Extinction Central - Page 6

flowperson · 10-28-2007, 01:34 PM

And then there are more contemporary threats to our animal friends...

flow....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/27/sc...27primate.html

Muslimwoman · 10-28-2007, 05:02 PM

Humans are just so scummy ....

Northern white rhinos as well as elephants are on the verge of extinction in the DRC, and their numbers fell to just 10 animals before an emergency plan was inked earlier this month to translocate half the population to Kenya in an attempt to guarantee the survival of the species.

Congo Elephants, Rhinos Falling to Poachers' Guns

flowperson · 11-01-2007, 06:57 PM

Sometimes it's really refreshing to learn of the constructive work that my cousins the parrotfish are doing to help save the planet.

flow....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7069933.stm

flowperson · 11-06-2007, 10:00 PM

Scientists are beginning to rethink the complex causes behind mass extinctions as they delve more deeply into the mass extinctions which occured 65 million years ago.

This seems to have been the series of events that spelled doom to the 200 million year dominance of reptilian species on the earth and began the long slow rise of mammalian evolution of which we may be the current dominant species. What's next ?

flow....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/sc...ml?ref=science

Muslimwoman · 11-06-2007, 10:15 PM

salaam Flow

This is interesting reading and a good Q&A session at the bottom

An Interview with Dr. Peter Raven, director of the Missouri Botanical Garden

flowperson · 11-06-2007, 10:59 PM

Hi MW...yeah, I first heard of his work sometime ago. He was one of the first prominent scientists, after Lovelock in the 70's, to advocate an interconnected web of life philosophy of nature.

The idea being, what we do to one species, we do to all of them eventually through webbed relationships. He was one of the very first to apply modern complex systems thinking to the real worlds of nature and science. A very smart and influential man.

Thanks for the article, I hadn't run across it.

Salaam...flow....

Tao_Equus · 11-09-2007, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flowperson

Scientists are beginning to rethink the complex causes behind mass extinctions as they delve more deeply into the mass extinctions which occured 65 million years ago.

This seems to have been the series of events that spelled doom to the 200 million year dominance of reptilian species on the earth and began the long slow rise of mammalian evolution of which we may be the current dominant species. What's next ?

flow....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/sc...ml?ref=science

Hi Flo,

Just a wee correction, this is one of my fussy bits of pedantry but dinosaurs were not reptiles and their descendants are alive and well and giving us a beautiful dawn chorus each morning. They gave rise to the birds...they evolved.. they did not die out.

Tao

flowperson · 11-09-2007, 04:27 PM

Oh I agree Tao, but my belief in the "reptilianism" of birds is reinforced each day when my bird tries to bite my finger when we play. I did see a recent reference to the fact that Velociraptors are now thought to have had feathers.

flow....

flowperson · 12-01-2007, 07:09 PM

Hello all...
Aside from the philosophy of the current administration in the USA, bad thingys don't just go away if you ignore them or refuse to recognize them. They tend to just fester and get worse over time.

Judge not lest ye be judged comes to mind here

Reality bites. Here's another dose.

flow....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/01/nyregion/01birds.html

flowperson · 12-16-2007, 07:23 PM

Despite the downbeat messages from the first part of this story, it sounds as if the Scottish fish farmers have got this figured out. Now to teach it to the Canadians, eh ?

flow....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7142053.stm

flowperson · 01-08-2008, 04:34 PM

This is not the typical extinction story, but it does show how significant discoveries are made, neglected, covered up, and eventually forgotten. There is no doubt that this artifact of the ancient inhabitants of Miami is significant, but are we so skewed in our societal priorities that we can't even take the time or spend the money to figure out why ?

It now costs $14 to see the English Stonehenge (which is bracketed by motorways). So called "development" is inevitable, but at what cost to us?

flow....

Secrets of Miami Circle, known as America's Stonehenge, lie buried -- OrlandoSentinel.com

flowperson · 01-30-2008, 05:25 PM

Not much in the way of extinction stories lately. Here's two that caught my eye today.
http://www.livescience.com/animals/0...n-decline.html

http://www.livescience.com/environme...chemistry.html

flow....

Tao_Equus · 02-07-2008, 06:04 PM

Yesterday I attended a book reading/signing come publicity event for a Climate Change awareness group. The book titled "Hard Rain" is a series of photographs set to the lyrics of the timeless Dylan track of the same title.

Here is a link to the website that is pretty comprehensive and means you wont have to buy the book at all!!

http://www.hardrainproject.com/home.htm

There are some amazing photographs so it is well worth a look at.

Tao