Posts
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| Common Goldeneye / Photo by Mike Guyant (USFWS) |
- Scientists are trying to keep the "Little Dodo" or Manumea of Samoa from going extinct.
- English scientists are studying how Rooks and Jackdaws interact in mixed-species flocks.
- Conservationists are trying to save forests in southwestern Australia that are home to endemic cockatoos and other unique species.
- Some Australian native plants are almost exclusively pollinated by birds and have developed color structures to appeal to birds rather than insects.
- Emperor Penguins in Antarctica are surrounded by a cushion of cold air that helps keep them warm by convection.
- ABA Blog: Spot Check
- Round Robin: Weighing the Fate of the Gunnison Sage-Grouse
- Laelaps: The Giant Camels of the Prehistoric High Arctic
- Not Exactly Rocket Science: The Origin of the Friendly Wolf that Confused Darwin
- Extinction Countdown: De-Extinction: Can Cloning Bring Extinct Species Back to Life?
- Tetrapod Zoology: Kea, Kaka, Kakapo
- Coffee & Conservation: New orchid species named for coffee company
- This week countries met in Thailand to celebrate the 40th anniversary of CITES, a treaty protecting endangered species from economic exploitation, and discuss updates to its protections. A proposal by the US and Russia to ban trade in polar bear parts was defeated. The meeting also discussed the illegal trade in elephant and rhinoceros parts.
- Over the last decade, 62% of the forest elephants in Africa have been killed to support the ivory trade.
- Last year saw the largest increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide since record-keeping started in 1959. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is now at 395 parts per million (ppm), far higher than the 350 ppm that climate scientists think is the threshold for catastrophic climate change. (see also)
- Obama nominated Gina McCarthy to head the Environmental Protection Agency. This is a promotion from her current position in the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, where she oversaw implementation of stricter emissions standards.
- One problem with concentrated solar energy plants is the massive amount of concrete it takes to build them.
- This website has zoomable images of mammal and bird bones.
- Last week, the New York Times discontinued its Green Blog; this week the Washington Post decided to reassign a great reporter away from her environmental beat.
- The US Fish and Wildlife Service is due to rule on all the species on its endangered species candidate list over the next few years. It plans to release rulings for 97 species by September.
