Clipmarks | vk2yoc's 'nature' clips

Nature loss 'dwarfs bank crisis'

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:33:55 GMT

clipped by: vk2yoc
clipper's remarks: It's only money, could be worse, we could lose our planet.

The global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than through the current banking crisis, according to an EU-commissioned study.

The figure comes from adding the value of the various services that forests perform, such as providing clean water and absorbing carbon dioxide

"It's not only greater but it's also continuous, it's been happening every year, year after year," he told BBC News.

"So whereas Wall Street by various calculations has to date lost, within the financial sector, $1-$1.5 trillion, the reality is that at today's rate we are losing natural capital at least between $2-$5 trillion every year."

The greatest cost to western nations would initially come through losing a natural absorber of the most important greenhouse gas.

A number of nations, businesses and global organisations are beginning to direct funds into forest conservation, and there are signs of a trade in natural ecosystems developing, analogous to the carbon trade,

CREATIVE ANIMAL ADVERTISING

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 05:27:54 GMT

clipped by: vk2yoc
clipper's remarks: Pics say it all.

Clip Source: www.smashingapps.com

Foundation Nicolas Hulot - Our destinies are linked. Protect biodiversity

EDF (French Electricity) - If you don’t preserve nature by installing solar panels, who will?

ProWildlife - Help mother nature to fight back

Eco India- At least now, plant more trees

WWF - Stop Global Warming

WWF - Fashion claims more victims than you think

SBP - No insects life

Eukanuba - Everybody wants to be a dog

Bureaucracy kills nature - Demand approval for preservation laws of the rain forest

Tags: green, animals, nature

Is "ElectroSmog" Destroying the Planet's Bee Population?

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:40:15 GMT

clipped by: vk2yoc
clipper's remarks: Bee afraid, bee very afraid.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left." -

Albert Einstein

Mobile phones, Wi-Fi networks, electric power lines are sources of "electrosmog" disrupting nature on an unprecedented, massive scale causing birds and bees to lose their bearings, fail to reproduce and die, according to controversial research by Dr. Ulrich Warnke, a lecturer at the University of Saarland, in Germany, who has been studying the effects of man-made electrical fields on wildlife for more than 30 years. Warnke believes that "an unprecedented dense mesh of artificial magnetic, electrical and electromagnetic fields" is being generated, disrupting the "natural system of information" on which the species rely. Bees are able to change the polarity of their antennae at will, which enables them to navigate using the Earth's magnetic fields.

fundamentally changed the natural electromagnetic energies and forces on the earth's surface

Tags: nature, environmental

HOPES FADE FOR BABY WHALE.

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:39:17 GMT

clipped by: vk2yoc
clipper's remarks: It's Nature, but we don't have to like it, so prey for a miracle.
Check out the source for more links, plus video.

Clip Source: www.smh.com.au

The fate of the three-week-old baby humpback whale stranded in Pittwater will most likely be decided by vets from Taronga Zoo after attempts to lure it out to sea this morning failed.

The vets hope to be able to assess the health of the calf and whether it can survive. If not, the calf may have to be put down.

The North Sydney manager of the NSW Parks and Wildlife Service, Chris McIntosh, will give an update on efforts to save the whale's life soon but there are fears that, if it is too weak to survive, it may have be destroyed.

The whale - weak, hungry and desperate to find its mother - has probably been ignored by whales swimming along the coast who can hear its distress calls, the National Parks and Wildlife Service says.

National Parks and Wildlife Service spokesman John Dengate refuted reports that there were plans to euthanase the whale, but said there was very little else that could be done.

"It's absolutely the case that we haven't given up on this little whale," he said

Tags: nature, whales, orphan

Can a Shark's Tail Play a Role in the Planet's Energy Future?

Sat, 31 May 2008 09:55:14 GMT

clipped by: vk2yoc
clipper's remarks: Lots of very clever people are coming up with the ideas, how about Governments helping a little too.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

A fascinating example of a next-generation power source mimicking the genius of nature is the Australian firm BioPower Systems, which has developed Biowave and the bioSTREAM: an ocean power system that harnesses energy from both wave and tides by mimicking the motion of underwater plants and fish in the ocean currents to generate electricity.

Biomimicry is a new science that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems. Studying a leaf to invent a better solar cell is an example of this “innovation inspired by nature.”

The wave power system, bioWAVE, mimics the swaying motion of sea plants, like kelp. The device, which is anchored to the ocean floor, has buoyant “blades” which oscillate with the flow of waves. What was particularly interesting was that in violent stormy conditions, the system will automatically lie flush against the bottom, preventing or at least minimizing damage.

How do they do it?

CAN BIRDS REALLY SEE THE MAGNETIC FIELD?

Mon, 05 May 2008 07:51:08 GMT

clipped by: vk2yoc
clipper's remarks: Personally, I think they carry GPS.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Quantum Vision Lets Birds See the Magnetic Field

Birds' ability to navigate huge distances while migrating has always been a source of natural wonder, and totally sweet long panning shots for nature documentaries. But now it seems that the avian autopilot is of interest to science, and possibly the X-Men - because the birds might have QUANTUM MAGNO-VISION

He argues that when the blue photon triggers the creation of radical-ion pairs, the orientation of the exchanged electrons are affected by the Earth's magnetic field

quantum craziness - the Quantum Zeno effect. The very fact that the pair separation is constantly being checked by the bird prevents it from recombining as quickly as normal. This is a known quantum effect, an utterly scientific version of "a watched pot never boils"

It's like driving the family car, but every time a kid asks "Are we there yet?" you get teleported back to where you started.

exactly the effect used in the very latest atomic magnetometers