Sygenta and Bee Colony Collapse
Following research linking neonicotinoid pesticides to the decline in bee populations, France has announced it plans to ban Cruiser OSR, an insecticide produced by Sygenta. Recent studies, including one in France, have shown that neonicotinoid pesticides likely hurt bees’ ability to navigate, potentially devastating hives. France has said it will give Sygenta two weeks to prove the pesticide is not linked to the bee decline, known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).
Read more:
http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0604-hance-bees-france-ban.html#ixzz1wpLtAkgB
________________________________________________________
Tundra Transformations Due to Climate Change: I found this article on ecosystem changes due to climate change.
B.C. Forbes In a warming region of the Arctic, tundra shrubs are turning into small trees, with big implications.
“Even as insect infestations and other factors accompanying warming have led to the “browning” of some stretches of boreal forest between temperate regions and the Arctic tundra, the tundra appears to be greening in a big way, various studies have shown. The newest such work, focused on scrubby windswept regions along Russia’s northwest Arctic coast, has found a particularly noteworthy shift is under way.” Taken from Warming Arctic Tundra Producing Pop-Up Forests By ANDREW C. REVKIN Read the article at : http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/warming-arctic-tundra-producing-pop-up-forests/?ref=science
_________________________________________________________
SA’s environment deteriorating fast: report
This was the finding of a group of scientists at the universities of Yale and Columbia, in the United States, who measured the state of the environment in 132 countries, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum.
South Africa was in 128th place, with Iraq last on the list.
Using 22 indicators, researchers found the Swiss had managed and conserved their natural environment the best. Swiss air and water quality, biodiversity and the management and conservation of ecosystems were found to be the best in the world.
According to the report, it was clear South Africa’s air and water quality, biodiversity, the functioning of its ecosystems, and its agricultural and fishery systems, had seriously deteriorated.
The researchers also measured and compared the current state of human health with that in 1992.
The Wildlife and Environment Society of SA said the findings were shocking. Director Garth Barnes said it was clear that environmental laws in South Africa were not being applied, even though the country had some of the best environmental legislation in the world.
The full report is available online at www.epi.yale.edu. – Sapa
_____________________________________________________________
Feel good news:
New Primate Species Discovered On Madagascar
A Malagasy-German research team has discovered a new primate species in eastern Madagascar. (Credit: B. Randrianambinina)
ScienceDaily (Jan. 7, 2012) — A Malagasy-German research team has discovered a new primate species in the Sahafina Forest in eastern Madagascar, a forest that has not been studied before. The name of the new species is Gerp’s mouse lemur (Microcebus gerpi), chosen to honour the Malagasy research group GERP (Groupe d’Étude et de Recherche sur les Primates de Madagascar). Several researchers of GERP have visited the Sahafina Forest in 2008 and 2009 to create an inventory the local lemurs.
Have a look at the link for the full article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120107151247.htm
A truly fascinating read, I might properly not agree entirely, but you do make some quite legitimate factors.
extremely nice post, i definitely really like this fabulous website, persist with it