The giant Panda is one of the rarest species in the animal world, and the researchers at York university fear that they might become extinct if global warming keeps having its adverse affects on the climate.

The research which was jointly carried out by the University of York and the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, in conjunction with Sichuan University and the Kunming Institute of Botany in China, has been reported in Environmental News Network (ENN).

The giant panda's main source of food is bamboo, which may get scarce due to unwanted effects of the climate change.

Edinburgh, Oct 9 : Sharia courts, which have been operational in England for more than a year now, will soon be set up in Scottish cities, like Edinburgh and Glasgow. Secret talks are said to be underway to bring these courts to the neighbouring country.

The move is being opposed by several quarters of the Scottish society. Attempts to set up sharia courts in Canada in 2005 were abandoned after protests.

Qamar Bhatti, director of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT), which runs the courts, admitted secret discussions were taking place with lawyers and Muslim community groups in Scotland, reported The Scotsman.

Edinburgh, September 29 : Scotland has announced that it would build the world’s first tidal farms under the sea within three years, which would be a major step in marine renewable energy.

According to a report in The Scotsman, two tidal projects, each with up to 20 turbines, could be installed on the seabed in the Pentland Firth and the Sound of Islay. A third is planned off the North Antrim coast in Northern Ireland.

The aim is that all the underwater turbines would be constructed in Scotland, kickstarting the renewables industry in the country.

Edinburgh, September 2 : A new study has suggested that as a result of unprecedented temperature rise, the world should be prepared for doubling the safe limit for global warming to 4 degrees Celsius, to avoid a potential climate catastrophe.

According to a report in the Scotsman, the study has been done by scientists at the Tyndall Centre, a leading organistation for climate change research at the University of Manchester in the UK.

Edinburgh, September 1 : A new research, by scientists at the Edinburgh University, has suggested that climate change could make Africa’s animals evolve into a number of new separate species.

According to a report in the Scotsman, the future loss of lakes and rivers in Africa would influence how species such as buffalo, wildebeest and elephants evolve.

Large populations of animals, which need water to survive, could be divided and, over time, evolve into new species to cope with their new surroundings.

An isolated population of buffalo, unable to interbreed with others, might evolve to the size of small elephants in the future, in order to accommodate a larger stomach, according to the report.

Edinburgh, August 12 : Scientists have left stunned by the discovery of a shark that had eaten a polar bear.

According to a report in The Scotsman, part of the jaw of a young polar bear was found in the stomach of a Greenland shark in Svalbard, northern Norway.

“We’ve never heard of this before. We don’t know how it got there. We can’t say whether or not the shark took a swimming young bear or ate a carcass,” said Kit Kovacs, of the Norwegian Polar Institute.

“We don’t know how active these sharks are as predators,” he added.

However, shark experts think it was likely the bear was dead before the shark found it. Even a young bear would be a ferocious opponent for a Greenland shark.