Another alarming study regarding global warming has surfaced, revealing that tropical species are also in trouble. According to the UCLA and the University of Washington, warming can cause population of animals and insects in the tropics to decline, which adversely hurts the ecosystem. See the full article for details.

So we're all resigned to the fact that the Earth is heating up? Wait until you see by how much. The Canadian Coast Guard Amundsen research ship was confident about using a likewise massive Arctic ice bridge as a port. Every winter the bridge appears, but not this year. More details after the jump.

Does it really matter if we should study why over 90 percent of life on earth was nearly wiped out in a mass extinction event during the end of the Permian era? Scientists from the University of Bristol believe so. Their findings show how the recovery of the ecosystems affected by the phenomenon and how it can help us study our own current global extinction trends.

Check out the full article for more details!

We were able to come across a video report on the status of the population of common birds in North America. There's a sharp decline of 60% to 80% to these birds original numbers brought about the effects of huge factory farms and sprawling urban settlements.

Although their numbers are still by the millions, it won't be long before they stop appearing for their seasonal migration. More information about their population decline can be found after the jump.

With international concern for climate change snowballing to pressure industrialized nations to come clean, ethanol is perhaps the most popular solution being touted by scientists and politicians. But some environmentalists and the National Research Center beg to differ.

Ethanol is derived mainly from raw crops such as corn and emits very little pollutants when used as automotive fuel. This would be a logical alternative to fossil fuels, but some scientists say that we'll end up moving the pollution from the air to the Earth's hydrosphere.

For President Bush's plan of increasing ethanol production 300 percent by 2017 to happen, huge amounts of corn crops must be planted to serve the industry.

This could pose a threat to water systems because a huge amount of nitrogen-based fertilizers and pesticides would be used to grow the crops. These fertilizers and pesticides are likely to eventually find their ways into the water of streams, rivers and seas, damaging the ecosystem as a result of microorganism casualties with a chain effect hitting bigger species.

Food supplies in developing nations may also be compromised as they struggle to produce and allocate the crops needed for human and fuel consumption.

Finally, the availability of water to irrigate a huge amount of crops was questioned by the National Research Center report. Not only will it be difficult to find means to water huge tracts of land, it was also a concern as to what quality of water will eventually come out of fields saturated by fertilizers. "From a water quality perspective, it is vitally important to pursue policies that prevent an increase in total loadings of nutrients, pesticides, and sediments to waterways," conclude the experts.

Here's one forest that should be safe from deforestation: an underwater kelp forest in the Pacific Ocean. The forest is so dense that it's home to a huge range of plants and animals with their own ecosystem. Scientists believe that they may become a refuge for animals once global climates change.

The Pacific kelp forest has plants growing from 100 to 150 feet, some brushing the surface of the ocean. It's not very impressive when viewed from above (all you'll see is floating green stuff) but beneath, the waters are brimming with life and activity, just like a tropical forest on land.

This kelp forest came as a surprise to scientists because it was found in the tropical waters of the Pacific. Normally kelp forests can be found in cooler waters and the discovery of the Pacific forest comes as a reminder that still little is known or understood about the world underneath the waters.

Every known species on Earth is going to be catalogued in the website called the Encyclopedia of Life. If the project becomes a success, then this will be a very valuable tool to both amateur and professional scientists alike.

The website itself is said to be accessible to anyone who is willing to do so. They have estimated that it will take a good 10 years to complete the database which spans to all the 1.8 million known species of life forms on our planet. Acting secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Cristian Semper has spoken about the project saying: "It could be a very big leap in the way we do science. This is a project that is so big, not even the Smithsonian, could do it by itself. It is a global effort."

Currently, seven museums, universities, and labs are collaborating on this project with two foundations donating US$ 12.5 million for the first two and a half years of its initial development. Not a bad start up for this enormous undertaking.

This  site itself provides a comprehensive description of the project:

Comprehensive, collaborative, ever-growing, and personalized, the Encyclopedia of Life is an ecosystem of websites that makes all key information about life on Earth accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Our goal is to create a constantly evolving encyclopedia that lives on the Internet, with contributions from scientists and amateurs alike. To transform the science of biology, and inspire a new generation of scientists, by aggregating all known data about every living species. And ultimately, to increase our collective understanding of life on Earth, and safeguard the richest possible spectrum of biodiversity.

It should be noted that this has been attempted before but the original creators wasn't able to finish it citing various reasons. This latest project is said to have a better chance at succeeding because of the latest search engine technology. Hopefully this undertaking will succeed since the benefits it will provide to our world's greatest minds cannot be understated. You can view the Encyclopedia of Life site via our read link below.

Ranongga, one of the islands comprising the Solomons, is now officially 10 feet higher above sea level than it originally was due to the tectonic plane grind that caused the magnitude 8 underwater quake last week.

The earthquake triggered a 30-foot high tsunami that wiped out most of the coastal settlements and killed 34 people, with many others still missing. With most of the fishing industry of the archipelago decimated, the once pristine island paradise faces another blow.

Fishermen are trying to go back to operations to help maintain the food supply in their respective locales but the rise of the island after the quake destroyed the coral reefs that house and serve as the breeding grounds for the fish. The parts that did manage to survive the cataclysm are now baking in the sun and left an unstable environment for marine ecosystem.

The tourism industry is also permanently compromised. The Solomons were once considered among the best diving spots in the world for its diverse and vibrant marine neighborhood that housed thousands upon thousands of species. With two of the archipelago's income generators down indefinitely, the national government is now considering alternative measures to sustain life for its citizens.

Foreign help is continuously being supplied by the international community in an effort to alleviate the suffering caused by the disaster. Diving experts say that the reefs and the diving spots may recover in a few years as the main reefs further out sea have managed to remain intact, however, things remain unstable for the moment as the people and the environment enter the recovery phase.

Following the collapse and disintegration of the Larson A and B ice shelves in Antarctica, scientists have launched a 10-week expedition to explore the area and see what species dwell in the previously unexplored area.

Life has again proven its resiliency as over a thousand species were catalogued in the frigid waters off the part where the collapse happened. Interesting new creatures were found, such as a colorful octopus that looks like it was painted in the psychedelic era, a gelatinous sea squirt, sea cucumbers and some crustaceans.

Scientist Gauthier Chapelle, a member of the expedition described what they found as "virgin geography" and said "if we don't find out what this area is like now following the collapse of the ice shelf, and what species are there, we won't have any basis to know in 20 years' time what has changed and how global warming has altered the marine ecosystem."

This newly-discovered marine ecosystem became available for exploration when the ice shelves covering it were torn off the coast of Antarctica. Ice shelves are formed when glaciers inland creep out to sea over a long time and create a thick blanket of ice floating but still attached to the glacier. However, scientists say that global warming is rapidly changing the landscape in the frosty south.

In the past 30 years, about 13,500 square kilometers have broken away, drifted out to sea and dissipated in warmer waters. That's roughly half the size of New Jersey. As the terrain changes, the environment at the sea floor gradually adjusts. Some species survive the change while some die out. In some cases, new species start moving into the ecological neighborhood.

Sea lilies, sea urchins and sea cucumbers were found in this environment, but scientists noted that these species are not indigenous to the terrain. These creatures are usually found in much deeper waters but the disintegration of the ice shelves seem to have made the environment more viable for their existence.
 
Scientists pointed out that of all the species found in the expedition, 95 percent were native to the area while five percent were outsiders who moved in. In ecological terms, there has been a substantial change in the locale's biodiversity.

"Life at the sea floor obviously reacts very slowly to this very climactic change in the environmental conditions," said JulianGutt, head scientist of the International Polar Year expedition. "[It] needs hundreds to thousands of years until a new community has fully developed, if this will happen at all."

Gutt also pointed to disturbances caused by icebergs as a life-spawning event in the continent. Icebergs crashing against the shelves often leave a scarred terrain where signs of life seem to return.

     

Scientists say our oceans are not the inexhaustible and resilient resource we all thought. In reality, they are finite and fragile. Beneath the beautiful, deep blue calmness is a sea of turbulent environmental problems.

The list of problems plaguing the seas' ecosystems include overfishing, wetland destruction, agricultural runoff, industrial pollution, and climate change.

Large-scale agriculture and coastal development continue to dump nitrogen and phosphorus-rich runoffs which create "dead zones" - areas of the oceans devoid of oxygen. Dead zones, like the name suggests, is a place where fish and shellfish cannot survive.

In 2003, UN Environment Programme reported 146 dead zones in the world oceans up to 70,000 square kilometers. A dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico was measured to be as large as Massachusetts. Thousands of pounds of plastic are swept from container ships or washed down rivers and strangle seabirds and turtles.

In 2005, the number of beach closings and health advisory days at ocean, bay and Great Lake beaches reached 20,000 - the highest in National Resources Defense Council's 16-year monitoring history.

Global warming appears to be screwing sea's chemistry. If carbon dioxide emission trends continue, oceanographers say sea water will become so acidic it will dangerously deteriorate the shells and skeletons of key marine species.

Now for the catch-of-the-day: overfishing. Commercial fishing has come a long way since the invention of the nylon net and giant ice box. Shipping boats sail equipped with sonar, satellite maps, and global positioning data. Commercial fishing fleets have become so technologically efficient they can track species to remote locations. As a result, the ocean's big fish have declined by 90% over 50 years.

So enjoy your Atlantic cod, halibut, swordfish, and marlin while you still can. Joshua S. Reichert, environmental director for Pew Charitable Trusts, says if nothing is done about overfishing, the oceans will be depleted within three decades. But the effect will be felt beyond your favorite seafood restaurants. It will damage the whole ecosystem. "You can fix all the other things, but if you fail to fix fisheries, you'll destroy all the life in the sea," he says.

What can you do? Aside from giving up your favorite seafood for now, you could write to your representative and senator to strengthen the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act which governs fishing in U.S. waters.

You have the right to let them know what kind of world you and your children want to live and swim in.