Month: August 2012

  • Cold-Blooded species may adapt to climate change faster than thought

    In the face of a changing climate many species must adapt or perish. Ecologists studying evolutionary responses to climate change forecast that cold-blooded tropical species are not as vulnerable to extinction as previously thought. The study, published in the British Ecological Society’s Functional Ecology, considers how fast species can evolve and adapt to compensate for…

  • Trouble Having Kids? Eat Some Walnuts

    A new study has found that men who eat a healthy serving of walnuts every day will improve their sperm quality and boost fertility. The chemical in the walnut, omega-3, is also common in many other tree nuts. The researchers from the UCLA School of Nursing believe it is the omega-3 that provides the fertility…

  • Aquaculture Feeding World’s Insatiable Appetite for Seafood

    Total global fish production, including both wild capture fish and aquaculture, reached an all-time high of 154 million tons in 2011, and aquaculture is set to top 60 percent of production by 2020, according to new research conducted by the Worldwatch Institute (www.worldwatch.org) for its Vital Signs Online service. Wild capture was 90.4 million tons…

  • Slipping Sustainability Through The Back Door

    aguna Niguel, CA — America is going green, but not the way environmentalists had planned it. The unlikely hero is none other than Corporate America, which is giving consumers the green whether they realize it or not. Why? Because it’s good for the customer, it’s good business, and let’s face it, as MGM Senior Vice…

  • Ford’s Investment in EVs and Hybrids Continues to Surge

    Yesterday Ford Motor Co. announced that the company would accelerate investment in electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids. The moves come as Ford and its competitors within the American automobile industry experience a resurgence following their near-death experience just a few years ago.

  • Beavers Benefit Salmon Populations

    One would expect that beaver dams create more harm than good for fish populations, as they block certain species from swimming upstream and therefore reduce the availability of suitable spawning habitat. However, according to a new study by the University of Southampton, reintroduced European beavers could have an overall positive impact on Scottish wild salmon…

  • Record Burmese Python found in the Florida Everglades

    A double record-setting Burmese python has been found in the Florida Everglades. At 17 feet, 7 inches (5.3 meters) in length, it is the largest snake of its kind found in the state and it was carrying a record 87 eggs. Scientists say the finding highlights how dangerously comfortable the invasive species has become in…

  • King of the jungle: lions discovered in rainforests

    Calling the African lion (Panthera leo) the ‘king of the jungle’ is usually a misnomer, as the species is usually found in savannah or dry forests, but recent photos by the Germany-based Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) document lions in Ethiopian rainforests.

  • Rate of Arctic summer sea ice loss is much greater than predicted

    Sea ice in the Arctic is disappearing at a far greater rate than previously expected, according to data from the first purpose-built satellite launched to study the thickness of the Earth’s polar caps. Preliminary results from the European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2 probe indicate that 900 cubic kilometres of summer sea ice has disappeared from the…

  • Black Carbon from Slash and Burn Practices Still a Problem in Brazil

    Although nearly 40 years have passed since Brazil banned slash-and-burn practices in its Atlantic Forest, the destruction lingers. New research reveals that charred plant material is leaching out of the soil and into rivers, eventually making its way to the ocean. So much of this “black carbon” is entering the marine ecosystem that it could…