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ecology 3

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New translation, the Magna Carta
article archives at abelard's news and comment zoneecology archives
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III-2004: 17 18 19 22 30

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world population explosion shows signs of slowing

“U.N. demographers on Wednesday scaled back their world population forecast for 2050 to 8.9 billion people from a 9.3 billion estimate of two years ago”

“In trimming 400 million people off its earlier projection for 2050, Chamie attributed half of the change to a greater than expected number of AIDS deaths and the other half to a fall in the expected number of births due to declining fertility levels.”

related material
seeking simultaneous solutions to both pollution and poverty

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology260203

27.02.2003

related material
seeking simultaneous solutions to both pollution and poverty

dangerous complacency

“"Shifting baselines", describes the phenomenon in which each generation perceives ocean life as abundant, even though it has declined slowly and steadily for several hundred years.

“Also called "old-timer syndrome", it represents the difference between an experienced scuba diver recognizing a damaged spot and a new one impressed by its underwater beauty. ”

The referred site, with worthwhile illustrations.

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology260203

26.02.2003

humans, clean up your act

“Leatherbacks are the oldest, largest, and widest-ranging marine animals ever to swim through our global ocean. Nine feet long, six feet wide, and weighing almost a ton they dive as deep as half a mile. Leatherbacks swam with pleiosaurs--outlasting them and the dinosaurs by 65 million years. Now the question is, can they survive us?”

“More that 90% of longlining effort in international waters originates from international fleets, primarily from Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and China. Finding a fix across a global ocean will require both international governments' and fishermen's buy-in.”

(Between 20 and 40 million tonnes of sea creatures are discarded back into the sea each year. This is called bycatch, that is creatures thrown back as illegal, due to quotas, or as unwanted. Much of this bycatch will die. I do not have full details at the moment. The total landed catch in a year is over 80 million tonnes.)

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology180203

updated
22.02.2003

the chinese threaten rhinos for vanity, the americans threaten beluga
The Europeans threaten the cod and the Japanese hunt down whales.
These problems concern us all. The seas cannot stand a free for all.
Stop blustering and quarrelling—solve the problems.

“If approved, an endangered species listing would prohibit all importation of beluga caviar into the United States, the world's largest beluga caviar importer.”

“The global caviar market has placed a premium on sturgeon, prompting overfishing and illegal trade. Experts say the worldwide caviar market is estimated at $100 million, but the illegal traffic of caviar from the Caspian Sea is about 10 times the legal trade. Other major threats to the species include habitat loss and pollution.”

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology180203-3

18.02.2003

coming into the modern world
A foolish and patronising article, but with interesting background.

Pressure on the environment—

“The Congo basin holds about one-fourth of the world's tropical forests and is the largest stretch of unbroken forest in the world aside from the Amazon. Each year, logging eats up 3,125 square miles of lush woods, an area twice the size of Rhode Island." "The logging has denuded swaths of the forest, and conservation groups say it endangers rare animals including gorillas, whose numbers have dwindled to only a few thousand in Republic of Congo and Rwanda.”

“The logging has denuded swaths of the forest, and conservation groups say it endangers rare animals including gorillas, whose numbers have dwindled to only a few thousand in Republic of Congo and Rwanda.”

Of course, no right thinking ‘pygmy’ would ever wish to live in a unit with hot and cold running water. They just love scrabbling for berries and stalking antelopes for days, in the hope of filling the larder.

The web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology180203-2

18.02.2003

slowly learning to live with the planet, instead of fighting a losing battle

“In Essex one of the first projects to let the sea back on to farmland, at Abbot's Hall at Salcott Creek, took three years to gain acceptance. It needed 32 separate planning permissions and licences, as well as the consent of the farmers and the oyster fishermen who feared mud would interfere with their oyster beds.”

related material
‘tragedy of the commons’ (archived news item)

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology100203

10.02.2003

related material
‘tragedy of the commons’ (archived news item)

dust storms in china

“Dust storms have been recorded in China for at least 2,700 years, but they are now increasing alarmingly both in size and in number.”

“The clouds sweep up millions of tons of precious topsoil from Chinese fields and pastures. Gone in a single day, the soil will take centuries to replace. But this is just the most dramatic symptom of the accelerating spread of deserts across the country, which is home to nearly one in every four people on the planet. ”

“China is belatedly trying to get to grips with the crisis. It is planting 26 million acres – a tenth of its grain-growing area – with trees. But many die because the soil is already too thin; and, say critics, too many are being planted around Beijing so as to try to "green" the city – and clean the air – before the 2008 Olympics.”

(thanks to Lavigne for lead)

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology280103-2

28.01.2003

pollution and deformities in amphibians like frogs

I have been waiting for a short review article in this area.
this one suits for a start.

three main causes are stated as suspect:

  1. greater exposure to ultraviolet radiation
  2. chemical contamination of water
  3. parasite epidemic.

Before reading on, make a guess—which of these three do you imagine is important?
Then check your guess/es after reading J

in four short parts:
explaining frog deformities ... 1
explaining frog deformities ... 2
explaining frog deformities ... 3
explaining frog deformities ... 4

from the first part:

“Chances are good that the factors affecting amphibians are also taking a toll on other species.”

Did the article convince you of that claim?

related material
bringing attention to increasing pressure on fresh water supplies

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology230103-2

23.01.2003

related material
bringing attention to increasing pressure on fresh water supplies

tasmanian rock ‘tells’ of changing sea levels

“A horizontal line and broad arrow were chipped into a rock face at convict-era Port Arthur's Isle of the Dead in 1841, in one of the first official attempts to measure the rise or fall of overall sea level.”

“It is thought to be the first benchmark in the [Southern] hemisphere, and one of three globally. Others were cut in Sweden and the Caspian Sea.”

“[The] sea level [is] rising today at the rate of about one millimetre a year...”

related material
modelling climate change

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology230103

23.01.2003

related material
modelling climate change

we’re watching us from space!

Fires in south-eastern Australia—

Two versions: false-colour or au naturel

related material
setback for australian astro-scientists

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology220103-2

22.01.2003

modelling climate change

A climatologist argues that recent real-world data not being factored into recent United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN IPCC) claims.

Are they really that sloppy? Sadly, that is not unbelievable!

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology220103

22.01.2003

wasteful singles

“Biodiversity is threatened severely not only by increased numbers of households, but also by less efficient per capita consumption of natural resources,[...] researchers say. They cite examples that larger numbers of households require more use of natural resources for construction, and that smaller numbers of people per household use on average more energy and goods per person.”

“In China's Wolong, a reduced average household size was tied directly to an increase in household numbers and a rise in the amount of fuel wood consumed by the local populace for cooking and heating, which has contributed to deforestation and loss and fragmentation of habitat for giant pandas.”

“Household dynamics in 141 countries [have been evaluated]. Among those are 76 biodiversity "hotspot" countries - including Australia, Brazil, China, Italy, Kenya and the United States - that have high density areas of animal and plant species, and [are] threatened by human activity.”

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology130103

13.01.2003

they’re coming to get us!

“Soaring seagull populations are proving a serious headache in urban Britain. Noise, mess, and the threat of physical attack have prompted a range of measures aimed at repelling the winged invaders.”

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology120103-2

12.01.2003

time for someone to start a malee plantation

“Many Aboriginals say the system, no matter how well intentioned, misses the point. They say that didgeridoos should not be cut or made by non-Aboriginal Australians at all, and are offended by the appropriation of the instrument, which is considered sacred.”

Car workers at a major car plant are now wondering if this wheeze will work for them!

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology120103

12.01.2003

antarctic melting clock

“the West Antarctic Ice Sheet began melting about 10,000 years ago and is still shrinking.”

“the study establishes a baseline trend of natural melting against whicSh any added melting caused by human influences on the climate can be measured.”

So, null evidence of anthropogenic global warming.

a fairly balanced article

“...the Met Office's Hadley Centre, which makes predictions of future climate change, believes such 'human activity' is instrumental in shaping Britain's long-term weather. Bolton, however, believes: 'There is no way to prove or disprove that man is to blame for this latest wet weather, all we can say is that it is warmer.' ”

Note this last statement with care, the Hadley Centre is among the most advanced and reliable weather analysis units on the planet.

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology050103

05.01.2003

more evidence of global warming

“...They determined that there have been significant overall species range shifts of 6.1 kilometers a decade, on average, toward the planet’s poles. Meanwhile, spring events such as egg laying and migration are occurring 2.3 days earlier each decade.....”

related material
there is no global warming
global warming

the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/ecology3.htm#ecology040103

04.01.2003

related material

there is no global warming

global warming



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