Home » Archives
World’s Most Aggressive Dog: The English Cocker Spaniel?
Written on 22 May, 2009 at 23:48 in Featured, Nature | viewed 740 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
A floppy-eared, innocent-looking breed may be one of the world’s most aggressive dogs, according to a new study that found English cocker spaniels tend to be more hostile than other breeds. The discovery adds to the mounting evidence that aggressiveness is an inherited characteristic, suggesting that genes and breeding practices can both help determine how a dog will behave. Full Story : Discovery.com….
Turkish Dams Leaving Iraqi Fields Thirsting for Water
Written on 22 May, 2009 at 13:37 in Featured, Nature | viewed 649 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
The Euphrates and the Tigris are the two largest rivers in the Middle East. Both rivers originate from the Anatolian highland regions in Turkey and flow through the Mesopotamian desert plain in Syria and Iraq. Both the rivers unite in Iraq to form the Shatt al-Arab, which runs into the Gulf. Despite normal levels of rain over the winter, Iraqi dams are less than one-third as full as they were three years ago.Iraqi experts say the problem is the many dams Turkey has built over the past 30 years to irrigate its agricultural lands in the southeast. These dams allow Turkey to regulate the flow of rivers according to its needs. Full Story :TreeHugger.com….
Water Crisis Leading to Wife Abuse in Some Areas
Written on 22 May, 2009 at 11:55 in Featured, Nature | viewed 269 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
In the Kamuli District in southeastern Uganda, women have to travel particularly long distances to gather water now that water scarcity has hit the region. The problem is that requirement clashes with some cultural issues, namely that husbands attribute the women being gone so long with love affairs and other indiscretions, and that leads straight into domestic violence. Full Story : TreeHugger.com……
UCSD Researchers make first direct observations of Biological particles in high-altitude ice Clouds
Written on 19 May, 2009 at 1:24 in Featured, Nature | viewed 273 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
A team of UC San Diego-led atmospheric chemistry researchers moved closer to what is considered the “holy grail” of climate change science when it made the first-ever direct detection of biological particles within ice clouds. Analysis of the ice crystals revealed that they were made up almost entirely of either dust or biological particles such as bacteria, fungal spores and plant material. Full Story : Bio-medicine.org…..
One way to kill fire ants: Turn them into headless zombies
Written on 13 May, 2009 at 13:45 in Featured, Nature | viewed 222 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
Some researchers in Texas are trying an unusual approach to combat fire ants — parasitic flies that turn the pesky insects into zombies whose heads fall off. The tool is the tiny phorid fly, native to a region of South America where the fire ants in Texas originated. Researchers have learned that as many as 23 phorid species along with pathogens attack fire ants to keep their population and movements under control. So far, four phorid species have been introduced in Texas, where fire ants cost the economy about $1 billion annually. Full Story : Chron.com…..
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Will Be Gone in 3 Years At Current Fishing Rates
Written on 13 May, 2009 at 1:55 in Featured, Nature | viewed 300 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
At current rates of catch, driving up by increasing demand from Japan for use in sushi, Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks will be gone within 3 years. On the eve of the two-month Mediterranean fishing season opening, WWF is saying that unless catches are dramatically reduced (as in a complete halt to fishing in May and June), spawning bluefin tuna will entirely disappear by 2012. Full Story : TreeHugger.com…..
“60 Minutes” Exposes Chevron’s Environmental Atrocity in the Amazon
Written on 10 May, 2009 at 11:55 in Featured, Nature | viewed 353 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
Chevron, according to a “60 Minutes” report that aired last night, is the third largest company in the United States, with oil interests all over the world. While reaping a tidy profit–despite the economic downturn, Chevron managed to increase revenues by 25% (to $263 billion USD) in 2008 — Chevron has consistently engaged in business and environmental practices that have had very real and devastating consequences for communities and ecosystems in South America, Africa, and on other continents. Full Story : Matadorchange.com….
First Official Climate Change Refugees Evacuate Their Island Homes for Good
Written on 8 May, 2009 at 23:50 in Featured, Nature | viewed 285 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
The Carteret Islanders of Papua New Guinea have become the world’s first entire community to be displaced by climate change. They’re the first official refugees of global warming–and they’re packing up their lives to move out of the way of ever-rising waters that threaten to overtake their homes and crops. The island they call home will be completely underwater by 2015. Full Story : Treehugger.com…..
World’s Highest Ski Run Melted Away
Written on 8 May, 2009 at 11:59 in Featured, Nature | viewed 202 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
Bolivia’s Chacaltaya Glacier, once known as the world’s highest ski run at 17,388 feet, has completely melted away. In 1999, Ramirez, the head of a team of researchers studying the glacier since 1991, believed that the glacier would continue to exist until 2015, but the rate of melting tripled in the last ten years, and the once popular tourist destination is now completely gone. Full Story : Ecoworldly.com….
FedEx Aims for 30 Percent Biofuels by 2030
Written on 2 May, 2009 at 12:35 in Featured, Nature | viewed 299 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
FedEx wants a third of its jet fuel to come from biofuels by 2030, the company’s chief executive said Wednesday in a speech delivered during a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit. The target, dubbed “30 by 30,” aims to take advantage of second-generation biofuels from feedstocks such as jatropha, algae, switchgrass and camelina, as first reported by GreenWire. FedEx provided text of Smith’s remarks to ClimateBiz.com. Full Story : Climatebiz.com……
Google Gathers Goats for Greener Gardening
Written on 2 May, 2009 at 12:20 in Featured, Nature | viewed 335 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
Google has decided to forgo lawn mowers in favor of more eco-friendly goats to trim its Mountain View headquarters. Instead of using noisy mowers that run on gasoline and pollute the air, Google has rented some goats from California Grazing to do the job. A herder brings about 200 goats and they spend roughly a week with us at Google, eating the grass and fertilizing at the same time. Full Story : Treehugger.com….
Ancient ecosystem thrives millions of years below Antarctic glacier
Written on 1 May, 2009 at 22:59 in Featured, Nature | viewed 207 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
Scientists have found an ancient ecosystem below an Antarctic glacier and learned that it survived millions of years by transforming sulfur and iron compounds for growth. The ecosystem– because it has been isolated for so long in extreme conditions — could explain how life might exist on other planets and serve as a model for how life can exist under ice. Full Story : Sciencecodex.com….
More Than Half of Americans Living with Dirty Air
Written on 29 Apr, 2009 at 12:05 in Featured, Nature | viewed 296 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
More than half of America’s population, 186.1 million people to be exact, live and breathe in communities with dangerously high levels of air pollution, new research shows. Eighty million more Americans (175 million) than last year live in areas with unacceptably high smog (ozone) levels too many days of the year, reflecting both a warmer climate as well as new ozone standards. Full Story : AJC……
One Third of World’s Oceans Need a 20-Year Fishing Ban
Written on 27 Apr, 2009 at 12:45 in Featured, Nature | viewed 303 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
Experts are saying that if depleted fish stocks in the world’s oceans are to recover, there needs to be a 20-year fishing ban covering 20-40% of the oceans. Not only would that require cooperation of the fishing industry, but it would also mean lots of additional marine protected areas (MPAs). Full Story : Treehugger.com…..
College Cafeteria Trays Can Nearly Double Food Waste
Written on 26 Apr, 2009 at 13:55 in Featured, Nature | viewed 392 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
According to a new study done in the Environmental Studies Department at American University, the percentage of food wasted can be significantly reduced just by removing cafeteria trays from the dining halls. The study found that students that did not have cafeteria trays available in the lunchroom wasted 14.4 percent less food than those that did at lunch and a remarkable 47.1 percent less at dinner. Full Story : Treehugger.com…..
World’s Major Rivers Are Drying Up
Written on 23 Apr, 2009 at 13:56 in Featured, Nature | viewed 333 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
Major rivers around the world are drying up due to climate change, according to US National Center for Atmospheric Research, which has released a study showing that a third of the world’s biggest and most vital rivers have suffered significant changes over the last half century. And the study is pinning it on climate change. The Ganges, the Niger and the Colorado are included in the list of rivers drying up.Full Story : Treehugger.com….
Who Owns the Rain?
Written on 23 Apr, 2009 at 10:35 in Featured, Nature | viewed 229 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
Across the country, resourceful homeowners have embraced rainwater capture as a way of conserving community water supplies while maintaining healthy gardens. Unfortunately, rain barrels are sometimes at odds with the law. Facing certain water scarcity, cities and states have begun to wrestle with the conundrum of water rights versus conservation. While laws about rainwater collection are often murky, Colorado’s are quite clear: Homeowners do not own the rain that falls on their property. Full Story : Popularmechanics……
Offshore Renewable Energy Regulations Announced in US
Written on 22 Apr, 2009 at 19:30 in Featured, Nature | viewed 358 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
The United States Interior Department issued regulations governing offshore renewable energy projects that use wind, ocean currents and wave power for producing electricity. The offshore leasing rules for electricity production had stalled for two years over of a turf dispute as it were between governmental agencies, but that bottleneck has been broken. Nearby coastal states will receive 27.5 percent of the royalties generated from electricity production. Full Story : Treehugger.com……
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Up 1.4% in 2007
Written on 15 Apr, 2009 at 15:26 in Featured, Nature | viewed 402 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
Emissions in the US keep on rising, according to the EPA’s new Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report. Greenhouse gas emissions totaled 7,150,000,000 tons in 2007, showing a 1.4% increase from 2006—bringing the overall rise from 1990 levels up to 17.2%. If that rise keeps constant, we’re likely to see a 20% increase by 2010. Full Story : Treehugger….
Renewable energies :Organic solar cells
Written on 8 Apr, 2009 at 16:22 in Featured, Nature | viewed 562 views times and users have made 0 comments so far
Teams at the Université d’Angers and at the Université Strasbourg have recently obtained record conversion efficiency with solar cells based on organic molecules. They can be manufactured easily and cheaply, they have low environmental impact, and since they are compatible with flexible substrates, they could be used in many applications such as packaging, clothing, flexible screens, or for recharging cell phones and laptops. The solar cells currently on the market are made up of inorganic materials such as silicon. Full Story : Physorg.com….