News Briefs One in every four mammals and one in every eight birds are at risk of extinction, according to The World Conservation Union (IUCN), the world's largest conservation organization. The group conducted the most comprehensive analysis of conservation to date, examining some 18,000 species and subspecies around the globe. Species extinction is on the rise since the last assessment in 1996, according to 2000 IUCN Red List. The number of mammals identified as critically endangered increased from 169 to 180, and the number of birds rose from 168 to 182. To view the report, go to www.redlist.org. Dramatic increases in logging in remote tropical regions of Africa have made it possible for local disease outbreaks to spread worldwide, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. Diseases have always passed from wild animals to humans through the butchering process, but logging roads now allow meat to be easily transported to busy airports and train stations in urban areas, the researchers find. The article "Deforestation, Hunting and the Ecology of Microbial Emergence," was published in the first issue of the journal Global Change and Human Health (2000,1 (1), 10-25). The full article is available at the publication's Web site, www.baltzer.nl/gchh. Soil dust swept off the African deserts and deposited in the Caribbean may be the cause of coral reef death and decline, according to a new study published in the Oct. 1 issue of Geophysical Research Letters (2000, 27 (19), 3029). Satellite data show that hundreds of millions of tons of soil dust, generated by the drought in the Sahel and desiccation of Lake Chad, makes its way to the Caribbean each year. The dust is loaded with the fungal pathogen Aspergillus, which kills corals, and with micronutrients mat stimulate algal growth and harm corals, the study says. For more information on African dust, visit http://coastal. er.usgs.gov/african_dust.
Sustainable development has created 14 million jobs, according to the WorldWatch Institute. Working for the Environment describes the technologies and policies mat are creating those jobs, which are associated witii the recycling and remanufacturing of goods, renewable energy, and greater energy and materials efficiency Wind power is already generating jobs at a fast clip, according to the report, including positions for wind meteorologists, structural engineers, metal workers, mechanics, and computer operators. "Jobs are more likely to be at risk where environmental standards are low and where innovation in favor of cleaner technologies is lagging," according to the report, which is available at www. worldwatch.org.
For the second year in a row, the Honda Insight was ranked as the most fuel-efficient car, according to EPA's list of fuel economy estimates for 2001-model passenger vehicles released in October. The two-seater coupe, which is designed wim advanced hybrid technology, gets a whopping 61 miles per gallon (mpg) for city driving and 68 mpg on the highway. What makes it all possible is the combination of a small gasoline engine and an electric motor capable of recharging itself. Coming in second was another electric hybrid car, the Toyota Prius. The 2001 Fuel Economy Guide can be found at www. fueleconomy.gov. Despite the absence of federal standards, EPA has taken no action to protect children from pesticide exposures in schools, according to a new report from the public interest group Beyond Pesticides. Low levels of pesticides can affect children's neurological, respiratory, immune, and
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endocrine systems, according to the report. The report recommends notification before pesticide use, buffer zones to prevent chemical drift, prohibiting when and where pesticides can be applied, and requiring schools to adopt integrated pest management programs. For a copy of Schooling of State Pesticide Laws—2000, call (202) 543-5450. American and British researchers hope to use the untapped power of thousands of desktop computers worldwide to create a more accurate model of global climate change in the coming century. The Casino-21 project requires participants to install a climate model, which appears like a screen saver, on their PCs. The combined computing power of the volunteers' machines can outperform today's supercomputers, according to the project's organizers, who have die support of the U.K. Hadley Centre for Climate Change. Over 20,000 participants have signed up for the project, which was based on ideas originally published in Nature (1999, 399 (6736), 569-572; 2000, 407 (6804), 617-620). For more information, go to www.climatedynamics.rl.ac.uk. More than 15% of the projects funded by EPA's Science To Achieve Results (STAR) program covered research that was not expected to be used, according to a GAO report released in September. Agency officials were uncertain whether an additional 60% of the grants would prove useful or not to their programs, the report found. Although the autiiors conclude mat it is too early to definitively judge the long-term effectiveness of the STAR program, which was inaugurated in 1995 in response to criticisms of the agency's research and focus, the report suggests ways to enhance its management. Environmental Research: STAR Grants Focus on Agency Priorities, But Management Enhancements Are Possible (RCED-00-170) can be found on the Web by going to www.gao.gov and searching for the report's name or number.
