Fires Continue in Russia

Tagesschau:

Behörden erklärten, einige Brände befänden sich in schwer zugänglichen
Gebieten. Besonders gefährdet sind nach Angaben des Ministeriums die zentralen
Regionen Nischni Nowgorod und Rjasan. Katastrophenschutzminister Sergej Schoigu
erklärte aber, die Lage habe sich verbessert. Es stehe noch eine Fläche von
56.000 Hektar in Flammen. Das seien 10.000 Hektar weniger als am Freitag.
Bereits am Donnerstag hatten die Einsatzkräfte von einer leichten Entspannung
gesprochen. Allerdings stellte sich die Lage dann am Freitag wieder schlimmer
dar.

The Color of the Ocean

New research suggest that the color of the ocean may deflect hurricane:

Led by oceanographer Anand Gnanadesikan, the study used computer
simulations to look for links between ocean color and strong tropical
cyclones—called hurricanes in the North Atlantic Ocean and the northeastern
Pacific and known as typhoons in the northwestern Pacific. "Our group develops
climate models," said Gnanadesikan, of the U.S. Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in
Princeton New Jersey. "One of my jobs is to try to make those more realistic.
"One way to make the models more realistic is to look more closely at
little-studied variables, such as ocean color.
In the North Pacific the
predominant color is green, thanks to an abundance of minute, chlorophyll-packed
plants called phytoplankton. By absorbing sunlight, the floating plants help
keep the ocean surface relatively warm. When there are fewer of them, the sun's
heat concentrates deeper down.

Is the Indochinese Tiger Gone from Cambodia?

The Indochinese Tiger, one of the subspecies of the tiger, is feared to be extinct in Cambodia. It hasn't been spotted for three years. There are some areas that it could still be in. Environmental protection in Cambodia started relatively late in comparison to it's neighbor Thailand. Cambodia also faces illegal logging and the introduction of mining to it's economy. In the past, tigers and leopards were numerous. The public generally didn't notice their well being. Nowadays, all subspecies of tigers are facing dangers. In the last 200 years, humans have caused the extinction of 3 subspecies of tigers: the Bali tiger, the Javanese tiger, and the Caspian tiger. The South Chinese tiger is the most critically endangered of all the tigers, but things do not bode well for the Bengal, Siberian, Indochinese, Malay, and Sumatran tigers either.

But why should we care? Here's some reasons:

1. The predatory species is important in an ecosystem. They help maintain population balance.

2. Empathy is a good reason. After all, we are the ones responsible for their death. If it were an act of nature, it would be different.

3. Diversity of life is just one of those good things you want to have.

4. When a species goes extinct, it could very well indicate something else is wrong in an ecosystem. This in turn could impact humans.

To counter

A Javanese Rhino. I dream of the day when Cambodians and Thai Kids can see these animals in the wild again. They, too, face poaching as well as encroachment from development.

It's a sick world

South Africa's reserve last Rhino is killed for her horn.

More than likely her horn is being used for alternative medicine. FUCK ALT MEDs.

Quick News

Another endangered Irrawaddy dolphin dies in a fishing net in the Mekong. Four such dolphins have died, as the the global population of river dolphins continue to decline.

Woman dies due to unsafe abortion in Camobodia. The problem of course is the lack of access to safe abortion and general medical care for many Cambodians. This is worsen by the lack of health education. Cambodian laws state that only license medical officials can perform abortion.

Teabagger fails. In an attempt to show their diversity, a teabagger rally ends up being overwhelmingly white and straight. The very few gay teabaggers there are, of course, idiots.

Fires in Russia.

Like American university graduates, Japanese university graduates are expected to face a small job market.

UNESCO to add Bikini Atoll as a heritage site. Bikini was used as a nuclear bomb test site by the United States during the Cold War. The natives of the island were relocated to another island where they suffered from starvation due to poor conditions there.

Phytoplankton Blues

Scientific America reports:

The microscopic plants that form the foundation of the ocean's food web are declining, reports a study published July 29 in Nature.

The tiny organisms, known as phytoplankton, also gobble up carbon dioxide to produce half the world's oxygen output—equaling that of trees and plants on land.

But their numbers have dwindled since the dawn of the 20th century, with unknown consequences for ocean ecosystems and the planet's carbon cycle.

This should be worrisome to anyone who appreciate fish at the dinner table. Ecologically, when there's problem at one of the food chain levels, the entire chain is impacted.

Heatwave in Japan

Via NHK World:

A heat wave continued in most parts of Japan on Thursday.The temperature reached
39.4 degrees Celsius in Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture. Tajimi is the first
Japanese city to record temperatures above 39 degrees this year.Weather
officials say the hot spell is likely to continue through the weekend, and are
cautioning people to guard against heatstroke.Five people died and at least 330
were taken to hospital with symptoms of heatstroke across Japan on Thursday. In
Ibaraki Prefecture, a 36-year-old farmer died after working in a hothouse

Just a reminder to Riverside folks that heat is a serious thing. Drink a lot water, and try to stay indoor. Avoid using electricity since that doesn't help and only lead to environmental problems.

Arsenic Wells

Via the Phnom Penh Post

High amounts of Arsenic in well water are afflicting as much as 150.000 rural Cambodians.

Chhiev Kimlorn, the village chief, said that 10 of the community’s 26 wells had
been tested. According to a document she was given by UNICEF, seven of them were
found to contain elevated arsenic levels.

Three were found to contain
arsenic levels as high as 500 parts per billion – more than 50 times the limit
considered safe by the World Health Organisation, and more than 10 times the
limit considered safe by the Ministry of Rural Development.

This is why I'm a big fan of environmental government policies. The individual villages aren't capable of fixing it on their own. They need the government to regulate and protect their water supply. Tap water can do only so much for these villager before they run out.

Parasitic Wasp - Now there's a Farmville idea!

Via the Phnom Penh Post

Khmer farmers are awaiting the import of Apoanagyrus Lopezi, a parasitic wasp that will help farmers alleviate mealybugs infestation, from Thailand.

Thai farmers have already use the wasp as a natural pest control. It's much cheaper and overall healthier than pesticides, but could become an invasive species like the cane toads of Australia.

If you've ever seen parasitic wasp, it's like something from the Alien movies. The will lay their eggs in a host. When the egg hatch it will eat away at the host until it matures.