Googling for Extinction...
In the science of ecology, a network of inter-dependent, predator-prey relationships is known as a “food web”. For ecologists, one of the most crucial problems to solve is identifying the consequences (to the web, or ecosystem) when one species goes extinct. What’s more, certain species seem to be more critical in keeping these webs functioning; when they go extinct, they cause one or more co-extinctions . But due to these complexities, determining which species in...
Similar Tropical Forest...
photo: Lori via flickr While we’ve just learned that over 80% of new farmland in the tropics came at the expense of forests, another new study shows us that when it comes to calculating how much carbon tropical forests store , variable on the ground conditions make estimating how much sequestration potential forests have more tricky than thought. In fact, for some areas this has been overestimated … Read the full story on TreeHugger Here is the original post: Similar...
Northern Countries to G...
A University of California LA geographer notes in book that northern countries such as Canada, Scandinavia and Russia are likely to thrive and become formidable economic powers. Laurence C. Smith writes in “The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilizations Northern Future” that northern countries and some northern states of the US will become large economic powers and migration magnets. “In many ways, the New North is well positioned for the coming century even as its...
Increased Chance of Dea...
A new report issued by US environmental and scientific federal agencies suggests that there is a growing thread of hypoxia in US waters. Hypoxia is a condition which sees oxygen levels in the water decrease to a point which stresses or kills the animal and bacterial life living therein. “The Nation’s coastal waters are vital to our quality of life, our culture, and the economy. Therefore, it is imperative that we move forward to better understand and prevent hypoxic events,...
NPR Reports on the Envi...
National Public Radio has some of the best and current environmental education available through their free programs and podcasts. A long respected source, NPR covers a variety of environmental topics, and is a great place to hear the voices and names of those involved in contemplating and addressing the current state of our planet. Another excellent NPR podcast (where environmental and ecological issues are oft discussed) is Science Friday , hosted by Ira Flatow. Flatow is a...
Chimps Found Deactivati...
photo: Graham Racher via flickr Go chimps, go! An interesting new paper in the journal Primates documents how a group of chimpanzees in Bossou, Guinea have been successfully deactivating snares set by human bushmeat hunters. Though not always successful, the scienti… Read the full story on TreeHugger The rest is here: Chimps Found Deactivating Snares Set By Human Bushmeat...
Best of Inhabitots: 7 T...
Photo credit: on_ovington + Baby formula could contain unsettling amounts of aluminum &emdash;more than 40 times the amount found in breast milk, according to one recent study. + Another scary side-effect of tainted baby formula: Breasts in female infants . + 85 percent of so-called kid-friendly drinks and snacks could contain Read the original here: Best of Inhabitots: 7 Toxic Dangers for...
Amazon Deforestation Do...
photo: Leo Freitas via flickr According to preliminary data from Brazilian NGO Imazon , deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is down 16% over the past twelve months, with 1,488 square kilometers (574 square miles) of forest cleared. All that tree felling resulted in 95.6 million metric tons of CO2 released into the atmosphere, Original post: Amazon Deforestation Down 16% Over Past Year, New Data...
Mark Ronson Brings Bike...
Image: MSN.com I’m admitting it: I have a great big dude crush on Mark Ronson . The British musician/producer has put together some of the best pop music the world’s heard in a while, and I can’t DJ a party without spinning his recut of Britney Spears’ Toxic (with Tiggers, ODB, and the Daptones horn section). Ronson’s upcoming release, Record Collection, includes a track called Bike Song, and the video is a beautiful thing. Ronson, Spank Rock, and Kyle...