| First gray wolf legally killed in U.S. after nearly 40-year ban This summer, hunters in Idaho have snapped up nearly 11,000 tags that confer permission to hunt the 850 or so gray wolves that now live in the state thanks to a reintroduction program in the region started in 1995. Idaho--whose governor "Butch" Otter once vowed to be first in line for the permits--will allow 220 wolves to be killed for the bargain basement price of just $11.75 while neighboring Montana will permit 75 starting September 15. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Study estimates hot air released by the U.S. health care system What does the U.S. health care system have in common with cattle farms and power plants ? It is responsible for a fair chunk of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. The system, especially via hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry, contributes 8 percent of those climate-warming gases, according to a study published in the November 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association . [More] rss.sciam.com |
Bear-Proof Can Is Pop-Top Picnic for a Crafty Thief A smart bear regularly defeats a complex device, meant to protect campers’ food, that even some people can’t open. nytimes.com |
World's rarest tree gets some help The tree species known only as Pennantia baylisiana could be the rarest plant on Earth. In fact, the Guinness Book of World Records once called it that. Just a single tree exists in the wild, on one of the Three Kings Islands off the coast of New Zealand, where it has sat, alone, since 1945. It didn't used to be so solitary, but humans introduced goats to the island, which ate every other member of its species.Over the last few decades, scientists have tried to create more P. baylisiana trees, but aside from getting cuttings to grow, simple biology got in the way: The tree was thought to be female, and it appeared to need a male to properly generate fruit and seeds. [More] rss.sciam.com |
Greenhouse Gas Emission Cuts Promise Health Benefits Upping the European Union's emissions reduction target from 20 percent to 30 percent would reap €30.5 billion a year in health savings by 2020, according to an analysis released Tuesday by two health groups.The savings come as the air pollutants associated with transportation and power generation - soot, smog and sulfur dioxide - decrease amid efforts to improve efficiency and abandon fossil fuels, according to the analysis. [More] Air pollution - Greenhouse gas - European Union - Fossil fuel - Environment rss.sciam.com |