"Toxins produced by red tide events can alter shark brains, resulting in "hyperexcitability" and even death, according to a new study that will appear in the September issue of the journal Aquatic Toxicology.

The study is the first to document how brevetoxins, which are brain-changing compounds synthesized by some harmful algal blooms, affect a free-ranging marine species. In this case, researchers focused on lemon sharks, but they believe many other types of sharks could fall victim to the toxins."

Additional Info: Crisis off our coast
It's happened with predictable regularity, every spring since International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) opened its center in San Pedro in 2001. The staff at the center, which specializes in seabirds, and especially California brown pelicans, calls it DA; short for Domoic Acid. The staff braces for the dead and dying birds they know will come, every spring.


Additional Info: Sea Lion Gallery
The single most important toxic cause of illness and mortality in sea lions is DOMOIC ACID POISONING. Domoic acid is a natural substance (a BIOTOXIN) that is produced by a group of marine diatoms, organisms that make up a key part of the PLANKTON upon which the marine food web is based. The diatoms that produce domoic acid, or "DA" are in the genus PSEUDONITZSCHIA.

Additional Info Bottlenose Dolphins and Brevetoxins

One hundred and seven bottlenose dolphins stranded dead on the coast of the Florida Panhandle between March 10 and April 13, 2004 (Flewelling et al., 2005; NOAA, 2004). During this UME, hundreds of dead marine fish and invertebrates also were discovered in the area. Although no bloom was evident in the area concurrent with the mortalities, epidemiological evidence strongly suggests that naturally occurring brevetoxins produced by the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis (formerly Gymnodinium breve and Ptychodiscus brevis) were responsible. Brevetoxin involvement has been implicated in other marine mammal mortality events in the region (Figure 1), including a mortality event that killed 152 bottlenose dolphins in the Florida Panhandle from August 1999 to May 2000 (NOAA, 2004; Mase et al., 2000) and a 1996 bottlenose dolphin mortality event in Mississippi (NOAA, 2004) that coincided with dense blooms of K. brevis.

"One, we do not yet have a cost effective battery that will allow an electric car to have the range of a gas-fueled vehicle. Coupled with the fact that we lack the infrastructure of electric filling stations, electric cars cannot yet replace a gas vehicle as an all around vehicle that will meet all of a consumer's transportation needs, which, for most people, will include needing to make occasional road trips. So the people who will buy electric cars will be those people who can afford to buy, maintain, and pay insurance for an extra vehicle in addition to their gas-powered vehicle."

"One, we do not yet have a cost effective battery that will allow an electric car to have the range of a gas-fueled vehicle. Coupled with the fact that we lack the infrastructure of electric filling stations, electric cars cannot yet replace a gas vehicle as an all around vehicle that will meet all of a consumer's transportation needs, which, for most people, will include needing to make occasional road trips. So the people who will buy electric cars will be those people who can afford to buy, maintain, and pay insurance for an extra vehicle in addition to their gas-powered vehicle."

"A rock-bottom cost is around $30,000. The range is pretty good. The big problem is the lack of recharging stations, and a practical fast-recharge method.

When the price can be dropped to $10,000 and the charging difficulties are addressed, they will "explode" on the market. My prediction is that this will happen around 2014-2018.

Of course, the problem remains that "car culture", using any kind of technology, remains extremely wasteful. We have to address that, too."

"In 1898, the 23-year-old Ferdinand Porsche built his first car, the Lohner Electric Chaise—the world’s first front-wheel-drive vehicle. Porsche’s second car design was a series hybrid (like the Chevrolet Volt, due out in 2010) in which a combustion engine ran a generator that powered electric motors in the wheel hubs. Its battery could take Porsche’s hybrid car nearly 40 miles—the same as promised by the Volt."

It's pretty much the opinion range from skeptical to optimistic. It's been a one hundred plus year wait, at least they're coming to market.

"Just about everyone has been cautiously celebrating the news that the underwater geyser of oil at the Deepwater Horizon source has finally been capped (for now). So I hate to interrupt any momentary lapses of relief with ill news like this: The toll on wildlife and ecosystems in the Gulf continues to be devastating. Just yesterday, I reported that 3,000 birds had been officially recorded as being killed or covered in oil. Today, I'll look at another grim statistic: The BP Gulf spill has claimed the lives of at least 467 endangered sea turtles -- and the survival of many others still hangs in the balance."

NPR broadcast a compelling story the other day, echoing much the same message, and detailing the work necessary for moving the turtle eggs prior to hatching. Scientists believe that turtles get their nesting behavior (i.e., returning to the same beach they were born to lay eggs as an adult) during the embryo stage.

As for turtle deaths, the number is low because its an official count of only those turtles that have been counted. You can not count sea turtle mortality for those who sink into the ocean.

That also goes for sea turtle deaths attributed to shrimping. Other recent FL Fish and Wildlife report that the excluder devices (TEDs) either do not work well, or are not being used or used properly, contributing to continuing declining populations of loggerheads.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...

I performed an honest review of Cordless String Trimmers: Black & Decker versus Ryobi

"The latest models of cordless string trimmers make emissions free lawn care a more practical and affordable choice for almost everyone.

A handful of models currently selling in the one hundred dollar range offer different combinations of trimming power and assorted extras such as automatic line feed.

This article reviews two popular models, the Black & Decker 18-Volt Cordless Grass Hog Trimmer and the Ryobi 18 Volt String Trimmer."

Don't know how many DUers use them. The big difference between the brands is battery type, B&D uses mostly Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) batteries and the Ryobi uses a Lithium Ion (Li-ion) battery.

Even at 18V, both offer sufficient power for small week wacking chores. When the next generation of 24V and 36V hit the market, they will be even better weed wackers.

In long term thinking, these types of products would be great gifts for developing areas of the world provided that someone could invent solar chargers for them.

panader0 asks: I've gone through quite a bit of firewood this winter, partly because I've been at home quite a bit (not much work). There's a lot of ash, mostly from mesquite and pecan. ... There must be a good use for the ashes. Any ideas?

MineralMan suggests: Make soap. Ashes in water make lye. Cook lye with fats and you have soap. I'm sure there are good recipes on the web.

Demeter suggests: Ashes used for soil improvement contain or produce potash when mixed with water. Amazon natives would burn over the rainforest to produce long-lasting charcoal to provide growth medium for good bacteria.

haele suggests: We always used ash in the garden, mixed it up with the soil before planting season. Glassblowers sometimes use ash to color and texture their glass mix, and some re-creationist type dyers and potters might also use it in their colors.

realisticphish suggests: They're ok for snow traction some areas use them in lieu of salt for anti-ice purposes.

Thanks everyone, I just want to keep a running list of the suggestions.

What veggies are good if there is only shallow soil?

Warpy says: You can grow most kitchen herbs and vegetables in soil that shallow, but you will have to fertilize and water carefully. Mulch can help the watering situation as well as discourage weeds.

sandnsea says: I've got spinach in 6" of soil...They're in a long container with some marigolds. They sit on the west side of the house, right under the windows so they get late afternoon sun. I haven't done anything to them and they are growing like crazy.

Mendocino says: Most lettuce is shallow rooted but depending on your locale it may too late. I might try to raise it up with cedar planks and a lot of organic compost.

Petrushka says: There was only one vegetable I found unsuitable for growing in shallow soil: carrots.
Today, however, if I was still raising all of our produce as I did when we owned a
small farm, I might try one of the new varieties of carrot---round ones, for instance.

Thanks for all the tips.

Was checking out the on online German publications to read up on Germany's role in the new EU trillion dollar bank bailout. Came across this Der Spiegel, Is Brazil Developing the Bomb?

"In October 2009, the prestigious American periodical Foreign Policy published an article titled "The Future Nuclear Powers You Should Be Worried About." According to the author, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Burma, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela are the next candidates -- after Iran -- for membership in the club of nuclear powers. Despite his interesting arguments, the author neglected to mention the most important potential nuclear power: Brazil."

It's the first time I've heard of this scenario.

The Tehran Times reports, Lula, Erdogan to discuss nuclear fuel swap proposal in Iran

"According to diplomatic sources, Brazil and Turkey have drawn up a joint proposal for a nuclear fuel swap and this proposal will be the cornerstone of talks between Da Silva, Erdogan, and Iranian officials, the Mehr News Agency reported.

Other diplomatic sources have said that based on the proposal, the Iran-Turkey border will be the location for the nuclear fuel exchange, which will be conducted under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency."

A quick review of all the recent nuclear energy posts here shows that the nuclear energy argument sells (both the pro and con sides).

FWIW, here's one more POV...

In his article The Fourth Quadrant: A Map of the Limits of Statistics, Nassim Nicholas Taleb reminds us,

"you can't be a modern intellectual and not think probabilistically - but... let's not be suckers. The problem is much more complicated than it seems to the casual, mechanistic user who picked it up in graduate school. Statistics can fool you."

So, it looks as if we are once again a bunch of suckers, fooled by the statistics wielded by the oil companies that told us, given technological improvements, the risk of a catastrophic oil spill were virtually nil.

When you listen closely, it's the same statistical language used by proponents of nuclear energy. In effect the new push for nuclear is the new push to discover the next black swan.

The link between nuclear power and nuclear weapons can not be undone, placing it squarely in the fourth quadrant, "Complex decisions in Extremistan".

The current push for nuclear energy would result in the exponential spread of nuclear knowledge throughout the world, including nuclear weapons knowledge.

More nuclear plants also increases the possibility for human caused accidents and/or technology failures.

More nuclear plants also increases the number of both stationary terrorist targets and mobile targets (as fuel is moved for storage or recycling).

With all of those increased probabilities, it's difficult to understand how an exponential spread in nuclear energy makes the world a safer place.

There are some ugly truths in life. With respect to safe nuclear power, we may as well be hunting snarks.

"Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true."

Apart from poor environmental conditions, the EU boycott deserves some credit for the poor seal harvest season. Russia's ban also deserves credit.

"On March 18, Putin labeled the annual hunt of the animals a "bloody industry" that "should have been banned a long time ago." Putin's words and law put Canada further into isolation on the seal-hunting issue.

Sheryl Fink, a researcher for the International Fund for Animal Welfare based in Guelph, Ont, was positively shocked by Putin's decision. The Russian branch of the organization held rallies in cities across Russia last month, but after years of fruitless campaigning, Mr. Putin's support caught them off guard. "It highlights the fact that Canada is still in the Dark Ages on this issue. It's astounding when even the government of Russia is more willing to listen to its own people than ours is," Ms. Fink said.

Yury Trutnyev, the Russian Minister of Natural Resources, announced a ban on the hunting of all harp seals less than one year old. "This bloody hunting is from now on banned in our country, as in most developed countries. This is an important measure to preserve Russia's biodiversity," he said. The Russian ban effectively ends commercial seal hunting in that country, as most of the market for pelts comes from seals less than a year old, reported The National Post. A quota had previously allowed for the harvesting of up to 35,000 seals in the White Sea, near Russia's border with Finland."

http://www.russiablog.org/2009/03/putin-ba...


"A lack of sea ice in one of the warmest Canadian winters on record and a European boycott have ruined what was to be a banner seal hunt off Canada's Atlantic coast this month. Canada's Fisheries Minister Gail Shea last month increased by 50,000 the allowable catch of harp seals this season to 330,000, in defiance of a ban on seal products by the European Union.

But most of Canada's 6000 sealers stayed home, unable to find buyers for their catch or stymied by a lack of ice floes for the first time in 60 years on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, which usually host hordes of seals birthing pups. "The European boycott was devastating to the industry this year, as was the lack of ice on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence due to an exceptionally warm winter," Jean Richard, Canadian fisheries department conservation chief for the Quebec coastal region, told AFP."

Battery development news can often be confusing. With the Leaf ready to roll into dealerships and the Volt and others close behind, PHEVs are ready for the market. However, it's my understanding that vehicle cost remains the big issue with PHEVs, not battery life.

The "ready for prime time" marketing of PHEVs might need to be re-evaluated after some extensive, real, on the road testing. Hopefully the re-evaluation follows the same path that the evaluation of the hybrid market, i.e., a little tinkering and improvements over the course of a decade.

Under those circumstances, getting the PHEV range closer to the 100 mile mark would help expand the PHEV functionality from its current "commuter" or "errand" vehicle status.

The other nano battery news discussed, somewhat clouds the PHEV discussion. If there were a path for the manufacturing of batteries with 10x the life and power, it would be revolutionary for not only the automobile market, but for the entire energy market. For example, battery powered lawn care equipment (mowers, hedgers, string trimmers etc.) could totally replace their 2 and 4 stroke gas powered counterparts. I'm waiting for that because the current crop of battery lawn care tools are still second rate.

wtmusic reports: "Battery electric vehicles' shortfall in range will hinder widespread commercialization for years to come. That was the bottom-line message Wednesday during a keynote address at the SAE 2010 World Congress.

Don Hillebrand, Director of the Center for Transportation Research at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, said plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles (PHEVs) are ready for prime time, but battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) are not.

The idea for the PHEV grew directly out of the EV's failure to overcome the latter's range shortcoming, Hillebrand said in an exclusive AEI interview after his speech. PHEVs are not range-handicapped."

Tesha notes: Because PHEVs can be rapidly refueled, their range, like the conventional car's, is essentially unlimited. And their range remains essentially unlimited whether you've got the heat, AC, headlights, or windshield wipers turned on or off.

Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices.

Kristopher reports on a 2007 research note: "The new technology, developed through research led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing lithium-ion, known as Li-ion, batteries. A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers. "It's not a small improvement," Cui said. "It's a revolutionary development."

The breakthrough is described in a paper, "High-performance lithium battery anodes using silicon nanowires," published online Dec. 16 in Nature Nanotechnology, written by Cui, his graduate chemistry student Candace Chan and five others."

Adam Hochschild's piece in the March/April issue of Mother Jones, describes how the Congo's vast natural resources are continuously pillaged to feed foreign interests to the detriment of locals, their environment, and now gorillas.

CNN reports: Militias have seized large chunks of gorilla land and logged and mined it. They have done so because the illegal trade in timber and in metals such as gold and coltan -- used in cell phones -- generates between $14 million and $50 million a year for them.

Said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UNEP: This is a tragedy for the great apes and one also for countless other species being impacted by this intensifying and all too often illegal trade. Ultimately it is also a tragedy for the people living in the communities and countries concerned.

MineralMan Clarifies: Coltan is not a metal. It is a tradename for the minerals columbite and tantalite, which almost always occur together. They are the ores of niobium and tantalum, two rare metals that have uses in electronics.

The Congo is the main source of these minerals. However, there are large deposits, as well, in Canada. It's just cheaper to mine them in Congo. So, that's where the ores for those two useful metals are mined.

Also add, Status report: Gorilla beringei graueri.

It's a bit dated, but the causal story remains the same.

"By the mid1990s there where estimated to be about 17000 (9000-25000) Eastern Lowland gorillas in at least 11 subpopulations, with ca 86 percent living in the Kahuzi-Biega and the adjacent Kasese region of RDC."

"More recent events in Kahuzi-Biega and the surrounding region, however, indicate that the taxon has undergone a substantial decline in numbers. Access to much of the gorilla range has been difficult in recent years, and is only just becoming possible again"

"This is attributed to the combined effects of the rise in demand for coltan ore and the warfare that engulfed the whole of the eastern lowland gorilla range from the late 1990s onwards; armies, rebels, refugees and miners all lived off the land and consumed bushmeat"

A look at the map on page 5 of the report shows that the once substantial Kahuzi-Biega Western Lowland Gorilla population is located due West, and a short hop, skip and jump from Rwanda.

Spring migration is here, so it's always good to read some bird news.

Warmer, wetter weather in Canada's North could have a devastating impact on nesting seabirds, says a biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service in Iqaluit. Mark Mallory says he and his colleagues have examined research data on seabirds collected over the past 33 years and have tracked the unusual ways they die. They predict a warming climate, including more frequent and severe storms, will have serious implications.

The 2010 State of the Birds reports similar findings.
http://www.stateofthebirds.org /

Key findings from the “State of the Birds” climate change report include:

Oceanic birds are among the most vulnerable species because they don’t raise many young each year; they face challenges from a rapidly changing marine ecosystem; and they nest on islands that may be flooded as sea levels rise. All 67 oceanic bird species, such as petrels and albatrosses, are among the most vulnerable birds on Earth to climate change.

Birds in coastal, arctic/alpine, and grassland habitats, as well as those on Caribbean and other Pacific islands show intermediate levels of vulnerability; most birds in arid lands, wetlands, and forests show relatively low vulnerability to climate change.

Additionally, the Forest Service has updated its Climate Change Bird Atlas to reflect potential changes in inland bird populations.
http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/atlas/bird/index....

It's fairly easy to use. Press a couple of buttons and see maps indicating current and potential bird population levels under different climate scenarios.

Coral reefs are part of the foundation of the ocean food chain. Nearly half the fish the world eats make their homes around them. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide — by some estimates, 1 billion across Asia alone — depend on them for their food and their livelihoods.

If the reefs vanished, experts say, hunger, poverty and political instability could ensue. "Whole nations will be threatened in terms of their existence," said Carl Gustaf Lundin of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Also just making the news:
Shell-shocked: How Different Creatures Deal With an Acidifying Ocean
http://www.earthmagazine.org/earth/article...

"a recent set of experiments suggests that the ocean acidification story is more complex than first thought. Whereas some marine calcifiers reared under the elevated carbon dioxide levels responded very negatively, not all of the organisms suffered in the acidified seawater. Some, in fact, appeared to benefit from it."

With respect to coral reefs, The National Academy of Sciences reported:
Ocean acidification causes bleaching and productivity loss in coral reef builders
http://www.pnas.org/content/105/45/17442.a...

"Overall, acidification impacted more strongly on bleaching and productivity than on calcification. Interestingly, the intermediate, warm CO2 scenario led to a 30% increase in productivity in Acropora, whereas high CO2 lead to zero productivity in both corals. CCA were most sensitive to acidification, with high CO2 leading to negative productivity and high rates of net dissolution. Our findings suggest that sensitive reef-building species such as CCA may be pushed beyond their thresholds for growth and survival within the next few decades whereas corals will show delayed and mixed responses."

Keeping Track of the honey bee update, I noticed three interrelated causes cited for CCD: Pesticides, Mites and Environmental Stresses

caseymoz reported: The mysterious 4-year-old crisis of disappearing honeybees is deepening. A quick federal survey indicates a heavy bee die-off this winter, while a new study shows honeybees' pollen and hives laden with pesticides.

"Not extremely surprising to say the least. I'm just a little surprised to see that it took four years before our government determined this. Like, let's look at the chemical industry last. It seems that the pesticides meant to protect agriculture are threatening to kill it."

Source of some chemicals: "The good thing is that many of the small scale and hobby keepers seem to be catching onto the problems and the need for changes. I was just reading a beekeepers magazine and they were lamenting the shortsightedness of the commercial beekeepers who jump on and overuse, detrimentally, any new chemical treatment that comes along usually rendering the treatment useless in a fairly short amount of time.

There are alternative things being discussed. Things like naturally resistant breed intensive production, allowing natural cell sizing in the brood and freezing drone brood frames but these methods simply don't allow for the production results that commercial keepers prefer to see. They want an unnaturally high production level from severely overstressed bees. And it is a recipe for disaster for everyone.

Edited to add that a large number of the chemicals found in beeswax may be due to frame reuse. The chemical levels are increased by the repeated use of built comb. Old wax absorbs chemicals over each successive year leading to increasingly unsafe levels."

The mite factor: "Beekeeping used to be one of the easiest things to do.

Then the various mites took all the fun out of it.

They killed all my bees and several times over the years I tried the various chemicals and resistant strains without success.

Even commercial guys still experience really high mortality despite using all the chemicals."

Environmental Stresses Such As Overwork: "Please note, insecticides may be only one portion of the problem. The other portion is that bees are moved around to pollinate crops and thus intermix extensively throughout the year. This brings with it an increase exposure to mites and other biological problems for each bee hive (i.e. such biological problem is spread faster among bees do to the fact bees are being shipped all over the country).

It is believe this one, two punch (Extensive movement AND the new pesticides) are what is leading to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). The best solution would be to ban this type of Chemicals (based to Nicotine) AND put restrictions on the movement of bees. The former is going to be opposed by Farmers who sees this new type of insecticide as necessary to keep lost to insects down, while the latter is going to be opposed by farmers who want to grow only one crop in an area."

The most recent news reports say, "The monarch loss is estimated at 50% to 60%, which means the breeding population is expected to be the smallest since the Mexican overwintering colonies were discovered in 1975, said Chip Taylor, a professor of entomology and director of Monarch Watch at the University of Kansas."

Mike C says, "As long as resources are available, females can lay lots of eggs and reestablish populations quickly. Winter mortality is just a blip on the radar for migrating monarchs. Seriously-- I'll bet that 50-60 percent mortality is within normal variation, or pretty close to it"

also, "I'm MUCH more worried about habitat loss -- both breeding habitat and overwintering habitat -- than I am about winter mortality UNDER THE CURRENT CLIMATE REGIME. That last is important."

Recent reports also suggest decreases in Monarch populations across Minnesota, close to their northernmost range, due primarily to habitat loss.

OTOH, the existence of a North American Monarch Butterfly conservation program, and the fact that despite radical population drops, the aggregate monarch population is still sufficiently large (in the millions) to ensure its long term survival.

However, a changing climate poses risks for Monarchs in their wintering grounds because it could mean more storms similar to this past winter's storms (and those of the early 2000s), and/or an ecosystem change that is not conducive to the long term preservation of their forest home. It's still too early to tell.

Could it be that future Monarch migrations will mean population decreases over its entire range, or a decreasing population will reduce its range, or a combination of both?