How the demise of the shark has led to our oceans becoming packed with sardines

By David Derbyshire18th February 2011 The world’s oceans are increasingly over-crowded with sardines, researchers say. In the last 100 years, the number of small fish – such as pilchards, herrings, anchovies, sprats and sardines – has more than doubled, according to a study. The rise is caused by a major decline in big ‘predator fish’ […]

Worldwide search for ‘lost frogs’ finds 4 percent of target species – ‘Amphibians are really at the forefront of this extinction wave’

By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.comFebruary 16, 2011 Last August, a group of conservation agencies launched the Search for Lost Frogs, which employed 126 researchers to scour 21 countries for 100 amphibian species, some of which have not been seen for decades. After five months, expeditions found 4 amphibians out of the 100 targets, highlighting the likelihood […]

Fishing down food web leaves fewer big fish, more small fish – ‘Goodbye, wild ocean!’

Contact: Brian Lin, UBC Public Affairs, brian.lin@ubc.caFeb. 18, 2011 Predatory fish such as cod, tuna, and groupers have declined by two-thirds over the past 100 years, while small forage fish such as sardine, anchovy and capelin have more than doubled over the same period, according to University of British Columbia researchers. Led by Prof. Villy […]

Vines overtaking the American tropics

Contact: Beth King, kingb@si.edu, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 14 Feb 2011 Sleeping Beauty’s kingdom was overgrown by vines when she fell into a deep sleep. Researchers at the Smithsonian in Panama and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee received more than a million dollars from the U.S. National Science Foundation to discover why real vines […]

Study finds massive flux of gaseous hydrocarbons, in addition to liquid oil, at BP well blowout in Gulf

Paper has implications for oxygen depletion, provides photographic evidence of plumes By Sam Fahmy, sfahmy@uga.eduFeb 13, 2011, 13:04 Athens, Ga. – A new University of Georgia study that is the first to examine comprehensively the magnitude of hydrocarbon gases released during the Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico oil discharge has found that up to 500,000 […]

Graph of the Day: Capture Fisheries Production in the Atlantic Ocean, 1970-2008

Note: NEI = not elsewhere included. Global production of marine capture fisheries reached a peak of 86.3 million tonnes in 1996 and then declined slightly to 79.5 million tonnes in 2008, with great interyear fluctuations. In 2008, the Northwest Pacific had the highest production of 20.1 million tonnes (25 percent of the global marine catch), […]

Ecuador court orders Chevron to pay $8 billion for massive environmental damage in the Amazon

February 14, 2011 (Reuters) – A court in Ecuador’s Amazon jungle ordered Chevron Corp to pay more than $8 billion in damages on Monday in a closely watched environmental suit, the plaintiffs’ lawyer said. But the U.S. oil company vowed to appeal, meaning the long-running case dating from drilling in the South American nation during […]

Graph of the Day: Total Additional Radioactivity After the Chernobyl Release for Six Radionuclides

Total additional radioactivity (in petabequerels) in the global environment after the Chernobyl catastrophe: (1) Am-241, (2) Pu (239 + 240), (3) Pu-241, (4) Sr-90, (5) Cs-137, (6) I-131. Mulev, 2008 As a result of the catastrophe, 40% of Europe was contaminated with dangerous radioactivity. Asia and North America were also exposed to significant amounts of […]

Philippines ban logging following deadly floods

By Sally Davies6 Feb 2011 The president of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino, has imposed a nationwide ban on logging after floods which affected a high proportion of the country. The president said that too much logging was resulting in these areas being more susceptible to flooding and landslides. However, it is expected that it will […]

Cyclone Yasi adds to Great Barrier Reef’s flood woes – Ocean heating and acidification ‘will knock out the reef in the long term anyway’

Sydney (AFP) Feb 6, 2011 – Hammered by a monster cyclone just weeks after flooding spewed toxic waste into its pristine waters, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could face a slow recovery due to climate change, experts warn. Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, a top-category storm, ripped through Australia’s northeast tourist coast Thursday, levelling houses and decimating […]

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