The sunspot cycle is behaving a little like the stock market. Just when you think it has hit bottom, it goes even lower. Read more here.
News
Native Ants Kill Cane Toads
ECOLOGISTS in Australia have discovered that cane toads are susceptible to being killed and eaten by meat ants – and much more susceptible to the ants than are native Australian frogs.
They claim that their research – published in the British Ecological Society’s journal Functional Ecology – reveals a “chink in the cane toad’s armour” that could help control the spread of this alien invasive species in tropical Australia.
Professor Rick Shine and his colleagues Georgia Ward-Fear, Matt Greenlees and Greg Brown from the University of Sydney’s Team Bufo (from the Latin name for the toxic toad) compared habitat use and activity patterns in meat ants, metamorph cane toads and seven native Australian frog species. They found that, unlike the native frogs, cane toads are poorly equipped to escape the meat ants.
No Dust, Warms Atlantic Ocean?
According to a new study, about 70% of the recent warming trend in the Atlantic Ocean is from reduced numbers of dust storms and volcanic eruptions. Other factors, such as a warming of the global climate, contribute only about 30% to the upward trend. Read more here.
Clergyman Blames Climate Change
George Browning, the former Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn, told more than 2,000 people gathered in London’s Westminster Abbey that human activity was causing climate change and extreme weather conditions. Read more here.
Fire as a Threatening Process: A Note from Roger Underwood
ABOUT two months ago I received a “heads-up” from a mate who works in Canberra that Environment Minister Peter Garratt was considering listing prescribed burning as a threatening process under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act. At first I thought this was nonsense, but then I reflected on the attitudes towards prescribed burning that we hear constantly from some well-known academics and environmental groups, and it suddenly seemed highly likely. So I wrote a letter to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, seeking clarification. All of this was going at about the time of the catastrophic bushfires in Victoria.
I have now received a reply to my letter. It was written by Ms Kerry Smith, an Assistant Secretary with the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and Arts. Mr Rudd had forwarded my letter to the Minister for the Environment, who in turn forwarded it to his Department, where it eventually filtered down through the Department’s Approvals and Wildlife Division to its Wildlife Branch and thence to the Species Listing Section.
I now realise that the situation is complex and has many ramifications, as demonstrated by the following advice from the Department:
[Read more…] about Fire as a Threatening Process: A Note from Roger Underwood
Biotechnology and Food Production in Africa
In a world where almost a billion people went hungry last year—119 million more than in 2007—and with food demand set to double by midcentury, the taboo against GM foods is crumbling. Read more.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.