JOHANNESBURG (AFP) ― The cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal, survived mass extinction during the last ice age 10,000 years ago.But it has taken just the last few decades for man to place the hunter on the endangered species list, with experts warning it could disappear from the wild by 2030.Unlike rhinos and elephants, the cheetah is not a target in Africa’s poaching bloodbath. But it is the only big cat to adapt poorly in wildlife reserves as its natural habitat is increasingly wiped out.

In 2000, a stifling heat blanketed many parts of Korea for months, triggering severe water shortages especially in rural areas and islands.The prolonged drought had put top water expert Han Moo-young at bay by “depriving him of the stuff to treat,” as he put it. But it was also a watershed moment in his career as it brought home to the engineering professor at Seoul National University the worth of a very basic component of nature: rain. “Then it finally rained, but people didn’t really like it

WANNING (AFP) ― Rumbling earthmovers carve out a seaside golf course among fallen palm trees on a Chinese island, after authorities silenced the man who spoke out against destroying the tropical forest.Vast swathes of Hainan in the South China Sea have been cleared ― a quarter of its woodlands in the last decade according to environmentalists Greenpeace ― for golf courses and exclusive hotels in an attempt to create a tourist paradise.Liu Futang, a former forestry official disgusted by the destr

Seoulites may spend more than half the year sweating in the summer heat during the last decade of this century, according to a forecast by the Korea Meteorological Administration, the nation’s weather agency. A recent KMA report forecast that the summer would last 174.9 days a year from 2091-2100 in the absence of action to reduce greenhouse gases. Summer is predicted to be two months longer than it was in 2001-10, when it lasted 121.8 days on average.Summer days are defined as such when the dai

The Education Ministry said Thursday it would introduce a “test-free semester” in all middle schools to ease the burden of school tests and motivate young students to focusing on career planning.As the first step, the ministry will pick 37 middle schools this year to allow students to spend a semester without tests and assessment. It aims to fully expand the test-free curriculum to all middle schools in the country in 2016.In a policy briefing to President Park Geun-hye, the ministry said it wou

SEJONG CITY ― Environment Minister Yoon Seong-kyu has pledged to step up policy coordination and communication across government branches in tackling environmental challenges and pushing sustainable development. Former President Lee Myung-bak’s much-hyped green growth policy has been criticized for a lack of shared goals, priorities and effective government leadership, often leading to conflict over matters ranging from emission cuts, to carbon trade and water management. The new government will

Korea is often recognized for its fast economic growth over the past decades but it is also an unprecedented model example in forest recovery, an achievement which should be actively promoted in the global society, said an official of the Korea Forest Service.“All senior citizens would remember back in the 1970s when most of country’s landscape was bare,” said KFS director Lee Chang-jae.“But through a series of long-term tree-planting projects, Korea has turned the post-war wreckage into a green

One-third of the earth’s ecosystem consists of forests. And in order to maintain sustainable and harmonious growth, humankind should learn how not to intrude upon their share of the earth, said an official of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.“It is the function of the FAO Forestry to lead sustainable forest management both for the current and the future generations,” said Eduardo Mansur, director of the Forest Assessment, Management and Conservation Division of FAO.“It is now

Forestation is important to every country, as green spaces give people a number of benefits, such as clean air, food and medicinal resources, and increased biodiversity, as well as carbon dioxide absorption and water source protection. Korea has worked to green up its open spaces for the past 40 years and its reforestation policy has been looked on as a benchmark for countries seeking rapid reforestation.Evolution of forestry policyKorea’s forests cover 64 percent of its land area today, but 40

Fifth-grader Ahn Jae-hoo has the email account ilop642, using the acronym for “I Love Our Planet.” Since entering elementary school in southern Seoul, he has participated in Earth Hour, an international event for conseving energy by turning off lights, every March. “Using air conditioners and electronic fans as little as possible in summer is part of my own energy-saving efforts. And I always unplug my computer after using it,” Ahn said.Lee Doo-yeon, 11, is an “energy guardian” who monitors powe

Greenhouse gas emissions in Korea rose at the fastest rate in 17 years in 2010, prompting the government to rethink its goal of cutting emissions by 30 percent from projected levels by 2020.During his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly on Wednesday, Environmental Minister-nominee Yoon Seong-kyu said President Park Geun-hye recently called for a new road map to meet the goal. Greenhouse gases in 2010 marked 669 million tons of CO2 equivalent, a 9.8 percent increase from 609 million ton