(CNN) -- The world's eco-systems are at risk of "rapid degradation and collapse" according to a new United Nations report.

The third Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3) published by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) warns that unless "swift, radical and creative action" is taken "massive further loss is increasingly likely."

Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the CBD said in a statement: "The news is not good. We continue to lose biodiversity at a rate never before seen in history."

Coal is America's dirtiest energy source -- and the country's leading source of global warming pollution.

Coal mining destroys land, pollutes thousands of miles of streams and brings massive environmental damage to mountain communities.

Pollution from coal plants produces dirty air, acid rain and contaminated land and water. Health problems associated with coal pollution include childhood asthma, birth defects and respiratory diseases that take nearly 25,000 lives each year.

"Coal is the single greatest threat to civilization and all life on our planet." – James Hansen, NASA's top climate scientist

There are far cleaner and cheaper ways to meet America’s energy needs. Yet industry apologists are spending millions of dollars to block clean energy solutions and persuade Americans that they can keep using coal without the consequences.

(CNN) -- You used to know them as maps, but in a Web 2.0 world they're now called geographic information systems (GIS) and they could play a key part in saving the world's endangered coral reefs.

Harnessing the power of interactive maps is Reefs at Risk Revisited, a conservation and research project headed by the World Resources Institute. It is in the process of updating its 1998 survey on the threats to the world's coral reefs and central to the project is Google Earth.

The online map is being used to collect data from nearly 30 project partners, including WWF and Conservation International, and the final report will be freely available to the public.