An Overrun Florida Looks to Python Bounty Hunters (Links)
Tyranny for the Commons Man Six billion people are now sharing one planet, one water supply, and limited energy resources with a grab-first-ask-questions-later mentality. 10 People Guiding Science for Humanity Ten researchers, politicians, executives, and philanthropists who are working to assure that the benefits of new technologies and knowledge will accrue to humanity. Competitive Altruism: Being Green in Public What if environmentalism didn’t really involve sacrifice? California Beaches Face a Rising Ride of Pollution Ten percent of water samples at California beaches last year contained more human fecal bacteria than the state allows. Joshua Trees Vanishing The Joshua Tree is expected to vanish entirely from the southern half of California within a century. An Inconvenient Talk A guide to the end of the fossil fuel age. Exxon Owes $500 Million Interest for Valdez Spill Exxon Mobil Corp. must pay victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill $480 million more in interest on their delayed punitive damages awards, a U.S. appeals court has ruled. Arctic Tundra Undergoing Major Changes As it Warms, Studies Show Several recent studies show that the rapid warming of Arctic tundra is leading to a host of sweeping changes, including more extensive fires, the growth of larger vegetation, more absorption of solar energy, melting permafrost, and substantially larger releases of greenhouse gases. Hunters Depleting Lion and Cougar Populations Sport hunters are depleting lion and cougar populations as managers respond to demands to control predators that threaten livestock and humans. An Overrun Florida Looks to Python Bounty Hunters Of all the ideas floated to get a grip on pythons and other exotic imports creeping and crawling through America’s undergrowth, only one stands out to Florida snake experts as having a real impact: bounty hunters. Sustainability: Solution to Fermi’s Paradox? If civilizations can’t grow exponentially, that might explain why we don’t see any signs of ET. Environmentalism and Religion Jonathan Zasloff, an environmental law professor at UCLA, is skeptical of the idea that religion can add much to environmental policy debates. Couples Who Cohabit Before Engagement are More Likely to Struggle Couples who live together before they are engaged have a higher chance of getting divorced than those who wait until they are married to live together, or at least wait until they are engaged.
Toxic Chinook Salmon is Killing Killer Whales (Links)
Scientists say human-caused climate change is…real? Clear days have exacerbated climate change in Europe. The termite insecticide used when pest control guys tented your house has been found to be a potent greenhouse gas. Department of It Takes a Catastrophe: After December’s toxic spill in Tennessee, a West Virginia lawmaker has introduced legislation to set federal standards for storing the waste. Department of Sounds Familiar: 3,600 years ago, a natural disaster destroyed a civilization, after 2,000 years of ‘no incentive to change.’ Grist looks at the green aspects of the $825 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Ecologists have identified invasive plants that pose the biggest threats to southern forest ecosystems in 2009. Bush must’ve dropped the ball on preventing this one: the U.S. government may kind of try to offset environmental damage from the construction of hundreds of miles of walls along the Mexican border. Once as ‘divided as oil and water,’ labor unions and environmental groups are uniting over health care worries shared in workplaces and communities. Toxic Chinook salmon is killing killer whales. Frogs (and their legs) are being eaten to extinction. The LA Times profiles the civil disobedience of Tim DeChristopher, who found a loophole in Bush rules and threw a monkeywrench into Utah public land sales. The Economist looks at the staggering rate of species extinction in the world’s tropical forests. Indonesian orangutans are on the verge of extinction because forests are being clear-cut and burned meet world demand for palm oil. Human hunting and fishing is accelerating the speed of evolution in some species as it removes whole generations of large adults that would otherwise reproduce. Side effects include ‘changes in eyelid pigmentation,’ but the enhanced eyelash growth is probably worth it. You’ve had three cups of coffee. Are you hallucinating?
