Pundamilia nyererei is a species of freshwater fish in the Cichlidae family. It is found in lakes in Kenya and Tanzania. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.

In may not be a great surprise to learn that fish are the most species-rich vertebrate group on the Planet–with an estimated 32,500 member species. But what is surprising is that 43% of these species are found in freshwater habitats, such as lakes and rivers.

This rich diversity of freshwater species is all the more startling when one considers that freshwater systems represent just one hundredth of one percent (.01%) of the Earth’s surface water. According to Fishes of the World (J.S. Nelson), over 5000 new species of freshwater fish have been discovered in just the past three decades–a time period marked by expanded exploration of fish habitats and better understanding of “taxonomic boundaries” (mostly, due to more accurate genetic analysis).

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With commercial trade prohibited for Asian bears, poachers are now turning to the North American black bear for the harvesting of their gallbladders.

In an effort to protect North American black bears, a proposed bill hopes to prevent a dramatic decline in black bear populations by banning any import, export, or interstate commerce in U.S. bear organs and fluids. The Bear Protection Act has been reintroduced by U.S. Representatives Raul M. Grijalva, Democrat from Arizona, and John Campbell, Republican from California. An earlier law in 2000 and 2001 - similar to the new act - passed the U.S. Senate, but did not pass the House.

This legislation is meant to counteract the inconsistent laws that currently make illegal trade in bear parts relatively easy by creating loopholes for would-be entrepreneurs hoping to cash in on the lucrative Chinese market for bear gallbladders and other parts.

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Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, is taking the green diploma to an even higher degree. University officials are betting a new Living Learning Center will meet the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most stringent green building rating system from the Cascadia Region Green Building Council, a chapter of the USGBC and its Canadian counterpart.

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Italian car company Tazzari has announced plans to launch its Tazzari Zero all-electric vehicle in the North American market next year.

The all-electric 2 door super mini (video) weighs in at a tiny 542 kilograms (around 1,200 lbs), leaving it capable of achieving 100 km/h (62 mph) in a nimble 5 seconds, with a top speed of 80 km/h (50mph) (more pics after the jump).

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“The mission of this campaign is to answer consumer questions about organic with the clear message that organic is worth it in every way from health care and economics to farming and the environment. It will increase consumer trust, knowledge and purchase of organic products,” says Christine Bushway, president of the Organic Institute and executive director of the Organic Trade Association (OTA), the campaign sponsor.

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On the O’Reilly Factor, Fox News’ Carl Cameron reported that a McCain-Palin rift was due in no small part to Gov. Palin’s lack of knowledge of basic civics, politics, and geography - and her unwillingness to prepare in light of those those deficiencies. Reportedly, McCain aides said Sarah Palin had:

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Chinese car maker Changan announced today that it will launch electric cars in Canada before the end of 2008. The cars, developed jointly with Canadian company Electrovaya, could be the first sold by a Chinese company in North America.

The fleet of 30 electric vehicles (EVs) have been under development since May, and are based on one of Changan’s exisiting compact models, the BenBen, fitted with an Electrovaya powertrain. For the time being, the cars will be assembled and distributed in Canada, but in the long term Changan intends to develop the EVs entirely in China, before shipping to North America.

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When you picture a farm, you probably imagine rolling green pastures with happy cows grazing on grass and chickens doing their funny chicken walk in a big green field. That’s not quite the way that most farm animals live. The bulk of today’s meat comes from factory farms where animals live under terrible conditions. The factory farm’s main objective is efficiency: producing the most meat at the lowest cost. If that means the animals are pumped full of hormones and antibiotics and crammed into spaces where they can barely move, so be it.

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Needless to say, the warming caused by carbon dioxide, that would release more carbon dioxide, is not a helpful turn of events.

What’s worse, according to one commentary on the research which was published this past Sunday, is that the current models predicting future climate change currently do not take in to account the possible release of these stores of carbon.

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Putting aside the fantastical nature of the speed with which this happened, the base science is sound; that an increase in freshwater could slow or shutdown the thermohaline circulation, causing an unexpected and unhelpful ice age.

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According to Cristina Archer and Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology, Earth’s jet streams are shifting; possibly as a result of global warming. However they are upfront with the fact that they need to do more research before they can pinpoint what will happen, and why it is happening.

Jet streams are the high-altitude bands of fast moving wind that influence the paths of storms and other weather systems. “The jet streams are the driving factor for weather in half of the globe,” says Archer. “So, as you can imagine, changes in the jets have the potential to affect large populations and major climate systems.”

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