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Showing posts with label Environments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Environments. Show all posts

China to Ban Plastic Bags

Tsingtao-Beer-in-Plastic-Bag

I hope that the next way to curb the pollution in China is to ban burning coals!

China launched a surprise crackdown on plastic bags on Tuesday, banning production of ultra-thin bags and forbidding its supermarkets and shops from handing out free carriers from June 1.

The move brings China in line with a growing international trend to cut back use of plastic bags. From Ireland to Uganda and South Africa governments have experimented with heavy taxes, outright bans or eliminating the thinnest bags.

Source: Retuers #Tags: , , ,

Antarctica Wilkins Ice Runway

airbus a319 first ice landing in antarctica picture

An Australian Government sponsored project to build a permanent runway in Antarctic has reached a new era after an Airbus A319  passenger jet made a historic landing on the continent's first ever blue ice runway--Wilkins Runway on December 10.

The runway situated 70km from Australia’s Casey research station is named after the country's adventurer and aviator Sir Hubert Wilkins [wikipedia], who made the first flight in Antarctica in the year of 1928.

Starting since 2005, Australian engineers constructed the runway by using laser levelling technology to grade and shave the ice flat.

The runway, which will be only open for scientists and research staff only but not tourists, is 4km long, 700m thick and moves about 12m southwest a year because of glacial drift. It costs A$10mn, or US$8.7mn.

Source: Gulf Times Click here to watch the video of Airbus A319's historical landing in Antarctic.

Naja Ashei, World's Largest Spitting Cobra Species Found

World's Largest Spitting Cobra Species found in Kenyan Bio-ken farm

Naja ashei, World's Largest Spitting Cobra

Conservationists from WildlifeDirect found a new spitting cobra species, Naja ashei, which is named after late James Ashe, a cobra expert who founded Bio-Ken snake farm in Watamu on Kenya's tropical coast. Growing up to nine feet (2.74m) and possessing enough venom to kill 20 people with one bite, Naja ashei, also known as a large brown spitting cobra, is the world's largest spitting cobra (king cobra is the world's largest venomous snake.

According to Herpetologist Wolfgang Wuster and Donald G. Bradley, this unique snake can be found in the dry lowlands of northern and eastern Kenya, northeastern Uganda, southern Ethiopia and southern Somalia. So whenever you or your friends travel to this area, please do pay attention to the risk of encountering such deadly cobra.

More pictures after jump:

longest spitting cobra naja ashei picturelongest spitting cobra naja ashei picture1longest spitting cobra naja ashei picture2

Source: National Geographic & Chinadaily. Click here and here to know the stories how the herpetologists found and identified Naja ashei. Tags: , , ,

Blue Sun in Egypt

blue_sun in egypt

When noticing the title of Blue Sun sets behind the Pyramids in Egypt at Redidt.com, I believed this may be a unique spectacular phenomenon of the Sun, but it seems not, it's a result of air pollution. From Coasttocoastam.com

PyramidCam captures a live image of the pyramids every 30 seconds. This particular image, saved by Tom Hartlove on December 14, 2006, is one of only a few ever documented occurrences of a blue sun. Tom happened to run across the image a few days ago in his photo archives and sent it to an expert in atmospheric physics to find out what might have caused it. Here was the reply:

"A very rare phenomenon known as a 'blue sun.' These have been observed from time to time around the world. The most recent widely accepted documentation of a blue sun occurred in September 1950 in Edinburgh, Scotland. A discussion of that event appears in Craig Bohren's book, 'Clouds in a Glass of Beer,' on page 91."

The main cause is thought to be smoke in the atmosphere. From time to time smoke from farmers burning brush between the camera location and the pyramids' plateau rises to camera level and is apparent on many of our images. We have also captured long plumes of smoke visible behind the pyramids, particularly in winter when farmers burn stubble in the fields in the Delta and around Cairo.

Two-headed Turtle at Big Al's Aquarium Supercenter in Pennsylvania

two-headed turtle at Big Al's Aquarium Supercenter in  Pennsylvania

The 2-month-old turtle, known as a red-eared slider, is a rare example (one-in-a-million freaks of nature) of a conjoined-twin birth. It has two heads sticking out from opposite ends of its shell, along with a pair of front feet on each side. But there is just one set of back feet and one tail.

two-headed red slider turtle at Big Al's Aquarium Supercenter in East Norriton

The extreme rare two-headed turtle which was bought from a collector in Fort Lauderdale of Flarida, would have likely died in the wild because it swims awkwardly and would be an easy target for predators, according to Jay Jacoby, manager of Big Al's Aquarium Supercenter in East Norriton, Pennsylvania.

The video of David Letterman's Late Night Show below featured the unique conjoined two-head turtle. Take a look!

Another kind of two-headed turtle:

Another kind of two-headed turtle

Sources: Rare two-headed red slider turtle on display at Big Al's Aquarium Supercenter @ Utubelaughter

Two-Headed Turtle Goes on Display in Pennsylvania @ cjreport

Amoeba Naegleria - Horrible Killer in the Lake

Naegleria - Horrible killer in the Lake Naegleria fowleri, a free living amoeba which can expose to the human brain through the nose, is almost always fatal. It is commonly found in the bottom of freshwater in lakes and ponds. It can cause Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM or PAME) in humans characterized by rapid onset of coma and death. These killer protozoa have claimed the lives of three boys this summer in the lakes around Florida's Orlando.

The amoeba can be detected by an MRI and it can be treated with antibiotics if caught early enough, but there is no consistently effective treatment currently. So, swimming in or jumping into fresh water is best avoided. Chlorinated swimming pools are safe from the perspective of contracting PAM.

Source: Deadly amoebas lurk in Florida lakes @ CNN Killer in the Lake -- Amoeba Called Naegleria @ Clinical Cases and Images

White-lipped keelback, New Snake Found in Vietnam

The white-lipped keelback, a snake that tends to live by streams where it catches frogs and other small animals is one of 11 new species discovered by WWF in the remote the tropical forests of the Annamites Mountain Range in central Vietnam. It has a beautiful yellow-white stripe that sweeps along its head and red dots cover its body. It can reach about two-feet, six-inches in length.

Link

Photo of Green-breasted Mango

green breasted mango

The Green-breasted Mango (Anthracothorax prevostii) is a hummingbird normally indigenous to tropical Mexico and Central and South America. The scientific name of this bird commemorates the French naturalist Florent Prévost. So when one such kind of  bird was recently spotted in Beloit of Wisconsin, it grabs much attraction from the local birders. Excerpt from AHH report describes the characters of the bird:

It is 10.2 cm long and weighs 6.8 g. The longish black bill is slightly decurved. The tail in both sexes has dark central feathers, the outer tail being wine-red tipped with black (in some areas the under tail is bluish).

Know more about the discovery of this bird in Wisconsin in the article by Ernie Mastroianni, photo editor of Birder's World.

Family of Colin Beavan, aka No-Impact Man, Live Lifes Without Toilet Paper

The Beavan family compost their food waste with worms

No toilet papers, at least, my own family can not live comfortable, definitely! I can't admire Mr Beavan's family anymore!

It is mid-afternoon in an airy, lower-Manhattan flat, on the ninth floor of a posh-looking building with a doorman.

It is a bit dark and there are no lights on. There is a strange quiet feel to the flat, perhaps due to the lack of any appliances - no fridge humming, no TV interference, even no air conditioning, though it is hot and humid outside.

Walk into the bathroom, and you will notice that there is no toilet paper, no bottles of shampoo or toiletries.

In the kitchen, berries and cheese are laid out on the counter and there are candles on the dining table.

This is the home of No-Impact Man, aka Colin Beavan, who describes himself on his blog as a "guilty liberal who finally snaps, swears off plastic... turns off his power... and while living in NYC turns into a tree-hugging lunatic who tries to save the polar bears".

He has dragged his wife, Michelle, and young daughter Isabella, along for the ride.

"The concept is that we should have no net environmental impact, which is, of course, technically not feasible," says Colin.

"So the idea is that we would reduce our negative impact and increase our positive impact."

Source: US family tries life without toilet paper @ BBC

Robber Crab

coconut crab

Coconut crabcoconut crab (Birgus latro) is the largest terrestrial arthropod in the world. It is known for its ability to crack coconuts with its strong pincers in order to eat the contents. It is sometimes called the robber crab,because some coconut crabs are rumored to steal shiny items such as pots and silverware from houses and tents. The picture shows a  coconut crab is seeking food from a black dustbin Link

Amazing Dew-laden Spider Web


Delicate, originally uploaded by McNeney.

Beautiful!

Northwest Passage Opened Up by Melting Arctic Ice

melting arctic ice opens northwest passage

The Northwest PassageNorthwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean along the northern coast of North America via the waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Scientists have confirmed that in August, Arctic sea ice shrank to its lowest levels since satellite measurements began monitoring the region nearly 30 years ago.

This previously impassable shortcut between Europe and Asia in the Canadian Arctic, has now opened due to the shrinking of Arctic sea ice thanks to global warming.

The satellite picture above provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) showing a clear Northwest Passage (orange line) and a minimally blocked Northeast Passage (blue line).

Sources: Melting Arctic Opens Up Northwest Passage @ Fox

Melting ice opens Northwest Passage @ Aljazeera

1.5 Million Flamingos on Kenya's Lake Nakuru

1.5 Million Flamingos on Kenya's Lake Nakuru

This astonishing picture taken by specialist aerial photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand shows flamingos on Lake Nakuru in Kenya's Rift Valley, where up to 1.5 million have been seen at a time.

Source: Dailymail

Tropical Storm Ingrid Forms About 800 Miles East of the Lesser Antilles

Tropical Storm Ingrid Forms About 800 Miles East of the Lesser Antilles.

Tropical Storm Ingrid is the ninth storm of the Atlantic hurricane season when it formed in the open ocean about 800 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. Ingrid was moving toward the west-northwest near 6 mph and was expected to continue at that pace for the next 24 hours. It is learnt that Ingrid is to weaken to depression over four days, so it may not impose any effect on Caribbean countries or America's Gulf coasts where is battling with Hurricane Humberto.

World's 10 Most Polluted Places

Shanxi Linfeng world's most polluted places

ABC has a well compiled list of world's 10 most polluted places, the picture above shows a traffic police who is engulfed in industrial dusts and coal ashes is on duty in the China's most polluted city Linfeng, Shangxi province.

Ice Waves in Antartica

antartica ice waves

Just so awesome.
In Antarctica (if you know where to look) you will find these strange formations that look like giant waves frozen in place. Actually, these beautiful formations are caused by glaciers and earthquakes. Over time, snow compacts into a single frozen mass and the increasing pressure squeezes all of the air out of the ice. Since blue is the only color of the spectrum that air-free ice reflects, that is where the color comes from.
Source: Ice Waves Slightlywarped.com

Makah Tribe Members Shot Gray Whale

the california gray whale that was shot by makak tribe members

What a shocked news! Five people believed to be members of the Makah Tribe shot a Californian gray whale with a .50-caliber machine gun!

Source:  Calif. Gray Whale Shot With Machine Gun @ AP