conservation
voltagegate | March 21, 2007Here's what other folks are saying about the rally:
A faith based review from BPT
A nice photo essay and review from JohnKerry.com
A review from the Daily Kos
Some bland irreverence from a bland dissenter (C'mon, man. I know you can do better than that!)
What Sour N Sweet learned at Action Day
Sylvia's experience at the rally and her thoughts on Barbara Boxer
Zandria really meant to go, but the DC metropolitan area can be a bit confusing
If you've written a post reviewing the event (or plan on it) leave a comment on this post or e-mail me; I'll add your link to the post.
voltagegate | March 21, 2007It was a beautiful day for a rally yesterday, and the turnout was pretty good. One article claimed 1,500 attendees, but that number seems a bit high.
This was the latest rally sponsored in part by the Alaska Wilderness League, the last one held at the Capitol in 2005 focusing on ANWR and the plight of native wildlife and indigenous peoples in the area. The focus this year was much the same, with more emphasis on global warming than oil procurement. Speakers ranged from John Kerry to Alaskan leaders and villagers to the legendary DC DJ "The Weasel", promoting 94.7 The Globe, the area's first "…
voltagegate | March 19, 2007
Well, tomorrow is the big day. In 24 hours I'll be riding the Metro into DC to join thousands of others in support of Climate Crisis Action Day. It starts at 11 a.m. EST with a rally on the west lawn of the Capitol (facing the mall), where several unnamed speakers will address global warming, ANWR and legislation issues regarding both. Supposedly, several "celebrities" will also be in tow, providing their "expertise" on climate change.
I hope we are given the chance to speak to the speakers (so to speak) tomorrow morning; I have a few tough questions for the organizers of the event, mostly…
voltagegate | March 18, 2007"Everybody knows that the autumn landscape in the north woods is the land, plus a red maple, plus ruffed grouse. In terms of conventional physics, the grouse represents only a millionth of either the mass or the energy of an acre. Yet subtract the grouse and the whole thing is dead."
-Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac
voltagegate | March 18, 2007This month Conservation magazine published an article rehashing the "built landscape" hypothesis of Amazonia, which basically says that the incredible biodiversity seen in the South American rainforest is largely due to a skilled agricultural society of millions that possessed the capacity to simultaneously promote successful agriculture while maintaining biodiversity; the hypothesis states that they managed and cultivated most of the Amazon rainforest, and the region's apparent virginity is only an illusion.
This idea is popularized by Charles Mann's book, 1491: New Revelations of the…
grrlscientist | March 7, 2007
The mountain gazelle, Gazella gazella, is considered by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) to be facing a high risk of extinction. Seventeen mountain gazelle were recently released into the wild.
For the first time in ten years, captive-bred mountain gazelles have been successfully released into the wild. Conservationists released 17 of the creatures into the Ibex reserve in Saudi Arabia.
The mountain gazelle, Gazella gazella, is at a high risk of extinction because of factors such as habitat loss and hunting. Some of the gazelles have now been tagged with radio collars so scientists can…
grrlscientist | March 6, 2007tags: Tanzania, biodiversity hot-spot
The Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania are home to many species that live nowhere else in the world, including butterflies, frogs, trees and chameleons. Image: NYTimes.
"This is a really important place," said Neil Burgess, an expert on the Eastern Arc Mountains at the University of Cambridge and the World Wildlife Fund. "Biologists who go there just keep finding more and more species."
In fact, The Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania, Africa contain the highest density of endangered animals found anywhere on earth. Many species that live on these…
grrlscientist | February 16, 2007
The Panamanian golden frog, Atelopus zeteki,
is one of roughly 110 species of harlequin frog (Atelopus),
many of which are dying out. Although this species still survives, its
numbers have fallen significantly.
Image source.
Zoos around the world are collecting thousands of threatened species of amphibians to protect them from a deadly fungus. They plan to breed and rear them in captivity until the fungus can be stopped.
The rapid loss of amphibians, particularly many species of frogs, is a growing threat due to the chytrid fungus, which infects the skin of frogs and other amphibians,…
grrlscientist | January 20, 2007
Juvenile green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas, rescued from a shallow bay off South Padre Bay, Texas.
At least three dozen juvenile sea turtles were rescued from an arctic blast that caused the water temperature in a part of the Gulf of Mexico off South Padre Bay, Texas, to fall 18 degrees in 48 hours.
Turtles are air-breathing cold-blooded animals, meaning that they cannot generate their own body heat, so they were rendered comatose by the rapid temperature drop this week in the shallow bay where they were feeding. Animal rescuers feared that the cold would kill the turtles or make them so…
grrlscientist | January 12, 2007
American bison, Bos bison.
Bison have made a comeback after nearly going extinct more than 100 years ago. However, existing bison were preserved by ranchers, who frequently hybridized them with their cattle.
"They purposely crossed bison with domestic cattle to make a better beef animal," which they called cattelo, said James Derr, a geneticist at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine. "Bison did better in harsh conditions and are more resistant to parasites and native viral diseases." For example, bison do not contract Texas fever which afflicts cattle.
Even though these…
grrlscientist | January 9, 2007tags: birds, book review, conservation, Hawai'i
Conservation is all about saving endangered species, right? Well, not always. In this book, Seeking the Sacred Raven: Politics and Extinction on a Hawai'ian Island by Mark Jerome Walters (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2006), the author tells the heartbreaking story of how people who were fighting to save the endangered `alalâ, the Hawai'ian raven, Corvus hawaiiensis, actually hastened the bird's extinction in the wild.
The `alalâ is the Hawai'ian name for a sacred bird; a indigenous raven that is honored by Hawai'ians as a guardian spirit that…
grrlscientist | November 2, 200629% of all fish stocks have collapsed.
32% of all amphibians globally are threatened with extinction, and 43% of all amphibian species are in decline.
14% of all bird species are predicted to be extinct by 2100 (as opposed to 1.3% for the 500 years previous), and total number of birds globally estimated to have dropped by 20-25%.
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tags: extinction, endangered species, fish, amphibian, bird
grrlscientist | June 14, 2006I like Stephen Hawking, but someone needs to have a little chat with him because today's comments are simply ridiculous. In fact, his comments make me wonder why humans won't do the right thing for a change, by doing what is necessary now to avert disaster on earth, our only home, instead of following Hawking's suggestion to evacuate the planet? It disgusts me to know that some people -- yes, even scientists, who should know better! -- think it is acceptable behavior to abandon earth after we have finished trashing the place, rather than changing our behavior to prevent things from worsening…
grrlscientist | June 1, 2006Do you remember the amusing anecdote, "Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it!" Well, one could also say something similar about helping birds that are in trouble. Until now, that is. While the rest of us were talking, Laura Erickson went to work researching and writing a book about this topic; 101 Ways to Help Birds (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole, 2006).
This attractive and affordable 284-page trade paperback is engaging and educational, balancing important information with relevant and interesting personal anecdotes about birds. It is well-researched with an…
grrlscientist | May 13, 2006
Colorado artist and birder, Radeaux, depicts 23 boreal-nesting species.
Can you identify all 23 species?
International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) was initiated in 1993 by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, and is celebrated on the second Saturday in May [PDF]. Now under the direction of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, IMBD continues to focus attention on one of the most important and spectacular events in the life of a migratory bird -- its journey between its summer and winter homes. Today, it is…
grrlscientist | May 11, 2006Today is Endangered Species Day! Thanks to the US Senate, which unanimously passed a resolution on April 6th, today has been designated as national "Endangered Species Day." [animation: Arlington Central School District]
"Endangered Species Day" is an opportunity for schools, libraries, museums, zoos, botanical gardens, agencies, businesses, community groups and conservation organizations to educate the public about the importance of protecting endangered species and to highlight the everyday actions that individuals and groups can take to help protect our nation's wildlife, fish and plants.…
grrlscientist | April 24, 2006
Red knot, Calidris canutus rufus.
This image appears here with the kind permission of the photographer,
Arthur Morris, Birds as Art.
Click image for larger view in its own window.
Ornithologists fear the red knot could go extinct in as few as five years due to overfishing of horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay, which is the birds' final refueling stop on their 17,000 mile journey to their breeding grounds in the Arctic. Red knots, ruddy turnstones, sanderlings and semipalmated sandpipers all feed on horseshoe crab eggs in the Delaware Bay, and their populations are all experiencing sharp…
grrlscientist | April 21, 2006
The Nature Conservancy has set up a webpage where you can make a difference on Earth Day 2006 by sharing a message of hope for the planet. When you share your Earth Day message, you'll become part of the Conservancy's free online community, the Great Places Network. Also, your message may be highlighted on The Nature Conservancy's website to inspire others to make a difference!
Plus, you can download The Nature Conservancy's new nature image screensaver filled with nature photos.
Disclaimers: I do not receive anything for mentioning this here except satisfaction from sharing this…