement.

Scientists have known for years that when fishing trawlers drag nets and gear across the ocean bottom they trap or kill almost all the fish, mollusks and other creatures they encounter. And the dragging destroys underwater features like reefs, turning the bottom to mud.

Climate change is likely to put significant pressure on the nation's fish stocks, with new CSIRO research identifying the eastern and southeast coastlines as the most vulnerable to warming temperatures.

Europeans may claim a leadership role when it comes to fighting global warming, but they get black marks from environmentalists - and even from Washington - for failing to control their fishing fleets in the Mediterranean and other coastal waters.