Sixteen bird species saved from extinction

The Beak Shall Inherit the Earth

Sixteen bird species that nearly went extinct in the mid-1990s were saved by international cooperation and concerted conservation efforts, according to a study published in the journal Oryx by researchers from BirdLife International. Scientists say the rebounds in populations of the Norfolk Island green parrot, the Mauritius parakeet, and 14 other species show there's hope of slowing the trend toward human-caused bird extinctions. "It is encouraging that bird conservation actions worldwide are making a noticeable dent in the bleak scenario of global biodiversity loss," wrote Cambridge zoologist Ana S. L. Rodrigues, who summarized the research in Science. However, if humans continue to tear down tropical forests and engage in other not-so-bird-conducive activities, the feathered-friend extinction rate could rise tenfold in the next decade. Said Stuart Butchart, author of the BirdLife study, "These successes show that preventing extinctions is possible, given political will and concerted action." Hmm, speaking of rare ...

straight to the source: The Independent, Maxine Frith, 28 Aug 2006

straight to the source: The New York Times, Andrew C. Revkin, 29 Aug 2006

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Comments: (2 comments)

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saving endangered birds

The article in the Independent makes an interesting observation that conservationists are more likely to take action to protect "charismatic" bird species, and to pay less attention to others that can seem plain, or unattractive. It is possible that the California condor, not being very cute to look at in the eyes of many observers, falls into this class. More surprising, though, is that the piping plover is included, which while small is IMHO definitely cute. Same with the sage grouse. On the other hand, it would not surprise me if the large numbers of songbirds, many warblers and others, which migrate between North and South America and are vulnerable to habitat loss in a number of places, are thought not to have much stage presence.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 11:08 PM on 29 Aug 2006

Methane hydrate

http://www.resa.net/nasa/ocean_methane.htm

"Hydrates
These gas hydrates are actually natural methane-water ices, which form under conditions of high pressure and low temperature in many areas worldwide. Gas hydrate is a crystalline solid consisting of gas molecules, usually methane, each surrounded by a cage of water molecules. It looks very much like water ice. Methane hydrate is stable in ocean floor sediments at water depths greater than 300 meters and, where it occurs, it is known to cement loose sediments in a surface layer up to several hundred meters thick."

Melt this ocean bottom glacier and release overwhelming amounts of methane, with 21 times the greenhouse effect of CO 2. ( http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/Emi... )

Melt the permafrost in the arctic regions and add to it.

But never fear the corporatista geniuses that keep this doom on track are planning to pump CO 2 from "clean" coal power plants under the ocean floor to stave it off. The ocean floor? Where the methane hydrate is iced over?

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

by amazingdrx at 5:05 AM on 30 Aug 2006

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