*[Enwl-eng] Europe's wild birds in danger
enwl
enwl at enw.net.ru
Thu Aug 24 19:34:51 MSK 2023
+ DNA breakthrough, Georgia's ascension hopes
Bird populations are plummeting
Europe’s wild birds are in trouble, according to a newly published
comprehensive assessment of their populations. Scientists warn that two in
every five species are now considered at risk. They include owls, vultures
and and lapwings.
Many problems are driving the decline. Puffins, to take a pressing
example, have lost their food sources to commercial fishing. Avian flu is a
problem for others. But chief among the concerns is habitat loss.
Fortunately, on this point, there is a clear path out of the crisis. A
Europe-wide initiative is seeking to protect important breeding sites. And a
bold project underway in Hungary to restore grassland loved by birds is
cited as an inspiration to others.
Territorial matters
You’d be forgiven for having missed two small but highly controversial
words slipped into a recent EU declaration published to mark the end of a
summit with Latin American nations. But eagle-eyed British diplomats
certainly didn’t and they have been frothing with indignity ever since. The
words in question are “Islas Malvinas”, the Spanish term for the land the
British call the Falkland Islands. For the British government, even just
using the Spanish version alongside the British, as this document did, can
be seen as the first step on a slippery slope towards recognising Argentina’s
potential ownership of the archipelago.
What seems like a minor textual clarification for Spanish readers has,
therefore, triggered a panic attack across the Channel. The EU’s response
has effectively amounted to reminding the British that they’re no longer a
member of the union and cannot therefore expect unwavering solidarity for
their claim over a cluster of islands on the other side of the world.
If the argument over the Falklands tells us anything, it’s that
language is inherently political. That's especially true for speakers of
minority languages, who often engage in intense campaigning to protect their
native tongues. Here in the UK, for example, successful lobbying by Welsh
language activists has resulted in laws mandating Welsh be taught in schools
and be used in official government correspondence. But this sociolinguist
argues that we shouldn’t always presume that such efforts are time well
spent.
A violent territorial dispute unfolded 15 years ago this month over
the region of South Ossetia – which is officially part of Georgia but had
been occupied by Russia since the end of the Soviet Union. Understanding
this conflict provides context to the current debate around whether the EU
should grant Georgia candidate status to become a member state.
DNA breakthrough
In a paper published yesterday, scientists revealed that they have
found the final piece of the puzzle that was holding them back from
sequencing the Y chromosome. It’s a huge development for medicine. Read
about how the discovery came about here.
In a less edifying scientific breakthrough, a Dutch man has ended up
fathering more than 550 children by donating his sperm. The story has
specialists wondering if it might not be a bad idea to limit the number of
times people should be allowed to ride this particular merry-go-round. If
one single donor can parent a population the size of a small village then it
wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility that two of these siblings
might end up living in the same actual village. And they might even then get
rather more close than is sensible for two people of shared parentage, if
you catch my drift.
This awkward situation has become a pan-European issue, since the
Dutch man was able to spread his seed so far and wide by travelling to
different countries to make deposits. So the only way to stop it from
happening again would be to regulate from Brussels.
- Laura Hood, Senior Politics Editor and Assistant Editor, The
Conversation UK
Europe’s wild bird species are on the brink – but there are ways to
bring them back
A new assessment of the population status of Europe's birds reveals
that the number of species that are of conservation concern is increasing.
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Recap
Yevgeny Prigozhin: Wagner Group boss joins long list of those who
challenged Vladimir Putin and paid the price
Scientists find the last remnants of the human genome that were
missing in the Y chromosome
Fifteen years after the war in Georgia, the dilemmas of the European
Union in the South Caucasus
Why an EU document mentioning the ‘Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands’
is a big deal
For the curious
a.. Why we need to set limits on sperm donation
b.. Protecting endangered languages feels right, but does it really
help people?
Podcast
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From: Laura at The Conversation Europe
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2023 2:02 PM
Subject: Europe's wild birds in danger
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