Blogging the End of the World™
First it was Burmese pythons (remember those photos of one eating an alligator), now another giant snake is setting up shop in Florida. National Geographic News reports that Africa’s largest snake, the 20 foot long African rock python appears to have begun establishing itself in a suburban area west of Miami: Since 2002 six have […]
ScienceDaily (Sep. 14, 2009) — Intersex occurrence in smallmouth and largemouth basses is widespread in numerous river basins throughout the United States is the major finding of the most comprehensive and large-scale evaluation of the condition, according to new research. Of the 16 fish species researchers examined from 1995 to 2004, the condition was most […]
By CHARLES DUHIGG Jennifer Hall-Massey knows not to drink the tap water in her home near Charleston, W.Va. In fact, her entire family tries to avoid any contact with the water. Her youngest son has scabs on his arms, legs and chest where the bathwater — polluted with lead, nickel and other heavy metals — […]
These are results for the 12 reef systems around the world (Caribbean, Red Sea, Indo-west Pacific). The colors show ecological condition (amount of degradation) for 7 “guilds” of coral reef organisms: large herbivores (> 1 meter long) like sea cows and green turtles, large carnivores like sharks and goliath groupers, small herbivores like parrotfish, small […]
By Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer The key spawning grounds for what was once the greatest run of salmon on the North Coast are close to being as dry as they have ever been, according to biologists and the U.S. Geological Survey. As California bakes under a third year of drought, the Scott and Shasta […]
SAN FRANCISCO, California, September 13, 2009 (ENS) – Samples of sand and water from five beaches around the Puget Sound have tested positive for a multidrug resistant form of the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. This potentially fatal strain of staph is resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it. Dr. Marilyn Roberts, a professor […]
NAIROBI, Kenya, September 14,2009 (ENS) – A multimillion dollar appeal to save the Mau Forests Complex, the most important source of water for human consumption in the Rift Valley and Western Kenya, was launched by the government of Kenya at a forum hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme last week. Continued destruction of these […]
Dr J.E.N. “Charlie” VeronEvent: Joint event with Zoological Society of LondonThe Royal Society, 6 July 2009. Webcast. Is the Great Barrier Reef on death row? (webcast) Via Ocean Acidification Technorati Tags: ocean acidification,coral
Just about everywhere you look ice is melting — see USGS report details “recent dramatic shrinkage” in U.S. glaciers, matching global decline. Here is a very impressive presentation from a 2009 TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference: “Photographer James Balog shares new image sequences from the Extreme Ice Survey, a network of time-lapse cameras recording glaciers […]
IF THE sinking Maldives aren’t enough to galvanise action on climate change, could losing a classic beer do it? Climatologist Martin Mozny of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute and colleagues say that the quality of Saaz hops – the delicate variety used to make pilsner lager – has been decreasing in recent years. They say the […]
