I was a bit slow on the uptake on this article as it was published a few days ago but if you haven't read it yet it's well worth a look.
News
https://theconversation.com/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-has-begun-new-study-confirms-43432
Source Paper
http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/5/e1400253
It's alarming news with the average rate of vertebrate species lost over the last century being 114 times higher than the background rate.
Tuesday, 23 June 2015
Saturday, 13 June 2015
The Future
These pages are worth a read, it just goes to show age shouldn't hold you back if you want to make a difference to our environment.
http://www.sciencealert.com/this-tap-saves-water-by-creating-incredible-patterns
http://www.iflscience.com/environment/20-year-old-launch-world-s-first-ocean-cleaning-system-2016
http://www.sciencealert.com/this-tap-saves-water-by-creating-incredible-patterns
http://www.iflscience.com/environment/20-year-old-launch-world-s-first-ocean-cleaning-system-2016
Friday, 12 June 2015
Foxes
Foxes seem to be everywhere, the genus Vulpes also known as
the trues foxes are made up of 12 different species. Between these 12 species
they have ranges which cover, Europe, North and central Africa, Asia, Australia
and the Arctic.
The Fox with the most extensive range is Vulpes vulpes or the red fox and it can be found nearly across the entire Northern Hemisphere
and also as an invasive species across the majority of Australia where it was
introduced in the 1830s for fox hunting. A sport which originated in England in
the 16th
century and has been outlawed in the UK since 2005, however this ban it is
possibly coming up for review within the UK in the next few years.
the red fox and it can
be found nearly across the entire Northern Hemisphere and also as an invasive
species across the majority of Australia where it was introduced in the 1830s
for fox hunting. A sport which originated in England in the 16
The Red fox is a very successful species and is an omnivore
with its natural diet consisting of invertebrates, small mammals such as mice
and rabbits and some plant matter such as berries. This isn’t the diet the
majority of the Red Foxes consist on now, as they have adapted to become very
successful in the urban environment. In fact in the UK for instance there are
now more foxes found in built up areas. A study in 2014 showing that there are >30
fox sightings per 1000people km−2 (link 1 will give you more information on how
the distribution of Red foxes has shifted towards urban areas).
Although the foxes in the Vulpes genus have very similar
morphology there are difference and certain adaptations which allow them to
excel in their own environments. For instance the Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus) are slightly smaller
which gives them a smaller surface area to volume ratio than the red fox to
reduce heat loss and a counter current circulatory system to prevent cold blood
flowing back towards vital organs by heat transfer between blood moving from
the core out and blood moving from the surface in. The coat is thicker and
multi-layered, also during the malt each spring the coat colour changes from
white to a browner colour to aid in camouflage. While the Fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) which are found across
North Africa in the Sahara, possess a thin coat and larger ears to help radiate
excess heat.
The Arctic fox and others have amazing abilities which allow
them to hunt without using their vision. The majority of the species have
extremely keen sense of hearing which allows them to hunt effectively in complete
darkness or in the case of the Arctic fox prey which is hidden below a layer of
snow. The Artic fox is able to triangulate prey items such as lemmings and
voles which are surviving the winter in tunnels below the snow and then it
pounces, diving through the snow and catching it.
An interesting study has been taking place in Russia for
over 50 years now; it is based on an experiment which is looking into how
wolves became domesticated into modern day dogs. It uses a sub species of Vulpes vulpes know as the Silver fox or marketed
as a Siberian fox, yes that’s right you are now able to buy one of the
descendants of the original test subjects and keep them as a pet. The study was
set up by Dmitri Belyaev, and takes Silver foxes and breeds them for the
selection a passive nature, while the other half of the study was breed for
aggression. If you are interested follow the link below (2) to read more. I
suggest you do if you’ve got the time.
The Red fox is causing havoc in Australia as they are
suitable adapted to survive the in the habitat Australia provides and their
population is running wild just like rabbits and the cane toad. They are
predated by native animals such as dingoes but this is doing little to control
the population expansion due to the decline of dingoes. They are threatening
ground-nesting birds, mammals such as the greater Bilby and the bridled
nail-tail wallaby and reptiles. Australia is currently attempting to control
the red foxes numbers by trapping and poisoning using 1080 toxin, and work is
currently being undertaken to develop an alternative toxin to 1080 which is
less harmful to non-target animals. This culling may be seen as unnecessary by
some of you however there are many native species suffering and some of them
being pushed close to extinction by invasive species like the Red Fox and also
feral cats and dogs.
Link 2
Thanks for reading
Check out these videos
Wednesday, 10 June 2015
Waste
I know I have already posted about recycling and reducing,
this however in many people’s eyes involves simply rubbish like cans and
plastic. I would also like you to stop and have a think for a while about all
the food waste you’ve thrown away year so far. Now think about all the energy
it has taken to get that food to your door. Think about the energy required to
produce it, this all adds up to colossal amounts.
Millions of acres of land in every single country has been
cleared for agriculture and billions of tonnes of grains are planted every year
to feed growing populations. As well as crops land is cleared for grazing of
domesticated animals such as cows and pigs.
This mass production method of food in monocultures are somewhat
necessary to cope with the high demand for food across the world, even with
these methods it is estimated that 805 million people suffered from undernourishment
from 2012-2014. In other words 1 in 9 people are not getting suitable nutrition
they need on a daily basis, 791 million of these people are found in developing
nations and 161 million are children.
For instance meat production has a far higher cost of
production than vegetables and grains, if you factor in the amount of grain
needed to produce meat. A single hectare of land can produce 29 times more food
in the form of vegetables than in the form of chicken, 73 times more than pork
and 78 times more than beef. It’s also important to remember that it’s not just
the production of vegetables that decreases for meat production; you must also
remember what was lost from the land to start with. In Brazil for instance 80%
of the deforestation taking place was accounted for by cattle ranching. That’s hundreds
of thousands of acres a year, and the land cleared is only productive for a few
years, as once the tree roots are lost from the soil it becomes unstable and
the thin fertile top soil is lost and the land turns into a dust bowl, and so
the process carries on with no end in sight.
The destruction of land isn’t the only cost, 340 million tons
of carbon is released into the atmosphere each year
from cattle ranches in
Brazil alone, that’s 3.4% of global emissions (That includes the
deforestation). In fact over 50% of global human-caused greenhouse gases can be
attributed to livestock and their by-products.
Now I’m not attempting to turn anyone into a vegetarian
because of this post, as I will still be eating meat. Humans are omnivores and
we require both meat and vegetables in order to grow and it is a key factor in
living a healthy lifestyle. I understand it is perfectly possible for a
vegetarian to gain enough nutrients without the consumption of meat, but it
does require careful meal planning. I simply want people to look at the
quantities of meat they are eating each day and take steps to reduce it,
perhaps aim to remove meat from two or three of your main meals a week and
replace the ham or chicken in your lunch time sandwich with a tasty
alternative. These changes will not only have effects on the global meat
production but also in your wallet.
The second point I would like to make is about the actual
food you eat every day. It’s important to think about what you are eating from
day to day, as in today’s world in developed countries you are constantly
capable of finding any sort of food you want. Clearly though you can’t grow
bananas in the UK and other products constantly available are seasonal yet they
are still available off season, this means that they have to be transported in.
This results in these products having thousands of food miles. For an example an average food basket in Victoria
Australia, a country which is capable of growing a huge range of different
crops, has travelled a total of 70,803km to get to your dinner table. That’s
the same as almost travelling twice round the earth and so food mileage is a
huge contributor to the production of greenhouse gases. The products have also
needed to be refrigerated till they reach the destination so as they arrive fresh,
but this creates even more emissions as it requires large amounts of energy. So
please attempt to source the majority of your food as locally as possible and
limit the amount of each product you eat when it’s out of season.
Finally I want to leave you with a few facts about the sheer
mass of edible food which is thrown away each year. Aussies throw out $8
billion worth of edible food ever year, which equates to 4,000,000 tonnes.
There are ways to reduce this, if you plan your shopping for the week or the
month it will mean you have a decent understanding of what you need and you are
less likely to buy excess food which will expire before you have time to eat
it. Also try to separate food which expires such as loaves of bread into
smaller portions and then freeze the rest till you need it. Finally use the
information on the back of the packaging which gives you suggested quantities
to cook, and if you have left overs no matter how small keep them for a snack
later to replace biscuits or as a part of your lunch.
These are all simple methods and I completely understand
that but too many people are not following them with people in the age range
18-24 being the most wasteful.
Thanks for reading.
Check out this video!!!
Monday, 8 June 2015
Weddell Seal
So I’ve been thinking and I’m going to be trying to add
something new to this blog, which will hopefully give you a reason to make
those small changes in your life to help the planet and will also teach you a
bit more about the plants and animals we share this world with.
I’m going to start these posts with an animal which some of
you may not have heard of before but is being heavily affected by global
climate change and the decreased amounts of ice found at the Antarctic ice
caps.
The Weddell Seal, this seal is found in the Antarctic and
like the Empire penguins remains there throughout the harsh winter storms in
the darkness. In fact the Weddell Seal is the only mammal which remains on the
Antarctic continent throughout the entire year. They have been seen in waters as
far north as New Zealand and Australia but these sightings are extremely rare.
The Weddell Seal is perfectly adapted for its life in such
an extreme environment as the Antarctic where surface temperatures can drop as
low as -40°C and that isn’t accounting for wind chill. However the Weddell Seal
doesn’t spend the majority of its time on the ice, it instead prefers the more
sheltered environment of the world under the ice. Thanks to the insulation of
the ice the liquid water under it remains at a fairly constant temperature of
just above 0°C which makes surviving a lot easier.
They are capable of diving for well over 20 minutes and go to
depths of 500+ meters. These deeper dives are usually undertaken in the day,
while night dives usually bottom out at around 200 meters. Their underwater
navigation is excellent which of course is necessary as they have to find their
way between their breathing holes in the ice.
These holes are kept open throughout the coldest days and
require constant work to stop them from icing over. To prevent this Weddell
seals use their teeth to bite away at the developing ice crystals. This method
is effective but also limits the seals lifespan as this constant use wears away
the teeth and then the seals end up dying from starvation. The average life expectancy
of the Weddell Seal is unknown with individuals living from 12 to 15 years
while others live up to 40.
A seals diet is primarily made up from squid, fish and krill
and some seals have even been observed blowing air bubbles into ice cracks in
an attempt to flush prey out into open water where the seals manoeuvrability
allows it to quickly and effectively catch the prey. They aren’t however on the
top of their food chain and seals have to avoid being hunted by their natural
predators which are leopard seals and killer whales which have developed their
own hunting methods to make them efficient killers.
There are approximately 800,000 Weddell seals around the
Antarctic
and they form up into large colonies around September and October to
give birth to a single pup after a 9-10 month gestation period. It is then a
race against time for the pup to gain weight to allow it to survive the extreme
winter. After 6-8 weeks the pup is weaned and at that point they have gone from
the starting weight of around 29kg to several times that weight. They continue
to grow for the next 3 years till they reach a weight of 400-500kg. There is
also a delay before they become sexual active and begin breeding, although they
have reached maturity by 3 a Weddell Seal does not breed till it’s around 5
years old.
I hope this has taught you a few things that you didn’t know
beforehand.
Thanks for reading
Sunday, 7 June 2015
World Oceans Month
Just a little bit of a follow up from my last post.
http://www.iflscience.com/environment/june-national-oceans-month
Happy World Oceans Day.
http://www.worldoceansday.org/
http://www.iflscience.com/environment/june-national-oceans-month
Happy World Oceans Day.
http://www.worldoceansday.org/
Wednesday, 3 June 2015
The Great Barrier Reef
I have not posted for a while and there is a reason for
this.
Over the last week or so I have been lucky enough to have
the opportunity to spend three days diving on the Great Barrier Reef, with a
company called Pro Dive Cairns. An experience if I had to describe in one word
it would be, EPIC! However in my eyes that is underselling it.
Now I have a reason while I’m writing about this experience,
I don’t just want to rub it in everyone’s face. The Great Barrier Reef is an
absolutely amazing ecosystem which is quickly being lost. I urge as many people
as possible to go and see just how amazing it is with their own eyes and if not
the barrier reef just go diving or snorkeling locally to you, which will allow you to have a
glimpse of the underwater world. A glimpse is all you’ll get though as there is
simply so much to see you will have to spend years doing it to even make a
slight dent in what there is to see under our oceans.
I will be putting up a few pictures with this post which I
was able to take whilst diving, and even these are not an accurate
representation of what you can see. This is because as it turns out fish are
very fast and don’t like the alien in their world producing vast amounts of
bubbles so I came back with lots of blank pictures and some with just the tails
of fish. I did however manage to get some half decent pictures of the slower
moving creatures like turtles and larger fish, which are also seen as the
iconic sea creatures. I want to be able to expand your knowledge further than
these ‘classic’ animals though. There are over 1500 different species of fish
found on the barrier reef and countless other different species of crustaceans
and over 400 different types of coral and plant life. For instance there are 28
different species of Nemo (for those of you who have been living in cupboards
your whole life - Clownfish).
The reef though like many other great ecosystems is getting
damaged and the habitat quality it is providing is slowly being degraded. This
means that specialised niche creatures are finding it more of a struggle to be
successful and their population numbers are decreasing. Even generalised marine
species that can cope with harsher more varied conditions are beginning to
experience population declines.
Reefs are getting damaged more and more every day and
already ¼ of the world’s reefs are beyond recovery. So something needs to
change or the secret world of reefs will be lost from the world before many
people have had a chance to see and experience them.
Damage is being cause in a number of different ways
including, destructive fishing which use poisons, explosives or bottom-trawling
to capture fish and in the process rips ecosystems apart. Overfishing is also
playing it part and is resulting in the warping of food chains as keystone
species are removed in vast numbers from our oceans. Careless tourism and coral
mining are steadily breaking down the living structures which are used to
shelter thousands of species of fish and pollution and sediments are causing
corals to die or have only stunted growth before they are destroyed by us.
There are steps which you can take as an individual however
to protect our marine life and you don’t even need to go to the sea or swim on
a reef.
Start by trying to use a sustainable fish for your dinners,
cod is eaten in vast quantities across the world (on average 300,000 metric tons
a year) along with other species such as Tuna and Haddock. I know these types
of fish aren’t linked in your mind with tropical reefs but they are still involved in
temporal and tropical reef systems. It is there for important that we reduce
the demands for these fish. Instead try using a more sustainable fish such as mackerel
to fill your plate and try to reduce the amount of fish you eat. It will also
help to look at the way the fish was caught with things such as line caught
tuna being significantly better to consume than net caught. 
Another simple option is too simply avoid everything which
contains coral. I know everyone now refuses to buy items made from or containing
ivory but the same attitude should also be had towards coral and other exotic
marine life such as tropical fish which are both legally and illegally bought and sold
throughout the world. Did you know that an estimated 20 million fish, 12
million corals and 10 million other types of marine animals are removed from
waters around the Philippines, Fiji and other Pacific island each year to be
put into personal aquariums which are in the majority of cases unsuitable for each
creatures needs.
The final points I want to say is that several countries now
are creating reef taxes on tourists who visit these sites. This money is put
towards preserving the reefs and also teaching locals how to respect and care
for it. So don’t trying to go with companies who avoid these charges as it may
be cheaper but ask yourself is it worth it. Also if these aren’t in place in
the areas you’ve visited please attempt to donate to a suitable marine charity.
Finally look out for the ecotourism logo on website and fliers,
and if possible go with these companies as they are committed to marinating the
quality of the marine life around them.
Thanks for reading.
This time I have three videos for you to use to procrastinate,
the first is of the Great Barrier Reef while the second is more temperate
waters and the final being shot in arctic waters. This is simply to show you
don’t have to jet of to some tropical paradise to experience the wonders of our
planets oceans.
I hope you enjoy.
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