MetaFilter posts tagged with ecology

Protecting Nature's Gems

netbros — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:09:18 -0800

Rising up from deep within the aquifer, cool clear water flows from hundreds of springs that dot the Florida landscape. Florida springs are natural wonders that are threatened constantly. A team of journalists, filmmakers and researchers documented how water travels through the aquifer, springs and downriver to the Gulf of Mexico. Located in the Florida Panhandle near Tallahassee, Wakulla Spring is a colossal spring system. On average, more than 250 million gallons of water flow from Wakulla Spring every day forming a nine-mile river that reaches the Gulf of Mexico. Florida springs database with location and maps by county.

Only the super-rich can save us!

gerryblog — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:19:14 -0800

SLJaredDiamondOp-Ed: As part of my board work, I have been asked to assess the environments in oil fields, and have had frank discussions with oil company employees at all levels. I’ve also worked with executives of mining, retail, logging and financial services companies. I’ve discovered that while some businesses are indeed as destructive as many suspect, others are among the world’s strongest positive forces for environmental sustainability. ...What’s my evidence for this? Here are a few examples involving three corporations — Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola and Chevron — that many critics of business love to hate, in my opinion, unjustly.

Picturing Climate Change

netbros — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:54:23 -0800

Ahead of the global climate talks, nine photographers from the photo agency NOOR photographed climate stories from around the world. Their goal: to document some of the causes and consequences, from deforestation to changing sea levels, as well as the people whose lives and jobs are part of that carbon culture. Warming threatens lifestyle of Russian herders | Refugees flee drought, war in East Africa | Greenland’s shrinking ice hurts natives Rising ocean levels threaten Maldives Boon from Canadian oil sands comes with price Amazon rain forest cut for cattle Beetles kill in Canada's warming forest Coal dependence darkens Poland's skies Burning coal deposits pollute lives in India

Learn.Genetics

netbros — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:35:03 -0800

grumblebee's post about cell size and scale the other day was quite fascinating. Pulling back to the home for that site, the Genetic Science Learning Center at the University of Utah delivers educational materials on genetics, bio-science and health topics ranging from stem cells to gene therapy, and from epigenetics to heredity. Explore the neurobiology of normal and addicted brains and the genetic contribution to this chronic disease.

Aquacalypse Now

kliuless — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:43:38 -0800

The End of Fish - maybe it's finally time for an environmental accounting, cuz the 'bill' is coming due; stocks and flows, folks.

Sacred Groves

homunculus — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:42:14 -0800

UC Scientists Determine That Ancient Maya Practiced Forest Conservation — 3,000 Years Ago. "As published in the July issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, paleoethnobotanist David Lentz of the University of Cincinnati has concluded that not only did the Maya people practice forest management, but when they abandoned their forest conservation practices it was to the detriment of the entire Maya culture." [Via] Meanwhile, in present-day India, conservationists are trying to preserve sacred groves: New Notion of the Sacred

Unlike much of the Western world, the Indian subcontinent has managed to retain many thousands of groves, forests, rivers, lakes, and mountains that are afforded special protection for religious or spiritual reasons. Despite the enormous cultural disruption caused by British rule and the wave of industrialization that followed independence, sacred places in India have survived as a living tradition into the modern age. As the nation starts to feel the environmental strain of its economic boom, with a rapidly expanding population growing ever more hungry for land and resources, ecologists have begun to recognize sound scientific reasons for preserving human-free zones. Ancient as the tradition is, and as imbued with folklore and myth, declaring certain places sacred dovetails with some very modern concepts. Conservation groups are currently urging the Indian government—whose policies have led at times to the erosion of many sacred-grove systems—to acknowledge and understand the ways in which the country’s past may be key to its future.

The Great Work

diogenes — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:09:41 -0800

Thomas Berry passed away early on the morning of June 1st. He described himself as a cosmologist and "geologian," an Earth scholar. He was an advocate of deep ecology, and believed passionately in the power of the New Cosmology and the Great Story. Berry believed that "Our future destiny rests even more decisively on our capacity for intimacy in our human-Earth relations."

The "Intelligence" of Plants

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 06:23:10 -0800

New botanical research is shedding light on plant behavior and "intelligence". Additional reading: "Some experiments have shown that if a plant's roots grow near to those of another unrelated plant, the two will try to compete for nutrients and water. But if a root grows close to another from the same parent plant, the two do not try to compete with one another. Karban says he was 'pretty surprised' at the results. 'It implies that plants are capable of more sophisticated behaviour than we imagined.'" "To commence use of the term intelligence with regard to plant behaviour will lead to a better understanding of the complexity of plant signal transduction and the discrimination and sensitivity with which plants construct images of their environment, and raises critical questions concerning how plants compute responses at the whole-plant level."

Cotton Kills

CheeseDigestsAll — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:30:28 -0800

NASA recently released a series of photographs documenting the loss of the Aral Sea over the past ten years. The Aral Sea could be the poster child for human damage to the ecosystem. In a mere four decades, it has gone from a surface area of 68000 km^2 to less that a quarter of that, with a 10x drop in water volume. As its Wikipedia article points out, this is the equivalent of completely draining two of the five Great Lakes. Much of the water has been lost to making Uzbekistan the fifth largest producer and second largest exporter of cotton, a notoriously water-hungry crop. Other disasters inflicted on the sea include destruction of the fishing economy, loss of wildlife, industrial waste, pesticide and fertilizer pollution, enormous dust storms, and a bioweapons lab. In the last few years, the water level in the north has risen slightly due to a rescue effort, but it is only a partial success in a plan with a limited scope.

Infrastructures / Networks / Environments

netbros — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:47:21 -0800

The globe’s networked ecologies of food, water, energy, and waste have established new infrastructures and forms of urbanism. While these ecologies exist at the service of our contemporary lifestyles, they have typically remained hidden from view and from the public conscience. Infranet Lab is studying the shifting / changing conditions. Recent articles include Greening of Prison Infrastructure where you'll find solar fields used to power the prisons and gardens and greenhouses for nourishment. A three-part article about salt mining (1, 2, 3). About 50% of industrialized salt production is used in cold-climate regions for de-icing. Along with that massive seasonally dependent harvest, is the need to store salt (or sand) in a distributed fashion and at a municipal level. Like little salt banks or mail drop-off boxes, salt facilities dot the highway landscape. The recent volatile nature of the stock market has incited a new type of investment — in farmland, deemed ‘getting rich slow.’ Further, continual land development which encroaches on arable land, coupled with a rising world population — makes farmland an increasingly precious resource. It is currently estimated that 25 million acres of farmland are lost each year.

The Guide to Highly Efficient Things

netbros — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:01:49 -0800

Meta-efficiency is the analysis of efficiency at a more comprehensive level. Metaefficient Review assesses products considering not only their energy efficiency but also the embodied energy, toxicity, affordability, and usability. In the architecture and building section you can find articles such as The Largest Building In The World To Be Green. The renewable power section includes information about Solar Canopies For Parking Lots that provide shade for customers, while generating up to a half-megawatt of electricity. New zero emissions electric scooter bicycles can be found in the transportation section. Metaefficient has been at this for five years, so there are hundreds of articles and product reviews in the archives. Metaefficient is the brainchild of Justin Thomas.

Invasional Meltdown

homunculus — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:05:54 -0800

What Invasive Species Are Trying to Tell Us. "Walking snakeheads, carnivorous snails, and the superpredator from the reef: The invasion has begun." [Via]

The Spherical Wave Structure of Matter in Space

netbros — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:05:00 -0800

On Truth and Reality. Despite several thousand years of failure to correctly understand physical reality (hence the current postmodern view that this is impossible) it is actually very simple to work out how matter exists and moves about in Space. The rules of Science (Occam's Razor / Simplicity) and Metaphysics (Dynamic Unity of Reality) require that reality be described from only one single source existing, as Leibniz wrote: "because of the interconnection of all things with one another." The Four Main Purposes of this Website 1. To help people understand truth and reality 2. To realize that we are structures of the universe 3. To solve the central problems of knowledge 4. To share this knowledge with others Deduce the most simple science theory of reality, the wave structure of matter in Space, then deduce from this to show that it works. There is no opinion involved - it shows that science does work - we just needed the correct (most simple) foundations. Given the Wave Structure of Matter in Space it is now possible to explain what mathematics is, how it can exist in the universe, and thus why it is so well suited for describing physical quantities (mathematical physics). We can simplify Einstein's foundations of representing matter as continuous fields in space-time, to waves in continuous space. It does lead to a very simple, sensible foundation for understanding physical reality, and thus how you exist in the universe. This article basically explains the main subjects of quantum theory from a Wave Structure of Matter foundation (wave mechanics). If you prefer shorter summaries just browse the quantum physics links on either side of the page. The purpose of the Cosmology page is to simply explain the two cosmology theories that are consistent with current observations. You will need a basic understanding of the Wave Structure of Matter (WSM) before you read it. This WSM cosmology is actually describing what you really are, how you exist in this space of the universe and interact with everything around you. There is a revolution coming in the foundations of our knowledge because we have solved the central problem of metaphysics, of what exists (space) that causes and connects the many things we experience (waves in space that form matter, the discrete and separate particle an illusion of our limited senses). Matter is large, a structure of space, and this truth about reality will change humanity. If we are to discuss God and Religion, it is obvious that we must clearly define the meaning of these words (as all words are human constructions). In Philosophy God is generally referred to as the One thing that exists, infinite and eternal, that causes and connects the many things. Likewise, Religion, from Latin 'religare' meaning 'to bind', describes our connection to God as the One thing which exists. From this foundation we then see the clear connection between the sciences of philosophy, physics, metaphysics, and theology, as they are all founded on this Reality of One thing existing. As humans have evolved from Nature they ultimately depend upon Nature for their survival. Until we understand what we are as humans (what matter is) and how we are connected to the universe (reality), it is impossible for humanity to be wise, and to be able to evolve cultural knowledge that enables us to live in harmony with Nature. It is well known that our senses are deceptive, that when we see things as being separate and discrete bodies this is an illusion. Using science terminology then all we are really talking about is evolution and ecology. That all things in the universe (including life on earth) are interconnected and changing (the dynamic unity of reality). Teaching people how to think correctly and to use language carefully (to work out the truth for themselves) is a pretty good start for education (i.e. by teaching philosophy to students from a young age). If we are to improve human societies (which has become an urgent problem) we must consider the forces that determine their evolution. And four of the most significant factors are market economics, politics, education (the knowledge foundations of the people) and Nature.

Great white shark dissection

nthdegx — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:44:09 -0800

Scientists at the Auckland Museum will be performing a necropsy of a great white Shark between 11am and 1pm New Zealand time on Thursday. Though they will be examining the contents of its gut, they will also, among other things, look at its sex organs (female) and jaw. The necropsy will be viewable on the web from 2pm NZ time (when's that?). Selected trivia from Wikipedia, and elsewhere:

The only difference between a necropsy and an autopsy is that the word necropsy is more usually applied to animals.
Though reminiscent of the scene from Jaws, Dreyfuss's character was supposed to be examining a tiger shark.
Yes those tedious shark shockumentaries weren't lying. Great white sharks can detect traces of blood from 5km away. Apparently they can also detect a half-billionth of a volt in electric fields generated by moving creatures.
The shark was killed by accident when it became tangled in a gill net. It's against the law in New Zealand to kill a Great White shark deliberately.
At 3m and 300kg, this shark is nearly as big as some great whites.
The great white shark is an endothermic poikilotherm.
Great whites know how to evade dolphin echo location and have varying hunting techniques for a variety of species.
Most attacks on humans from great whites are thought to be "test bites" as they attempt to establish what we are. Humans' unique knack of getting out of the water explains why many attacks are non-fatal. Some have hypothesised that great whites don't like the taste of humans.

I, for one, welcome our new mycological overlords

kliuless — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:54:27 -0800

Mushrooms Save the World (long form) -- Paul Stamets on mycelia. Previously: 1 2 3 [bonus: slime molds]

The Solar Connection

digaman — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 09:01:23 -0800

Rethinking Earthrise. On the 40th anniversary of the NASA's Apollo 8 mission [caution: weird JFK animation], which answered Stewart Brand's epochal, LSD-inspired question "Why haven't we seen a photograph of the whole Earth yet?" with an unforgettable image of a seemingly fragile and isolated blue planet, Nature editor Oliver Morton -- author of a new book on photosynthesis called Eating the Sun -- disputes the notion that the Earth is fragile and isolated. "The fragility is an illusion," he writes. "The planet Earth is a remarkably robust thing, and this strength flows from its ancient and intimate connection to the cosmos beyond. To see the photo this way does not undermine its environmental relevance -- but it does recast it."

HI I'M ON METAFILTER AND I CAN OVERTHINK A WORLD OF BEANS

JHarris — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:32:04 -0800

Tales of the Beanworld ("A most peculiar comic book experience") recently resumed publication after a long hiatus. It's a strange and abstract mix of Native American mythology and culture, with a strong ecological focus, into an wonderfully charming cosmology. While it certainly invites, uh, overthinking, it's also entertaining on a purely casual level.
A sample short Beanworld story is on the Dark Horse Comics Myspace page.
If you have questions about it, the BeanWeb just may have answers, along with illustrations from the comics. There is now a Beanworld Wiki to supplement it, and creator Larry Marder keeps a blog where he talks about things bean.

Okay, now that it's properly introduced... the real point of this post is to link to this awesome Beanworld Flash cartoon, animated by Fashionbuddha and with music by They Might Be Giants!

you really should watch this.

plexi — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:56:58 -0800

Hunting the Hidden Dimension. You may be familiar with fractals, but in this PBS Nova episode, divided online into 5 parts, fractals go beyond the impossible zoom of the Mandelbrot set. Scientists are using fractals to describe complex natural occurrences, like lava, capillaries, and rain forests. In part 5, scientists measure one tree in the rain forests, and the distribution of small and large branches mirror the distribution of small and large trees. Fractals, it seems, are nature.

Ecoda dobutsuen

Artw — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:58:46 -0800

The Eco Zoo - some amazing Japanese 3D Flash. If you take a close look at the animals there... you might be able to get some tips to live in a more environmentally friendly way!

Unearthly Island

Kronos_to_Earth — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 22:57:11 -0800

Even the inhabitants of Socotra might think some of their island is beautiful but a bit outré.... Alien landscapes on Earth.

London Transport Museum

netbros — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 07:01:39 -0800

The Future Generator at the London Transport Museum is a forecasting look at the effect of transport on climate change in London. But you can get a sense of history as well. The museum's collection originated in the 1920s, when the London General Omnibus Company decided to preserve two Victorian horse buses and an early motorbus for future generations. They moved to the present location in 1980. Londoners can take a trip back in time on the Metropolitan line and enjoy a special day out in Metro-land as two historic electric trains run special excursions on Sunday 14 September 2008. You can browse the museum online or visit the physical location at Covent Garden Piazza. Explore the collection of over 16,000 photographs. Search via location, themes or dates over a century of photographs. London Transport Museum has more than 80 road and rail vehicles in its collection representing public transport in the city and its suburban and country areas over the last two centuries. The 20 vehicles on display at Covent Garden are all featured here.

Lame Duck v. Bald Eagles

digaman — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:43:28 -0800

Cross another item off of President Bush's to-do list before he leaves the White House: hobbling the Endangered Species Act and allowing federal agencies to gauge the environmental impact of their projects for themselves. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said the changes were needed to ensure that the ESA would not be used as a "back door" to regulate greenhouse gases.

stavrosthewonderchicken's home is dying

gen — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:05:40 -0800

Canadian expatriate (and Metafilter member) stavrosthewonderchicken has a detailed and depressing look at the impact of the mountain pine beetle in Northern British Columbia, where a perfect storm of "forest fire suppression, clearcutting (and subsequent replanting), [and] global warming" has led to the destruction of over 130,000 square kilometers of forest.

Expeditions

netbros — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:14:41 -0800

One World Journeys produces exciting and educational photo-documentary expeditions that connect online viewers to unique wilderness areas around the world. Travel to the remote mountain forests of the former Soviet Georgia, track jaguars in Mexico, dive on pristine coral reefs, swim with wild salmon and wildlife of British Columbia and step into the heat of the Sonoran Desert.

What Does a Bear Really Do In the Woods?

netbros — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:37:57 -0800

Northern Divide Grizzly Bear Project ― the grizzly bear has had a threatened status for more than 30 years now. Several zones have been established in the northwestern U.S. and Canada to monitor recovery. Kate Kendall of the USGS led a project to investigate recovery through DNA monitoring of the bears. Since the funds dried up, Kate and her team have used remote cameras to capture some interesting footage of bears and other wildlife.