With concerns over climate change globally, you might think that the last thing that environmentalists would worry about would be the natural food chain of wildlife; but for the Great Lakes there could be severe consequences posed if the carp manage to enter waterways they’ve been barred from entering.

Read more of this story »

Many environmental activists have opposed the Olympics for the role they claim it plays in environmental degradation, release of carbon emissions through the construction process and the displacement of animals from their habitat. Whether you’re of this viewpoint or not, you will be happy to know that the Olympics hopes to bring environmental benefits by increasing the world’s knowledge about climate change in Northern areas of Canada and the impact upon the polar bear.

Read more of this story »

Diatoms are one of the most common types of phytoplankton.

Climate change isn’t just warming the atmosphere, it’s also warming the ocean’s surface and deeper levels of the water column. This is known as the pelagic ocean (the “pelagic zone” is any part of the water column other than that at the sea floor) and it just so happens to harbor the most productive ecosystem on planet Earth. The pelagic ocean is responsible for an estimated half of the world’s primary production (i.e., the basic food or nutrient making needed to sustain other life), and sustains most of the world’s natural fisheries.

The pelagic zone also plays a very complex but important role in the global carbon cycle. Inorganic carbon (mostly in the form of CO2) can be “drawn down” from the atmosphere by two main processes: the respiration of photo-synthetic algae and plankton (which produce oxygen and serve as a food source as well), and, secondly, the sedimentation of carbon (in the form of sinking, dead marine matter) onto the sea floor. Most algae and phytoplankton have chlorophyll and live in the upper most layer of the water column where there is sufficient sunlight penetration (this is called the euphotic zone; from the surface down to 200 meters is the epipelagic zone). Although carbon is also removed via “outgassing” (the exporting of carbon and carbon-based molecules into the atmosphere via ocean-air circulation), these two processes keep carbon out of the atmosphere. And of the two, bottom accumulation (via sinking) is the predominant means by which carbon is removed from the water column.

Read more of this story »

Bats may be considered a spooky Halloween mascot, but they are actually one of the most beneficial animals on the planet: 70% of the world’s bat species feed on insects - and one bat can consume up to 1,000 insect pests in an hour. Bats also play a critical role in pollination and seed dispersal.

Despite the fact that bats occur nearly everywhere on earth (except for arctic and desert extremes), 60 species of bats are listed as endangered. And in the U.S., an estimated million or more hibernating bats of six species have been killed by White-nose Syndrome (WNS) in nine states since 2006.

To help raise awareness for bats, here is a compilation of 10 facts about bats - and a diverse photo gallery of bat species celebrating the surprising cuteness of these creatures. Enjoy!

Read more of this story »

The Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre in Pinjore has reason to celebrate: The Centre’s first slender-billed nestling is now 140 days old and ready to fledge.

With fewer than 1,000 slender-billed vultures left, this event marks a triumphant milestone in VCBC’s captive breeding program. And there’s more good news: A slender-billed nestling hatched at Rajabhatkhawa Centre in West Bengal has recently fledged.

In a recent release from vulturerescue.org, the director of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Dr. Asad R. Rahmani said

The hatching of this endangered species has given us more confidence in the husbandry and care of vultures practiced at our centres.

Read more of this story »

Recognized as one of the US’s 100 best gold courses (Golf Digest), the ‘Sanctuary’ will once again host the 5th annual Water For People Golf Classic on August 19, 2009. Situated in Sedalia, Colorado, and adjacent to over 12, 000 acres of protected open space, the Sanctuary was carefully designed and “placed” within one of the most fragile and beautiful ecosystems in the State, if not the entire country.

The  private course offers stunning 180 degree vistas of Pike’s Peak (southward) and Long’s Peak (northward) and is home to some of the tallest pines in the State. To preserve its core beauty and “balance with Nature”, the Sanctuary permits only 9,000 rounds of golf annually, and the majority of these are for charity fund-raising tournaments.

Read more of this story »

India’s ecosystem has been dramatically disrupted by the plummeting population of its critically endangered vultures: Stray dogs have now become one of the top scavengers, and they are reportedly spreading rabies to humans at an alarming rate.

The new availability of extra food left behind by the dwindling number of vultures (from 40 million to just 60,000 vultures, due to poisoning) is a having a catastrophic effect on India’s ecosystem. It has led to a population explosion in stray dogs, who are reportedly “hunting in packs, thus posing a threat to humans as well as wildlife.”

Other scavengers have moved in and taken advantage of the newly available food. But these interlopers – stray dogs and rats, among others – aren’t as effective as the vultures. What’s more, they bring with them disease … As the number of vultures declines, the number of feral dogs in India has risen dramatically, thanks to the extra food available … Diseases such as rabies are on the increase: India now has the highest rate of human rabies in the world, partly due to the increase in feral dogs.

In fact, the rabies problem is so widespread that India has launched a plan to sterilize over 8 million dogs over the next ten years.

More human health issues related to the lack of vultures

Unlike vultures, who pick the carcass of a dead cow clean in an hour and leave nothing but a pile of bones drying in the sun, dogs are much less efficient at carcass disposal.

Read more of this story »

In 1991, the Alaskan and US Governments reached an agreement with Exxon Mobil in a 900 million dollar settlement, almost 200 million of which was set aside for scientific study of the disaster and its impact on the PWS ecosystem. Exxon Mobile also funded its own studies (generating 400 papers and reports) which were frequently in disagreement with the government scientists’ reports and findings.

Twenty years after, the Exxon Valdez spill has become the most studied maritime, industrial disaster ever. A news report in Science Magazine (March 26, 2009) by Lila Guterman (with Jacopo Pasotti reporting) presented some of the scientific findings from the post-spill research.

Read more of this story »

Instead of the large fish common to the rest of the lake, the bizarre life forms that thrive in the lake’s sinkholes include purple cyanobacteria, ghostly floating pony-tails, and other organisms similar to those found in Antarctic sinkholes and deep-sea, hydrothermal vents.

“You have this pristine fresh water lake that has what amounts to materials from 400 million years ago … being pushed out into the lake,” says team co-leader Steven A. Ruberg of the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Read more of this story »

The corals themselves also have commercial value (for jewelry, aquarium decoration, etc.).  Corals–symbiotic colonies of plant-like and animal-like creatures–have existed on this planet for tens of millions of years. However, some 45% of all coral species went extinct around the same time as the dinosaurs did. Hardest hit were a group of photosynthesizing, algae-harboring corals known as zooxanthellates. The symbiotic , red-brown algae that co-exist with these corals (and provide their energy source) are known as zooxanthellae.

Marine scientists have noted for several years now the spread of a coral disease known as Yellow Band Disease (YBD)–so named for the yellowish bands that spread across coral polyps–but had attributed its spread to thermal stress caused by global warming. Thermal stress is known to weaken much marine life, including corals, shellfish, and some species of zooplankton. But in November of 2008, researchers at Woodshole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, isolated the bacteria that caused YBD–actually four species of Vibrio bacteria that combine with the indigenous Vibrio bacteria to attack zooxanthellae (see the paper in the Journal of Applied Microbiology).

Read more of this story »

World Species Survey details gloomy outlook for many animal species.In early October of 2008, the results of a global species  survey, conducted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, were released.  The numbers are startling:

• At least a quarter of mammal species are headed toward extinction in the near future.
• Nearly 80 percent of the primate species in southern and southeastern Asia are immediately threatened.
• At least 22 percent of reptile species are at risk of extinction.
• Perhaps 40 percent of North American freshwater fish are threatened.
• In Europe, 45 percent of the most common bird species are rapidly declining, and so are the most common bird species in North America.

But perhaps these figures are a bit too abstract. Here’s a more precise way to look at the present state of bio-diversity on Earth.

Read more of this story »

Some experts fear that sightings of the Large Tortoiseshell may in fact be of migrants from mainland Europe (where the butterfly is still common), or of escaped specimens from breeders. Conservationists, however, are hopeful that the butterfly is breeding again in England.

Read more of this story »

There are two well known and highly charged sayings about land:

—–agriculture is the foundation of economic growth
—–all land use is inherently political

The fast approaching world of a carbon market could see how we use land becoming the most important issue in stopping climate change becoming a disaster for mankind.

Read more of this story »

“Lawrence Ohlman III, MBA candidate at University of Toledo, never imagined he would be repurposing part of his student loan, starting a unique sustainable products company and marketing the first FDA approved 100% natural tableware…” Ohlman says he took the housing portion of the loan, to finance the business, as he explains: ” I moved back in with my parents and started the EcoLogic Products company, that’s what MBA’s are supposed to do; I just advanced the timeline a little! “

Made primarily from bamboo fibers; the raw material is powdered and mixed with bio-based polymers at high temperature to form a collection of sustainable (biodegradable at the end of life) and durable dinnerware. It is clear to me this company truly follows a Cradle to Cradle product philosophy and here is why:

Read more of this story »

Special thanks to Jeff Strasburg for helping us indulge our imaginations in this series!  I’d also like to extend my gratitude to Justin for engaging me in this form.  It has been edifying to explore concepts about sustainability.  I hope that the readers of this “debate” have enjoyed the process as well, and I know I speak for Justin when I say: we welcome all comments!  This a dialog, a free exchange of ideas, so tell us yours and help to fuel the mutual inspiration.

(Author’s Note: I include the image above not only because, figuratively speaking, the “sun is setting” on our Sustainability dialog, but also because I will be travelling westward-ho! throughout the United States until the beginning of September.  My objective is to get some relief from my high-technology-based lifestyle right now, so the vacation will heavily consist of camping in national parks.  Therefore, I will blog if I am able to during this time, but if not… be prepared for both the Sust Enable episode debuts AND a bona fide blogging bonanza upon my return in early September.)

Without further ado,

Here are my final thoughts, in conclusion.

1) If you can learn to modify your life to be as close to environmental sustainability as possible, it is necessary that you proceed to do so. The human will is one of the most powerful–and dangerous–elements on the planet.  At first glance, it might feel like “too much” to give up using a flush toilet (just for an example).  But is it really?  Think about the idea.  Get familiar with it.  Picture what it would look like to use a composting toilet in your home.  Maybe start with a little one, to be used only sometimes.  Soon, the consequences may not seem all that daunting. There is always a choice. 

Don’t let your true identity and dreams for what the world could be become casualties of conforming.  You only have one life, so use it, in the most effective ways visible.  If many individuals decided that, deep in their hearts, ecocide felt wrong to them, that many persons when taken together comprise a mutiny against old, obsolete customs and beliefs.  Your little action today plays a role in a social revolution, of the “green” kind.

Read more of this story »