Global challenges

Lithium hunting affects animals and plants in the Chilean desert

The extraction of the important battery metal lithium in Chile is having negative consequences for plant and animal life in the mineral-rich salt desert of Atacama, local residents tell the BBC.

The extraction process, in the second largest lithium producer in the world, consumes enormous amounts of water in an already dry region. And the government of the Latin American country plans to increase production by up to 70 percent in the next five years.

The few lagoons in the salt desert have become smaller, and the number of flamingos has decreased, according to biologist Faviola Gonzalez.

- Before there were many, now there are only a few.

Global extraction has increased sharply, and the development is expected to continue, as demand for electric cars increases.

Expert: Damage inevitable – but mistakes made from the start

Environmental damage in connection with mineral extraction is inevitable, reports the BBC, which writes that the extraction of lithium in Chile is contributing to a drought that has hit animal and plant life hard.

Political scientist Karen Smith Stegen believes, however, that mining companies are not free from responsibility, but that there is room for improvement. Before lithium is pumped out of the ground, analyzes should be made of how the extraction affects animal life and local communities, she believes.

– Mining companies should have involved these local communities from the very beginning

Birdwatchers' paradise threatened by climate change

Vardø in northernmost Norway is one of the world's top birdwatching spots, but now the sensitive coastal ecosystem is threatened by climate change, bird flu and fish shortages. This is reported by the AP.

Among other things, the number of kitty wakes has decreased by 80 percent since the 1990s.

Bird guide Boris Belchev says the trend is frightening. He describes a kind of domino effect. For example, capelin fish are moving to colder waters further out to sea. This is affecting seabirds, which depend on capelin as food for their young.