reports in ECOLOGY category

The 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) opens in Antalya today and will run until November 20. The first day will focus on food security, agriculture, water efficiency, and the health impacts of climate change. Özgür Gürbüz and Cansu Acar are covering COP31 for bianet.

According to a study by scientists from Bartın and İstanbul universities, the Erikli floodplain forest shrank by 16 percent over 30 years, while wetlands in Sakagöl disappeared or deteriorated. Human pressure is increasing the ecosystem’s vulnerability.

Despite limited awareness of the summit, the public supports renewable energy and a phaseout of coal and believes the government should do more to tackle climate change.

Prof. Türkeş says, "The relatively abundant rainfall of the Eastern Black Sea does not automatically make it a safe migration region."

“Biodiversity knows no borders; it's incredibly fluent and connected. Coming together makes it easy to connect the dots between the countries.."

Antalya’s legacy should extend to its water use, heat protection, tourism, food supply, transport, and waste systems.

A delivery courier who worked during heavy rain in İstanbul says stopping work leads to a drop in his rating on the delivery app. The Courier Rights Association is calling on national and local authorities and platform companies to introduce measures protecting couriers' lives and incomes from the effects of the climate crisis.

Climate scientist Prof. Barış Önol told bianet following the Oct 14 floods in İstanbul, which killed seven people, that extreme rainfall would become both more frequent and more intense as a result of the climate crisis.