The disappearance of species
An animal species is seriously threatened with extinction when its population is broken up. Extinction is a natural process that may be caused by natural selection, shortage of food or natural calamities. It has been calculated that 9 species out of 10 of those that have appeared on Earth over the centuries have disappeared. Man’s action on nature has also caused entire animal species to disappear over the years. Hunting, deforestation, pollution, the conversion of uncultivated areas into pastures, the illicit trade of wild animals as well as climatic changes have made life difficult for many animals. The areas that have been hit hardest by the rise in the Earth’s temperature are the Arctic and the oceans. In these places, animals suffer because they have lost their habitat and find it hard to find food to eat. This results in a decrease of births and therefore in the slow disappearance of some species. In the oceans, the reduction of plankton caused many types of fish to migrate and many invertebrate organisms to disappear.
Special reports
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10 February 2020
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30 July 2020
Holidays, yes! but they must be sustainable!
We have been speaking of sustainable behaviours to apply to our daily life, but what happens when we unplug and…
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8 March 2022
8 March. We remember Rosalind Franklin, the great female DNA scientist.
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27 February 2022
In search of the riders of icebergs
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18 December 2021
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Japanese beetles and other alien species
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10 February 2020
Coral turns pale!
The coral reef is one of the ecosystems with the richest biodiversity...
2 July 2014
A hoax? No thank you, I prefer to find out myself!
In Italian, bufala: a hoax, also means a female buffalo...
-
30 July 2020
Holidays, yes! but they must be sustainable!
We have been speaking of sustainable behaviours to apply to our daily life, but what happens when we unplug and…
8 March 2022
8 March. We remember Rosalind Franklin, the great female DNA scientist.
DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist in 1869. It was a brilliant, but not complicated operation:…
-
27 February 2022
In search of the riders of icebergs
International Polar Bear Day, set up by Polar Bears International, a non-profit organisation, was held on 27 February. The aim…
12 February 2022
A naturalist’s voyage around the world
Charles Darwin was just 22 years old when he set sail on board HMS Beagle...
-
10 February 2020
Coral turns pale!
The coral reef is one of the ecosystems with the richest biodiversity...
-
2 July 2014
A hoax? No thank you, I prefer to find out myself!
In Italian, bufala: a hoax, also means a female buffalo...
-
30 July 2020
Holidays, yes! but they must be sustainable!
We have been speaking of sustainable behaviours to apply to our daily life, but what happens when we unplug and…
From the Multimedia section
Facts
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Ant and fish activities
A small insect like the antilion, digs funnel shaped traps in the sandy ground when it is in the larva…
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3 April 2012
The whale shark
<p>The whale shark <i>(Rhincodon typus</i>) is the biggest fish in the world...</p>
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11 May 2011
Ant and fish activities
A small insect like the antilion, digs funnel shaped traps in the sandy ground when it is in the larva…
-
3 April 2012
The whale shark
<p>The whale shark <i>(Rhincodon typus</i>) is the biggest fish in the world...</p>