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DocWatch canary in coal mine Twitterit? News stories about "canary in coal mine," with punchlines: http://apocadocs.com/d.pl?canary+in+coal+mine Related Scary Tags: ecosystem interrelationships  ~ massive die-off  ~ bird collapse  ~ global warming  ~ sixth extinction  ~ ocean warming  ~ climate impacts  ~ habitat loss  ~ marine mammals  ~ overfishing  ~ endangered list   Tue, Jul 7, 2015 from Denver Post: Thousands of birds abandon eggs and nests on Florida island The din created by thousands of nesting birds is usually the first thing you notice about Seahorse Key, a 150-acre mangrove-covered dune off Florida's Gulf Coast. But in May, the key fell eerily quiet all at once. Thousands of little blue herons, roseate spoonbills, snowy egrets, pelicans and other chattering birds were gone. Nests sat empty in trees; eggs broken and scattered on the muddy ground. "It's a dead zone now," said Vic Doig, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist. "This is where the largest bird colony on the Gulf Coast of Florida used to be."... First, they tested left-behind bird carcasses for disease or contaminants. Those tests came back negative. Next, they researched possible new predators. Did raccoons swim over from another island? Perhaps some great horned owls flew out at night and started feasting? Traps caught a few raccoons, which is common, but not enough to have created a wholesale abandonment. There were no telltale signs of owls.... ... It must be the canaries, abandoning ship. ApocaDoc permalink Sat, Jul 4, 2015 from The Guardian: Eleven Thousand Cubic Yards of Radioactive Nuclear Test Debris Leaching into Ocean Officially, this vast structure is known as the Runit Dome. Locals call it The Tomb.... Below the 18-inch concrete cap rests the United States' cold war legacy to this remote corner of the Pacific Ocean: 111,000 cubic yards of radioactive debris left behind after 12 years of nuclear tests. Brackish water pools around the edge of the dome, where sections of concrete have started to crack away. Underground, radioactive waste has already started to leach out of the crater: according to a 2013 report by the US Department of Energy, soil around the dome is already more contaminated than its contents.... "Runit Dome represents a tragic confluence of nuclear testing and climate change," said Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, who visited the dome in 2010. "It resulted from US nuclear testing and the leaving behind of large quantities of plutonium," he said. "Now it has been gradually submerged as result of sea level rise from greenhouse gas emissions by industrial countries led by the United States." ... Where is our new Shakespeare, who can so craft / iambic pentameter to scribe anew / the fix'd irony, the fey tragedy / the hubris, the absurdity, and e'en / the farcical satire named Runit Dome? ApocaDoc permalink Sat, May 23, 2015 from Discovery.com: Common Bacterium Helps Bats With White-nose Syndrome ... This time, the researchers grew the bacterium on cobalt, which produced so-called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that stop the fungus, Psuedogymnoascus destructans, from growing. "The amazing part about this is that these compounds diffuse through the air and act at very low concentrations, so the bats are treated by exposing them to air containing the VOCs (the compounds do not need to be 'directly' applied to the bats)," according to a USFS press release. "Many of the bats in those trials experienced increased health and survival," it said. However, more than one chemical is created from the reaction, so the scientists' next step is to isolate which chemical is the one that stops the fungus from growing. ... Now, let's see if we can develop some VOCs that cause increased bat fertility! ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Dec 30, 2014 from Reuters: Monarch butterfly eyed for possible U.S. endangered species protection Monarch butterflies may warrant U.S. Endangered Species Act protection because of farm-related habitat loss blamed for sharp declines in cross-country migrations of the orange-and-black insects, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said on Monday. Monarch populations are estimated to have fallen by as much as 90 percent during the past two decades because of destruction of milkweed plants they depend on to lay their eggs and nourish hatching larvae, according to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. ... No crying over spilled milk(weed). ApocaDoc permalink Sun, Nov 9, 2014 from TED Global, via WeatherNetwork.com: The Sound of a Dying Ecosystem When sound engineer Bernie Krause first visited the Lincoln Meadow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1988, the lush land vibrated with natural soundscapes -- a sign of a healthy, thriving ecosystem. This is what it sounded like when Krause turned on his gear to capture the environment before selective logging began... One year later, he returned to record once more from the same spot. This time, all birds had gone, with the exception of one lonesome woodpecker who appears halfway through the recording.... "When I began recording over four decades ago, I could record for ten hours and capture one hour of usable material good enough for an album, a film soundtrack or museum installation," said Krause, on the TEDGlobal stage. "Now, because of global warming, resource extraction and human noise, among other factors, it can take up to 1,000 hours or more to capture the same thing." ... Climate change is just hearsay. ApocaDoc permalink Wed, Sep 17, 2014 from CBC: Miramichi River salmon numbers hit record low in 2014 The world-famous Miramichi River is experiencing a salmon decline that "is among the worst in recorded history." New numbers released by the Miramichi Salmon Association and the Atlantic Salmon Federation put the number of salmon returning to the river this year at about 12,000, despite near perfect angling conditions. That number is about half of the 23,000 that returned to the river to spawn from 2011 through 2013. "These are frightening numbers," said David Wilson, chairman of the Miramichi Salmon Association.... In the first decade of this century, about 53,000 salmon returned to the river annually. The average number of salmon returns in the 1990s was about 82,000. ... Can't we genetically modify them to evolve better? ApocaDoc permalink Sat, Jul 26, 2014 from The Independent (UK): Vital invertebrates decline by 45 per cent, study finds Insects, worms and other small animals that carry out vital functions for life on earth have declined by 45 per cent on average over 35 years, threatening human health, water quality and food supplies, a study has found. The rapid decline in the number of invertebrates - animals without backbones - is at least as bad as the well publicised plight of the larger animals, according to scientists who said they were shocked by the findings. Although there has has been far less research on invertebrates than on vertebrates, what little has been done suggests that they are undergoing a catastrophic fall in abundance which is having a severe impact on "ecosystem services" such a pollination of crops, water treatment and waste recycling, the scientists said. ... Ugh -- you want me to care about bugs? ApocaDoc permalink Thu, Jun 12, 2014 from GuyMcPherson.com: Guy McPherson Sings Sad Songs without Solace ... American actress Lily Tomlin is credited with the expression, "No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up." With respect to climate science, my own efforts to stay abreast are blown away every week by new data, models, and assessments. It seems no matter how dire the situation becomes, it only gets worse when I check the latest reports.... I'm not implying conspiracy among scientists. Science selects for conservatism. Academia selects for extreme conservatism. These folks are loathe to risk drawing undue attention to themselves by pointing out there might be a threat to civilization. Never mind the near-term threat to our entire species (they couldn't care less about other species). If the truth is dire, they can find another, not-so-dire version.... Gradual change is not guaranteed, as pointed out by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in December 2013: "The history of climate on the planet -- as read in archives such as tree rings, ocean sediments, and ice cores -- is punctuated with large changes that occurred rapidly, over the course of decades to as little as a few years." ... This article changes my perspective entirely on my credit score. ApocaDoc permalink Sun, Feb 2, 2014 from PBS: Mysterious epidemic devastates starfish population off the Pacific Coast KATIE CAMPBELL: As a diver and underwater videographer, James was equipped to do something. She decided to take her camera to a spot popular among both divers and starfish. These pilings are usually covered with a rainbow of starfish. On a recent dive, James discovered a scene from a horror film. LAURA JAMES: There were just bodies everywhere. And they were just like splats. To me, it always looked like somebody had taken a laser gun and just zapped them and they just vaporized. KATIE CAMPBELL: Starfish, also known as sea stars, are wasting away by the tens of thousands, not just in Puget Sound, but up and down North America's Pacific Coast. And nobody knows why.... BEN MINER: One of them was very sick, and the other two individuals started ripping themselves apart. The arms just crawl away from the particular body. KATIE CAMPBELL: You heard that right. The arms crawl in opposite directions, until they tear away from the body and their insides spill out. And unlike most starfish, the arms don’t regenerate. Stars that came in with symptoms died within 24 hours. ... Nature is tearing itself apart, and 'nobody knows why.' ApocaDoc permalink Sat, Feb 1, 2014 from New York Times: Migration of Monarch Butterflies Shrinks Again Under Inhospitable Conditions Faltering under extreme weather and vanishing habitats, the yearly winter migration of monarch butterflies to a handful of forested Mexican mountains dwindled precipitously in December, continuing what scientists said was an increasingly alarming decline. The migrating population has become so small -- perhaps 35 million, experts guess -- that the prospects of its rebounding to levels seen even five years ago are diminishing. At worst, scientists said, a migration widely called one of the world's great natural spectacles is in danger of effectively vanishing. The Mexican government and the World Wildlife Fund said at a news conference on Wednesday that the span of forest inhabited by the overwintering monarchs shrank last month to a bare 1.65 acres -- the equivalent of about one and a quarter football fields. Not only was that a record low, but it was just 56 percent of last year's total, which was itself a record low. At their peak in 1996, the monarchs occupied nearly 45 acres of forest. ... Children of the future will thank Monsanto and RoundupReady™ for the enhanced shareholder value. ApocaDoc permalink Thu, Nov 14, 2013 from The Independent: Giant Antarctic iceberg 'could pose hazard to shipping lanes', scientists warn A giant Antarctic iceberg has broken free of the continent and could be about to drift into busy international shipping lanes, a team of British scientists has warned ... 700 square kilometres (270 square miles) of ice - around eight times the size of Manhattan or the equivalent of Singapore.... Prof Bigg said the crack hadn't been enough in itself to allow the berg to break away over winter because it had stayed "iced-in". "But in the last couple of days, it has begun to break away and now a kilometre or two of clear water has developed between it and the glacier," he told BBC News.... "... they can either go eastwards along the coast or they can... circle out into the main part of the Southern Ocean."... This would take it into the path of one of the world's busiest international shipping lanes, and trigger hazard warnings via a number of observation agencies. ... Thank God this economy is unsinkable! ApocaDoc permalink Mon, Oct 7, 2013 from New York Review of Books (of Stung! by Lisa-ann Gershwin: Jelly Jolt: On Jellyfish Blooms and the Future of the Ocean It's now known that the brush of a single tentacle is enough to induce "Irukandji syndrome." It sets in twenty to thirty minutes after a sting so minor it leaves no mark, and is often not even felt. Pain is initially focused in the lower back. Soon the entire lumbar region is gripped by debilitating cramps and pounding pain--as if someone is taking a baseball bat to your kidneys. Then comes the nausea and vomiting, which continues every minute or so for around twelve hours. Shooting spasms grip the arms and legs, blood pressure escalates, breathing becomes difficult, and the skin begins to creep, as if worms are burrowing through it. Victims are often gripped with a sense of "impending doom" and in their despair beg their doctors to put them out of their misery.... If I offered evidence that jellyfish are displacing penguins in Antarctica--not someday, but now, today--what would you think? If I suggested that jellyfish could crash the world's fisheries, outcompete the tuna and swordfish, and starve the whales to extinction, would you believe me?... To understand why jellyfish are taking over, we need to understand where they live and how they breed, feed, and die. Jellyfish are almost ubiquitous in the oceans. As survivors of an earlier, less hospitable world, they can flourish where few other species can venture. Their low metabolic rate, and thus low oxygen requirement, allows them to thrive in waters that would suffocate other marine creatures. Some jellyfish can even absorb oxygen into their bells, allowing them to "dive" into oxygen-less waters like a diver with scuba gear and forage there for up to two hours. ... That's almost as scary as a government shutdown! ApocaDoc permalink Mon, Jun 24, 2013 from BirdLife International: New report: State of the World's Birds Declines in birds across the globe are providing evidence of a rapid deterioration in the global environment that is affecting all life on earth - including people. However, birds also tell us that saving the planet comes at a relatively small price - an investment that's vital to secure our own future. These are some of the messages in a new report State of the world's birds: indicators for our changing world by the world's largest Partnership of conservation organisations, BirdLife International, who have gathered in Ottawa, Canada to launch the report and unveil their vision for a world rich in biodiversity, where people and nature live in harmony.... "Birds provide an accurate and easy to read environmental barometer that allows us to see clearly the pressures our current way of life are putting on the world's biodiversity", said Dr Leon Bennun, BirdLife's Director of Science, Information and Policy.... ... It's as if these bird species were functioning as canaries. ApocaDoc permalink Want more context? Try reading our book FREE online: Humoring the Horror of the Converging Emergencies! More fun than a barrel of jellyfish! Sun, Mar 10, 2013 from San Francisco Chronicle: BP warns of rising costs from spill settlement BP is warning investors that the price tag will be "significantly higher" than it initially estimated for its multibillion-dollar settlement with businesses and residents who claim the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico cost them money. The London-based oil giant estimated last year that it would spend roughly $7.8 billion to resolve tens of thousands of claims covered by the settlement agreement. But in a regulatory filing this week, BP PLC said businesses' claims have been paid at much higher average amounts than it had anticipated. The company also said it can't reliably estimate how much it will pay for unresolved business claims following a ruling Tuesday by the federal judge supervising the uncapped settlement. U.S District Judge Carl Barbier rejected BP's interpretation of certain settlement provisions.... BP already had revised its estimate for the total cost of the settlement before Barbier's ruling, saying earlier this year that it expected to pay $8.5 billion instead of the $7.8 billion it estimated when it first cut the deal. ... A few billion? A trillion? A jillion? Or equal to the price of damaging an ecosystem for a few thousand years? ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Jul 31, 2012 from CNN: Bird flu has jumped to baby seals, scientists discover A new virus that jumped from birds to mammals is responsible for the death of more than 160 seals off the New England coast last year, scientists announced Tuesday. The virus could theoretically pose a threat to human health, they said.... "When initial tests revealed an avian influenza virus, we asked the obvious question: How did this virus jump from birds to seals?" lead researcher Simon Anthony of Columbia University said. The virus developed the ability to attack mammalian respiratory tracts, scientists learned. It may also have developed enhanced virulence and transmission in mammals, they said, but they need to do more tests to be sure. ... That seals it. ApocaDoc permalink Sun, Mar 11, 2012 from The Independent: Half the world's seabirds are in decline, says report The populations of almost half of the world's seabirds are thought to be in decline, according to a study published in Bird Conservation International. It found that 28 per cent of species are in the highest categories of risk. Conservationists are particularly concerned for the albatross family. Threats include commercial fishing and damage to breeding colonies caused by rats and other invasive species. Researchers say seabirds are an important indicator of the health of the oceans. ... I hadn't realized coal-mine canaries were sea birds. ApocaDoc permalink Sat, Dec 3, 2011 from UPI: Study: Arctic is warmer, will remain so The arctic polar region's climate has warmed up in the last five years and the change is likely to stick around as a "new normal," U.S. scientists say. A team of 121 scientists from 14 nations concluded the arctic climate has reached a turning point, ScienceNews.org reported Thursday. Enough data have been collected "to indicate a shift in the Arctic Ocean system since 2006," said Jacqueline Richter-Menge of the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, N.H. "This shift is characterized by the persistent decline in the thickness and summer extent of sea-ice cover and by a warmer, less salty upper ocean."... "We've got a new normal," Don Perovich of CRREL said. "The past five years have had the five smallest September ice extents," Perovich said, "showing that Arctic sea ice has not recovered from the large decrease observed in 2007." ... If a weird situation is dubbed the "new normal" then it's also simultaneously the "new strange." Right? ApocaDoc permalink Thu, Sep 15, 2011 from Telegraph.co.uk: Butterfly numbers fall after coldest summer in two decades The results of the Big Butterfly Count 2011 revealed that the number of individual butterflies seen by each person counting the insects was down 11 per cent on last year. The common blue saw numbers tumble by 61 per cent in the count, which involved more than 34,000 people across the country recording sightings of 322,000 butterflies. Experts at wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation say they had expected a bumper summer for butterflies after a record-breaking hot, dry spring, but the cold summer with prolonged spells of rain hit the insects.... ''The dismal summer weather, the coldest for 18 years, is undoubtedly to blame, although many butterflies have suffered long-term declines as a result of destruction of their habitats by human activities.''... Butterfly Conservation warns that the last four years have seen butterfly numbers plummet to an all-time low, and that almost half of the 59 British species are now under threat. ... Maybe that explains all those hurricanes. ApocaDoc permalink Mon, Jul 4, 2011 from IceNews: Iceland's sea bird stock 'in dismal shape' The nesting season of many types of sea bird all around Iceland has been poor this year and there is an all-out puffin and Arctic tern collapse in progress to the south and west of the country. Ornithologists say the situation has not looked worse for many decades. Scientists have been travelling around Iceland in recent days and weeks, researching sea bird stocks and the status of their nesting. RUV reported at the weekend that extremely few Arctic tern nests were found on the Snaefellsnes peninsula, where thousands of the birds usually lay their eggs. A similarly worrying picture is emerging about the puffin stock and the situation is particularly bad on the Westman Islands and the south and west of the Icelandic mainland. Ornithologist Aevar Pedersen told RUV that the situation had been bad last year, but is even worse this year. The overall picture is pretty dismal, he said -- adding that he has not seen a worse breeding season for many years, indeed decades. ... Downterns like these leave me gasping for breath. ApocaDoc permalink Sun, Jun 26, 2011 from Times-Colonist, via DesdemonaDespair: Southern dolphins pay a rare visit, add to biologists' confusion Two dolphins that would be more at home frolicking in the warm bays of southern California or Mexico are cruising the chilly waters of Puget Sound and biologists are baffled by an apparent trend for tropical species to head north.... Victoria zoologist Anna Hall, who also skippers a boat for Prince of Whales whalewatching, said the only previously recorded sighting in local waters was in April 1953 when a longbeaked common dolphin stranded itself off Victoria. "It's really, really unusual," she said.... Another Bryde's whale stranded and died in southern Puget Sound in January 2010. Bryde's whales usually prefer tropical or warm temperate waters. It is a mystery why tropical species are coming north, Douglas said. "It seems there is a significant change and it's probably temperature related, but we don't know much more than that," she said. "Maybe in a year or two we will be able to say that this was the beginning of a change." ... I bet they had a lot of SeaMiles™ they needed to use up, so they just took a vacation. ApocaDoc permalink Wed, Jun 15, 2011 from Guardian: British ladybug species struggling to compete with aliens More than one-fifth of native ladybird species are in decline across the British Isles as environmental changes and competition from voracious alien invaders take their toll on the insects' numbers. The grim outlook for 10 of the 47 ladybird species found in the UK and Ireland is revealed in the first comprehensive census compiled with help from tens of thousands of volunteer spotters.... Some native ladybirds are struggling to survive alongside species that have recently become established in Britain. A decline in the two-spot ladybird has been blamed on the arrival and spectacular rise of the Asian harlequin ladybird, which was introduced into Europe to control pests.... Helen Roy, of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) in Oxfordshire, and one of the authors of the Ladybird Atlas of Britain and Ireland, said: "What's quite striking is that in the same way as butterflies and moths have seen very common species going into decline, we're seeing the same happen with ladybirds. "What is particularly worrying about the declines is that many of these are common species, the ones people will be most familiar with in their gardens. We have not unravelled all the causes behind the declines, but a warming climate and changes in land use are expected to have an impact. "They are telling us there are changes going up through the food chain. Ladybirds can be used as indicators of wider changes in our environment," Roy said. ... We should bring in some cane toads -- they're great on pests. ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Apr 19, 2011 from AP, via CBC: Mediterranean fish in peril: study A new study suggests that more than 40 fish species in the Mediterranean could vanish in the next few years. The study released Tuesday by the International Union for Conservation of Nature says almost half of the species of sharks and rays in the Mediterranean and at least 12 species of bony fish are threatened with extinction due to overfishing, pollution and the loss of habitat. Commercial catches of bluefin tuna, sea bass, hake and dusky grouper are particularly threatened, said the study by the Swiss-based IUCN, an environmental network of 1,000 groups in 160 nations.... The IUCN study, which began in 2007 and included 25 marine scientists, is the first time the group has tried to assess native marine fish species in an entire sea. The study blames the use of highly effective trawlers and driftnets for the incidental capture and killing of hundreds of marine animals with no commercial value. But it also concluded there's not enough information to properly assess almost one-third of the Mediterranean's fish.... The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says fish stocks continue to dwindle globally despite increasing efforts to regulate catches and stop overfishing. ... Thank goodness it's only a microcosm! ApocaDoc permalink Mon, Apr 11, 2011 from Center for Biological Diversity, tip via DesdemonaDespair: Bat-killing White-nose Disease Spreads to Ohio, New Brunswick Bats in Ohio have now been found with white-nose syndrome, a disease that has been sweeping through bat populations in the eastern United States since 2006. In Maryland, biologists found the disease in a second county, after it first appeared in that state last winter. Also this week, Canadian officials reported the first discovery of the lethal bat malady in New Brunswick. White-nose syndrome, or the pathogenic fungus associated with it, has now been confirmed in 17 states and three provinces. The fast-moving disease has already killed more than 1 million bats in North America. "This disease is burning through our bat populations like a five-alarm fire," said Mollie Matteson, a conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, which has pushed for additional research funding of the disease and urged widespread bat-cave closures. "But right now, all we've got from our wildlife agencies is the equivalent of a couple of rusty fire trucks barely out of the station."... "What a lot of people don't realize is that there's much more than just bats at stake, and we don't have a moment to spare in saving them," said Matteson.... To date, the bat-killing fungus has been found as far west as western Oklahoma, bringing it closer to Seattle and Los Angeles than the disease's initial epicenter near Albany, N.Y. ... These bats are canaries in a coal fire. ApocaDoc permalink Sat, Mar 5, 2011 from LiveScience: Arctic's Spring Phytoplankton Blooms Arrive Earlier When summer comes to the Arctic, the tiny plants that feed the ocean's food chain form green blooms in the water. In some Arctic waters, the peak of this bloom has been arriving earlier every year since 1997, a study has found. These areas, where peak bloom time is creeping up, are roughly the same as those with decreasing sea ice in June, according to the researchers.... In some areas, the change was quite dramatic. For example, in the Baffin Sea, southwest of Greenland, the peak bloom moved from September to early July. Phytoplankton is crucial to the marine ecosystem, because it forms the base of the food chain. The creatures that eat the tiny plants, including fish and tiny animals called zooplankton, have adapted to make the most of these blooms. It's not clear if they are able to sync up with the earlier blooms and avoid disruptions to critical life stages, such as egg hatching and larvae development, according to lead study author Mati Kahru, a research oceanographer in the Integrative Oceanography Division at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. ... The early fish gets the phytoplankton! ApocaDoc permalink Sun, Dec 12, 2010 from Guardian: Grassland butterflies in steep decline across Europe Butterflies that flourish on grassland across Europe are in steep decline, indicating a catastrophic loss of flower-rich meadows in many European countries. Populations of 17 butterfly species widely found in Europe, including the adonis blue, Lulworth skipper and marsh fritillary which fly in Britain, have declined by more than 70 percent in the past 20 years according to a new study by Butterfly Conservation Europe. The dramatic decline in butterfly numbers indicates a wider loss of biodiversity, with other insects such as bumblebees, hoverflies, spiders and moths, as well as many plants and birds, disappearing along with the loss of traditional grassland.... Flower-rich grassland created by traditional livestock-grazing and hay-making over centuries of human occupation is either being abandoned, overgrazed or ploughed up for intensive farming, particularly in eastern Europe and mountainous regions. ... It's not my fault. I was just hungry. ApocaDoc permalink Fri, Oct 29, 2010 from New Scientist: Will we cope if the rare earths live up to their name? For decades, the world has been busy incorporating the so-called rare earth elements into all manner of high-tech devices, including disc drives, wind turbines and hybrid cars. The messy business of mining the ore and extracting the elements was left to China, and few people in the west cared that the nation controlled 97 per cent of world supply. "Rare earth" is an alternative name for the lanthanides - elements 57 to 71 - plus yttrium and scandium, and despite the name most of them were not considered rare at all. The elements hit the headlines a few weeks ago, when China appeared to be blocking exports to Japan and the US. The Chinese government, which has also been tightening its export quotas, claims that it needs to clean up mining procedures and support its own growing demand for rare earths.... However, facilities to refine rare earths cannot be created overnight, and few US scientists know how to do it anyway. "Even if Molycorp can get material mined and concentrated right now... it would have to send that material to China to get it refined," says Gareth Hatch of Technology Metals Research, a consultancy firm in Carpentersville, Illinois. Recycling is another option, but impurities sneak in during the process, so recycled materials are not always as good as the freshly refined equivalent. The neodymium magnets used in hybrid cars, for example, work less well at high temperatures when recycled neodymium is used. ... This is a canary in a rare earth mine. ApocaDoc permalink You're still reading! Good for you! You really should read our short, funny, frightening book FREE online (or buy a print copy): Humoring the Horror of the Converging Emergencies! We've been quipping this stuff for more than 30 months! Every day! Which might explain why we don't get invited to parties anymore. Tue, Oct 19, 2010 from BBC: Warning over 'terrible' northern seabird breeding Seabird breeding has been "terrible" in some northerly areas such as Orkney and Shetland, RSPB Scotland has warned. The 700 Arctic terns present at the start of the breeding season on the Shetland island of Mousa failed to produce a single chick. The organisation said the situation was "similarly miserable" on Orkney. The RSPB's Doug Gilbert said: "The terrible season for critical colonies in the far north warns us that seabird populations remain in real danger." ... We need to tern this in a different direction. ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Sep 21, 2010 from CBC: Northwest Passage traffic up in 2010 The number of ships travelling through the Northwest Passage has doubled this year, prompting at least one Arctic sovereignty expert to call for more enforcement in the increasingly ice-free Arctic waterway. The Canada Border Services Agency says 18 ships have cleared customs in Inuvik, N.W.T. -- at the western end of the Northwest Passage -- so far this year, and the navigation season is not even over yet. By comparison, only seven ships cleared customs there in 2009, according to the agency. "It is a little bit tricky -- lots of fog and ice," Börje Ivarsson, a Swedish adventurer who just finished a two-year journey from Russia to Inuvik on a 30-foot boat, told CBC News. "It's quite a shortcut if you're living in the north of Europe to get over to Alaska," Ivarsson said of the Northwest Passage. "It's a good adventure, too." The increase in marine traffic is largely a result of climate change opening up the passage, said Rob Huebert, the associate director for the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary. Huebert said many people have talked about the Northwest Passage's potential for years, and now it's starting to happen. "I think that we'll often go back to 2010 and say that was the turning point, that was the time when it turned from theory to actuality," he said. ... I wonder what we'll call the point that was once the North Pole, when we're sailing through it. ApocaDoc permalink Thu, Aug 5, 2010 from Q13Fox TV: Puget Sound is becoming threat to shellfish industry It's a multi-million dollar business that depends on Puget Sound to help it thrive. But, those very waters could be killing the shellfish industry. Scientists say the Sound is becoming more acidic and oysters are dying because of it.... "When you have the water incoming into the hatchery and it's very low PH waters it can kill off the larvae of many of our oyster species," said Feely.... There is no easy fix. Scientists believe the high acid levels we're seeing right now has been building up in Puget Sound for decades. Bill Dewey believes the best way to protect future generations of oysters is stop polluting the environment right now. "Even if we change carbon emissions, policies today, we still have got 50 more years of problems coming our way," said Dewey. ... It's as if our own environment were becoming toxic to life... Oh, wait... we already know that! ApocaDoc permalink Thu, Jun 24, 2010 from PhysOrg: Giant China algae slick getting bigger: report A floating expanse of green algae floating off China's eastern seaboard is growing and spreading further along the coast, state-run media has reported. The algae bloom has expanded by about 50 percent since it was first reported by state media earlier in the week to 320 square kilometres (120 square miles), or about four times the size of Hong Kong island, Xinhua news agency said.... Algae blooms are typically caused by pollution in China and suck up huge amounts of oxygen needed by marine wildlife to survive and leave a foul stench when they wash up on beaches.... According to a 2008 State Oceanic Administration report, raw sewage and pollution from agricultural run-off has polluted 83 percent of China's coastal waters, leading to algae and other problems. ... I thought canaries in coal mines were birds. ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Apr 13, 2010 from Guardian, from Wit's End: Peruvian glacier split triggers deadly tsunami A massive ice block broke from a glacier and crashed into a lake in the Peruvian Andes, unleashing a 23-metre tsunami and sending muddy torrents through nearby towns, killing at least one person. The chunk of ice, estimated at the size of four football pitches, detached from the Hualcan glacier near Carhuaz, about 200 miles north of the capital, Lima, on Sunday. It plunged into a lagoon known as lake 513, triggering a tsunami that breached 23 metre (75ft) high levees and damaged Carhuaz and other villages, according to authorities. The Indeci civil defence institute said 50 homes and a water processing plant serving 60,000 residents were wrecked. Trout fishermen initially presumed dead survived, leaving one confirmed death. Authorities evacuated mountain valley settlements fearing that the ice block, measuring 500 metres by 200 metres, could be followed by more ruptures as the glacier melts.... It was the latest evidence that glaciers are vanishing from Peru, which has 70 percent of the world's tropical icefields. They have retreated by 22 percent since 1975, according to a World Bank report, and warmer temperatures are expected to erase them entirely within 20 years. ... Dang! Those theories can pack a whallop! ApocaDoc permalink Wed, Apr 7, 2010 from USDA, via PhysOrg: Deadly fungus threatens 9 bat species in Ga., Ky., N.C., S.C. and Tenn., expert says "In the five states where most of my research has centered, little-brown bats and Indiana bats are among the most threatened by WNS - meaning their populations could either be seriously decimated or become extinct," said Loeb, a veteran wildlife researcher based in Clemson, S.C. "Historically, little-brown bats were quite common, but the species appears to be especially susceptible to the fungus and is being hit hard in the states where WNS has taken hold. While populations of the federally endangered Indiana bat showed signs of rebounding in recent years, those gains may soon be negated by white-nose syndrome."... "Virginia big-eared bats are endangered, so their small numbers and limited distribution put the species at serious risk of becoming extinct in Kentucky, North Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia if they become infected," said Loeb. "Rafinesque's big-eared bat is a rare species that hibernates in caves in the karst regions of North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. Thus they too could be infected with WNS and suffer dramatic declines. However, this species also roosts in large hollow trees and other structures in the coastal plain regions and may be safe from the disease in part of its range."... Loeb is among the many scientists actively studying the spread of WNS. Her research on bat migration will help in monitoring and predicting the spread of WNS in the South. She is also collaborating with partners in the public and private sectors to produce a searchable bat database that will enable researchers to better track populations in the East. The database will serve as a central repository that will provide new insights into bat distributions and movements, which is critical for understanding and predicting the spread of WNS.... The first case of the disease in the United States was reported in New York State in 2006. ... But are canaries susceptible to WNS in those mines? ApocaDoc permalink Sat, Mar 6, 2010 from Ceres, via BusinessGreen: Climate change shareholder actions hit record high The number of climate change-related shareholder actions has soared 40 per cent during the 2010 proxy season to a record 95 resolutions, according to new figures from sustainable investment lobby group Ceres. The flurry of shareholder resolutions, many of which call on companies to provide more detailed information on the risks they face as a result of climate change and imminent carbon regulations, are expected to increase further after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently released new guidance detailing how climate change can represent a material risk to a firm's operations that should be disclosed to investors. "We want our companies to closely look at the impact climate change legislation and regulation have on them, to realistically assess those risks, and to consider the indirect consequences of climate change-driven regulation and business trends on their activities," said Jack Ehnes, chief executive of CalSTRS, a pension fund which manages $131bn dollars in assets. "The SEC's interpretive guidance outlines exactly the kind of action we have been asking our portfolio companies to take with regards to the issues raised by climate change." ... Sometimes, big money talks. ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Jan 12, 2010 from UC Davis, via EurekAlert: Butterflies reeling from impacts of climate and development "Butterflies are not only charismatic to the public, but also widely used as indicators of the health of the environment worldwide," said Shapiro, a professor of evolution and ecology. "We found many lowland species are being hit hard by the combination of warmer temperatures and habitat loss." The results are drawn from Shapiro's 35-year database of butterfly observations made twice monthly at 10 sites in north-central California from sea level to tree line.... "... it came as a shock to discover that they were being hit even harder than the species that conservationists are used to thinking about. ... Some of the 'weedy' species have been touted as great success stories, in which native butterflies had successfully adapted to the changed conditions created by European colonization of California. That was the case for many decades, but habitat loss has apparently caught up with them now." ... What's that line? "When a butterfly doesn't flap its wings in California, a small rain doesn't fall in Kenya"...? Something like that. ApocaDoc permalink Fri, Jan 8, 2010 from Scientific American: Monkeys Are Canaries in Lead Mine You've heard about the canary in the coal mine. And frogs as signals of environmental degradation. The latest animal to serve as a harbinger of toxic exposures to humans may be: monkeys. That's according to research in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Macaques live in close quarters with people in parts of Nepal. So scientists thought that the monkeys might be "sentinels" for human lead exposure. Lead can have multiple deleterious health effects, from impairing neurological development to kidney, liver, and circulatory and respiratory problems. The research team wanted to avoid stressing the animals, so they took a few strands of hair from individuals living around a temple in Katmandu. It's in a densely populated area that contains old lead batteries, flaking lead-based paint, and lead-contaminated soil, a by-product of leaded gas. Lead levels varied in the macaques, but the highest concentrations were in the young -- like human children, young macaques tend to pick up objects and stick them in their mouths. Scientists say they'll next try to nail down whether macaque lead levels are indeed predictive of lead poisoning in humans. The hope is that monitoring macaque lead can improve conditions for humans and monkeys alike. ... You trying to make a monkey outta me? ApocaDoc permalink Thu, Nov 5, 2009 from PNAS: Recent changes in a remote Arctic lake are unique within the past 200,000 years The Arctic is currently undergoing dramatic environmental transformations, but it remains largely unknown how these changes compare with long-term natural variability. Here we present a lake sediment sequence from the Canadian Arctic that records warm periods of the past 200,000 years, including the 20th century. This record provides a perspective on recent changes in the Arctic and predates by approximately 80,000 years the oldest stratigraphically intact ice core recovered from the Greenland Ice Sheet. The early Holocene and the warmest part of the Last Interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage or MIS 5e) were the only periods of the past 200,000 years with summer temperatures comparable to or exceeding today's at this site.... In recent decades, however, the study site has deviated from this recurring natural pattern and has entered an environmental regime that is unique within the past 200 millennia. ... What a coincidence!! ApocaDoc permalink Thu, Oct 1, 2009 from London Times: Every species on the planet documented in new report Almost 10 per cent of known species are threatened with extinction, according to the first comprehensive study of the world's wildlife. Polar bears, whose habitat is threatened by melting ice, and Tasmanian devils, which have been pushed to the brink of extinction by a cancer, are just two of the tens of thousands of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and amphibians that are in danger. The report, The Number of Living Species in Australia and the World , published by the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS), says that 9.2 per cent of known animal species are endangered by habitat loss, climate change and other pressures. More than a fifth of of all known mammals are endangered, as are 29 per cent of amphibians and 12 per cent of birds, according to the study, the result of an international effort to catalogue every known current and extinct species of plant and animal. ... It'll be nice to have that catalogue handy when we rue the loss of these species... ApocaDoc permalink Thu, Sep 3, 2009 from Press of Atlantic City: Aficionados miss butterfly's effects This scene is a far cry from spring and early June, when Sutton, a retired naturalist, literally saw no butterflies. It was the first time Sutton had seen such a scarcity in her 30 years of butterfly watching, and they did not return in large numbers to her garden until early August. Sutton observed a similar shortage in parts of Cumberland County in late June... "It was spooky," she said during a recent garden tour. "We should have been seeing a lot more of them, and there was one of this, one of that."... "I don't think we've ever seen anything like the response we've gotten this year, unsolicited, about the dearth of butterflies," Glassberg said. "It's pretty clear (the loss) is real."... The heavy mosquito boom this year prompted government officials and homeowners to spray malathion to kill adult insects. Sutton and fellow survey volunteer Jackie Parker, of Beachwood, Ocean County, fear the pesticide could have harmed butterflies. ... When a butterfly doesn't flap its wings, is the world also changed? ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Aug 18, 2009 from Mongabay, via Treehugger via BoingBoing: Pesticide use linked to dying frogs in California Don Sparling of Southern Illinois University Carbondale found that minute quantities of endosulfan -- the active ingredient in many pesticides -- was enough kill frogs. "At 0.8 parts per billion, we lose all of them," Sparling said. 8 parts per billion is the equivalent of a dozen salt grains dissolved in 500 gallons of water. "We always thought there was an association between pesticides and declining amphibian populations, and we're building up a body of evidence to show this is the case." Sparling and colleagues found that endosulfan are making their way, likely via wind currents, into critical frog habitat, triggering die-offs among Pacific tree frogs and foothill yellow-legged frogs, which are native to meadows in California's Sierra Mountains.... "These pesticides are applied by airplanes and we found that the wind would blow some of it up into the mountains, for instance. In other cases, these chemicals would volatize after being applied, turning into a gaseous state, which could also be picked up and spread into the mountains by wind." ... That is the ugliest canary I've ever seen. ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Jul 28, 2009 from Toronto Star: Arctic's 'canary in a coal mine' Without a microscope, most plankton are easy to miss. And when the tiny marine creatures do come into focus, they aren't much to look at. Until you peer closer, and listen to what they have to say. Way down near the bottom of the oceans' food chain, animals known as zooplankton drift on the currents, feeding on each other, eating still lower life forms such as bacteria and viruses, or in most cases, grazing on microscopic plant life, called phytoplankton. As tiny, and as hard to love, as plankton are, scientists studying them say that if global warming makes things go bad for these organisms, the pain will run all the way up the food chain to humans. ... Arrrgghh, matey. We'll be forced to walk the plankton! ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Jul 21, 2009 from Telegraph.co.uk, via DesdemonaDespair: Giant jellyfish bloom hits Sea of Japan "The arrival is inevitable," Professor Shinichi Ue, from Hiroshima University, told the Yomiuri newspaper. "A huge jellyfish typhoon will hit the country." The vicious creatures, which would not be out of place in a sci-fi adventure, poison fish, sting humans and have even been known to disabling nuclear power stations by blocking the seawater pumps used to cool the reactors. Nomura's jellyfish first arrived in Japanese waters in 2005 when fisherman out looking for anchovies, salmon and yellowtail began finding large numbers of the gelatinous creatures in their nets. The larger specimens would destroy the nets while the fish caught alongside them would be left slimy and inedible.... Scientists believe the influx could be caused by overfishing, pollution or rising ocean temperatures which have depleted the kinds of fish that normally prey on Nomura's jellyfish at the polyp stage, thereby keeping down numbers. Another theory suggests that seas heated by global warming are better suited for breeding, multiplying the creature's numbers. ... What an ugly canary! ApocaDoc permalink Sun, Jul 5, 2009 from Oakland Tribune: Worried scientists find sea otter numbers continue to decline The three-year average sea otter population on California's coast declined for the first time in more than a decade, according to a U.S. Geological Survey. Officials from the survey counted 2,654 otters this spring along the coast from Point Concepcion in the Santa Barbara area to Half Moon Bay. The count includes a colony of otters around the Channel Islands. It was the lowest single-year total since 2003, when about 2,200 were counted. But more alarming, said officials at the Otter Project, an otter advocacy group in Monterey, is that the running three-year average, which the USGS uses for the official population count, dropped for the first time since the late 1990s. "We've always identified the sea otter as the canary in the coal mine of the marine system," said Allison Ford, the new executive director of the Otter Project. "I hope this can be a wake-up call."... "A lot of this is stuff we've known is a problem in terms of water quality," Ford said. The otter population's status is generally considered a strong indicator of the overall health of the waters off California's coast, Ford said. "Their population is a little more delicate than that of the sea lion," she said. "When there is something wrong with otters, there is something wrong with the ecosystem." ... O, you wee, poor, tim'rous, toxified beastie. ApocaDoc permalink Wed, Jun 24, 2009 from Grist: Frogs in the forest: the new canaries in the coal mine We sat down with conservation biologist Dr. Kerry Kriger of the newly minted nonprofit Save the Frogs! -- one of several stops he's making in Seattle during a country-wide speaking tour. As one of the lone voices raising the alarm for amphibians, Kriger dished about the worst disease ever to hit wildlife, why it's such a big deal that one-third of amphibians are threatened with extinction, and just how many people actually are having frogs for lunch.... "Frogs have been around 250 million years," he said. "They’ve outlived the dinosaurs ... But in the last thirty, forty, fifty years, they're now going extinct." Because thin-skinned frogs live both on land and in the water, they are biological indicators of the planet's health -- the proverbial canaries in the coal mine. With over one-third of these species in imminent danger of extinction, what's really alarming is that most of us have no idea what’s going on. ... If only they were warm and fuzzy, instead of cold and slimy. ApocaDoc permalink Thu, May 7, 2009 from Sacramento News and Reviews: An outsider's view of Earth Believing that an outsider perspective may be illuminating in evaluating today’s news, we imagine here what The Briefer would tell "a volunteer" about Earth’s present situation.... How serious is the situation with the biosphere? Very serious. Humanity will either build new renewable energy-powered economies and live, or fail to do so and die. As in the early days of the Industrial Revolution, people will have to consume far less and invest far more in building a new economy. They will have to live with less now so that they -- and their kids and grandkids -- will not only live well but simply live. Doing so is technically feasible but politically difficult.... What evidence is there for the magnitude of this threat? The world's scientists, traditionally competing for grants and laurels like the Nobel Prize, rarely agree. For the first time in scientific history, however, climate scientists have not only reached a near-unanimous consensus that human-made global warming threatens humanity, but have formed a global organization -- the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- to try and prevent it. ... Could an outsider truly understand human problems? As if!!! ApocaDoc permalink Mon, Apr 27, 2009 from London Guardian: Once there were swarms of butterflies in our skies ...Swarms of butterflies have long disappeared. And a relentless decline may now become terminal for some of our best-loved species. Following the wet summer of 2007, last year was a disaster for butterflies: the lowest number was recorded for 27 years. Of Britain's precious 59 resident species, 12 experienced their worst ever year since the scientific monitoring of butterfly numbers began in 1976....Butterflies find it difficult to fly, feed and mate in bad weather but these figures are not just a seasonal blip caused by freakishly soggy summers. The collecting of British butterflies has ceased to be acceptable and yet butterfly populations have still plummeted. Far more devastating than unscrupulous collectors of old has been industrial agriculture and the loss of 97 percent of England's natural grassland and wildflower meadows; planting conifers or letting our broadleaved woodlands become too overgrown for woodland flowers; and the sprawl of motorways and urban development. To this deadly cocktail has been added a new poison: climate change. ... From butterfly ... to butterdie. ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Mar 31, 2009 from London Daily Mail: What is to blame for the vanishing cuckoo? This is the season of the year when the natural pageant of the British countryside begins to unfold in a fashion which has enchanted poets and pastoralists since the beginning of time. Shakespeare wrote in The Winter's Tale about the 'daffodils that come before the swallow dares'... The statistics gathered by birdwatchers are frightening. Since 1967, the summer cuckoo population has fallen by 59 per cent, the spotted flycatcher by 84 per cent, turtle doves by 82 per cent. Since only 1994, 47 per cent of yellow wagtails have disappeared. Nightingales are becoming rare. Worse still, over the past decade the trend has accelerated. There is a real likelihood that, within a few years, birds which we love and take for granted will simply vanish from our landscape. ... From canary in the coal mine to cuckoo in the countryside. ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Feb 17, 2009 from Indianapolis Star: Study: Birds wintering farther north could signal climate change A recently released report by the National Audubon Society has tied changes in migratory bird habits to global warming. According to data from the group's annual Christmas bird count gathered over the past 40 years, nearly 60 percent of the 305 bird species sampled in North America now winter farther north than they did previously.... "The birds are an indicator of what's happening," said Greg Butcher, the lead scientist on the study and the National Audubon Society's director of bird conservation. "They are showing us that global warming has been going on for years, and it's having strong biological effects in Indiana and elsewhere." ... Do those numbers include the migratory patterns of canaries in coal mines? ApocaDoc permalink Fri, Jan 16, 2009 from China.org.cn: Returning to 'normal' is no longer an option In the first half of the year, volatile commodity prices, especially for food and oil, hit the world's poorest people hard. In the second half was the global financial catastrophe. Yet, could the crises of food, fuel and finance that we experienced last year simply be three canaries in the coal mine? What if these are just the early warning signals that our current economic system is not sustainable at a much deeper level? ... Those of us in middle age today in richer countries are the third successive generation to benefit from the natural resource bubble that our first world economy has exploited since the mid-20th century. It is highly unlikely -- unless we make some deep, structural changes to how we manage our economy -- that our children and their children will experience the same sense of progress and wealth. ... A "natural resource bubble"? How absurd! House prices will always go up! ApocaDoc permalink Mon, Jan 12, 2009 from The Desert Sun (CA): Protected species moves from valley Warmer, drier weather linked to global climate change has caused at least one native species to disappear from the Coachella Valley -- and ecologists warn more could be lost if the conditions persist. The Jerusalem cricket, an inch-long insect protected under the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, used to live in the Thousand Palms area and near the Palm Springs International Airport. But after more than a decade of drought, the moisture-needing cricket has shifted completely to more humid areas west of the valley, past Windy Point near Cabazon, according to local ecologists. Its "dramatic" disappearance is "the canary in the coal mine telling us what's going on" regarding local effects of climate change, said Dr. Cameron Barrows, a research ecologist who's studied the Coachella Valley the past 23 years. ... And likely no "new Jerusalem" here... ApocaDoc permalink Fri, Jan 9, 2009 from Cheboygan News: Biologist on the case of dipping smelt population For years now, the spring smelt runs have been shadows of their former selves. Gone are the days when rivers and streams would run black, teaming with billions of migrating smelt. With only a few dips of the net, garbage cans could be filled with the tasty, bite-sized fish. Runs like those haven't been experienced in years.... From predatory demand to the introduction of zebra and quagga muscles to climate change, each theory has merit but needs some explaining.... "Based on my field observations, I can say this situation will not change any time soon," said Schaeffer. "We recorded very few smelt and the ones we did get were very small, too small for anglers to keep." ... Based on our field observations, many situations will not change any time soon. ApocaDoc permalink Sat, Jan 3, 2009 from Science Daily (US): Hot Southern Summer Threatens Coral With Massive Bleaching Event A widespread and severe coral bleaching episode is predicted to cause immense damage to some of the world's most important marine environments over the next few months. A report from the US Government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts severe bleaching for parts of the Coral Sea, which lies adjacent to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, and the Coral Triangle, a 5.4 million square kilometre expanse of ocean in the Indo-Pacific which is considered the centre of the world's marine life. "This forecast bleaching episode will be caused by increased water temperatures and is the kind of event we can expect on a regular basis if average global temperatures rise above 2 degrees," said Richard Leck, Climate Change Strategy Leader for WWF's Coral Triangle Program.... The bleaching, predicted to occur between now and February, could have a devastating impact on coral reef ecosystems, killing coral and destroying food chains. There would be severe impacts for communities in Australia and the region, who depend on the oceans for their livelihoods. ... That is one massive canary. ApocaDoc permalink Wed, Dec 31, 2008 from The Arizona Republic: Asthma's links to air pollution stir worry The bits of dust and dirt so common in Phoenix's air may be causing more problems for asthmatic children than experts previously believed. A new study released Tuesday found that asthma attacks and symptoms in children ages 5 through 18 increased by 14 percent on the days Valley skies were plagued by high levels of particulate pollution. The study, conducted by researchers at Arizona State University, is thought to be the first in the state to quantify a tie between poor air quality and children's health. It also reveals that children are affected by coarse pollutants at levels below the federal government's health standard. ... Ah, yes. Our children. The ultimate canary in a coal mine. ApocaDoc permalink Sat, Dec 27, 2008 from Chicago Tribune: Minnesota's iconic moose are dying off It wasn't long ago that thousands of moose roamed the gentle terrain of northwestern Minnesota, affirming the iconic status of the antlered, bony-kneed beast from the North Woods. In just two decades, though, their numbers have plummeted, from 4,000 to fewer than a hundred. They didn't move away. They just died. The primary culprit in what is known as the moose mystery, scientists say, is climate change, which has systematically reduced the Midwest's already dwindling moose population and provoked alarm in Minnesota, where wildlife specialists gathered for a "moose summit" this month in Duluth. ... Can't we make truce with the moose? ApocaDoc permalink Thu, Nov 6, 2008 from Telegraph.co.uk: Lemmings hit by climate change Lemming populations have been ravaged by climate change as their breeding habits are disrupted by the wrong type of snow. The rodents, who contrary to popular belief do not commit suicide, breed best when thick, fluffy snow forms a blanket under which they can shelter, reproduce and feed on moss. Now researchers at the University of Oslo have reported that a general warming of the earth has given rise to a cycle of freezing and thawing which has meant that snow melts and freezes at ground level depriving the creatures of food.... This has meant that the regular explosions in lemming numbers have ceased over the past 15 years. ... Good god, yet another metaphor becomes a canary in the coal mine. ApocaDoc permalink Wed, Oct 29, 2008 from Toronto Globe and Mail: Killer whales disappearing off southern B.C. There were early signs of starvation and then declining birth rates - now a growing number of adults and calves have vanished from a population of orcas found in the waters of southern British Columbia and northern Washington. Although no bodies have been found, it's thought that the whales, which rarely stray from the group, have died, perhaps tipping a key population toward extinction. And scientists say the worst is yet to come for the southern resident orcas and a second, separate population known as the northern residents, which are both heading into winter undernourished because there are so few salmon to feed on. ... Mourn Willy. ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Oct 21, 2008 from Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Redband trout's decline under study The redband index - like the Dow Jones - is headed south. On one stretch of the upper Spokane, redband counts dropped 75 percent between 1980 and last year. Though downstream counts are higher, redband populations aren't healthy in any part of the river, Donley said. The declines have occurred despite two decades of catch-and-release regulations for anglers.... But hydropower dams altered the river's flows, while withdrawals sucked water out of the river. Gravel spawning beds, where redbands lay their eggs, dry out too soon, killing the young fry. Pollutants also hurt the trout. More than other fish in the Spokane system, redbands need cold, clean water for survival. "They're the canary in the coal mine," Donley said. "We use them as an environmental indicator." ... Another freakin' canary in that overpopulated mine. ApocaDoc permalink Mon, Oct 20, 2008 from The Independent (UK): Don't kill the planet in the name of saving the economy We are living through two great meltdowns -- the credit crunch, and the climate crunch. The heating of the planet is now happening so fast it's hard to pluck a single event to fix on, but here's one. By the summer of 2013, the Arctic will be free of ice. How big an event it this? The Wall Street Crash hadn't happened for 80 years. The Arctic Crash hasn't happened for three million years: that's the last time there was watery emptiness at the top of the world. The Arctic is often described as the canary in the coal mine. As one Arctic researcher put it to me this week: the canary is dead. It's time to clear the mine, and run. ... How can we clear the mine of so damn many canaries? ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Oct 7, 2008 from Columbian.com: Lichens may be canaries in the coal mine Samples were sent to a University of Minnesota laboratory for analysis of their nitrogen and sulfur content. The results set off alarms. "Lichens indicating nitrogen-enriched environments were abundant," Geiser wrote in a 2007 article published in the journal Environmental Pollution. "The atmospheric deposition levels detected likely threaten gorge ecosystems and cultural resources" such as Native American petroglyphs and pictographs rock art, she wrote. ... We need to make those canaries shut up. ApocaDoc permalink Fri, Sep 19, 2008 from Birdlife.org: Birds indicate biodiversity crisis -- and the way forward The report highlights worldwide losses among widespread and once-familiar birds. A staggering 45 percent of common European birds are declining: the familiar European Turtle-dove, for example, has lost 62 percent of its population in the last 25 years. On the other side of the globe, resident Australian wading birds have seen population losses of 81 percent in just quarter of a century. Twenty North American common birds have more than halved in number in the last four decades. Northern Bobwhite fell most dramatically, by 82 percent. In Latin America, the Yellow Cardinal -- once common in Argentina -- is now classified as globally Endangered. ... That's a lot of canaries to fit into the mine. ApocaDoc permalink Sun, Sep 7, 2008 from TCPalm (Florida): Dolphin die-off in northern Indian River Lagoon is raising red flags "Indian River dolphins are excellent sentinels of ecosystem health and, beyond that, human health," said Dr. Gregory Bossart... "We need to address the problems they have not just for their sake but out of concern for the health of the ecosystem and even our own health."... Since May 1, 47 dolphins have died in a stretch of the Indian River Lagoon from the southern end of the Mosquito Lagoon near Titusville south to Palm Bay, ... That's one big canary. ApocaDoc permalink Mon, Sep 1, 2008 from CNN International: Lights out? Experts fear fireflies are dwindling Yet another much-loved species imperiled by humankind? The evidence is entirely anecdotal, but there are anecdotes galore. From backyards in Tennessee to riverbanks in Southeast Asia, researchers said they have seen fireflies -- also called glowworms or lightning bugs -- dwindling in number.... "It is quite clear they are declining," said Stefan Ineichen, a researcher who studies fireflies in Switzerland and runs a Web site to gather information on firefly sightings. ... At least, in the coal mine, we'll have a wee bit of light to see the other canaries. ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Aug 12, 2008 from PNAS, via ScienceDaily: New Report Details Historic Mass Extinction Of Amphibians; Humans Worsen Spread Of Deadly Emerging Infectious Disease Amphibians, reigning survivors of past mass extinctions, are sending a clear, unequivocal signal that something is wrong, as their extinction rates rise to unprecedented levels, according to a paper published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Humans are exacerbating two key natural threats -- climate change and a deadly disease that is jumping from one species to another.... "An ancient organism, which has survived past extinctions, is telling us that something is wrong right now" Vredenburg said. "We -- humans -- may be doing fine right now, but they are doing poorly. The question, really, is whether we'll listen before it's too late." ... Amphibians? What are they doing in my mine? And why is that canary lying down on the job? ApocaDoc permalink Mon, Aug 11, 2008 from Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: It's time to declare mussel extinct, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says The turgid-blossom pearly mussel -- a shiny yellow-green mollusk less than 1. 6 inches in length -- has been on the endangered species list since 1976.... "One of the things that we say as biologists is that these are kind of like canaries in a coal mine," Christian said. "They are an indicator that environmental conditions aren't good, and that may be an indicator of water quality." ... Yet another bivalve in a coal mine. That mine's getting full of canaries. ApocaDoc permalink Thu, Jul 31, 2008 from London Times: Earthworm's plight is early warning of threat to man "...Research carried out by scientists at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Edinburgh, shows that even low levels of chemical pollutants in the soil caused fundamental changes in the lifecycle of earthworms, affecting their ability to reproduce. These findings raise fundamental questions about the effect of pollution in the soil and also raise concerns about the effect of human exposure to widely used chemicals." ... We can only surmise that the fish and the early birds aren't going to be too happy about this news! ApocaDoc permalink Sun, Jul 13, 2008 from The Independent (UK): Sewage threatens to turn flamingo breeding site into cesspool In one of the world's great wildlife spectacles, tens of thousands of lesser flamingos gather at a South African wetland –- but it is a spectacle now gravely threatened by pollution.... The dam is being used to dump raw sewage from a malfunctioning treatment plant owned by the Sol Plaatje Municipality. "Without urgent action, the dam will become a polluted cesspool devoid of birdlife," said Duncan Pritchard, of BirdLife South Africa. ... We're so tired of this. Now it's flamingos in the coal mine. ApocaDoc permalink Thu, Jul 10, 2008 from San Francisco Chronicle: U.S. proposes to put smelt on endangered list "The delta smelt, a tiny but important fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, could officially become "endangered" under a proposal announced Wednesday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Smelt are an indicator of the delta's health, and nearly 750,000 acres of farmland and 25 million people from the Bay Area to Central and Southern California rely on water from the delta." ... Our new canary in the coal mine: the smelt in the delta! ApocaDoc permalink Wed, Jun 4, 2008 from Guardian (UK): Puffin numbers plummet in UK's biggest colony Naturalists working on the Isle of May, a major seabird colony on the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh, disclosed today that puffin numbers on the island have unexpectedly fallen by nearly a third this year after decades of continual increases in population.... Although the bird – which has a relatively long 30-year lifecycle - congregates in large colonies such as the Isle of May to breed in the spring, it spreads across the sea to winter on the water. It also has a wide and varied diet, from zooplankton and worms, to small fish such as sand eels, and squid. As a result, its decline suggests a profound problem across the North Sea rather than an isolated or one-off event, said Harris. "We're looking for something acting over a substantial part of the North Sea," he said. "Something big is going on at a wide scale." ... The puffin in the coal mine is getting black lung. ApocaDoc permalink Mon, Apr 14, 2008 from University of New South Wales: Shorebird Numbers Crash In Australia "One of the world's great wildlife spectacles is under way across Australia: as many as two million migratory shorebirds of 36 species are gathering around Broome before an amazing 10,000-kilometre annual flight to their northern hemisphere breeding grounds. But an alarming new study has revealed that both these migrants and Australia's one million resident shorebirds have suffered a massive collapse in numbers over the past 25 years." ... Clearly, these canaries in the coal mine are nothing but sitting ducks hanging albatrossly around our necks. ApocaDoc permalink Tue, Apr 1, 2008 from Associated Press: Maryland crab season opens to anxiety "...The prognosis for the blue crab, the Chesapeake's hallmark seafood product, is bad. Last year's catch was Maryland's second-lowest since 1945, and winter population surveys indicate this year's harvest may not be much better. Fishery regulators in Maryland and Virginia say the crab population is nearing dangerous lows. Regulators are expected to reduce the harvest even further to save crabs...The worry extends to government scientists who manage the crab fisheries in the Chesapeake. Maryland and Virginia scientists say they've got one last shot to protect the crabs or they could face the collapse of one of the region's last viable fisheries." ... Everything about this story is depressing. ApocaDoc permalink Mon, Feb 25, 2008 from Concord Monitor (NH): River herring decline has widespread effect "The Taylor River system, which lies largely in Hampton Falls and Hampton, had 400,000 river herring return from the sea annually in the 1980s. That number is now down to less than 1,000, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates.... You wouldn't eat one on a bet, so what's it matter? Oh, but it does. The little fish are food, not just for humans, but for striped bass, cod, haddock, mackerel, salmon, porpoises, seals, dolphins and whales as well as terns, puffins and other seabirds. When their food supply shrinks, fish populations crash, prices rise, fishing restrictions are put in place and the fishing industry suffers." ... The herring-bone's connected to the ... lifebone. ApocaDoc permalink Thu, Feb 21, 2008 from Environmental Science and Technology: Worms bear sludge load "Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) end up in the tons of solid sludge left behind by wastewater treatment processes. Those so-called biosolids are often repackaged and sold as fertilizers for both industrial and small-scale agriculture. In a new survey, published in ES&T (DOI: 10.1021/es702304c), researchers show for the first time that those compounds can turn up in earthworms ... Bioaccumulation of PPCPs by worms is not entirely a surprise, according to Stockholm University's Cynthia De Wit, who points to her own work looking at PBDEs and other persistent compounds in earthworms. However, the new research underscores that worms could serve as monitoring organisms, she says. Because the worms seem to concentrate compounds that may be present at undetectable levels in the soils, they can be "a sort of sentinel, or magnifying glass of what's in the soil," she adds." ... From canaries in the coal mine to earthworms in the soil, other species bear too much of a load. ApocaDoc permalink Wed, Feb 20, 2008 from AP, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Bats in NY, VT dying from mysterious malady In New York, Hicks cautioned in a report that he and his colleagues were "one survey short of saying that every substantial collection of wintering bats in the state is infected." "If you are not worried, you should be," his report said. "The two sites infected last year that have been surveyed so far this winter have experienced a 90 percent and 97 percent drop in populations since this began, with most of the survivors currently in poor health." Worse, said Hicks, nobody knows the cause. "We don't know what the problem is. All we can do is just sit back and watch them die." ... Bats have only one pup per year. Recovery, if possible, will be very slow. Perhaps a new species should be used for the cliche "canary in a coal mine"? ApocaDoc permalink Copyright 2009 The Apocadocs.com