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Loss of top animal predators has massive ecological effects
 When sea otters, which feed on sea urchins, were hunted to extinction in some coastal areas of the Pacific Ocean, sea urchins increased in abundance and decimated underwater kelp forests, also affecting other species that inhabit the kelp. Credit: Matt Knoth. |
“Trophic Downgrading of Planet Earth,” a review paper that will be published on July 15, 2011, in the journal Science, concludes that the decline of large predators and herbivores in all regions of the world is causing substantial changes to Earth’s terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.
The paper claims that the loss of apex consumers from ecosystems “may be humankind’s most pervasive influence on nature.” The research was funded primarily by the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts.
The paper is co-authored by the Institute’s executive director, Dr. Ellen K. Pikitch, and the lead author is Dr. James A. Estes, professor of ecology and evolution at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
The review, conducted by an international team of 24 scientists, illuminates the Read more…
Farthest, Largest Water Mass In Universe Discovered
7/22/2011 — extremely RARE tornadoes in Puerto Rico
Japan should have nuclear weapons: Tokyo Governor
TOKYO – Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara has criticised Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s vow to reduce dependency on atomic energy after the Fukushima disaster, saying instead the country should deepen its nuclear embrace to include weapons.
“Japan should absolutely possess nuclear weapons,” Mr Ishihara said in a July 15 interview at his office citing China and North Korea as potential threats.
“I don’t think we can easily do away with atomic power. Nuclear energy is inexpensive if managed well,” he also said.
Mr Ishihara has built a political career by taking on consensus views on everything from Japan’s pacifist constitution to economic ties with the United States, with a record of success with voters that’s withstood controversial remarks that have forced public apologies.
The 78-year-old Governor expressed regret in March after calling the earthquake and tsunami disaster “divine punishment” for the “egoism” of Japnese society. He was re-elected in April to a fourth four-year term governing Japan’s biggest and richest city. Bloomberg
Oslo explosion: dozens injured, buildings damaged after Norway city blast
It remains unclear what caused the blast or if it was a terrorism attack. The Prime Minister was reported to be safe.
Oslo blast seen from the sky
The cause of the blast was unknown but the tangled wreckage of a car was outside one building.
The damage appeared consistent with that from car bombs. Police and fire officials declined to comment on the cause.
Injured people were seen lying on the street in pools of blood. Heavy debris littered the streets and smoke rose over the city centre.
The 17-storey building, which also houses Norway’s biggest tabloid newspaper VG, was reported to be on fire, with thick black smoke being seen for miles.
Witnesses reported the massive blast blew out most windows in the building as well as nearby government departments including the oil ministry, in Norway’s capital and Read more…
China’s Cold War on Christianity Perpetuates Historic Persecutions
Totalitarians cannot tolerate the free exercise of religion. As so many disillusioned communists in the last century observed, communism, to its disciples, is a religion and a god. One well known book, a collection of the writings of a number of former communists, is called simply The God That Failed. Anyone who has attempted to discuss a subject intelligently with a communist quickly grasps that he is talking to a follower of a secular religion.
Sometimes communism has entered into a truce with faith or has loosened the chains on religious people for tactical reasons. During the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, for example, the churches opened again and allowed people to worship without duress. That limited freedom disappeared after the Nazis were defeated. The Soviets also pretended to respect the rights of Jews to worship, although in actual practice Judaism was suppressed (Hebrew, for example, was forbidden while Yiddish, a secular language, was encouraged).
Why the fear of religion? As men such as Read more…
1 BILLION BECQUERELS PER HOUR Emission of Radioactive Materials from Fukushima I Nuke Plant at the End of June
That’s an amazing reduction from the maximum emission of 2,000 terabecquerels per hour on March 15, it is actually one-2 millionth of the maximum, says TEPCO in the Reference No. 2 of the progress report on the “roadmap” to God knows where.
Is this number, 1 billion becquerels per hour emission, good? TEPCO’s Matsumoto, in the press conference on July 19, avoided the judgment, and said he didn’t know, but it was one-2 millionth of what it had been on March 15.
On closer reading of the document, though, I noticed one strange thing about this emission number. TEPCO is talking about the radiation emission measured in cesium (cesium-134 and -137), not in iodine equivalence.
To come up with the iodine-131 equivalence, you have to multiply cesium-134 Read more…
US might redeploy Bahrain fleet
Citing sources in Washington, The Times wrote that there was a groundswell of opinion in favor of the relocation of the fleet, which has been stationed in Bahrain since the 1970s.
Tens of thousands of Bahraini protesters have been holding peaceful anti-government rallies throughout the country since February, demanding an end to the rule of the Al Khalifa family.
“There was talk on Capitol Hill about moving the fleet within days of the protests breaking out, and that increased in Read more…
As a mysterious skeleton is washed up on a British beach… Do sea monsters REALLY exist?
For centuries they’ve been a part of maritime legend, inspiring curiosity and terror in equal measure. Lurking in the depths of the oceans, shocking in size and appearance, gigantic serpents and prehistoric monsters are as much a source of fascination as ever, especially in Hollywood.
In the past two or three years alone, attacks by huge undersea beasts have provided the centrepiece battles at the ends of blockbusters such as Pirates Of The Caribbean, Clash Of The Titans and The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader.
But are such tales of strange sea beasts more than mythology? Is there any evidence to suggest that some of these monsters of the watery deep – from Jules Verne’s giant squid in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea to the legendary Kraken, a leviathan sending sailors to their doom – might actually exist?
Mysteries of the deep: Only this week, Read more…
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