Wildlife
If you’ve ever seen a group of starlings in flight, you’ve appreciated one of nature’s most hypnotic sights — the lava-lamp-like flow of a murmuration. SciShow’s Hank Green explains the biology and mathematics behind this beautiful phenomenon.
Research ship Okeanos Explorer is roaming the Gulf of Mexico, and its remotely operated vehicle is live streaming video that any landlubber can enjoy. The need to understand the Gulf should resonate this month, because the four-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion was Sunday, April 20.
The dangers to people of Wi-Fi and the electromagnetic radiation emitted from cell phones and various “smart” devices are quickly becoming a non-debatable. There is also mounting evidence that these dangers extend to wildlife as cell towers are becoming more prevalent, deeper into previously non-explored areas. This potential threat to wildlife appears to be such that it has sparked an attack by the Department of the Interior against the FCC for what they claim are outdated standards.
Almost one-quarter of European crops’ vital pollinators – bumblebees – could die out in the coming years, as half of the species are declining, a new study says. Citing human factor and climate change, it warns of “serious implications” for agriculture.
Can citizens, rather than governments or corporations, solve the vanishing bee problem by making it easy to keep bees? Join the OSBH team to find out!
Honeybees are vanishing. Reignite your passion to save them by watching this stunning high-speed clip of the world of pollen and pollinators from Wings of Life.
Eugene, Oregon has banned pesticides that can kill bees, taking a stand against the wave of bee collapse at the hands of harsh human pesticides. Tyrel Ventura and Tabetha Wallace look at the forward thinking step that has been taken by the Oregon community that is known for their liberal policies in this Buzzsaw news clip.
Each year, tens of thousands of baby seals are slaughtered off the coast of Newfloundland — shot, stabbed, skinned — all for their fur. We need your help to end this horrific slaughter. Help Stop the Slaughter of Baby Seals
If you plant it, they will come. A new study confirms the crucial aid that typical British gardeners might unknowingly provide to rapidly declining pollinators. According to Ecologists at Plymouth University, it matters not to busy bees where they are getting their food sources. When searching for nectar and pollen, urban gardens make happy destinations for bumblebees. In fact, it might seem counter intuitive but urban dwellings can provide a safer area for bees that otherwise might get exposed to so much agricultural spraying.
An increase of acidity in the Pacific Ocean is quickly killing off one of the world’s most beloved shellfish, the scallop, according to a report by the British Columbia Shellfish Grower’s Association.
Lovers of seafood, beware. Ocean acidification is wreaking havoc on populations of seafood just about everywhere. The latest victim? Millions of scallops at a shellfish producer in British Columbia. The Parksville Qualicum Beach News reports that rising acidity in the waters off the west coast of Canada has claimed three years worth of scallops, worth more than $10 million, at Island Scallops, a local shellfish producer.
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.
