Latest Environment Stories
VANCOUVER, May 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - The US National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) has announced it will conduct a 12-month assessment of the biological status of harbor seals in Southwest Alaska's Lake Iliamna, in response to the Center for Biological Diversity's (CBD) November 2012 submission of a "Petition to List Iliamna Lake Seal, a Distinct Population Segment of Pacific Harbour Seal (Phoca vitulina richardsi) under the Endangered Species Act". NMFS is the lead federal...
Dartmouth study contradicts predictions of widespread extinction A new Dartmouth College study finds human-caused climate change may have little impact on many species of tropical lizards, contradicting a host of recent studies that predict their widespread extinction in a rapidly warming planet. The findings, which appear in the journal Global Change Biology, offer new hope for survival of a creature thought to be doomed. Most predictions that tropical cold-blooded animals,...
NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite known as TRMM measured Cyclone Mahasen's rainfall rates from space as it made landfall on May 16. Mahasen has since dissipated over eastern India. Tropical Cyclone Mahasen hit southern Bangladesh on May 16, causing the reported deaths of at least 13 people and the destruction of many homes. Mahasen brought heavy rains and tropical storm force winds when it came ashore, but the winds quickly weakened. NASA's TRMM satellite had two very...
Peter Suciu for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online The Alaska Volcano Observatory has reported that the remote Pavlof Volcano continues to erupt and is now spewing lava, ash and steam 20,000 feet into the sky, which has been traveling southeast towards the Gulf of Alaska since Thursday. The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) is a joint program of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAFGI), and the State of Alaska...
NEW YORK, May 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On May 20, 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received a patent for the use of copper rivet fasteners on denim trousers - and thus the blue jean was officially born. One hundred and forty years later, the blue jean has evolved from rugged, utilitarian work pant to a mainstay on every rung of the fashion ladder. Innovation has aided the longevity of the denim jean, and designers in the category are always looking for the next big...
Smart Home Showcase provides energy efficiency overhauls to homes in Chicago, Berwyn and Maywood CHICAGO, May 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ComEd announced the four winners of its Smart Home Showcase, a contest awarding four customers with free, energy efficiency home makeovers valued at $45,000 each. The winners are Alison Tisza from Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood; Lisa Polderman and Leticia Gonzales of Berwyn; and Brandon Smith of Maywood. "We launched the Smart Home Showcase to...
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) President Charles T. Drevna issued the following statement in support of the Foreign Fuels Reduction Act, legislation introduced by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) that would require a downward adjustment to the entire RFS when cellulosic volumes are similarly adjusted due to a lack of commercially available fuels: (Logo:...
Researchers have shown that, by using global positioning systems (GPS) to measure ground deformation caused by a large underwater earthquake, they can provide accurate warning of the resulting tsunami in just a few minutes after the earthquake onset. For the devastating Japan 2011 event, the team reveals that the analysis of the GPS data and issue of a detailed tsunami alert would have taken no more than three minutes. The results are published on 17 May in Natural Hazards and Earth System...
Use of new analysis techniques provides food for thought about how people lived 5,000 years ago They have uncovered evidence for the first time that people living in Xincun 5,000 years ago may have practiced agriculture –before the arrival of domesticated rice in the region. Current archaeological thinking is that it was the advent of rice cultivation along the Lower Yangtze River that marked the beginning of agriculture in southern China. Poor organic preservation in the study...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online For decades, researchers have used ancient shorelines to predict the stability of today’s largest ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. High shoreline markings from three million years ago as Earth was going through a warm period were thought to be evidence of a high sea level due to ice sheet collapse at the time – an assumption that has led many scientists to believe that if the world’s largest ice sheets collapsed in the...
Latest Environment Reference Libraries
Fodder is a term used in reference to the feed cut, sometimes prepared, and brought to domesticated farm animals such as cows, goats and pigs. Some fodder is prepared using oils and mixed rations that are mixed in with several different types of sprouted grain and legumes such as alfalfa, clover, corn, and several different types of grass. In the countries that allow it, fodder can also consist of animal origins such as ruminant meat and bone meal, typically found in cattle feed. The USDA,...
Seed drilling is a method used by farmers in order to have a more unified, crop-yielding season. The first known use of seed drilling was in 1500 BC by the Sumerian. At this time, they were using a single tube. Later, in the 2nd Century BC, the Chinese developed a multi-tube iron drill. This facilitated in a larger crop planting allowing them to feed their large population. The first recorded patent of a sowing machine was in 1566 by the Venetian Senate, attributing Camillo Torello. In the...
Three Sisters crop is a technique of gardening used primarily by Native Americans, but gardeners of any kind may also use this technique. These crops use three types of plants; in the Tewa tribe, they use four. The traditional seeds used are corn, beans, and squash. There are many benefits from this method, the first being the use of the corn stalks for the beans to grow on. The beans themselves then provide nitrogen for the corn and squash, while giving the corn amino acids, lysine, and...
Seed saving is the preserving of seeds from mature vegetables, herbs, and flowers used in subsequent years along with bulbs and tubers. Home gardeners have saved seeds for generations and the practice is now becoming common with organic farmers as well as permaculturists. Growers will clone plants so as not to produce seeds keeping the plant “true to type” to the parent plant. True to type refers to the characteristics of the parent plant such as large fruit/blooms. Plants...
This bird of prey is known more as a pigeon hawk. The Merlin is from the Northern Hemisphere with some migrating to subtropical and northern tropical areas during the winter. There has also been a discovery that there are two different, very distinct, species: the North American and the Eurasian. The North American Merlin was first described by a Swede taxonomist, Carl Linnaeus. The Merlin is between 9 and 13 inches long with a wingspan of 20-29 inches. The Merlin is an exceptionally...
![Fires in Magadan Region, Russia\](/media/gallery/a-train-satellite-aqua/thumbs/thumbs_russia_amo_2009213_lrg.jpg "Fires in Magadan Region, Russia\")
