Wildlife
Claiming that the future of American food production depends on a revived honey bee population, the Agriculture Department on Tuesday announced it will spend $3 million to help ranchers and farmers improve the health of the bugs, key to pollinating $15 billion worth of food.
More Than a Half Million People Demand Home Depot and Lowe’s Stop Selling Bee-Killing Pesticides. Dennis van Engelsdorp: “Why are we using these highly toxic chemicals on plants that have no human health risk or pose no food safety risk? Why are we marketing products that are so toxic to insects for purely ornamental use?”
The Sixth Extinction: Elizabeth Kolbert on How Humans Are Causing Largest Die-Off Since Dinosaur Age
Source: democracynow
In the history of the planet, there have been five known mass extinction events. The last came 65 million years ago, when an asteroid about half the size of Manhattan collided with the earth, wiping out the dinosaurs and bringing the Cretaceous period to an end. Scientists say we are now experiencing the sixth extinction, with up to 50 percent of all living species in danger of disappearing by the end of the century. But unlike previous extinctions, the direct cause this time is us. In “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History,” journalist Elizabeth Kolbert visits four continents to document the massive “die-offs” that came millions of years ago and those now unfolding before our eyes.
Abby Martin speaks with Captain Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society about the slaughter of marine mammals in places like Taiji, Japan, and what his foundation is doing to counter the rampant poaching.
One quarter of the world’s cartilaginous fish, namely sharks and rays, face extinction within the next few decades, according to the first study to systematically and globally assess their fate
On Tuesday, fishermen on Japan’s Pacific coast kill more than 200 dolphins as their annual hunt begins. The dolphins are driven into shallow water in Taiji cove by fishermen using nets and boat engines, where fishermen in boats and some in wetsuits tie their tails to stop them escaping. A tarpaulin is then erected to stop cameras from filming the killing and the blood seeping into the sea.
Study findings show that the widespread use of the pyrethroid pesticide is causing worker bees to hatch at a smaller size and demonstrate ongoing retarded growth. The research, published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology, reveals that prolonged exposure to a pyrethroid pesticide, which is used on flowering crops to prevent insect damage, reduces the size of individual bees produced by a colony.
SeaWorld tried to rig an online poll about the “Blackfish” documentary in an unfortunate attempt to regain lost approval. The poll showed an overwhelming support for the aquatic theme park, but was soon discovered to be fixed in favor of SeaWorld as a result of the steady stream of consumer backlash following the release of “Blackfish.”
A new study from Oregon State finds the majority of the world’s largest carnivores have seen a population drop.
A steep decline in large predators is threatening endangered species and disrupting ecosystems from the tropic to the arctic, scientists warn. Over 75 percent of the 31 large carnivore species—including lions, dingoes, wolves, otters, and bears—face shrinking numbers, according to a Friday report in the journal Science. Of these, 17 species now live in less than half of the ranges they previously occupied.
As scientists race to pinpoint the cause of the global collapse of honey bee populations that pollinate a third of the world’s crops, environmental groups have identified one culprit: US authorities who continue to approve pesticides implicated in the apian apocalypse.
Hundreds of sea turtles are washing up dead on the beaches of Central America and scientists don’t know why. Making things worse, some of the turtles dying are from endangered species. In El Salvador, for instance, from late September to the middle of October, 114 sea turtles were discovered dead on Pacific coast beaches, according to the environment ministry.
A new species of humpback dolphin has been identified off the northern coast of Australia, researchers have announced. Humpback dolphins — named for the hump below their dorsal fin — swim within river deltas, estuaries and coastal waters throughout the Indian, Pacific and eastern Atlantic oceans. The charismatic mammals can grow to be 8 feet (2.4 meters) long, and sport different combinations of gray, pink and white colorations. READ MORE: New Dolphin Species Identified Off Australian Coast
Researchers have dissected the two deep-sea oarfish that washed ashore in southern California this month. So far, they found that one was teeming with worms and the other was about to have babies.
Research by a British scientist has concluded that the legendary Himalayan yeti may in fact be a sub-species of brown bear. DNA tests on hair samples carried out by Oxford University genetics professor Bryan Sykes found that they matched those from an ancient polar bear. He subjected the hairs to the most advanced tests available. He says the most likely explanation for the myth is that the animal is a hybrid of polar bears and brown bears.
