Yesterday marked the 16th annual United Nations World Water Day, a day of advocacy for sustainable and careful management of clean freshwater supplies worldwide. This year’s theme was “Shared Water – Shared Opportunities.” The goal of the theme is foster goodwill and collaboration among neighboring nations to promote working together to preserve their waterways. More than 45 percent of the…
A comprehensive analysis of the current condition of birds in the U.S. was released yesterday by The Nature Conservancy, USGS, the Audubon Society, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and many other non-profit groups. Dubbed The State of the Birds, the document reports that of the nation’s approximately 800 bird species, 67 are federally listed as endangered, 184 are of conservation…
It’s nice to have some good conservation news every once in awhile, even with caveats. North Atlantic right whales are one of the most endangered species on Earth. These mammals were dubbed by 18th-century whalers to be the “right” whales to catch because they’re huge (up to 70 tons and 55 feet long), stay close to shore, move slowly and…
Tracking citation data (i.e., which papers cite which other papers) has traditionally been the method for understanding the interconnectivity of different fields and subfields of research. But in the age when most researchers access their information online, the printed word can sometimes be years out of date. In a paper published this week in Public Library of Science ONE (PLoS…
Bioclimatic models attempt to draw correlations between species distributions and climate patterns. As ecologists and climatologists hone these models, they become a useful tool for predicting future species distributions based on projected climate patterns. In the March issue of Ecology, Joshua Lawler of the University of Washington and his colleagues undertook a huge task: using a bioclimatic model, they estimated…
An article in last week’s Washington Post highlights a few of the many thousands of people and families across the globe who are leaving their homelands behind in fear of global warming. The article mentions the country of Kiribati, a Pacific archipelago, where the government is trying to figure out how to move its 100,000 inhabitants off the island because…
On January 10, ESA released a position statement that offers the ecological principles necessary for biofuels to help decrease dependence on fossil fuels and reduce carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global climate change. The Society warns that the current mode of biofuels production will degrade the nation’s natural resources and will keep biofuels from becoming a viable energy option….
To all ecologists with families:You are invited to join a mailing list/discussion group on Yahoo entitled Science and Families…
The poor understanding of science by the public and key policymakers has been regular complaint of scientists for a very long time.
This letter was prompted by the ESA Action Alert of May 11, 2007 that encouraged our members to urge Congress to provide good funding for science and education in the 2008 federal budget.
The worldwide rush to develop capacity for producing biofuels has proceeded with little foresight. Facilities are being developed without a guaranteed supply of feedstocks (http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0105/p01s04-wmgn.html). Orangutans may be threatened by oil palm plantations (http://www.orangutans-sos.org/ )
Earth Day as a special event once a year had never really meant much to me. But last year was different. For the first time I decided to participate in an Earth Day celebration event in my town of Reston, Virginia together with my 2-year old daughter, Anna. The event, which featured a native plant sale, stories and music by clowns, face painting, etc. was definitely fun but it was what happened afterwards that made this particular Earth Day memorable.