Death, Doom and Destruction. And Plankton.

Re-entering the blogosphere....compute...compute.


Oh, goodness.
That Marley...she's just a failure.
Yes, I know.
I know that no one reads this thang anyway, but at least it functions to keep me informed...
When I do it on time.
Ah, well.




So, giant wombats.
Also known as Diprotodon.
Good or bad?
Well you don't really have to worry about that; they're all dead.
And a lovely mass grave was found recently with at least 50 of these massive marsupials.
This can reveal a lot about them not previously known, such as sociology, ecology, and other fun things.
Huzzah!

Diprotodon.



Tasmanian wombat.




http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/mass-grave-giant-wombats-discovered-australia-201621035.html;_ylt=AmaAsrALM9XhLYEI0x9nY8jtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTNxZHJyMnRrBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBPZGRVU1NGBHBrZwM4YmJlYTBhZS01NmY5LTM1M2YtYmVlZi01OGI1NzQ4Zjk1ZTYEcG9zAzkEc2VjA3RvcF9zdG9yeQR2ZXIDNDZmMTlhMjEtYmJlMS0xMWUxLWJlMzMtZmU2NWRjMzk3NTYy;_ylg=X3oDMTFtOW42ZDltBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lfG9kZARwdANzZWN0aW9ucw--;_ylv=3






From North Carolina to Boston, sea changes are more rapid than anywhere else in the world.
This is a result of none other than global warming.
In a single area in Virginia, sea levels since the 1990's have risen almost 5 inches.
I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but...
Bad.
And by 2100, estimates show that global sea levels could increase by over 3 feet.
Ocean currents may be slowing due to global warming, and this is especially evident in the Northeast.
Zis is nott gut.

http://news.yahoo.com/sea-rise-faster-east-coast-rest-globe-172002416.html;_ylt=AmpnVN367tmedTzKga12o0kPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTN0ZDdrMnI1BG1pdANKdW1ib3Ryb24gU2NpZW5jZVNGBHBrZwM0ZWJjMTExNC0wODg3LTNlZjMtYjhjZi1hOWIwMmMxNDk4NjkEcG9zAzEEc2VjA2p1bWJvdHJvbgR2ZXIDODlhOTJmMzEtYmUyMS0xMWUxLWJmZjctY2MyMmY2NmE1YjYx;_ylg=X3oDMTFsMmxkdGs2BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3






So, plankton hunting.
Not sure why it's so difficult, if they have satellites to take pictures of and track them.
Not to mention their fluorometers, which measure chlorophyll levels in the water.
All good points, all good points.
But wait, unsuspecting reader!
There are many species of plankton that can show up on these readings, not just Ehux, the specific one they are finding for viral research.
Not to mention the satellite data is usually 24 hours old, and by the time they track down the plankton blurbs, they may have drifted away.
So, kudos to anyone trying to track Ehux in a pile of the most numerous creatures in the ocean.
Kudos.

Emiliania huxleyi, or Ehux.

Ehux bloom off the southern coast of Cornwall.

http://news.yahoo.com/plankton-hunting-part-art-part-science-150000821.html;_ylt=Ao8CXli4ipMtJ68vlZdgkOEPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTNzc3ZlOG81BG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YEcGtnA2QxYjVlNWVhLTMzOGItM2ZkNS1iZDJlLWRiNDkxNDQwODY4MwRwb3MDMwRzZWMDdG9wX3N0b3J5BHZlcgMxMWFlNmYxMS1iZTI0LTExZTEtYmZlZi1mOWRiNDQ2NTY5Y2E-;_ylg=X3oDMTFsMmxkdGs2BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3


More on these lovely little creatures:

http://www.soes.soton.ac.uk/staff/tt/






The world's last Pinta Island giant tortoise, Lonesome George, died yesterday at the ripe age of more than 100 years.
The poor fellow simply couldn't find a mate, though his keepers in the Galapagos islands tried putting several mates for him (from different subspecies) in his enclosure in the hopes that he'd reproduce.
No such luck, and with his death comes the end of a species.

http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/24/12386484-lonesome-george-last-of-its-kind-galapagos-tortoise-dies






Thilafushi is one of many in a small island chain known as the Maldives.
Now, before we get too far into this, know that the Maldives are gorgeous.
They are also a fragile ecosystem.
They are dangerously close to sea level, which makes life difficult if they have an influx of storms.
Therefore, when matters get worse, such as one island becoming a pile of refuse, other issues come up.
330 tons of garbage are dumped here every day, and then either burned or dumped into the lagoon (asbestos and lead are two prominent dumpees).
This...is awful.
Environmental experts have harshly criticized this, and measures must be taken against it.

Thilafushi, or Rubbish Island.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-2162653/Maldives-island-paradise-Thilafushi-trashed-reduced-pile-rubbish.html

Science can save species and end pollution.
But we have to help it along. *cough* Thilafushi *cough*


Science.  Sometimes it is sad.