Earth Equity News

A Troubling Decline in the Caribou Herds of the Arctic. By Ed Struzik, YaleEnviro360, September 23, 2010."Across the Far North, populations of caribou -- an indispensable source of food and clothing for indigenous people -- are in steep decline. Scientists point to rising temperatures and a resource-development boom as the prime culprits…Thirty-four of the 43 major herds that scientists have studied worldwide in the last decade are in decline, with caribou numbers plunging 57% from their historical peaks. Some populations have fallen precipitously: The Bathurst herd in Canada's central Arctic has plummeted from a peak of 472,000 in 1986 to 32,000 today -- a drop of 93%."