Antibiotics used extensively in intensive livestock production may be having an adverse effect on agricultural soil ecosystems.
In a presentation to the Society for General Microbiology meeting at Harrogate International Centre March 30, Dr Heike Schmitt from the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands described how antibiotics passed from the animals in manure that was then spread on farmland. Although higher organisms, such as earthworms, would only be affected at unrealistic concentrations of antibiotics, changes in soil bacterial communities have been found repeatedly using molecular microbiological techniques.
Earth Changes
The latest Rasmussen poll reports that the lowest number of voters ever polled -- one-in-three -- believe that global warming is caused by human activity. That's an astonishing figure, especially considering the all-out green propaganda assault the mainstream media (MSM) exposes the public to on a daily basis.
After all, it's become nearly impossible to open a magazine, unfold a newspaper or turn on the television without being scolded about the selfishness of your energy consumption and the damage your unworthy existence does to the planet. And yet, Friday's Rasmussen found that forty-eight percent of all likely voters attribute climate change to long-term planetary trends, not their so-called carbon-footprint. That's up 4% in less than three months.
After all, it's become nearly impossible to open a magazine, unfold a newspaper or turn on the television without being scolded about the selfishness of your energy consumption and the damage your unworthy existence does to the planet. And yet, Friday's Rasmussen found that forty-eight percent of all likely voters attribute climate change to long-term planetary trends, not their so-called carbon-footprint. That's up 4% in less than three months.
The gospel of high-tech genetically modified (GM) crops is not sounding quite so sweet in the land of the converted. A new pest, the evil pigweed, is hitting headlines and chomping its way across Sun Belt states, threatening to transform cotton and soybean plots into weed battlefields.
In late 2004, "superweeds" that resisted Monsanto's iconic "Roundup" herbicide, popped up in GM crops in the county of Macon, Georgia. Monsanto, the US multinational biotech corporation, is the world's leading producer of Roundup, as well as genetically engineered seeds. Company figures show that nine out of 10 US farmers produce Roundup Ready seeds for their soybean crops.
Genetically engineered crops do little to improve yields and instead promote the proliferation of herbicide-resistant weeds that actually curb production, according to a study by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Corn and soybeans modified to resist insects and the herbicide glyphosate haven't been proven to boost yields, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based group says in a 44-page report. The modified plants have increased the number of glyphosate-resistant weeds that compete for soil nutrients and moisture, reducing production, the group says.
Corn and soybeans modified to resist insects and the herbicide glyphosate haven't been proven to boost yields, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based group says in a 44-page report. The modified plants have increased the number of glyphosate-resistant weeds that compete for soil nutrients and moisture, reducing production, the group says.
A strong undersea earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 jolted the far north of Japan and Russia's far east early on Sunday, a Japanese government agency reported, but there were no immediate reports of damage.
There was no threat of tsunami from the quake at 4:19 a.m. (1919 GMT). It centred in the remote and sparsely populated Kuril Islands northeast of Hokkaido, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on its website (www.jma.go.jp).
There was no threat of tsunami from the quake at 4:19 a.m. (1919 GMT). It centred in the remote and sparsely populated Kuril Islands northeast of Hokkaido, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on its website (www.jma.go.jp).
A strong 6.2-magnitude quake struck in Indonesia's north Sulawesi province on Sunday but there were no reports of damage or injuries, the geophysics agency said. The quake hit at 1.23pm about 20 kilometres (12 miles) north-east of Melonguane city at a depth of 50 kilometres.
No tsunami alert was issued.
'Tremors are felt in the area but not significant ones. There's no report of damage,' agency official Suharjono told AFP.
No tsunami alert was issued.
'Tremors are felt in the area but not significant ones. There's no report of damage,' agency official Suharjono told AFP.
© Unknown
Ice, ice and yet more ice
Ice, ice and yet more ice
Zinchenko's vessel, the Spirit of Enderby, was commissioned in January last year to retrace the steps of the great Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, marking the century of his Nimrod expedition of 1907-09.
Spirit of Enderby was blocked by a wall of pack ice at the entrance to the Ross Sea, about 400km short of Shackleton's base hut at Cape Royds. Zinchenko says it was the first time in 15 years that vessels were unable to penetrate the Ross Sea in January. The experience was consistent with his impression that pack ice is expanding, not contracting, as would be expected in a rapidly warming world. "I see just more and more ice, not less ice."
© Catlin Survey
Two of the Arctic ice sites show April 16 ice at recent record levels. The Japanese site IJIS has a seven year April record going back to 2003, and reports 2009 levels at the highest extent on record for the date: 13,649,219 km2.
© AMSRE
AMSRE Sea Ice Extent
AMSRE Sea Ice Extent
The Danish Meteorological Institute has a five year database, and also shows April 16 ice extent as the highest in their short record.
© Unknown
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet: Endless
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet: Endless
The results of ice-core drilling and sea ice monitoring indicate there is no large-scale melting of ice over most of Antarctica, although experts are concerned at ice losses on the continent's western coast.
Antarctica has 90 per cent of the Earth's ice and 80 per cent of its fresh water. Extensive melting of Antarctic ice sheets would be required to raise sea levels substantially, and ice is melting in parts of west Antarctica. The destabilisation of the Wilkins ice shelf generated international headlines this month.
However, the picture is very different in east Antarctica, which includes the territory claimed by Australia.
East Antarctica is four times the size of west Antarctica and parts of it are cooling. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research report prepared for last week's meeting of Antarctic Treaty nations in Washington noted the South Pole had shown "significant cooling in recent decades".
Australian Antarctic Division glaciology program head Ian Allison said sea ice losses in west Antarctica over the past 30 years had been more than offset by increases in the Ross Sea region, just one sector of east Antarctica.
© AP Photo/David Zalubowski
A car and van are nearly buried in snow while parked in a lot near the mountain community of Genesee, Colo., on Saturday, April 18, 2009. Forecasters predict that the spring storm that has dumped up to two feet of snow in some parts of Colorado will move out on to the eastern plains on Saturday.
A car and van are nearly buried in snow while parked in a lot near the mountain community of Genesee, Colo., on Saturday, April 18, 2009. Forecasters predict that the spring storm that has dumped up to two feet of snow in some parts of Colorado will move out on to the eastern plains on Saturday.
Denver - Hundreds of stranded travelers resumed their journeys Saturday after spending the night at shelters when a powerful spring storm walloped the Rocky Mountains and foothills west of Denver with more than 3 feet of snow.
Officials reopened an 80-mile stretch of Interstate 70 between Golden and Vail that had been closed Friday, said Colorado Department of Transportation spokesman Bob Wilson. Drivers were cautioned to expect heavy traffic and sloppy road conditions.
"It's not the I-70 you know in a June afternoon," Wilson said.
Storm warnings were dropped as the bulk of the storm moved east into Kansas.
About 15,000 homes and businesses were without power in Denver and areas north and west of the city. The heavy snow had weighed down power lines and tripped system circuit breakers. Piles of snow and closed roads were preventing crews from reaching some areas, Xcel Energy spokesman Joe Fuentes said, adding that crews hoped to restore power by 11 a.m. Sunday.
Comment: This just in from SOTT's special expeditionary correspondent - back home cooling off after his sizzling adventures in Cyprus:
"I can confirm from where I'm perched here in west Antartica, that the ice just goes on and on..."
Mr Penn Guinn lifts off for another adventure last summer