Aug 12 2012

Early Man and his Cousins

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How many ancient cousins did early man have? Exciting new fossils discovered east of Lake Turkana confirm that there were two additional species of our genus – Homo – living alongside our direct human ancestral species, Homo erectus, almost two million years ago. The finds, announced in the prestigious scientific journal Nature on August 9th, include a face, a remarkably complete lower jaw, and part of a second lower jaw. They were uncovered between 2007 and 2009 by the Koobi Fora Research Project (KFRP), led by Meave and Louise Leakey. KFRP’s fieldwork was facilitated by the Turkana Basin Institute (TBI), and the National Geographic Society. Four decades ago, the KFRP discovered the enigmatic fossil known as KNM-ER 1470 (or 1470 for short). This skull, readily distinguished by its large brain size and long flat face, ignited a longstanding debate about just how many different species of early Homo lived alongside Homo erectus during the Pleistocene epoch. 1470’s unusual morphology was attributed by some scientists to sexual differences and natural degrees of variation within a single species, whereas others interpreted the fossil as evidence of a separate species.
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Aug 12 2012

Freshwater Fish Extinction

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From 1900-2010, freshwater fish species in North America went extinct at a rate 877 times faster than the rate found in the fossil record, while estimates indicate the rate may double between now and 2050. This new information comes from a U.S. Geological Survey study to be published in the September issue of the journal BioScience. In the fossil record, one freshwater fish species goes extinct every 3 million years, but North America lost 39 species and 18 subspecies between 1898 and 2006. Based on current trends in threatened and endangered fish species, researchers estimate that an additional 53-86 species of freshwater fish may be extinct by the year 2050. Since the first assessment of extinct North American freshwater fishes in 1989, the number of extinct fishes increased by 25 percent.
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Aug 10 2012

In Concerns over Weight, Perception becomes Reality

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Thin, in-shape people are paraded around us constantly in our daily lives through billboards and other media. The whole concept of beauty has become centered around being thin. Yet in our modern age, there are greater percentages of people throughout the world who are overweight or obese. Trends during our teenage years have a great effect on our body sizes throughout life. A new study from researchers in Norway has found that excess weight is not only caused by over-eating and lack of exercise, but it is a product of our own perception. Teens, even normal-size teens, who feel fat are more likely to grow up to be fat.
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Aug 10 2012

Cameroon increases elephant protection after mass slaughter

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Six months after the killing of hundreds of elephants in a Cameroon national park, WWF today is releasing exclusive video material from the scene of the shocking event. The release comes on the eve of World Elephant Day on Sunday, August 12, 2012. WWF fears that soon this event might celebrate an extinct species in Central Africa if ivory poaching and illegal wildlife trade is not ended.
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Aug 10 2012

Is Air Conditioning Heating Up the Planet?

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Stan Cox is a senior researcher at the Land Institute. His book, Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air Conditioned World, describes the threat that our ever-increasing need for air conditioning poses to efforts to maintain our planetary climate within its natural limits, the limits that all living things on the planet have evolved to thrive in.
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Aug 10 2012

Living Fences in Costa Rica a growing idea

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Drive around Costa Rica’s windy mountainous roads and you will see numerous trees, from those bearing colorful fruits to others sporting thick spines, planted about 1 to 3 meters apart. Connected by long lines of barbed wire, these rudimentary-looking arrangements, known as living fences, have both economic and environmental benefits over their dead wood counterparts. Farmers across Central America plant living fences because these green barriers are a more economically feasible and readily accessible method for containing livestock and protecting crops. For one, the main materials of living fences are the branches of tree species that root from sticks and grow into larger trees. Shared among neighbors or sold at local markets, these sticks are much cheaper and more common than manufactured posts. Without the need for paint or preservatives, which can add toxins into the environment, maintenance costs also remain low. Additionally, animals graze on living fences, saving farmers costs in livestock feed.
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Aug 09 2012

2012 Hurricane Season Update

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This year’s Atlantic hurricane season got off to a busy start, with 6 named storms to date, and may have a busy second half, according to the updated hurricane season outlook issued today by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service. The updated outlook still indicates a 50 percent chance of a near-normal season, but increases the chance of an above-normal season to 35 percent and decreases the chance of a below-normal season to only 15 percent from the initial outlook issued in May.
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Aug 09 2012

New Discovery Linked To Climate Change and Human Health

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A new atmospheric compound, a type of carbonyl oxide, is connected to both climate change and human health issues. According to researchers at both the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Helsinki, this novel chemical combination in the Earth’s atmosphere has been tested to play a significant role in the field of climate and health.
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Aug 09 2012

Facing Environmental Issues on the US, Mexico Border

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From reducing mobile source emissions, to connecting households to drinking water and wastewater services, to clean-up efforts of streams and canals, the United States and Mexico have made a joint effort to protect both human health and the environment in their shared 2,000 mile border region. The bi-national entities along with various stakeholders created the Border 2012 agreement to help identify and control environmental concerns and public health challenges. As the agreement expires this year, a new Border 2020 agreement was renewed and signed today by US EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Mexico’s Secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources Juan Elvira Quesada.
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Aug 07 2012

A Lot of Dust in the Air

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There is a lot of dust in the air. From whence does it come? NASA and university scientists have made the first measurement-based estimate of the amount and composition of tiny airborne particles that arrive in the air over North America each year. With a 3-D view of the atmosphere now possible from satellites, the scientists calculated that dust, not pollution, is the main ingredient of these imports. According to a new analysis of NASA satellite data, 64 million tons of dust, pollution and other particles that have potential climate and human health effects survive a trans-ocean journey to arrive over North America each year. This is nearly as much as the estimated 69 million tons of aerosols produced domestically from natural processes, transportation and industrial sources. The results were published Aug. 2 in the journal Science.
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