Originally posted on The Extinction Chronicles:
by New York University Credit: CC0 Public Domain https://phys.org/news/2019-09-unearth-extinction.html A team of scientists has concluded that earth experienced a previously underestimated severe mass-extinction event, which occurred about 260 million years ago, raising the total of major mass extinctions in the geologic record to six. “It is crucial that we know the number of severe mass extinctions and their timing in order to investigate their causes,” explains Michael Rampino, a professor in New York University’s Department of Biology and a co-author of the analysis, which appears in the journal Historical Biology. “Notably, all six major mass extinctions are correlated with devastating environmental upheavals—specifically, massive flood-basalt eruptions, each covering more than a million square kilometers with thick lava flows.” Scientists had previously determined that there were five major mass-extinction events, wiping out large numbers of species and defining the ends of geological periods: the end of the Ordovician (443 million years ago), the Late Devonian (372 million years ago), the Permian (252 million years ago), the Triassic (201 million years ago), and the Cretaceous (66 million years ago). And, in fact, many researchers have raised concerns about the contemporary, ongoing loss of species diversity—a development that might be labeled a “seventh extinction” because such a modern mass extinction, scientists have predicted, could end up being as severe as these past events. The Historical Biology work, which also included Nanjing University’s Shu-zhong Shen, focused on the Guadalupian, or Middle Permian period,…

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Originally posted on Exposing the Big Game:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/23/americas/brazil-beef-amazon-rainforest-fire-intl/index.html By Eliza Mackintosh, CNN Updated 11:42 AM ET, Fri August 23, 2019 (CNN)While the wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest may constitute an “international crisis,” they are hardly an accident. The vast majority of the fires have been set by loggers and ranchers to clear land for cattle. The practice is on the rise, encouraged by Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s populist pro-business president, who is backed by the country’s so-called “beef caucus.” While this may be business as usual for Brazil’s beef farmers, the rest of the world is looking on in horror. So, for those wondering how they could help save the rainforest, known as “the planet’s lungs” for producing about 20% of the world’s oxygen, the answer may be simple. Eat less meat. It’s an idea that Finland has already floated. On Friday, the Nordic country’s finance minister called for the European Union to “urgently review the possibility of banning Brazilian beef imports” over the Amazon fires. Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of beef, providing close to 20% of the total global exports, according the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) — a figure that could rise in the coming years. Last year the country shipped 1.64 million tonnes of beef — the highest volume in history — generating $6.57 billion in revenue, according to the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (Abiec), an association of more than 30 Brazilian meat-packing companies. The growth of Brazil’s beef industry has been driven in…

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Originally posted on The Extinction Chronicles:
By Passant Rabie 10 hours ago Science & Astronomy  The wildfires are also harmful to ecosystems and human health, and they’re becoming more frequent. https://www.space.com/nasa-investigates-arctic-wildfires-video.html Using a combination of field and laboratory work, as well as satellite and airborne observations, NASA is launching a study of the effects of Arctic wildfires in Alaska on the surrounding habitat and people’s health, as well as how the increased frequency of these events affects climate forecasting. Wildfires in the Arctic are usually started by lightning strikes and left to burn unless they get too close to infrastructure or people, according to a statement by NASA. However, as a result, the fires tend to spread out and consume large areas of vegetation. “Fires are a natural part of the ecosystem, but what we’re seeing is an accelerated fire cycle: we are getting more frequent and severe fires and larger burned areas,” Liz Hoy, a boreal fire researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in the statement. Related: How NASA Is Using Lasers to Study Climate Change (Video) These record-setting wildfires raged across the Northwest Territories of Canada in 2014. (Image credit: Peter Griffith/NASA) Hoy also works as part of NASA’s Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), a field campaign that examines the resilience of Arctic and boreal ecosystems and societies in response to changes in the environment. Wildfires in the Arctic contribute to carbon emissions created by the burning of a thick, carbon-rich layer…

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Originally posted on Dear Kitty. Some blog:
https://youtu.be/-p3HBDfa0KE This video is about great northern loons.

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Originally posted on Dear Kitty. Some blog:
https://youtu.be/4kSpKTHK75k This April 2019 video from the Veluwe region in the Netherlands shows a black woodpecker couple at their nest and a tawny owl.

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Originally posted on Dear Kitty. Some blog:
https://youtu.be/8qW3cgjGUbw This 6 May 2018 video from the USA says about itself: In this video I will show you these cute amazing baby painted turtles. These baby turtles are only 1 day old and are so tiny, some of these baby turtles are the size of quarters and smaller. I saved the baby painted turtles from birds and at the end of the video I will let these turtles go. From Iowa State University in the USA: How scientists view sex determination in painted turtle populations August 6, 2019 Summary: A study that looks at how temperature influences the development of painted turtles may lead biologists to rethink the theoretical frameworks they use when analyzing the topic. The study found wide variation within local populations, suggesting temperature sensitivity of embryonic development can vary significantly from one turtle nest to another within a single population. A new study from Iowa State University scientists could flip the established framework for how scientists believe geography influences sex determination in painted turtles on its shell. The study, published Tuesday in the academic journal Functional Ecology, analyzed decades of data concerning painted turtles, a species widely distributed across North America that undergoes temperature-dependent sex determination. That means the temperatures experienced by an incubating painted turtle egg influence whether an embryo develops the physical characteristics biologists describe as male or female. Warmer temperatures tend to produce females, and cooler…

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