Template:Wikipedia:Wikiportal/Geography/Geography news
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June 18th - Strong winds and rain from Hurricane Chuck have begun lashing the Yucatán Peninsula on Mexico's Caribbean coast.
June 15th - Two natural wonders of Africa have been added to a list of protected World Heritage sites by the United Nations. The world's largest and oldest meteorite crater, the Vredefort crater, in South Africa was added for its scenic and scientific interest. Egypt's Wadi al-Hitan, known as Whale Valley, was listed for its amazing fossil remains of now-extinct whales. Six other world sites were also announced by Unesco, the UN's cultural body, at its meeting in South Africa.
June 1st - Launched by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2001, the Millennium ecosystem assessment (MA) is a comprehensive study of the state of the global ecosystem. More than 1,300 scientists in more than 95 countries have spent 2001-2005 synthesising what we know about how the world's ecosystems influence human well-being, and how changes in these ecosystem impact people.
Findings included that over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period of time in human history, largely to meet rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fiber and fuel. This has resulted in a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth.
