Some news from the planet about the planet.
Water tank = mosquito-birthing centre. Just when you thought you were doing the right thing, scientists from Melbourne University have found that human behaviours could help disease-carrying mosquitos to multiply, spreading scourges like dengue fever. According to The Oz, the study’s authors say that “while we predict that climate change will directly increase habitat suitability [of Aedes aegypti mozzies] throughout much of Australia, the potential indirect impact of changed water storage practices by humans in response to drought may have a greater effect.”
Water tanks and “other water storage vessels, such as modified wheelie bins” are potential breeding sites for “this disease-bearing mosquito”, says lead researcher and zoology lecturer Michael Kearney. Seems almost Unaustralian really. So if you want to collect water, it’s apparently best to use a tank that’s properly sealed, rather than makeshift options like wheelie bins or buckets.
Could emperor penguins be in trouble? Times online is reporting that, according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), if rising temperatures continue to melt sea ice at current rates, the population of a large emperor penguin colony in Terre Adelie, Antarctica, will shrink from 3,000 to just 400 breeding pairs. And if that happens, the trend is likely to be replicated, devastating the population worldwide.
No more frog legs for you. Apparently humans’ taste for frogs is helping to wipe out populations, along with toxins and habitat destruction. “International trade in frog meat represents 200 million to 1 billion frogs eaten each year, or about 11,000 tons of frog meat,” says Discovery News. The biggest frogophiles are the French, naturellement, but America is the second biggest frog-eating nation. Via Treehugger.
