Video from CNN - Ecosolutions. Please notice: the artist and inventor got funding NOT from Brazilian bank! despite the project being developed in São Paulo!!! Copy and paste in your navigator.
http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2012/02/16/darlington-brazil-bicycle-eco.cnn
segunda-feira, 20 de fevereiro de 2012
quarta-feira, 15 de fevereiro de 2012
BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT: ATLANTIC FOREST
[From the site of CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL - BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT]
The Atlantic Forest of tropical South America boasts 20,000 plant species, 40 percent of which are endemic. Yet, less than 10 percent of the forest remains. More than two dozen Critically Endangered vertebrate species are clinging to survival in the region, including three species of lion tamarins and six bird species that are restricted to the small patch of forest near the Murici Ecological Station in northeastern Brazil. With almost 950 kinds of birds occurring in this hotspot, there are many unique species including the red-billed curassow, the Brazilian merganser, and numerous threatened parrot species.
Beginning with sugarcane plantations and later, coffee plantations, this region has been losing habitat for hundreds of years. Now, with the increased expansion of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, the Atlantic Forest is facing severe pressure from the issues tied to urbanization.
Hotspot Original Extent (km 2) 1,233,875
Hotspot Vegetation Remaining (km 2) 99,944
Endemic Plant Species 8,000
Endemic Threatened Birds 55
Endemic Threatened Mammals 21
Endemic Threatened Amphibians 14
Extinct Species† 1
Human Population Density (people/km 2) 87
Area Protected (km 2) 50,370
Area Protected (km 2) in Categories I-IV* 22,782
†Recorded extinctions since 1500. *Categories I-IV afford higher levels of protection.
OVERVIEW
The Atlantic Forest or Mata Atlântica stretches along Brazil's Atlantic coast, from the northern state of Rio Grande do Norte south to Rio Grande do Sul. It extends inland to eastern Paraguay and the province of Misiones in northeastern Argentina, and narrowly along the coast into Uruguay. Also included in this hotspot is the offshore archipelago of Fernando de Noronha and several other islands off the Brazilian coast.
Long isolated from other major rainforest blocks in South America, the Atlantic Forest has an extremely diverse and unique mix of vegetation and forest types. The two main ecoregions in the hotspot are the coastal Atlantic forest, the narrow strip of about 50-100 kilometers along the coast which covers about 20 percent of the region. The second main ecoregion, the interior Atlantic Forest, stretches across the foothills of the Serra do Mar into southern Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. These forests extend as far as 500-600 kilometers inland and range as high as 2,000 meters above sea level. Altitude determines at least three vegetation types in the Atlantic Forest: the lowland forest of the coastal plain, montane forests, and the high-altitude grassland or campo rupestre.
Overview | Unique Biodiversity | Human Impacts | Conservation Action
The Atlantic Forest of tropical South America boasts 20,000 plant species, 40 percent of which are endemic. Yet, less than 10 percent of the forest remains. More than two dozen Critically Endangered vertebrate species are clinging to survival in the region, including three species of lion tamarins and six bird species that are restricted to the small patch of forest near the Murici Ecological Station in northeastern Brazil. With almost 950 kinds of birds occurring in this hotspot, there are many unique species including the red-billed curassow, the Brazilian merganser, and numerous threatened parrot species.
Beginning with sugarcane plantations and later, coffee plantations, this region has been losing habitat for hundreds of years. Now, with the increased expansion of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, the Atlantic Forest is facing severe pressure from the issues tied to urbanization.
Hotspot Original Extent (km 2) 1,233,875
Hotspot Vegetation Remaining (km 2) 99,944
Endemic Plant Species 8,000
Endemic Threatened Birds 55
Endemic Threatened Mammals 21
Endemic Threatened Amphibians 14
Extinct Species† 1
Human Population Density (people/km 2) 87
Area Protected (km 2) 50,370
Area Protected (km 2) in Categories I-IV* 22,782
†Recorded extinctions since 1500. *Categories I-IV afford higher levels of protection.
OVERVIEW
The Atlantic Forest or Mata Atlântica stretches along Brazil's Atlantic coast, from the northern state of Rio Grande do Norte south to Rio Grande do Sul. It extends inland to eastern Paraguay and the province of Misiones in northeastern Argentina, and narrowly along the coast into Uruguay. Also included in this hotspot is the offshore archipelago of Fernando de Noronha and several other islands off the Brazilian coast.
Long isolated from other major rainforest blocks in South America, the Atlantic Forest has an extremely diverse and unique mix of vegetation and forest types. The two main ecoregions in the hotspot are the coastal Atlantic forest, the narrow strip of about 50-100 kilometers along the coast which covers about 20 percent of the region. The second main ecoregion, the interior Atlantic Forest, stretches across the foothills of the Serra do Mar into southern Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. These forests extend as far as 500-600 kilometers inland and range as high as 2,000 meters above sea level. Altitude determines at least three vegetation types in the Atlantic Forest: the lowland forest of the coastal plain, montane forests, and the high-altitude grassland or campo rupestre.
Overview | Unique Biodiversity | Human Impacts | Conservation Action
terça-feira, 14 de fevereiro de 2012
WATER IN OUR PLANET: AN OVERVIEW OF OVEREXPLOITATION
This is a document in PDF from UNEP-United Nations Environment Programme, mainly on the intensive use of groundwater in the world. Just click in 'Visualizar' (below).
Visualizar
Visualizar
domingo, 12 de fevereiro de 2012
TOUR EIFFEL: AND ITS ECOLOGICAL COVER
[Reproduced from CNN-Eco Solutions, www.cnn.com]
Can you believe it? It's just an artist impression!
The Eiffel Tower in Paris has reduced its energy consumption with a low energy LED lighting system. This artists impression however envisions further carbon reductions by growing 600,000 plants on the world famous structure. The company behind the project claims that 87 tons of CO2 could be removed from the Paris sky each year.
quarta-feira, 8 de fevereiro de 2012
USGS Multimedia Gallery: Burmese Python Caught in the Everglades
This giant snake from Burma was caught in Florida. The introduction of exótica species threatens ano ecosystem. Access the site:
USGS Multimedia Gallery: Burmese Python Caught in the Everglades
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Precipitous declines in formerly common mammals in Everglades National Park have been linked to the presence of invasive Burmese pythons, according to a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study, the first to document the ecological impacts of this invasive species, strongly supports that animal communities in this 1.5-million-acre park have been markedly altered by the introduction of pythons within 11 years of their establishment as an invasive species. Mid-sized mammals are the most dramatically affected.
Bobcats are one of the predators that may be negatively affected by pythons, which both compete with them for prey and prey on them. Once-common opossums are now rarely seen in Everglades National Park, likely because of being preyed upon by Burmese pythons. The most severe declines, including a nearly complete disappearance of raccoons, rabbits and opossums, have occurred in the remote southernmost regions of the park, where pythons have been established the longest. In this area, populations of raccoons dropped 99.3 percent, opossums 98.9 percent and bobcats 87.5 percent. Marsh and cottontail rabbits, as well as foxes, were not seen at all.
USGS Multimedia Gallery: Burmese Python Caught in the Everglades
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Precipitous declines in formerly common mammals in Everglades National Park have been linked to the presence of invasive Burmese pythons, according to a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study, the first to document the ecological impacts of this invasive species, strongly supports that animal communities in this 1.5-million-acre park have been markedly altered by the introduction of pythons within 11 years of their establishment as an invasive species. Mid-sized mammals are the most dramatically affected.
Bobcats are one of the predators that may be negatively affected by pythons, which both compete with them for prey and prey on them. Once-common opossums are now rarely seen in Everglades National Park, likely because of being preyed upon by Burmese pythons. The most severe declines, including a nearly complete disappearance of raccoons, rabbits and opossums, have occurred in the remote southernmost regions of the park, where pythons have been established the longest. In this area, populations of raccoons dropped 99.3 percent, opossums 98.9 percent and bobcats 87.5 percent. Marsh and cottontail rabbits, as well as foxes, were not seen at all.
terça-feira, 7 de fevereiro de 2012
Cancer rates triple among New York police officers who responded to 9/11
Cancer rates triple among New York police officers who responded to 9/11
Cancer rates among police officers who responded to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York have tripled, according to new figures.
Acess:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/september-11-attacks/9064530/911-Cancer-rates-triple-among-New-York-NYPD-officers-who-responded-to-al-Qaeda-attack-on-World-Trade-Center.html
Cancer rates among police officers who responded to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York have tripled, according to new figures.
Acess:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/september-11-attacks/9064530/911-Cancer-rates-triple-among-New-York-NYPD-officers-who-responded-to-al-Qaeda-attack-on-World-Trade-Center.html
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