globalbriefs
News and resources to inspire concerned citizens to work together in building a healthier, stronger society that benefits all.
Preventing Extinction Buying Time for
Threatened Species
How long does it take a species to dis- appear forever? It turns out that habitat destruction drives species to extinction more slowly than previously thought, according to a new model described in the journal Nature. The pace at which plants and animals are vanishing from the planet as their habitats shrink may be overstated by as much as 160 percent or more. An approach widely used to estimate extinctions from habitat loss is conceptually flawed, says a study in the publication. Researchers say that their new method more accurately reflects the interplay of shrinking habitats and the populations that rely on them. The new study is one of at least two that highlight scientists’ efforts to sharpen the tools needed to track the scope of the species-extinction problem and to design better approaches for dealing with it. The development of a new tool for estimating extinc- tions, “... is welcome news, in the sense that we have bought a little time for saving species,” says Stephen Hubbell, an ecologist at the University of Califor- nia, Los Angeles, and one of two scientists who performed the analysis. “But it’s [also] unwelcome news,” he adds, “because we have to redo a whole bunch of research per- formed using the previous method.”
Source: The Christian Science Monitor
GPS Biking Mapnificent Will Show the Way
Want to know how far it’s possible to travel by biking or using public transit in under 15 minutes? There’s a map for that. Mapnificent shows the areas one can reach from any point in a city at any given time. Stefan Wehrmeyer, a Berlin-based software architect, has developed a tool that uses public transit data to help users decide on where to live, work or meet up. Using data from the GTFS Data Exchange and overlaying the extracted information on a Google map, Mapnificent visualizes the reach of public transport in the selected city. This becomes especially useful for decision-making purposes, rather than trip planning. “Let’s say you found a job in San Francisco and want to move there,” Wehrmeyer explains. “Where can you live so that you need less than 30 minutes to go to your work place? Mapnificent is able to answer that question.” Mapnificent is available in public beta and can be used for major cities in the United States.
Source:
TheCityFix.com 22 Collier/Lee Counties
swfl.naturalawakeningsmag.com
Inappropriate Eats Fish Consume Plastic from Human Trash
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, as dubbed by scientists, is a region of float- ing trash in the ocean that is twice the size of Texas. It comprises plastic debris that includes toys, cups, wrappers and bottles that slowly degrade from the sun’s rays and wave action into ever- smaller fragments until fish often mistake them for food. This finding, from a new
study by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, could have serious implications for the food chain.
Scientists examined 141 fish across 27 species and esti- mated that small fish were eating as much as 24,000 tons of plastic waste each year, mostly tidbits smaller than a finger- nail, and that nearly one in 10 fish in the region had plastic in its stomach. Most fish in the study were lantern fish, which dwell at depths of 650 to 3,200 feet during the day, but then swim near the surface at night to feed on plankton, where they often gulp plastic by mistake.
Small fragments of plastic could leach toxins into the fish, stunt their growth, alter reproduction or even kill them. It is unclear what impact that small, plastic-affected fish have upon larger fish that eat them, and ultimately on human fish-eaters.
Water Wiz Science Project Saves
a Gusher
Out of the mouths of babes some- times comes great wisdom. Seven- year-old Mason Perez won a school science fair in Reno, Nevada, for his project addressing water usage efficiency. Now, two years later, the principles he outlined have been used to save his city tens of thou- sands of gallons of water. The Reno Gazette-Journal
reports that the boy’s inspiration came from an experience in a baseball field restroom, where he found the pressure of the sink’s faucet excessive. He turned it down and it still worked fine. For the project, Perez used a bucket and a stopwatch to measure water flow at several residences. By reducing the pressure while maintaining usability, he recorded savings of up to 24 percent. He repeated his experiments at several lo- cal businesses with the same positive results. Because the default position for valves in new construc- tion is often 100 percent open, it is a simple procedure to adjust them to achieve a more efficient rate. Perez convinced the ballpark’s manager to try it, resulting in a 20 percent water savings for the municipal facility. The local utility, Truckee Meadows Water Authority, is now assessing whether the idea can be implemented in other parks, public schools, casinos and private homes.
Source:
Treehugger.com
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