Ecoclimax

We examined data on intelligence, longevity, genetic ailments and other markers to create a “data-score” and then plotted it against public popularity of various breeds, according to the American Kennel Club. Via informationisbeautiful.net

A global map of drought risk has been elaborated at the sub-national administrative level. The motivation for this study is the observation that little research and no concerted efforts have been made at the global level to provide a consistent and equitable drought risk management framework for multiple regions, population groups and economic sectors. Drought risk is assessed for the period 2000–2014 and is based on the product of three independent determinants: hazard, exposure and vulnerability. Drought hazard is derived from a non-parametric analysis of historical precipitation deficits at the 0.5°; drought exposure is based on a non-parametric aggregation of gridded indicators of population and livestock densities, crop cover and water stress; and drought vulnerability is computed as the arithmetic composite of high level factors of social, economic and infrastructural indicators, collected at both the national and sub-national levels. The performance evaluation of the proposed...

All the trash in the ocean could circle the Earth 425 times. With 192.8 million pounds of plastic (or 2 trillion individual pieces), the North Pacific represented nearly one-third of plastic pollution in all oceans. Up to 70 percent of this trash sinks to the ocean floor. Via vox.com

Using temperature data from 1860 to 2005 as a baseline, climate departure describes the point In time that the average temperature of the coolest yea r after 2005 becomes warmer than the historic average temperature of the hottest year, for a specific location. Via washingtonpost.com

A new study by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers shows that buds burst earlier in dense urban areas than in their suburban and rural surroundings. Via wattsupwiththat.com

National Geographic Consumer Greendex, a scientifically derived sustainable consumption index of actual consumer behavior and material lifestyles across 18 countries. We will continue to track the Greendex over time, including comparability across the selection of countries representing both the developed and developing world. An exploration of consumers’ intentions to improve their habits in this year’s Greendex study also reveals that those in Latin America and India appear to be the most easily influenced to change when informed about their personal impact on the environment. Results also show that consumers who already display behavior that is relatively sustainable and are told that their behavior is above average from an environmental point of view are more motivated to improve their behavior further than are consumers who display less sustainable habits. This suggests that positive reinforcement is likely a powerful tool for enabling behavior change among consumers. v...

The animation shows the salinity crisis of Messiniense in the Mediterranean Sea, that took place in the Miocene geological era, characterized by the accumulation of masses of salt on its bottom and probably including a period of almost complete desiccation. A possible cause of the subsequent closure of the connection with the Atlantic is the removal of plaque collapsing (slab rollback) during a phenomenon of subduction in combination to the change of sea level. Following the complete closure between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea the level of the Mediterranean Sea dropped rapidly just because there was no supply of water coming from the Atlantic. The rivers that flowed into the sea, began to run the seabed creating deep ruts and waterfalls in its delta. The evaporation produced the storage of large amounts of salt on the sea bottom. Presumably, during the period in which the level of the Mediterranean Sea was 1500-1200 meters lower than today, some mammals pa...

The Amazon rainforest, often referred to as the "lungs of the Earth," plays a crucial role in regulating the planet's climate and biodiversity. However, this vital ecosystem faces significant threats from deforestation . According to a 2015 article by the Washington Post , approximately 1,228 square miles of Amazon rainforest were cut down that year alone. This alarming rate of deforestation has severe implications for the environment, both regionally and globally. A Brief History of Amazonian Deforestation Amazonian deforestation has fluctuated over the years, with various economic, political, and environmental factors influencing the rate at which forests are cleared. The peak of Amazonian deforestation occurred in the early 2000s, with 2004 marking a particularly devastating year when over 10,000 square miles were deforested. Since then, efforts by the Brazilian government and international organizations have helped reduce deforestation rates, but challenges remain....

Estimates % of adults who think global warming is happening. Via environment.yale.edu

Blue-wined teal relative weekly abundance.

Related posts: -  A tiny house in Portland can follow the sun

The Urban Displacement Project is a research and action initiative of UC Berkeley in collaboration with researchers at UCLA, community based organizations, regional planning agencies and the State of California’s Air Resources Board. The project aims to understand the nature of gentrification and displacement in the Bay Area. It focuses on creating tools to help communities identify the pressures surrounding them and take more effective action. Regions across California began to implement their Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCS) in compliance with Senate Bill 375 to implement the state’s global warming act (AB32 of 2006). Since then, communities have been increasingly concerned about how new transit investment and related infill development will affect the lives of existing residents, particularly low-income communities and communities of color. With the funding from the California Air Resources Board as well as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Urban Displacement...

Every two and a half minutes, a football field's worth of open, natural area in the western United States disappears to human development. Click anywhere on the map to explore how and why open lands in the West are disappearing so quickly. " Los Angeles In 2011, human development covered 42.5% of all lands in Los Angeles County, or total of 1,101,508 acres of land. Between 2001 and 2011, the county lost 33,508 acres of natural areas to development. The proportion of natural areas lost each year in Los Angeles County is 107.7% higher than the annual rate of loss in California and 208.8% higher than the annual rate of loss across the West."

Via stri.si.edu

Carnivorous cone snails use a long tentacle-like proboscis armed with a venomous barb to paralyze little fish, and then just open up their maws and swallow them whole. It's terrifying.  

The changing eating habits of the U.S. between 1970 and 2013. Via flowingdata.com

Using NASA airborne radar, scientists have shown the degree to which New Orleans and its surrounding areas are sinking each year. Mostly caused by groundwater extraction. Subsidence rates in New Orleans (2009 - 2012). The red stars represent locations where levees breached during Hurricane Katrina. (Via: NASA/JPL-Caltech, Esri) this elevation-dropping process (subsidence) driven by a combination of both natural and human-caused factors. In New Orleans, it’s caused by groundwater pumping and dewatering (i.e. pumping away surface water to prevent standing water and soggy ground). The most severe sinking was observed upriver along the Mississippi River around major industrial areas, and in Michoud. Both of these areas experience drops of about two inches each year. Other notable drops in elevation were measured in the city’s Upper and Lower 9th Ward, and in Metairie, where the measured ground movements were linked to water levels in the Mississippi River. At Bonnet Carré Spillway ...

Nuclear power contributes only a small share to global energy production. According to World Energy Statistics 2015 published by the International Energy Agency, nuclear power accounts for 4.8 per cent of the total primary energy supply worldwide, far behind oil (31.1 per cent), coal (28.9 per cent), natural gas (21.4 per cent) and even behind biofuels and waste (10.2 per cent). Of the producers of nuclear power, the United States is by far the largest with 33.2 per cent of the world’s total, followed by France (17.1 per cent) and Russia (seven per cent). The UK’s production accounts for just 2.9 per cent. In contrast, France generates the largest share of its domestic electricity generation from nuclear power (74.4 per cent). It is followed by Sweden (43.4 per cent), Ukraine (43.0 per cent) and South Korea (25.8 per cent), while the UK comes fifth with 19.2 per cent. According to a 2014 OECD study, the largest currently known recoverable resources exist in Australia (approximately 2...

Tree fell over and grew two more trees.

Time-lapse video of flowers blooming.

Funny cats around the world. Cat grooming.

Temperature anomalies from April 2016. April 2016 was the sixth month in a row to be more than one per cent above the 1951 - 1980 average.

Successive radar images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite during December 2014 – March 2016 were used to create this spectacular map showing how fast the ice flows on the Antarctic Peninsula. The map was constructed by tracking the movement of ice features in pairs of radar images taken 12 days apart. The Antarctic Peninsula is a narrow mountainous finger or spine of land extending northwards away from the Central Antarctic ice sheet (lower right corner) and comprises the northernmost arm of the Antarctic ice sheet. The colour scale indicates the speed of ice movement in metres per day, ranging from 1 centimetre per day or less in dark blue to up to 1 metre per day in red. The vivid colours trace a complex network of channels along which streams of ice flow from the high mountains down towards the coast where the ice flow speeds up and spreads out into floating ice shelves. The white area on the western flank of the peninsula is where snowfall is likely to have ...

Some people tend to turn a blind eye to animal suffering when it comes to buying leather goods. PETA Asia Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Bangkok teamed up to change this attitude. They opened a fake pop-up shop in one of Bangkok’s most trendy shopping malls and put seemingly ordinary luxury leather goods on display. However, they had a terrifying secret inside. The inside of the bags, shoes, wallets, and other items was the ultimate definition of gore. They contained fake animal flesh, blood, one bag even had a beating heart. Unsuspecting shoppers jumped back in horror, gasping for breath. "Every year, at least 440,000 pythons are caught in the jungles of Southeast Asia". They’re cruelly decapitated. Sometimes they’re even skinned alive… "An average handbag requires the slaughter of not one, but four crocodiles"