Using DNA “Barcodes” to Protect Biodiversity and Endangered Species

Stephen BIRDS, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, WILDLIFE

DNA Bar-Coding Could Rewrite Book of LifeCassowary, Queensland, Australia - Copyright 2004 Renate Leahy
By Stephen Leahy

Feb 19 (IPS) – Fifteen new species of birds have been discovered in North America following the first ever genetic analysis of nearly all 690 known species. A similar DNA profiling or “bar-coding” of Guyana’s 87 bat species revealed an additional six genetically distinct bats.

These new species are nearly indistinguishable to human eyes and ears from known species but the analysis shows their DNA evolved along different paths millions of years previously, according research published Sunday in British journal Molecular Ecology Notes.

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Global Warming Connection to Outdated Technology

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Science/Tech

Paraphrase of the Day:

 

In era of rapid scientific development, cars and trucks still use an internal combustion engine developed 100 years ago and much of the world’s electricity comes from coal-fired power plants first developed in the 17th century.

— Andrew Weaver, a climatologist at the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences in University of Victoria, Canada.

Excerpt from article Massive Ecological Impacts Coming with New ‘Hothouse’ Climate

Fish with Chips — Underwater Electronics to Revolutionize Fisheries Management

Stephen CANADA, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, News, OCEAN

Scientists Put an Ear to the Ocean Floor

Photo courtesy of TOPP

By Stephen Leahy

Feb 14 (IPS) – Canada will spend 38 million dollars to install thousands of undersea listening posts along the continental shelves of North America, the Mediterranean, Gulf of Mexico and Australia.

Akin to military hydrophones used to detect the underwater passage of submarines, the receivers of the new Ocean Tracking Network will track movements of fish and marine mammals tagged with tiny acoustic transmitters.

And this too is a security issue — fish stock security.

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Fish Stocks and Science to Benefit from Undersea Listening Devices

Stephen CANADA, ECOLOGY, News, OCEAN

Paraphrase for the day:

 

“This will change the way marine science does business.” — Ron O’Dor, a researcher at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia who leads the Ocean Tracking Network.

 

Movements of thousands of ocean-going fish and marine mammals are being followed by scientists using the new Ocean Tracking Network that could ramp up to track a million animals around the globe.

Story here:

Fish with Chips — Underwater Electronics to Revolutionize Fisheries Management


Capturing Carbon Crucial to Preventing Climate Catastrophe

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, Global Issues and Perspectives, News

img_0510.JPG Recapturing Carbon Won’t Come Cheap
By Stephen Leahy

Feb 9 (IPS) – Putting climate-altering greenhouse gases back in the ground where they came from is an essential part of any global plan to avoid catastrophic climate change, scientists say.

Capturing carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and pumping the global warming gas deep underground or under the sea “may well be the most critical challenge we face, at least for the next 100 years,” writes Daniel Schrag, director of Harvard University’s Centre for the Environment, in the journal Science Friday.

Coal is, and will continue to be, a major source of the world’s energy and emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), writes Schrag in the report “Preparing to Capture Carbon”.

“By the end of the century, coal could account for more than 80 percent” of all CO2 emissions — double the present level — he writes. Continue reading →

Climate Panel Report Called Too Conservative

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, News

Climate Change, Yes – But How Fast?

By Stephen Leahy

Tierramérica (Feb 5) – The predictions in the new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which says the planet’s average temperatures could increase four degrees Celsius by 2100, are seen as solid forecasts by some scientists, while others say they fall short.

The IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report, running 1,600 pages and officially released in Paris Feb. 2, says the scientific data about global warming and humankind’s responsibility are now overwhelming.
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New Era of Spin in the War to Save Ourselves From Global Warming

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, Global Issues and Perspectives, News , ,

No Getting Around Emissions Caps, Experts Saynigerian oil field

By Stephen Leahy

Feb 5 (IPS) – With the stark realisation that global warming is transforming our world, there will be crazy new era of “greenwashing”, desperate “geo-engineering” schemes, “grandfathering” of newly-built coal power plants and carbon-credit “profiteering”, environmentalists warn.

Welcome to the battle to save ourselves and future generations from the worst impacts of climate change, like increased floods, droughts and storms.
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Immediate, Mandatory Emissions Cuts Only Solution to Global Warming Crisis

Stephen CLIMATE CHANGE/GLOBAL WARMING, Global Issues and Perspectives, News

Paraphrase of the Day:

People should expect their governments to legislate immediate, substantial and manadatory cuts to emissions of greenhouse gases by all sectors. Anything less will be a pretense.

— Pat Mooney, the ETC Group, an international NGO.

Now available here: New Era of Spin in the War to Save Ourselves From Global Warming