Category Archives: environment

Kelp Losing Their Grip on the Seafloor : Image of the Day

No denying this –

kelp in trouble! Cool, subarctic waters once bathed Tasmania’s east coast, but warmer waters (as much as 2.5°C (4.3°F) warmer) have brought invasive species that feast on giant kelp. Compounding the matter, the overfishing of rock lobsters has removed a key predator of the long-spined sea urchins that feed on kelp. The ecosystem’s newly protected status could help curb overfishing and restore the lobsters, which would help diminish the threat from sea urchins.

For now, researchers are continuing to use Landsat to monitor the kelp forests and establish trends may shed more light on what is happening off of Tasmania and California. Through a project known as “Floating Forests,” they have enlisted citizen scientists to help understand the decline in kelp. To learn more about how to participate in the proj

via Kelp Losing Their Grip on the Seafloor : Image of the Day.

New ‘super mosquito’ discovered in Mali | Vaccine News Daily

CRAP!

A new “super mosquito” has been discovered in Mali and is being researched by a team of researchers and scientists at the University of California-Davis.

Interbreeding among two malaria mosquito species in the West African country has resulted in a new mosquito hybrid that’s shown to be resistant to insecticide-treated bed nets.

“It’s ‘super’ with respect to its ability to survive exposure to the insecticides on treated bed nets,” UC Davis medical entomologist and research team leader Gregory Lanzaro said.

via New ‘super mosquito’ discovered in Mali | Vaccine News Daily.

Vegan is only way! Pig in Jilin grows to 367kg in 2 years, is hauled off to slaughterhouse with forklift: Shanghaiist

Need any more reason not to eat animals?A pig at a farm in Changchun, Jilin province had grown to an astounding 367.5 kilograms in just two years. Naturally, its owner celebrated by slaughtering the animal for a New Year’s feast, and the hog was so massive that a forklift truck was required to carry it to its inevitable maker, the slaughterhouse. Warning: images documenting a pig turn into

A pig at a farm in Changchun, Jilin province had grown to an astounding 367.5 kilograms in just two years. Naturally, its owner celebrated by slaughtering the animal for a New Year’s feast, and the hog was so massive that a forklift truck was required to carry it to its inevitable maker, the slaughterhouse. Warning: images documenting a pig turn into stew ensue.

via Pig in Jilin grows to 367kg in 2 years, is hauled off to slaughterhouse with forklift: Shanghaiist.

Bird flu: No chickening out, 5,000 feast on curry – Hindustan Times

Health or Profit? Profit hunger wins over health need!

More than 5,000 people queued up to feast on free chicken curry and boiled eggs at the Sector-21 market on Wednesday, after the Chandigarh Meat Market Welfare Association distributed these ‘delicacies’, to spread the word that it was safe to consume non-vegetarian dishes in this season of Christmas and New Year festivities.

By the end of the day, over 300-kg cooked chicken and 10,000 eggs had been consumed.

Atul Sonkar, president of the association, said, “The winter is peak business season for us. This unnecessary scare of bird flu has hit sales and people are scared to buy chicken and eggs. By organising this meat fair (mela), we want to send out a message that people can continue to consume these items.”

via Bird flu: No chickening out, 5,000 feast on curry – Hindustan Times.

The killing of earth begins in India: Chandigarh avian flu: Authorities begin to cull birds | Read Health News & Articles at TheHealthSite.com

No cases of lethal bird flu from wild birds to human have ever been recorded – only from those raising birds for profit. And so the killing of wild birds as “something to do” to “protect profits” not people has begun. Avian influenza is a product of intense human cultivation of poultry and the disease is sometimes passed on to wild birds. But by killing wild birds, government can pretend to be protecting humans but if industrial poultry industry is not changed, the new pandemic will still get us while the environment is damaged in ways that may harm us even more. May God have mercy on us, because, we certainly have none for ourselves!

Chandigarh, Dec 18: Authorities in Chandigarh Thursday evening started culling of all birds in and around the city’s famous Sukhna lake after a dead goose was confirmed with the H5N1 (avian influenza or bird flu) virus. ‘On communication received from the central government, culling of all birds in the vicinity of Sukhna lake — ducks and geese, live or dead — will be done and buried as per the action plan and bio-security measure set up by the WHO,’ said a spokesman of the Chandigarh administration. ‘The operation started at 4 p.m. with the help of all the concerned departments, primarily animal husbandry, wildlife and Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, director health services and engineering department. The operation will go on till midnight and no bird will be left unburied,’ the spokesman said. The area around the lake was cordoned off by police and the forest department.

‘At this stage, public is advised not to panic and cooperate with the administration. The administration has taken all possible steps to ensure the containment of virus and will continue to monitor the situation closely. The lake and its vicinity “shall remain out of bounds for general public till further orders’, he said. ‘At present, there is no assessment regarding any outbreak of bird flu in Chandigarh. The situation is, however, being very closely monitored,’ he said

via Chandigarh avian flu: Authorities begin to cull birds | Read Health News & Articles at TheHealthSite.com.

http://www.570news.com/2014/12/15/table-egg-layer-barn-in-langley-b-c-becomes-10th-farm-infected-with-avian-flu/

Workers may well be transmitting from place to place without realizing – the need to use procedures as if dealing with ebola.

http://www.570news.com/2014/12/15/table-egg-layer-barn-in-langley-b-c-becomes-10th-farm-infected-with-avian-flu/.

Tornado touches down in South Los Angeles, damaging 5 homes – LA Times

The wind tore off the sign outside the Garr Learning Center, located on Gage and Vermont avenues, said owner Gerae Vernon. The sign spun in the wind and crashed into a window, shattering the glass and scaring the 21 children inside.

“Heavy rain, storm, winds, earthquakes – I’m used to that,” Vernon said. “I had never seen anything like this before.”

It wasn’t the only tornado to blow into Southern California. Elsewhere Friday, a Mark Tarzian shot video of what appeared to be a waterspout touching down off Crystal Cove Beach in Newport Beach.

That waterspout was likely in the same band of storm cells as the tornado that hit South L.A., Boldt said. Such waterspouts are more likely in winter storms, Boldt said, but landspouts, or tornadoes, are not out of the question.

via Tornado touches down in South Los Angeles, damaging 5 homes – LA Times.

The Sioux Chef Wants to Bringing Pre-Colonial Cuisine to the People | Civil Eats

Chef Sean Sherman grew up Ogallala Sioux on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. After working his way up through a number of kitchens in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sherman decided he needed to strike out on his own. In April, he launched his event catering business as “The Sioux Chef.” And he’s working on a restaurant of the same name.

Sherman offers his customers “pre-colonization” cuisine, a term used by Chef Nephi Craig, who founded the Native American Culinary Association, and writes at the blog Decolonial Food for Thought. With media coverage from sources like NPR and Al Jazeera, Sherman’s unusual approach is earning him accolades and bringing in the customers. But getting here hasn’t been easy.

via The Sioux Chef Wants to Bringing Pre-Colonial Cuisine to the People | Civil Eats.

Free trade with U.S.? Europe balks at chlorine chicken, hormone beef. – The Washington Post

On a velvety green patch of the French countryside, organic farmer Jean Cabaret gave a little shudder. A looming trade deal with the United States, he fears, may make his worst culinary nightmare come true: an invasion of Europe by American “Frankenfoods.”

“Hormone-boosted beef. Chlorine-washed chicken. Genetically altered vegetables. This is what they want for us,” warned Cabaret, standing before his majestic herd of free-range cows. “In France, food is about pleasure, about taste. But in the United States, they put anything in their mouths. No, this must be stopped.”

via Free trade with U.S.? Europe balks at chlorine chicken, hormone beef. – The Washington Post.