Researchers warn "we need to act quickly" as less than 16% of the world's coastal regions remain intact
CBSN
Coastal regions around the world are experiencing high levels of "human pressure," with only about 15.5% of them remaining intact as of 2013, a recent study from Australian researchers concluded.
The study, by the University of Queensland, focused on quantifying "industrialized" pressures that are known to damage the environment, such as roadways, nutrient pollution from agriculture activities and even intense fishing.
Calling on urgent conservation efforts, researchers identified regions that are highly degraded and ones that have remained unharmed.
Noumea — France's president held a flurry of meetings with local representatives in the restive Pacific territory of New Caledonia on Thursday, urging calm after deadly rioting, and vowing thousands of military reinforcements will stay in place to quell what he called an "unprecedented insurrection."
Kathmandu — Nepali climber Phunjo Lama on Thursday reached Mount Everest's summit in 14 hours and 31 minutes, smashing the record for the world's fastest ascent of the mountain by a woman. Climbers usually take days to reach the top of the 29,032-foot mountain, spending nights on its different camps to rest and acclimatize.
New Delhi — Indian justice officials have changed course amid outrage over the bail terms set for a teenager accused of killing two people while driving a Porsche at high speed while drunk and without a license. The 17-year-old son of a wealthy businessman had been ordered to write a 300-word essay and work with the local traffic police for 15 days to be granted bail — a decision that was made within 15 hours of his arrest.
Zurich — A woman jogger was killed by a naked man who was screaming and attacking people in a lakeside park in Switzerland, police said Wednesday. The attack happened Tuesday evening in Mannedorf on Lake Zurich, around 12 miles southeast of Switzerland's biggest city, the Zurich cantonal police said.