XinhuaMon, 12 Feb 2007 13:45 UTC
A mystery ailment labled Colony Collapse Disorder is killing tens of thousands of honeybee colonies across America.
The illness -- reported in at least 22 states -- is threatening the livelihood of beekeepers, honey production and possibly crops that need bees for pollination.
STOCKHOLM- Sweden said Wednesday it would give its reindeer herders millions of euros (dollars) in emergency aid to help them feed their animals, which are starving because of thick ice that is preventing them from reaching the lichen they eat.
"You can't just stand by and watch animals starve," Agriculture Minister Eskil Erlandsson said in a statement as his ministry earmarked 37 million kronor (4.06 million euros, 5.3 million dollars) in aid.
Associated Press
local6.comThu, 08 Feb 2007 12:31 UTC
PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Visitors to Palm Beach are being advised not to go in the water because of shark sightings.
Warnings posted said hundreds of bull sharks and lemon sharks have been seen swimming along the surf, the sand bar and farther out in the Atlantic Ocean.
Sun-worshipping humans might welcome the news, but for groundhogs and other hibernating animals, a longer winter could be a blessing.
A recent trend toward increasingly mild winters is disrupting normal hibernation patterns for many high-latitude and high-elevation species-and in some cases it may be a matter of life or death.
From marmots in the Rocky Mountains to bears in the Moscow Zoo, animals are spending less time napping. The change may be placing some species fatally out of synch with their environment.
When animals hibernate they're able to conserve the energy stored in their fat during periods when food is scarce. So when they are abnormally active, they risk using up their stored energy before they can replace it.
David Weber
abc.auFri, 02 Feb 2007 08:36 UTC
This is a transcript from The World Today. The program is broadcast around Australia at 12:10pm on ABC Local Radio.
Los Angeles - Fish caught off Los Angeles County's coast still contain high levels of banned DDT decades after a manufacturer dumped tons of the pesticide into sewers, creating a toxic plume on the ocean bottom.
There has been no improvement since the last regional fish survey was conducted in the late 1980s, according to a federal survey based on data collected mainly in 2002 but only recently released.
Tiffany Revelle
Record-BeeSun, 28 Jan 2007 12:52 UTC
NORTH SHORE -- Another duck die-off hit the waters of Clear Lake this weekend, claiming 1,145 waterfowl as of 4 p.m. Experts are tentatively saying avian cholera is the culprit this time, pending lab confirmation.
Avian cholera affects birds so quickly that they have been known to sometimes literally drop out of the sky or die while swimming, according to the National Wildlife Health Center. Approximately 40 percent of the affected birds die; those who don't become carriers.
THE strange death of 11 seagulls in Aylesbury remains unresolved this week, despite investigations by wildlife experts.
The Bucks Herald launched an inquiry after we were contacted by a number of readers who discovered the dead birds - all in the Southcourt area of the town.
BANGKOK - Nearly half of the world's waterbird species are in decline, mostly because of rapid economic development and the effects of climate change, according to a global survey released Tuesday.
The fourth Waterbird Population Estimate found that 44 per cent of the 900 species globally have fallen in the past five years, while 34 per cent were stable, and 17 per cent rising.
