Ecoclimax

The term " marsupial " comes from Latin and Greek word "marsupium," meaning "pouch." In biology, this term is used to refer to an abdominal pouch. Marsupials are any representatives of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All existent marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Indonesia and the Americas. A distinguishing feature typical to most of such species is that the immature are carried in a pouch.  The currently preserved marsupials include opossums, kangaroos, koalas, Tasmanian devils, wombats, wallabies, and bandicoots among others, while many vanished species, such as the thylacine, are also known. The map below shows Marsupial range and their biodiversity.

 What could be simpler than drinking a glass of water?  In the UK, when you turn on the tap, you assume what comes out will be drinkable. Indeed, the UN General Assembly recognises access to safe drinking water as a human right. And yet, more than a quarter of the world's population lives in water-stressed countries, and a similar number use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces, according to the World Health Organization.  Unfortunately, national wealth can be a deciding factor in whether a person can pour a safe glass of water to drink. According to the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), "good [environmental health] policy results are associated with wealth (GDP per capita), meaning that economic prosperity makes it possible for nations to invest in policies and programs that lead to desirable outcomes." To make matters worse, the heavy industry poorer countries employ in the attempt to level up can further compromise the local water.  The EPI index ...

According to the World Health Organisation , in 2022, 99% of the world’s population is breathing polluted air. It’s not a new issue, either: air pollution and its health effects have been on humanity’s radar for thousands of years . But while the phrase ‘air pollution’ might conjure up images of thick smog and eye-watering smoke, the most harmful type of air pollution particles are invisible to the naked eye.  Particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) describes pollutant particles so small that they can pass into your bloodstream and cause various health problems . In fact, they’re responsible for the deaths of around 4.2 million people worldwide each year. As it won’t disappear completely anytime soon, the WHO wants to reduce average annual levels to no more than five micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m3). Much of the world still has a long way to go in reducing harmful air pollution levels, but the good news is that some cities are making great strides toward cleaning up the air....

While Red squirrels are native to Eurasia, Grey squirrels were introduced to the United Kingdom in the Victorian era (in the 1890s). The traditional view is that they are distributed rapidly across the United Kingdom because of their capacity to cope with new landscapes. Wherever grey squirrels are imported, red squirrels eventually become extinct due to grey out-competing them. The other issue is that Grey squirrels in the United Kingdom carry a squirrel pox virus that doesn't kill them but is lethal to red squirrels. The Italian Grey Squirrels don't presently have squirrel pox, so they're substantially less dangerous to Red squirrels. The map below shows Red and Gray squirrel dispersals in Europe.