Oil spill’s toll on birds set to soar drastically

  By Steve Gorman and Ernest Scheyder, Editing by Sandra MalerLOS ANGELES/FORT JACKSONThu Jul 1, 2010 3:01am EDT LOS ANGELES/FORT JACKSON, Louisiana (Reuters) – Despite the images of oil-soaked pelicans flooding the media in recent weeks, wildlife experts say the toll on sea birds from BP’s Gulf Coast oil spill is smaller than was anticipated, […]

Rats drive Malta lizard to extinction

  By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.com June 29, 2010 The Selmunett lizard (Podarcis filfolensis ssp. Kieselbachi) is very likely extinct, according to Maltese naturalist Arnold Sciberras. One of four subspecies of the Maltese wall lizard, the Selmunett lizard was last seen in 2005. Although the lizard’s home—Selmunett Island—has long been uninhabited by people, that fact did […]

Sea temperatures at all-time high, mass coral bleaching underway

Coral reefs support a quarter of the world’s marine life, but rising ocean temperatures are killing them. The impact of their decline could be huge, says marine biologist Olivia Durkin A a result of rising sea temperatures, we are seeing the degradation and eventual destruction of one of the most beautiful ecosystems on Earth. Corals […]

Wildlife officials to move up to 50,000 sea turtle eggs to Florida’s east coast

By  Ryan Dezember, Press-Register Published: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 5:00 AM Federal wildlife officials plan to move tens of thousands of sea turtle eggs from oil-plagued beaches along the northern Gulf to Florida’s east coast, where the reptiles would hatch in a controlled environment and be released into the Atlantic Ocean. Made public over the […]

Reseachers predict larger-than-average Gulf dead zone; Impact of oil spill unclear

  ScienceDaily (June 28, 2010) — University of Michigan aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia and his colleagues say this year’s Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” is expected to be larger than average, continuing a decades-long trend that threatens the health of a $659 million fishery. The 2010 forecast, released by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric […]

Massive Pensacola Beach cleanup effort proves futile – Oil buried under inches of sand

By Travis Griggs • tgriggs@pnj.com • June 25, 2010 Despite intensive efforts by more than 1,100 workers and heavy equipment to clean thick tar from Pensacola Beach overnight Wednesday, massive sheets of oil remained buried in the sand. An 8-mile stretch of Pensacola Beach that was covered with gooey oil Wednesday appeared to be clean […]

Gulf oil spill a threat to Arctic birds

By Justin Nobel, Special to Nunatsiaq News June 24, 2010 2:18 PM NEW ORLEANS, La. — Carey O’Neil is heartbroken as he steers his boat through a slick of oil near the mouth of the Mississippi River. “This is one of our best shrimping spots,” the Louisiana shrimper says, surveying the damage from the Deepwater […]

Video: Sharks and fish driven to Alabama shoreline by hypoxic zones

Dozens of sharks follow fish fleeing oil spill to Alabama shoreline Thursday, June 24, 2010, 2:30 PM It has easily been the most-watched video ever put on al.com by the Press-Register, with 125,722 starts as of early Thursday afternoon. Video footage shot on June 18 by Ben Raines of the Press-Register and uploaded the following […]

‘Code Red’ for the Great Lakes, Asian carp penetrate electric barrier

CHICAGO, Illinois, June 23, 2010 (ENS) – One invasive bighead Asian carp has been found in Lake Calumet along the Chicago Area Waterway System – the first fish that has been found above the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s electric barrier system built to keep out the voracious exotic species. The capture of this fish […]

Scientists warn that Malaysia is converting tropical forests to rubberwood plantations

By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.com June 24, 2010 The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) has condemned Malaysia’s booming practice of converting tropical forests into rubberwood plantations, arguing that the conversion threatens Malaysia’s biodiversity, endangered species, and releases significant greenhouse gas emissions. According to the resolution, rubberwood plantations in Malaysia have expanded nearly 30-fold in […]

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