Category Archives: Biodiversity Loss

If we lose enough species, we’ll drive ourselves extinct as well

Human over-consumption causes far more biodiversity loss than climate change

Posted on January 23, 2018 by

2016-8-13. Climate change isn’t the biggest danger to Earth’s wildlife, our thirst for natural resources is even more damaging (2016-8-10 “Biodiversity: The ravages of guns, nets, and bulldozers” Nature) For better or worse, human society has developed into a force … Continue reading →

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Toxic algae slime spreading quickly across the earth

Posted on January 20, 2018 by

2017-8-19. Ocean Slime Spreading Quickly Across the Earth. Craig Welch, National Geographic. Toxic algae blooms, perhaps accelerated by ocean warming and other climate shifts, are spreading, poisoning marine life and people. When sea lions suffered seizures and birds and porpoises … Continue reading →

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“World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice”

Posted on November 24, 2017 by

Preface. I’m sure anyone reading this post knows it is too late to do anything but eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow …  Although this warning was widely published, it was left out of over half of the top … Continue reading →

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Why vultures are so important — and dying off

Posted on July 13, 2017 by

University of Utah. May 5, 2016. Why vultures matter—and what we lose if they’re gone. Original paper: Evan R. Buechley et al, The avian scavenger crisis: Looming extinctions, trophic cascades, and loss of critical ecosystem functions, Biological Conservation (2016).Vultures in … Continue reading →

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The global threat of invasive species to marine biodiversity

Posted on July 5, 2017 by

Molnar, J. L., et al. 2008. Assessing the global threat of invasive species to marine biodiversity. Frontiers in ecology and the environment #6 Although invasive species are widely recognized as a major threat to marine biodiversity, there has been no … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, BioInvasion | Tagged , | 1 Comment

An invasive green monster that can double in 2 days and impossible to control threatens 20 states

Posted on June 23, 2017 by

    [ The 2011 House of Representatives hearing below is a discussion of how to control salvinia. We spend about $135 billion on invasive species a year – what will happen when the fossil energy to remove them is … Continue reading →

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Biggest threat to biodiversity is not climate change: it’s agriculture, fishing, and hunting

Posted on April 29, 2017 by

[ This article makes the point that other factors are far more to blame for biodiversity loss than climage change. And with “peak everything“, especially peak oil, but also peak coal, and peak natural gas — greenhouse gas emissions will … Continue reading →

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Because we’ve stuffed staggering numbers of cows on factory farms we live in a cow toilet

Posted on April 11, 2017 by

[ Book review of “Cowed: The hidden impactof 93 million cows” by Alice Friedemann   www.energyskeptic.com  author of “When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation”, 2015, Springer] Hayes, Denis and Gail. 2015. Cowed: The Hidden Impact of 93 … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, Biodiversity Loss, CO2 and Methane, Pollution, Soil | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Chemical industrial farming is unsustainable. Why poison ourselves when pesticides don’t save more of our crops than in the past?

Posted on March 16, 2017 by

Pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides destroy soil, ecosystems, and a third of the crop is still lost to pests, just as in the many millennia of farming before chemicals. [ This is a book review of Dyer’s “Chasing the Red Queen”, … Continue reading →

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North American freshwater mussels are going extinct

Posted on November 14, 2016 by

Stokstad, E. 2012. Nearly Buried, Mussels Get a Helping Hand. Science Vol. 338, Issue 6109, pp. 876-878 [excerpts] Freshwater mussels are in trouble. They are the most endangered group of organisms in the United States, with most of their river … Continue reading →

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