Saving Nature Nowhere As Important as Television and Video Games for Children

A survey released on Wednesday has shockingly revealed that ten times more children around the world rank watching television and playing video games as more important to them than saving the environment.

Earth's flora and fauna are disappearing 1,000 times faster than the natural extinction rate, but only nine percent of kids gave a top priority to protecting the planet's animal life.

A Third of All Plants and Animals Are Dying - Thanks to Our Consumption Patterns
With human populations surging and people consuming more, animal and plant species are being killed off faster than ever before, says a United Nations report.

Many did not even know what is meant by "endangered species," reported the survey, released by the UN Convention on Biodiversity.

"The survey confirms the alarming disconnect of our children with nature," the Convention's Executive Secretary, Ahmed Djoghlaf, said in a statement.

He called for "urgent action to close this growing gap between tomorrow's citizens and their natural heritage."

The Verdict: Television is BAD for Children
Early exposure to television is detrimental to children's health, academic achievement and social development, warned a Canadian study published on Monday.

Sponsored by European aircraft giant Airbus, the survey was conducted among 10,000 five-to-18 year olds in 10 countries.

When asked which type of animal or plant they would most like to save, nine percent cited birds, 23 percent favoured reptiles, and 50 percent gave mammals top priority, with the snow leopard given as an example.

Ship-Breaking Exposes Bangladesh to Environmental Threat
When huge waves hit Bangladesh's sleepy southeastern Sitakundu coastline after a cyclone in 1991, shopkeeper Abul Kalam survived by hanging on to a coconut tree.

Only six percent chose plants and less than one percent opted for insects.

The participating countries were Australia, Britain, China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Spain and the United States.

Bio-medical Waste Poses Grave Danger to Environment
The Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB) conducted a workshop to address the growing issue of bio-medical waste as it poses a grave danger to the environment.

Source-AFP
TAN