The Environment Chronicle

Acanthamoeba is the protozoa of the year 2012.

Soil of the Year 2012 is the Lowland Peat Soil.

In January and February 2012 poachers slaughtered more than 450 elephants in Bouba Ndjida National Park in northern Cameroon.

2012 marked the warmest year on record for the contiguous United States of America. The average temperature for 2012 was 55.3°F, 3.2°F above the 20th century average.

Nitrogen dioxide and particulates continue to impact air quality in Germany, according to interim measurement data for 2012 provided by the Länder and the Federal Environment Agency. The allowable annual mean for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) of 40 micrograms per cubic metre air (µg/m3) was exceeded at 52 per cent of urban stations located near traffic. In contrast, the PM10 annual mean values for particulates, which is also 40 µg/m3, remained constant throughout Germany in 2012. Air pollution by particulates last year was one of the lowest since monitoring began. Exceedences of daily mean values occurred mainly at monitoring stations located near traffic. Even when weather conditions were favourable, the values measured in 2012 at nearly 10 per cent of stations close to traffic were over the daily limit value for particulates.

In new estimates released on 25 March 2014, WHO reports that in 2012 around 7 million people died - one in eight of total global deaths – as a result of air pollution exposure. This finding more than doubles previous estimates and confirms that air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk.

Since the 1990s, Jakobshavn Isbræ has been regarded as the fastest moving glacier in Greenland. According to studies carried out by researchers from the University of Washington and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), its speed is now increasing dramatically, with record figures for 2012 and 2013. High spatial and temporal resolution data acquired by the German radar satellites TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X enabled very precise calculations of its speed. The results of the study will be released in the print version of 'The Cryosphere', an international scientific journal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), on 3 February 2014. Analysis of the data shows that the annual average of the flow rates for Jakobshavn Isbræ in 2012 and 2013 is almost three times greater than 20 years ago. During the summer period, the flow rates are over four times higher. The maximum speed measured by the scientists in the summer of 2012 was 17 kilometres per year; this is more than 46 metres per day – a record for outflow glaciers not only in Greenland, but also in Antarctica. The glacier's rising speed also indicates an increasing loss of thickness. The volume of Jakobshavn Isbræ entering the ocean is already so considerable that it is affecting sea levels, causing a rise of about one millimetre between 2000 and 2010. In future, the glacier will cause sea levels to rise even further.

Algal researchers of the German Botanical Society have chosen the stonewort (Charales) as alga of the year 2012.

Liquorice has been selected as Medicinal Plant of the Year 2012 because of its paramount importance to human well-being world-wide. The selection was made by a panel from the University of Würzburg, WWF and TRAFFIC.

Since 2011, the Federal Environment Agency has selected a "water body type of the year". Water Body Type of the Year 2012 is the "sandy, loamy lowland river", a water body type that includes the rivers Lippe, Ems, Aller, Alster, Elbe and Spree.

Cactus of the year 2012 is the Sand Dollar Cactus, Sea Urchin Cactus, Star Cactus or Star Peyote (Astrophytum asterias).

Dragonfly of the Year 2012 is the Southern Hawker or Blue Darner (Aeshna cyanea).

Flower of the Year 2012 is the Maiden pink (Dianthus deltoides).

The European larch (Larix decidua) is the tree of the Year 2012.

Fungus of the Year 2012 is the Cantharellus cinereus.

Fish of the Year 2012 are the Lampreys. In zoology, lampreys are sometimes not considered to be true fish because of their distinctive morphology and physiology.

Bird of the Year 2012 is the Jackdaw (Coloeus monedula).

Insect of the Year 2012 is the European stag beetle (Lucanus Cervus).

The Meulenwald in Hetzerath (Municipaliy Bernkastel-Wittlich) was chosen as Forest of the Year 2012 by the Union of German Foresters (Bund Deutscher Forstleute BDF). It documents the exemplary fulfillment of all requirements of society and nature in a forest as well as the efforts of the foresters. The Forest of the Year will be announced on an annual basis.

Lichen of the year 2012 is the Lobaria pulmonaria.

Moss of the Year 2012 is the Buxbaumia viridis.

Orchid of the Year 2012 is the Orchis pallens.

The Common toad or European toad ( bufo bufo) was nominated to the Amphibian of the Year 2012 by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde e.V. (DGHT).

Fluvial Topography of the Year 2012 and 2013 is the Helme, a river in central Germany that is about 65 kilometres (40 mi) long and which forms a left-hand, western tributary of the Unstrut in the states of Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt.

German Mollusc of the Year 2012 is the Oxyloma elegans.

Spider of the Year 2012 is the large cave spider (Meta menardi). The large cave spider is one of 955 species of long-jawed spider known throughout the world. In Europe we have 29 species, in central Europe 19. The large cave spider Meta menardi is geographically widely distributed. In central Europe it is usually found in upland regions, and is particularly common in karst areas such as the Frankish or Swabian Alps. The spider lives in subterranean caves, cellars, mineshafts and within stone runs with a medium level of humidity and a constant temperature above 7°C. The body length of the large cave spider Meta menardi is 11 to 13 mm in males and 14 to 17 mm in females.

Butterfly of the Year 2012 is the Small Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia).

Endangered livestock breed of the year 2012 is the Deutscher Sperber.

Water plant of the Year 2012 is the White water-crowfoot (Ranunculus aquatilis).

Cave Animal of the Year 2012 is the large cave spider (Meta menardi).

Every year since 2004, the Global Nature Fund, announces the Threatened Lake of the Year on February 2nd. Lake Titicaca is the Threatened Lake of the Year 2012. Lake Titicaca is the largest freshwater lake in South America and the highest, commercially navigable body of water in the world. In the barren plateau of the Andes, the Altiplano in Peru and Bolivia, Lake Titicaca was and continues to be of existential importance to the surrounding population due to its role as a source of drinking water and, thanks to its abundance of fish, of food. Around 2 million people live in Lake Titicaca’s catchment area today. This has put high demands on all of the resources of the lake, the shore areas and the adjoining land. In past decades, the self-cleaning capacity of the lake was relied upon, causing the clarification of waste water in the catchment area to be carried out inadequately. The grave consequences of these failings can be seen in many places today. Together with the massive overuse of the lake, they account for the highly endangered status of the lake and threaten the future provision of livelihoods for many people and animals.

Animal of the Year 2012 is the Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra.

Perennial Herb of the Year 2012 is the Knotweed.

Poisonous Plant of the Year 2012 is the Common laburnum (Laburnum anagyroides).

Citrullus colocynthis, commonly known as the colocynth, bitter apple, bitter cucumber, egusi, or vine of Sodom named 2012 Medicinal Herb of the Year by the NHV Theophrastus.

On 16 December 2011, the Maltese-registered cargo ship TK Bremen ran aground off Erdeven beach in southern Brittany, on the north-west coat of France. The public authorities said in a statement a kilometre-long strip of fuel was headed towards the beach.

Octylphenol will become the first chemical to be taken up on the European ‘Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern for Authorisation’ because of its endocrine disruptive effect.Scientific studies have proven that octylphenol acts as an endocrine disruptor in fish. Even at low concentrations it impairs development and reproduction. Octylphenol, or 4-tert-Octylphenol, is used to manufacture paints, adhesives, and tyres. Effective immediately, octylphenol is classified as a ”substance of very high concern for authorisation“ which should be replaced, as stipulated by the EU REACH Directive. The EU states have thereby voted unanimously to approve UBA’s proposal.

The cities of Stuttgart, Arnsberg and Wuppertal and the WOGENO housing cooperative in Munich are this year’s winners of the Blue Compass contest (Blauer Kompass 2011). The prize is awarded for the best ideas in adapting to climate change in Germany. It is being awarded for the first time in 2011 by the German Federal Ministry for Environment (BMU) and the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and represents one measure to implement the Federal Government’s Adaptation to Climate Change action plan. Participants included 59 municipalities, businesses and associations. All contest entries and other examples of adaptation measures are stored in a Federal Environment Agency database which is available to the public at www.tatenbank.anpassung.net.

Seventeenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) and the 7th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 7) took place from 28 November to 9 December 2011 in Durban, South Africa. After two weeks of difficult negotiations, the longest UN climate summit in history ended with the international community agreeing take up negotiations on a legally binding climate agreement that includes all states the following year. On this basis the Conference of the Parties (COP) was able to agree on a second commitment period under Kyoto Protocol to follow on from the first commitment period which expires at the end of 2012.

On 25 November 2011, the European Red List of Vascular Plants was published by the European Commission. This first assessment of Europe’s Vascular Plants has assessed 1,826 species. The assessment comprises three groups: plants included in European and international policy instruments, selected priority crop wild relatives, and aquatic plant species present in Europe. The assessment shows us that at least 467 species are threatened. The publication was prepared by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).