Clipmarks | merrie's NATURE collection

Polar Bear Melodrama

Thu, 15 May 2008 06:14:43 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: The greatest danger is that this ruling will be distorted by the courts, where it is inevitably headed. On the other hand, not listing the polar bear would have proceeded to litigation too, with potentially worse consequences. Climate-change lawsuits have already deformed the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and others.
The most pernicious element in the polar bear melodrama is the way the law is being run off the rails, and even a duly elected White House can't seem to throw on the brakes. If Congress wants to enact global-warming legislation, then so be it – but the costs and benefits should be argued in the open. This fly-by-night policy making is not only unscientific. It's undemocratic.

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

Polar bears are not the fragile, vulnerable creatures of liberal iconography. They have thrived in the Arctic for thousands of years, both through periods when their sea-ice habitat was smaller, and larger, than it is now. They will continue to adapt – and the Endangered Species Act can't make the slightest difference.

Since the 1980s, the sea ice that the bears use to hunt and breed has been receding. Although the population has increased from a low of 12,000 in the 1960s to roughly 25,000 today – perhaps a record high – computer projections anticipate that Arctic pack ice will continue to melt over the next half-century. This could, maybe, someday, lead to population declines.

That ice is melting is not proof that global warming is to blame. In fact, research out of NASA in 2007 suggested that shrinking sea ice was due to changing wind patterns, corroborated by a study published in the scientific journal Nature.

Neither institution is known for "denying" climate change.

Tags: endangered species act, polar bears, arctic ice, nasa, nature

Outdoor Planting Table For 2008

Tue, 13 May 2008 04:42:02 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Beets,Broccoli,Brussel sprouts,Carrots
Cauliflower plants,Celery plants,Collards+more
at the site
almanac.com

Clip Source: www.almanac.com

Outdoor Planting Table for 2008

PERSONALIZE THIS SITE: SELECT YOUR LOCATION

The best time to plant flowers and vegetables that bear crops above ground is during the light of the Moon; that is, from the day the Moon is new to the day it is full. Flowering bulbs and vegetables that bear crops below ground should be planted during the dark of the Moon; that is, from the day after it is full to the day before it is new again. The Moon Favorable column below gives these days, which are based on the Moon's phases for 2008 and the safe periods for planting in areas that receive frost. See Moon phases for the exact days of the new and full Moons.

NOTE: Above-Ground Crops Marked * -- (E) Means Early -- (L) Means Late

Plant Time Planting Dates Moon Favorable

Tags: almanac, vegetable garden

Unrepeatable Beauty of Malachite

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:04:13 GMT

clipped by: amgumen
clipper's remarks: On the seventh photo, Malachite, Azurite, Crysocolla make up the mosaic.

Clip Source: www.galleries.com

Malachite is a famous and very popular semi-precious stone. It is named for the Greek word for "mallow", a green herb. Its banded light and dark green designs are one-of-a-kind, and give it a unique ornamental quality unlike that of any other stone. The light and dark green bands are so distinctive that malachite maybe one of the most easily recognized minerals by the general public. A popular design of ceramic ware which imitates this banding is named after the mineral malachite. It forms the banding from subtle changes in the oxidation states of the surrounding pore waters, but the exact mechanism is still not well understood.

Clip Source: www.flickr.com