Paper can be recycled 7 times and plastic more.

carbon footprint - electricity v gas

Every kilowatt hour used generates 1.3 kg of carbon dioxide. Using gas the same amount of energy produces a third of the amount of carbon dioxide.

ancient Tasmanian forests

In 1998 only 13% of the ancient forests remained
Less than half that 13% is protected in national parks
30% of Tasmania's forested wilderness is threatened by logging.
And that includes most of the ancient forests.
92% of the timber extracted from State forests become woodchips; 3.5% becomes sawn timber.

Source: Greenpeace

endemic

An ecological buzzword which trips me up. It means: found no where else - naturally. It therefore has a high ecological value. The opposite is a cosmopolitan species and an indigenous species is native but may be found elsewhere.

And a link.

This is really cool

Biodiversity hotspots

Old Growth Forest distribution

35% in Latin America, meaning Brazil for the most part

28% in North America (more Alaska and Canada - Boreal)

19% in North Asia (think Siberia - Boreal)

8% in Africa

7% in South Asia Pacific

3% in Europe

ecological threats to the ocean

overfishing - Science estimates that there will be no commercially harvestable seafood left by 2048.

bottom trawling - scrapes the bottom destroying coral gardens etc.

Longliniing - incidentally catches animals and birds, including turtles and albatrosses

pollution - sewage and industrial - treated as a rubbish pit

desal plants are a new threat.

Channel deepening and dredging off coasts

CO2 emissions which concentrate carbon in the water which screws up the pH - and causes ocean acidification

garbage - especially plastics which sea creatures eat and which then kills them.

200 dead spots in the ocean.