Tag Archives: nature

Fall Back Tonight

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Unless you happen to glance at the clock on your oven first before any other clock, you may just feel a bit more rested tomorrow morning.  Daylight Saving Time is pretty much non-news now, with phones and computers automatically correcting the time.  Unless that is, you utilized the extra “fall-back” hour for and extra couple rounds before last call tonight, and if you do, well played, well played, indeed.

Brief History:

Benjamin Franklin has been credited with the idea of Daylight Saving Time, but Britain and Germany began using the concept in World War I to conserve energy, the Washington Post observes. The U.S. used Daylight Saving Time for a brief time during the war, but it didn’t become widely accepted in the States until after the second World War.

In 1966, the Uniform Time Act outlined that clocks should be set forward on the last Sunday in April and set back the last Sunday in October.

That law was amended in 1986 to start daylight saving time on the first Sunday in April, though the new system wasn’t implemented until 1987. The end date was not changed, however, and remained the last Sunday in October until 2006

Today, Daylight Saving Time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. The time change will precede the first day of spring and the vernal equinox, which is set to take place at 1:14 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 20.

Not a fan of Daylight Saving Time? Don’t worry: You can resume your normal schedule on Nov. 4.

Lonesome George, famed Galapagos tortoise, dies

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I met Lonesome George about ten years ago when I was on the Galapagos Islands.  He was inside the Charles Darwin Research Center on Santa Cruz Island.  It is sad to think that he was the last of his kind and now he is gone.

QUITO, Ecuador— The giant tortoise Lonesome George, whose failed efforts to produce offspring made him a symbol of disappearing species, was found dead on Sunday, officials at the Galapagos National Park announced.

Lonesome George was believed to be the last living member of the Pinta island subspecies and had become an ambassador of sorts for the islands off Ecuador‘s coast whose unique flora and fauna helped inspire Charles Darwin’s ideas on evolution.

The tortoise’s age was not known but scientists believed he was about 100, not especially old for giant tortoises, who can live well over a century. Scientists had expected him to live another few decades at least.

Various mates had been provided for Lonesome George after he was found in 1972 in what proved unsuccessful attempts to keep his subspecies alive.

He lived at a tortoise breeding center on the archipelago’s island of Santa Cruz. He was found Sunday morning in his pen by his longtime keeper, Fausto Llerena, the park said in a statement.

The park said the cause of his death would be investigated.

The Galapagos’ giant tortoise population was decimated after the arrival of humans but a recovery program run by the park and the Charles Darwin Foundation has increased the overall population from 3,000 in 1974 to 20,000 today.

via Lonesome George, famed Galapagos tortoise, dies – latimes.com.

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Irrawaddy Dolphin: New Endangered Animal for 2012

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All any of us should ever want or hope for from our lives is to leave the world better than how we found it.  That should be everyone’s ultimate goal.  Protecting creatures that cannot protect themselves is part of making a better world.

The Irrawaddy Dolphin inhabits a river in the province of Kratie and Khone Falls on the border of Laos (Asia). There are only 85 of these left worldwide. Entanglement in fishnets and degradation of habitats are the main threats to Irrawaddy dolphins. Conservation efforts are being made at international and national levels to alleviate these threats.

Protection from international trade is provided by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Enforcement, though, is the responsibility of individual countries. While some international trade for dolphinarium animals may have occurred, this is unlikely to have ever been a major threat to the species.

Some Irrawaddy dolphin populations are classified by the IUCN as critically endangered; in Lao PDR, Cambodia, Viet Nam (Mekong River sub-population), Indonesia (Mahakam River sub-population, Borneo), Burma (Ayeyarwady/Irrawaddy River sub-population), the Philippines (Malampaya Sound sub-population), and Thailand (Songkhla Lake sub-population). Irrawaddy dolphins in general however, are IUCN listed as a vulnerable species, which applies throughout their whole range. In 2004, CITES transferred the Irrawaddy dolphin from Appendix II to Appendix I, which forbids all commercial trade in species that are threatened with extinction.

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Bluefin Tuna: New Endangered Animal for 2012

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All any of us should ever want or hope for from our lives is to leave the world better than how we found it.  That should be everyone’s ultimate goal.  Protecting creatures that cannot protect themselves is part of making a better world.

With its meat used in the preparation of sushi, the fishing industry continues to harvest 60,000 tons each year.

Overfishing continues despite repeated warnings of the current precipitous decline. In 2007, researchers from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)—the regulators of Atlantic bluefin fishing—recommended a global quota of 15,000 tonnes to maintain current stocks or 10,000 tonnes to allow the fisheries recovery. ICCAT then chose a quota of 36,000 tonnes, however surveys indicated that up to 60,000 tonnes was actually being taken (1/3 of the total remaining stocks) and the limit was reduced to 22,500 tonnes. Their scientists now say that 7500 tonnes is the sustainable limit. In November, 2009 ICCAT set the 2010 quota at 13,500 tonnes and said that if stocks were not rebuilt by 2022 it would consider closing some areas.

In 2010, Greenpeace International added the northern bluefin tuna to its seafood red list.

On March 18, 2010 the United Nations rejected a U.S.-backed effort to impose a total ban on Atlantic Bluefin tuna fishing and trading. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) vote was 68 to 20 with 30 European abstentions. The leading opponent, Japan, claimed that ICCAT was the proper regulatory body.

In 2011, the USA‘s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) decided not to list the Atlantic bluefin tuna as an endangered species. It is still considered a “species of concern,” but NOAA officials claimed that the more stringent international fishing rules created in November 2010 would be enough for the Atlantic bluefin tuna to recover. NOAA agreed to reconsider the species endangered status in 2013.

The easiest way to help is to not support any sushi restaurant that sells Atlantic Blue Fin and tell them why.

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Asian Elephant: New Endangered Animal for 2012

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All any of us should ever want or hope for from our lives is to leave the world better than how we found it.  That should be everyone’s ultimate goal.  Protecting creatures that cannot protect themselves is part of making a better world.

Inhabiting the jungle in southern Asia, these elephants are endangered due to habitat destruction and poaching for their desired tusk. Besides habitat loss and poaching, fencing along the India-Bangladesh border has become a major impediment to the free movement of elephants.

The major threat facing the Asian elephant today is habitat loss resulting from deforestation.[31][32] Other causes include poaching for ivory, isolation of elephant populations and human-elephant conflict.

Development such as border fencing along the India-Bangladesh border has become a major impediment to the free movement of elephants.

How you can help

  • Don’t buy ivory products. Illegal trade in elephant ivory is a continuing problem, posing one of the greatest threats to elephants today.
  • Adopt an elephant: WWF-US & International | WWF-UK | WWF-Canada
  • Spread the word! Click on the button to share this information with others via email or your favorite social networking service.
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Daylight Saving Time – Not So Secret Obsession

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Unless you happen to glance at the clock on your oven first before any other clock, Sunday morning will just seem like a bit sleepier and maybe later than usual.  Daylight Saving Time is pretty much non-news now, with phones and computers automatically correcting the time.  I mostly look at the time down in the lower right hand corner on the news station I watch in the morning and that will have changed.  In slightly related news, last night, I had a dream that I bought a wifi-enabled coffee maker.  Even knowing at the time, my dream self thought it was a little too far, but I could start the coffee maker from an app on my phone.  Providing I had done on the required prep work the night before, of course.

Daylight Saving 2012: Start Date, History And Fun Facts.

Welcome spring weather with the start of Daylight Saving Time.

At 2 a.m. on, Sunday, March 11, 2012, most U.S. residents will set their clocks ahead one hour for the beginning of Daylight Saving Time.

However, not all states will observe the time change. Residents of Arizona, Hawaii and U.S. territories Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands will remain on their normal schedules.

About 75 countries and territories have at least one location that observes Daylight Saving Time, according to TimeandDate.com. Conversely, 164 don’t observe the time change at all.

Daylight Saving Time gives way to longer days, but some won’t be too delighted to lose an hour of sleep. In fact, some scientists suggest the ‘spring-forward” time change disrupts sleep and could pose health risks, such as heart attacks.

Brief History:

Benjamin Franklin has been credited with the idea of Daylight Saving Time, but Britain and Germany began using the concept in World War I to conserve energy, the Washington Post observes. The U.S. used Daylight Saving Time for a brief time during the war, but it didn’t become widely accepted in the States until after the second World War.

In 1966, the Uniform Time Act outlined that clocks should be set forward on the last Sunday in April and set back the last Sunday in October.

That law was amended in 1986 to start daylight saving time on the first Sunday in April, though the new system wasn’t implemented until 1987. The end date was not changed, however, and remained the last Sunday in October until 2006

Today, Daylight Saving Time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. The time change will precede the first day of spring and the vernal equinox, which is set to take place at 1:14 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 20.

Not a fan of Daylight Saving Time? Don’t worry: You can resume your normal schedule on Nov. 4.

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Dick Proenneke – Style Icon

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Who doesn’t love a recluse?  Especially one that is not writing a manifesto and sending letter bombs, but is simply building a log cabin in the Alaska wilderness and talking to himself.  A lot.  I will watch this series on PBS whenever it is on, it is my “Law and Order,” so to speak.  The take away from Dick’s story is that he did all this after he retired, so it is never too late to follow your dreams.  Ladies and gentlemen, Dick Proenneke.  Style Icon.

Born: May 4, 1916 Primrose, Harrison Township, Lee County, Iowa
Died: April 20, 2003 (aged 86) Hemet, Riverside County, California, USA
Residence: Twin Lakes, Alaska
Occupation: naturalist, carpenter, mechanic
Awards: 1999 National Outdoor Book Award

Richard Louis “Dick” Proenneke (born May 4, 1916 – April 20, 2003) was an American naturalist, who lived alone in the high mountains of Alaska at a place called Twin Lakes. Living in a log cabin he constructed by hand, Proenneke made valuable recordings of both meteorological and natural data.

On May 21, 1968, Proenneke arrived at his new place of retirement at Twin Lakes. Before arriving at the lakes, he made arrangements to use a cabin on the upper lake of Twin Lakes owned by a retired Navy captain, Spike Carrithers, and his wife Hope from Kodiak, (in whose care he had left his camper). This cabin was well situated on the lake and close to the site which Proenneke chose for the construction of his own cabin. Proenneke’s bush pilot friend, Babe Alsworth, returned occasionally to bring food and orders that Proenneke placed through him to Sears.

Proenneke remained at Twin Lakes for the next 16 months, when he left to go home for a time to visit relatives and secure more supplies. He returned to the lakes in the following spring and remained there for most of the next 30 years, going to the lower 48 only occasionally to be with his family. He made a film record of his solitary life, which was later recut and made into a documentary, entitled Alone in the Wilderness. It has aired on PBS numerous times. In 2011, a sequel was produced after it was revealed Proenneke had shot enough footage for at least two more programs. Alone in the Wilderness: Part 2 premiered for the first time on December 2, 2011. A premiere date for Part 3 has yet to be announced.

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