Earth Frenzy Radio Blog

Help call for vanishing honeybees

2009-07-14T13:51:00.000-05:00

Britain's honeybees are disappearing at an "alarming" rate, yet the government is taking "little interest" in the problem. Bee numbers have fallen by up to 15% in the last two years, in part because agricultural changes have reduced the availability of the wildflowers they depend on for food. Disease, climate change and pesticide use have also been blamed for the decline.

Jumbo Squid Wash Ashore After Earthquake

2009-07-14T13:40:00.000-05:00

Jumbo squid wash ashore after earthquake. Dozens of large creatures called Jumbo Humboldt Squid washed up on La Jolla Shores beach in Southern California Saturday, 7/11, after a 4.0 earthquake centered offshore shook homes in the area. Residents tried to toss them back into the water before seagulls pecked away. There has been no connection made between the quake and the beaching of squid, which were up to 4 feet long, so for now the whole thing's a mystery.

New York crops hit by Irish Famine disease

2009-07-12T13:19:00.000-05:00

Tomato crops wiped out as Famine blight hits Northeast. The destructive fungal blight is wiping out tomato and potato plants across the state and much of the Northeast. The technical terms is "late blight," but it's the same disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s. This is the FIRST TIME THAT LATE BLIGHT HAS BEEN SEEN SO EARLY in the growing season. And food and plant experts say it's THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE INFECTION THEY'VE SEEN. "All of our tomatoes have been lost: totally, completely gone. They die in a week - it's just horrible. Once the leaves turn yellow, they're goners." The blight, which is being blamed on the unseasonal cool damp weather, spreads like wildfire and there are fears that it could spread to ten thousands of farm crops on Long Island. The big box stores Wal-Mart, Home Depot KMart and Lowes have issued a $1 million recall of possibly infected tomato plants and experts believe the current outbtreak could have originated there.

Meanwhile, New York shoppers and gardeners are being warned to destroy any affected plants because they could impact commercial farms. The fungus, Phytophthora infestans, is extremely dangerous because the spores are dispersed by the wind, potentially destroying nearby commercial crops. Once the spores arrive, there is no way to prevent the spread of the disease. Farmers are now praying for two weeks of dry weather as the disease spreads rapidly in damp cool weather. New York is the latest of several states to report late blight which is in nearly every East Coast state along with Ohio and Virginia. Late blight caused the deaths of more than 1 million people in Ireland in the 19th century because it totally destroyed the potato crop. More than 1.5 million Irish emigrated in the worst case of famine seen in Europe. "Ever since IrishCentral broke the story about the Famine blight appearing in the States, we have seen intense audience interest from survivalist sites and even from religious groups that are watching for signs of the Apocalypse. It's a story that has really touched a 'what if' nerve."

Loss of coastal seagrass habitat accelerating globally

2009-07-08T14:28:00.002-05:00

An international team of scientists warns that accelerating losses of seagrasses across the globe threaten the immediate health and long-term sustainability of coastal ecosystems. The team has compiled and analyzed the first comprehensive global assessment of seagrass observations and found that 58 percent of world's seagrass meadows are currently declining.

Heatwave prompts surge in massive basking sharks off British shores

2009-07-08T12:21:00.000-05:00

RECORD NUMBERS of basking sharks have been spotted off the coast of Britain and Ireland after the recent hot weather boosted levels of their favourite food: zooplankton. Last year there were only 26 sightings of the 11-metre sharks in two and a half months off the most southerly headland of Cornwall. This year more than 900 sightings have been recorded since the beginning of June. Volunteers have also recorded sharks breaching the surface of the water five or six times. "That is VERY RARE." Off the coast of Ireland, a RECORD NUMBER of sightings was also recorded in June, with 248 basking sharks counted last month. Conservationists believe one of the reasons for the high numbers could be unseasonably warm weather increasing the amount of zooplankton. Around the coast of the Isle of Man, another basking shark hotspot, 400 sightings have been recorded since the beginning of May. They have also been turning up in unexpected places this year.

The moon jellyfish has appeared in larger than usual numbers around the British and Irish coasts in the past few weeks, sometimes in blooms over 500 strong. The bigger barrel jellyfish, which can reach a metre in diameter and weigh up to 40kg, has also been seen in UNUSUALLY high numbers. A "superpod" of about 1,500 dolphins was seen last week off Pembrokeshire.

Climate change is shrinking sheep

2009-07-06T17:41:00.001-05:00

Climate change is causing a breed of wild sheep in Scotland to shrink, according to research. Scientists say milder winters help smaller sheep to survive, resulting in this "paradoxical decrease in size". Classic evolutionary theory would predict that wild sheep gradually get bigger, as the stronger, larger animals survive into adulthood and reproduce. Since 1985, the sheep have decreased in size by 5% - their legs getting steadily shorter and their body weight decreasing.

This strange phenomenon was first reported in 2007, but the reason for it remained under debate. "In the past, only the big, healthy sheep and large lambs that had piled on weight in their first summer could survive the harsh winters on Hirta." Because of climate change, grass for food is now available for more months of the year on the island. "Survival conditions are not so challenging - even the slower growing sheep have a chance of making it, and this means smaller individuals are becoming increasingly prevalent in the population." As for the future of the sheep, the team believes that they are still shrinking. "But it's too early to say if, in 100 years, we will have chihuahuas herding pocket-sized sheep."

Rainforests More Fragile Than Estimated

2009-07-01T09:28:00.000-05:00

The Amazon rainforest, one of the planet's most precious and besieged natural resources, is even more fragile than realized. If the planet warms even a moderate amount, a new study predicts that as much as 40 percent of it could be condemned to vanish by the end of the century.
A crippled Amazon could hasten global warming. If a significant portion of its trees die off, their vast stores of carbon would be emitted back into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases, pushing the climate further into dangerous levels of warming.

Third of open ocean sharks face extinction

2009-06-27T15:56:00.000-05:00

PARIS (AFP) — A third of the world's open water sharks -- including the great white and hammerhead -- face extinction, according to a major conservation survey released Thursday.
Species hunted on the high seas are particularly at risk, with more than half in danger of dying out, reported the Shark Specialist Group at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Collapsing shark populations have already severely disrupted at least two coastal marine ecosystems, and could trigger even more severe consequences in the high seas, marine biologists warned at the same time.
The main culprit is overfishing. Sharks are prized for their meat, and in Asia especially for their fins, a prestige food thought to convey health benefits.

Dolphin 'super pod' shifts north

2009-06-27T15:47:00.002-05:00

Hundreds of dolphins more commonly found in warmer seas have been seen in the Moray Firth in Scotland while making a "massive migration" into the North Sea. The environmental charity Earthwatch Institute said more than 400 short-beaked common dolphins were sighted off the north east coast. It said the "super pod" was a sign of how climate change was pushing some wildlife further north. The dolphins' appearance in the firth was hugely significant. "Firstly, the sheer number of dolphins was astounding - there were common dolphin everywhere around us over a two-mile radius. Furthermore, this was only the second sighting in the past few years of such a 'super-pod' of this species in these waters. The first sighting in 10 years was recorded here in July 2007 when we were joined by more than 300 animals in the outer Moray Firth."

Large 2009 Gulf Of Mexico 'Dead Zone' Predicted

2009-06-24T14:56:00.000-05:00

University of Michigan aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia and his colleagues say this year's Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" could be one of the largest on record, continuing a decades-long trend that threatens the health of a half-billion-dollar fishery.

The scientists' latest forecast, released June 18, calls for a Gulf dead zone of between 7,450 and 8,456 square miles—an area about the size of New Jersey.

"The growth of these dead zones is an ecological time bomb," said Scavia, a professor at the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment and director of the U-M Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute.
"Without determined local, regional and national efforts to control them, we are putting major fisheries at risk," said Scavia, who also produces annual dead-zone forecasts for the Chesapeake Bay.

Image: Mississippi dead zone in 2004. This year's Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" could be one of the largest on record, continuing a decades-long trend that threatens the health of a half-billion-dollar fishery. (Credit: Photo courtesy of NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)

Uganda forests rapidly disappearing

2009-06-22T16:07:00.002-05:00

KAMPALA (AFP) — Uganda has lost nearly a third of its forest cover since 1990 due to expanding farmlands, a rapidly growing human population and increased urbanisation, a government report said on Friday.

In 1990, the east African nation had more than five million hectares of forest cover but by 2005 only 3.5 million hectares (8.6 million acres) remained, the report, published by Ugandan's National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), said.

If deforestation continues at the present rate Uganda will have lost all its forested land by 2050, it warned.

Image: Patches of burnt grass are seen in a tree forest in the Ugandan north-eastern plains

California's Water Woes Threaten the Entire Country's Food Supply

2009-06-19T21:41:00.002-05:00

Nearly a third of the country's food supply comes from California, but drought there may be a catastrophe for farmers -- and the rest of us.

California's agricultural sector grows approximately one-third of the nation's food supply and is nourished by diverted rivers and streams filled yearly by runoff from its prodigious Sierra Nevada snowpack, as well as groundwater pumping and other less-reliable methods. That snowpack -- which once sparked the first, but not the last, water war that helped transform a semi-arid Los Angeles into an unsustainable oasis less populous than only New York City -- is disappearing fast. Hence Chu's worrisome prediction.

To make matters worse, a crushing drought, now well into its third year, has made simply everything problematic. In California's central valley, home to a majority of the state's agricultural output, farmers are leaving hundreds of thousands of acres fallow, and the resultant economic depression is having a domino effect that could cost California $1 billion to start and is causing residents of a one-time food powerhouse to go hungry.

Mekong dolphins 'almost extinct'

2009-06-18T10:07:00.000-05:00

Pollution in the Mekong river has pushed freshwater dolphins in Cambodia and Laos to the brink of extinction, the conservation group WWF has said.

Only 64 to 76 Irrawaddy dolphins remain in the Mekong, it says, and calls for a cross-border plan to help the dolphins.
Toxic levels of pesticides, mercury and other pollutants have been found in more than 50 calves that have died since 2003.
The Mekong flows from China through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.
"These pollutants are widely distributed in the environment and so the source of this pollution may involve several countries through which the Mekong river flows," said WWF veterinary surgeon Verne Dove in a press statement.

New Strain of H1-N1 Virus Discovered: Deaths Mount in NYC

2009-06-17T09:59:00.004-05:00

Skywatch Media News has learned that the H1N1 Swine Flu Virus, which has already been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, has developed a new strain of the virus in South America. The Adolfo Lutz Institute in Sao Paulo sounded the warning indicating that the virus is mutating much faster than was anticipated by medical experts. This new discovery is important in that the genetic variant of the Swine Flu, now has the potential to become a deadly viral strain similar to the Spanish Flu variant that killed many millions in 1918.
More worrisome for North America and the United States is the number of swine flu deaths and infections that continue to be reported across the country. Deaths have increased, especially in New York City, where yesterday alone 7 more deaths have been confirmed, bringing the total number to 23 in the city alone.
The Death of a nine year old boy has been reported in Florida, A 20 year old woman in San Diego County, California; A sixth death in Utah, Two more deaths bringing total to 8 in Texas. The total number of U.S. deaths since the virus was first reported in unclear, but the number given by the CDC on June 12, stood at 44 with nearly 18,000 infections. That number is likely to change dramatically when the CDC publishes their new report on June 19. The U.S. congress has approved nearly 8 billion to combat the flu virus
It is important to note that the mainstream media and cable news networks in the United States, in order to refrain from being labeled alarmists, have treating the Swine Flu Pandemic with kid gloves. This is troublesome, as the world should be informed, and rightfully so, considering recent developments with this virus, as it continues to spread across the globe.
In the U.K. the number of confirmed infections is the highest number in Europe, having increased dramatically, with a mother and her child being the latest mortality victims in Scotland.
Australia is reporting chaos with the Swine Flu Pandemic as the medical response has not been forthcoming in anticipation of the spread of the virus.
For the latest updates on the Swine Flu Pandemic including U.S. and World Statistics visit H1-N1 Flu Updates

Swine flu pandemic declared by World Health Organization

2009-06-11T11:33:00.000-05:00

The World Health Organization this morning acknowledged what many health experts have been saying for weeks: The outbreak of novel H1N1 virus is now a pandemic.

In a letter sent to its member countries, the WHO said it is officially raising its infectious diseases alert to Phase 6, its highest level, in recognition of the fact that the virus is now undergoing communitywide transmission in Australia as well as in North America. Such spread in two distinct regions of the world is the primary criterion for raising the alert level.

The announcement marks the advent of the first global influenza epidemic in 41 years. The last one was the Honk Kong flu epidemic of 1968, which killed an estimated 1 million people worldwide.

So far, the H1N1 or swine flu pandemic this year has accounted for 27,737 laboratory-confirmed cases and 141 deaths, although health officials believe many times that number have been infected but have not been tested because their disease was mild.

Climate talks must tackle ocean acidification

2009-06-03T09:24:00.000-05:00

PARIS (AFP) – The world's top scientific academies on Monday called on UN talks to include ocean acidification, a dangerous byproduct of carbon pollution, in a global treaty to tackle climate change.
"Ocean acidification is expected to cause massive corrosion of our coral reefs and dramatic changes in the makeup of the biodiversity of our oceans and to have significant implications for food production and the livelihoods of millions of people," 70 academies of science said in a joint statement.
Their appeal came at the start of a 12-day round of negotiations in Bonn under the banner of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The UNFCCC is tasked with steering 192 parties towards a deal in Copenhagen in December that will set down targets for curbing greenhouse-gas emissions by the middle of the century.
"Everybody knows that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to climate change," Martin Rees, president of Britain's Royal Society, said in a press release.
"But it has another environmental effect -- ocean acidification -- which hasn?t received much political attention," he said.
"Unless global CO2 emissions can be cut by at least 50 percent by 2050 and more thereafter, we could confront an underwater catastrophe, with irreversible changes in the makeup of our marine biodiversity.

Iraq rattled by snake plague

2009-06-03T08:49:00.000-05:00

A plague of snakes has caused panic in Iraq's southern province of Nasiriyah, biting cattle and worrying residents as poisonous reptiles flee their dens in the country's water-deprived marshes. "We have been surprised in recent days by the UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER of snakes that have fled their habitat because of the dryness and heat. We saw some on roads, near houses and cowsheds. They have attacked cows and buffalo, and farmers have come to us looking for vaccines but we don't have any.'' Iraq's water reserves dipped to 11 billion cubic metres in May, compared with 40 billion cubic metres three years earlier, although rainfall this past winter was normal. Experts say Iraq faces agricultural disaster this summer if neighbouring Turkey continues to retain waters from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which have nourished Iraqi agriculture for millennia. Iraq says the problem is the many dams Turkey has built over the past 30 years to irrigate its own southeast.

Disaster Risk to Urban Growth

2009-05-27T16:11:00.003-05:00

A pair of new studies say that more people than ever lie in harm’s way from earthquakes, droughts, floods and other disasters, largely because of a surge in urban populations in developing countries. Smaller or poorer countries can be devastated by disasters that are relatively inconsequential in places shielded by size or wealth. While the economic cost from disasters has risen, the cost as percentage of the global economy has been flat. The mortality rate has been declining in many areas. But in hot spots combining dense populations with the risk of earthquakes, floods and other hazards, the potential for catastrophic impact is growing. “Without governance capacity, the faster you develop, it’s almost like the faster you’re building disasters.” The dominant factor raising death tolls and economic losses from disasters is humanity’s hastening transformation into a mainly urban species, with a surge of people in search of work settling in marginal urban lands and shoddy housing. “Some of the statistics are almost hallucinatory. Some time before 2050, the urban population of India will rise by 500 million people. Mumbai and Calcutta are already very poor about providing land and housing. How will they accommodate tens of millions more? And both cities are in very hazard-prone locations.”

Atrocious weather bill hits €2 million a day

2009-05-27T16:01:00.002-05:00

Ireland
Atrocious weather is costing Irish farmers more than €2m each day. Experts warn this is only the beginning and it's too soon to estimate the real cost as the fallout will be felt well into 2010. Emergency measures have been employed on farms around the country and it's all about survival at this stage. Soil temperatures are currently two to three degrees BELOW NORMAL for this time of year and recorded growth rates at present are running way below what would be expected. At Teagasc's beef research facility in Grange in the past week, growth rates on the cattle grazing unit were running at less than half the normal rate for this time of year. Worsening ground conditions have also forced the re-housing of stock at the Co Meath unit. Silage prices have shot up to €30-40 a bale and there are even reports of farmers selling cut grass at €100 for each trailer load. Most farmers are now feeding 2-10kg of ration/animal/day. Even so, animal performance, particularly in dairy herds, has been badly affected. Grass shortages have reached "nightmarish" proportions, especially on mixed holdings. In parts of the west, rain levels are three times the normal rate for this time of year.

Climate change amplifying animal disease

2009-05-26T09:03:00.000-05:00

PARIS (AFP) — Climate change is widening viral disease among farm animals, expanding the spread of some microbes that are also a known risk to humans, the world's top agency for animal health said on Monday.
The World Animal Health Organisation -- known as OIE, an acronym of its name in French -- said a survey of 126 of its member-states found 71 percent were "extremely concerned" about the expected impact of climate change on animal disease.
Fifty-eight percent said they had already identified at least one disease that was new to their territory or had returned to their territory, and that they associated with climate change.
The three most mentioned diseases were bluetongue, spread among sheep by biting midges; Rift Valley fever, a livestock disease that can also be picked up by people handling infected meat; and West Nile virus, which is transmitted by mosquito from infected birds to both animals and humans.

Fungus threatens to wipe out Philippine frogs:

2009-05-21T15:51:00.002-05:00

MANILA (AFP) — A deadly frog fungus that has wiped out hundreds of amphibian species in the Americas is now devastating the populations of five frog species in the Philippines, experts said Wednesday.

A two-year nationwide survey by a team of US and Filipino scientists found that the Philippines has become the third country in Asia to be hit by the chytrid fungus.

The fungus, which attacks the skin of frogs and salamanders and affects the formation of tadpoles' body parts, is also present in Japan and Indonesia.

The Luzon striped frog, Rana similis, one of five affected endemic species, has practically disappeared from the lowland forests of Mount Labo on the southeast tip of the main Philippine island of Luzon, said Arvin Diesmos, curator of amphibians and reptiles at the National Museum of the Philippines.

The Luzon stream frog (Rana luzonensis), two species of the Luzon fanged frog (Limnonectes woodworth and Limnonectes macrocephalus), and the Puddle frog (Occidozyga laevis) were also found to be infected in Labo and the Palay-palay mountain range near Manila.

Warning over new threat from MRSA

2009-05-20T17:22:00.002-05:00

A new strain of MRSA seems to be triggering a deadly form of pneumonia in people who catch flu, experts say.

Researchers believe the new strain of the antibiotic-resistant bacterium is becoming more widespread.

It is known as community acquired MRSA, (CA-MRSA) because, unlike most forms of the superbug, it poses a significant risk outside hospitals.

The potential threat is detailed in a study appearing in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases.

However, experts stressed cases of pneumonia caused by CA-MRSA in the UK were very rare.

"CA-MRSA pneumonia is particularly dangerous due to the rapid, aggressive nature of the infection"

Climate Change Driving Michigan Mammals North

2009-05-14T12:42:00.000-05:00

Some Michigan mammal species are rapidly expanding their ranges northward, apparently in response to climate change, a new study shows. In the process, these historically southern species are replacing their northern counterparts.

The finding, by researchers at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Ohio's Miami University, appears in the June issue of the journal Global Change Biology.

"When you read about changes in flora and fauna related to climatic warming, most of what you read is either predictive—they're talking about things that are going to happen in the future—or it's restricted to single species living in extreme or remote environments, like polar bears in the Arctic," said lead author Philip Myers, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at U-M. "But this study documents things that are happening right now, here at home."

*Image: Southern flying squirrel. Of the nine mammal species examined, four have established strongholds or increased in abundance, while five have declined. The increasing species—white-footed mice, southern flying squirrels, eastern chipmunks and common opossums—all are southern species, while the declining species—woodland deer mice, southern red-backed voles, northern flying squirrels, woodland jumping mice, and least chipmunks—are all northern species. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Michigan)

Key coral reefs 'could disappear'

2009-05-13T10:53:00.000-05:00

The world's most important coral region is in danger of being wiped out by the end of this century unless fast action is taken, says a new report. The Coral Triangle covers 1% of the earth's surface but contains a third of all the world's coral, and three-quarters of its coral reef species. 40% of reefs in the Coral Triangle have already been lost. The area is shared between Indonesia and five other south-east Asian nations and is thought to contain 75% of the world's coral species. It is likened to the Amazon rainforest in terms of its biodiversity.

What we can expect if the world's richest coral reef is destroyed:
It's 2099, and across south-east Asia, a hundred million people are on the march, looking for food. The fish they once relied on is gone. Communities are breaking down; economies destroyed. And that could happen this century.
"Up until now we haven't realized how quickly this system is changing. In the last 40 years in the Coral Triangle, we've lost 40% of coral reefs and mangroves - and that's probably an underestimate. We've fundamentally changed the way the planet works in terms of currents and this is only with a 0.7 degree change in terms of temperature. What's going to happen when we exceed two or four or six?" "Pollution, the inappropriate use of coastal areas, these are destroying the productivity of ocean which is plummeting right now. That is the system that traps CO2 - 40% of CO2 goes into the ocean. Now if we interrupt that, the problems on planet earth become even greater."

Storm thrashes kiwifruit crops

2009-05-13T10:31:00.000-05:00

KIWI - Some Bay of Plenty kiwifruit growers are trying to salvage crops devastated by a FREAK HAIL STORM. The storm hit at about 5pm on Monday and growers say they may have lost millions of dollars of produce. "It was like someone getting a shot gun and just firing it into all of the (kiwifruit) canopy." The storm is more bad news for the already struggling industry The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research says the freak weather strike is VERY RARE AND EXTREME. "It's a bit like having a pot on a stove, you've got heat at the bottom and cold at the top and it bubbles up and blows up these big thunder storm clouds."