News Archives

Week of September 5, 2004

Dams will remain

The Bush Administration has declared that dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers will remain. The removal of the dams was one possible way of restoring endangered salmon runs, and was politically a very controversial move.

Well, they never much cared for those salmon anyway.

Posted by Jennifer on Saturday, September 11 2004, 10:46 PM

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr: Environmental Defender

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is traveling the country, promoting his book Crimes Against Nature, and explaining in sad yet vivid terms exactly how much environmental damage exists in the world today, and what the likely consequences will be. But listening to him is not depressing. He projects a strong sense of hope and a will to change our ecological direction that I think you will find inspiring.

Today he appeared in an interview on San Francisco radio station KQED. His interviewer is the incomparable Angie Coiro, and this one is worth your time to listen to from end to end. Enjoy.

Posted by Jennifer on Friday, September 10 2004, 6:53 PM

Friday Cat Blogging

Our beautiful Jamey:

Because I can! The photo is © Me, of course.

Posted by Jennifer on Friday, September 10 2004, 2:39 PM

On the Family Life of Dinosaurs

Recently in China, scientists found a fossilized nest of dinosaurs. Now, many dinosaur fossils have been found over the years. But this particular nest was different — it was a single grown dinosaur with 34 young all around it. The dinosaurs died in a crouched position, their heads extended, and the researchers speculate that they may have died when a burrow collapsed due to water or mud. But what is most interesting about this find, is that the dinosaurs may have been a family. All the young were of the same age, and perhaps the adult was tending them in their nest.

Several types of dinosaurs are believed to have formed nests and tended their young, but there is no proof that dinosaurs actually cared for babies this way. Birds and crocodiles, which may be distantly related to dinosaurs, are known to take care of their nestlings for a while after birth. So this nest is very exciting to the scientists who study dinosaurs, as it is the best evidence to date that dinosaurs may have stayed with their nests and cared for the offspring.

Tying this into Becoming a Tiger, we know that animals who stay with their young can teach them survival skills they wouldn't otherwise learn. We may never know for sure, but it's intriguing to think about how dinosaurs lived so long ago.

Posted by Jennifer on Thursday, September 9 2004, 8:03 PM

Soybeans destroying the rainforest?

Demand for soybeans in the UK has led to clear cutting in the Amazon rainforest at the rate of 3 million acres/yr (1.2M hectares). Soybeans are used in many foods for human consumption, and in other household goods, but the primary source of the increased demand is for animal feed. Since the UK banned the use of animal byproducts in animal feed (due to the BSE/mad cow outbreaks there), soybeans are the main high protein replacement. If the clear-cutting continues at the current rate, by 2020 the area cleared will be as large as all or Britain.

Rainforest soils tend to be fragile and easily depleted of their nutrients, so aren't really a good long-term base for agriculture. The World Wildlife Fund is working with the Brazilian government in an attempt to develop sustainable agricultural practices, which might include such practices as alternating animal grazing with soybean crops, since animals help replenish the land's nutrients. Conservationists are also working to set aside natural areas where logging won't be allowed.

Comments? Click here.

Posted by Jennifer on Thursday, September 9 2004, 9:10 AM

Becoming a Tiger, part two

I mentioned Susan McCarthy's book, Becoming a Tiger, in an earlier post. In this interview for Salon she explains why efforts to save frozen sperm or clones probably won't be able to teach young animals how to really reflect their species. We can't transmit culture through genetics.

Yes, I know Salon requires you to spend 30 seconds sitting through an ad. It's not that much to ask. If you can afford it, you should have a subscription!

Posted by Jennifer on Wednesday, September 8 2004, 8:32 PM

Monarch Watch

You might recall an earlier post about illegal logging in Mexico's protected monarch butterfly habitat. A friend pointed me to information by a group called Monarch Watch, a project of the University of Kansas. In their August 25th update, they have news of an interesting use of infrared monitoring technology in an attempt to stop the illegal logging in this forest. The article links to a pair of photos, showing the devastation of the logging. It's worth reading their entire update, and looking around their site, if you're interested in this issue.

Comments? Click here.

Posted by Jennifer on Wednesday, September 8 2004, 3:53 PM

North Pole once had a sub-tropical climate

Scientists who have been drilling ice cores beneath the Arctic Ocean have discovered evidence that around 55 million years ago the North Pole had a sub-tropical climate, with temperatures closer to 20 degrees C (68F), rather than today's -1.5C average (29F). The remains of algae and other small sea creatures suggest that the area at that time was a shallow sea.

This period of time is known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, a brief period when carbon levels on earth soared over 2000 parts per million (by contrast, today carbon is under 400 ppm). At the height of that warming cycle, nearly all species died out and only a few of the toughest survived.

Comments? Click here.

Posted by Jennifer on Tuesday, September 7 2004, 4:06 PM

More on Climate Change in the Arctic

The New York Times has an article that mirrors some of what we read in The Whale and the Supercomputer.

Eskimos Fret as Climate Shifts and Wildlife Changes

...he is worried about the changes he sees in the wildlife that surrounds this hamlet on the shores of an icy glacier fiord just below the Arctic circle.

He says the caribou are skinny, and so are the ringed seals, whose fur has become thin and patchy. The Arctic char that swim in local streams are covered with scratches, apparently from sharp rocks in waters that are becoming shallower because of climactic shifts. The beluga whales and seals do not come around Pangnirtung fiord as much anymore, perhaps because increased motorboat traffic is making too much noise.

"Maybe this is just the way it is supposed to be, but the animals are changing and I cannot tell you why."

Posted by Jennifer on Monday, September 6 2004, 6:39 PM

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