ONE industry that seems unaffected by the economic downturn is the unearthing of gloomy news about the environment. On January 30th, a group of 150 marine scientists issued what they called the "Monaco Declaration", warning that the acidity of the world's oceans was rising 100 times faster than the natural rate, thanks to increasing levels of carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere. At that rate, they predict, most coral reefs will be gone by 2050.
A few days before, a study had revealed that even Antarctica was warming; previous investigations had suggested that parts of it might have been getting colder. There were also reports that moths were abandoning the ever-steamier lowland jungles of Borneo and heading for higher (and cooler) ground, that the lifespan of trees in America was decreasing, that erosion was set to increase in Louisiana and Florida thanks to rising sea levels, and so on.
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