r. carey gersten » animals

Infographic: Top 20 countries with most endangered species

Carey — Sat, 22 May 2010 17:06:41 +0000

published by mother nature network | March 05, 2010

Read on: http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/infographic-top-20-countries-with-most-endangered-species

Waiting to Inhale: Deep-Ocean Low-Oxygen Zones Spreading to Shallower Coastal Waters

Carey — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:58:55 +0000

Oxygen-deprived areas in the world’s oceans usually found in deeper water are moving up to offshore areas and threatening coastal marine ecosystems by spurring the die-off of some species and overpopulation of others

By Michael Tennesen | Scientific American | February 23, 2010

CONTINENTAL CREEP: Hypoxic seawater from the deep ocean is moving into shallower near-shore environments off the Oregon coast, threatening or killing marine species that make their home there. (iStockPhoto)

A plague of oxygen-deprived waters from the deep ocean is creeping up over the continental shelves off the Pacific Northwest and forcing marine species there to relocate or die. Since 2002 tongues of hypoxic, or low-oxygen, waters from deeper areas offshore have slipped into shallower near-shore environments off the Oregon coast, although not close enough to be oxygenated by the waves. The problem stems from oxygen reduction in deep water, a phenomenon that some scientists are observing in oceans worldwide, and that may be related to climate change.

The hypoxic seawater is distinct from the well-known “dead zones” that form at the mouths of the Mississippi and other rivers around the world. Those areas result from agricultural runoff, which lead to algae blooms that consume oxygen. Rather, the Pacific Northwest problem is broader and more mysterious.

Read on: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=low-oxygen-ocean-coastal

A Seattle chef proves that traditional sushi and healthy oceans go hand-in-chopstick

Carey — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:41:04 +0000

by DARBY MINOW SMITH | grist | January 31, 2010

Not your typical sushi chef. Not your typical sushi. (Photo by Phu Son Nguyen of sushiday.com)

Growing up in small-town Montana, two things just made no sense: vegetarians and sushi. Why eat tofu, or raw fish, when you could just as easily have a big juicy steak? Coming from generations of cattle rancher stock, I read Jonathan Safran Foer’s ringing defense of vegetarianism, Eating Animals, with trepidation. But the only beef I ended up having with Foer was that he ruined my ability to enjoy the raw and the rolled—right after I had moved to sushi paradise, Seattle.

“Imagine being served a plate of sushi. But this plate also holds all of the animals that were killed for your serving of sushi. The plate might have to be five feet across,” Foer writes. At current rates of fishery depletion, scientists predict the demise of most seafood by 2048.

Foer describes modern fishing as warfare. Hajime Sato has a similar take: “[It’s] like someone is beating somebody and I’m just walking by and noticing it but not doing anything about it.”

Read on: http://www.grist.org/article/2010-01-29-a-seattle-chef-proves-that-traditional-sushi-and-healthy-oceans/

Pet snake saves family from house fire

Carey — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:49:57 +0000

Rescued animal returns the favor by warning family when an electric blanket catches fire.

by Stephanie Rogers | Mother Nature Network | January 4, 2009

Photo: Ananova

When Yu Feng of Liaoning Province in China found a dying black snake in the grass outside his home, he made an unusual decision that would change his life.

Yu brought the snake inside, determined to give it another lease on life. Little did he know the snake would soon return the favor, according to the website Ananova.

Read on: http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/pets-animals/stories/pet-snake-saves-family-from-house-fire