Ecology and the Environment

I feel really out of place here so I apologize but the only good insect forum wants phone numbers and emails and reasons for joining. Just out of options of where to ask This was about 5 inches long.

Has any authority made a calculation re the levels of atmospheric CO2 which would come about if ALL carboniferous fossil fuel ( coal , oil etc ) left in the world was combusted ? Also any predicted effect on climate . All such fuel is a product of photosynthesis millenia ago & that required CO2 which means CO2 must have been much higher then & perhaps climate much hotter . I know it was but how much hotter ------

Have they invented fossil fuel free car yet? A car that runs on solar energy or electricity or something green? I know the answer is obviously 'yes' but I'm wondering how much milage can one get out of it and how cheap is it to use and maintain? In other words, would it be to the advantage of the average consumer to purchase one?

I don't know how solutions to reduce carbon dioxide are applicable to real life solutions. However, I have just read another potential solution (below) which, to my eyes, seems to be a bit difficult to take out of the laboratory to a large scale. I would also like others, more expert than my self, to please post possible solutions and appropriate references. It may then be possible to suggest three possible real-life solutions by the end. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20090416/twl-environment-us-carbon-singapore-1202b49.html

Hello, I am currently undertaking a MSc project at Imperial College and want to find out the opinions of members of the public, field sports enthusiasts and falconers on taking birds of prey from the wild in the UK. It would really help me a lot if you could please take 10 minutes to fill out this simple questionnaire which asks for your opinions on various issues concerning birds of prey in the UK. Please do not discuss this matter in this thread, as this would bias my results (people might change their minds after reading other people's thoughts on the matter). Also, as this survey is vital for my project and I really need a lot of responses, I hope you don't mind …

Most people don't know about the delicate microscopic ecosytem of food related cycles until it is too late. You must always give back to the earth everything you take from it. By neglecting this age old wisdom you cause imbalances with the spores. The spores then mutate in order to counter the imbalances and we end up with disease. By sacrifcing 10% of everything you take you satisfy the earth's desire to be replenished and keep the spores from mutating into something undesireable, like disease. Use this method with everything we consume: lay out 10% on the earth in an open area where it won't be disturbed by anyone or anthing. Keep any scavengers, like birds, rodents, et…

Question Explain the surface process by which material that originated in grainte may eventually accumulate as a mud. Weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition (750 words) So far I have: Granite, an igneous rock is formed deep within the Earth and cooled very slowly, to contain large crystals; quartz, white feldspar and mica. Physical weathering, heating & cooling produce forces in the rock, expansion & contraction stress the rock. Eventually the forces begin to split the mineral form each other allowing water to seep along the grain boundaries. Freezing and thawing then liberates the grains. Once it's broken up, chemical weathering get…

Hello all, while climbing Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, my hiking party came across a stream coming from melting snow. I collected some of the water and later examined a sample under a microscope. Among a host of other microbes and giardia contamination, I found several star shaped microbes in the water. I cannot identify these microbes nor find any literature describing them. Anyone have an idea of what we're looking at here? Picture taken at 60x magnification Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hello Is there anyone who could identify the dung beetles I collected from cattle dung in Northern Greece? Do you have any suggestions about books for their biology and ecology? I uploaded 4 pictures Thanks a lot

I have had deep conflict with Mokele who refuses to honor my sound communications with several other species. I hearby report my terror over many past years of sleeping on a mattress on a wood floor, one hundred miles from the southern Oregon coast, upon occasioanally waking up to grinding sounds. I have moved into a new house twenty miles away. At the end of February one night I awakened to the grinding of one two-second pulse, followed by another which slightly lurched my body east and west and ended with a creak from the house settling, a one-two-three. OK I am drinking a little too much, though waking up happy. I emailed my classmate Scott who's an M.D. in Color…

Branded companies like Reva, BPL,FM joined hand this Earth Day for a better and a healthier living environment. Good work.Let's all join hands in this useful cause for a better living..

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=36699 2008 was the coolest year since 2000. NASA attributes this primarily to large areas of the Pacific Ocean being cooler than the long-term average due to a La Niña episode that began in 2007.

We read of the high cost in global warming gasses from beef farming and consumption, and I almost never eat it. My local supermarket just put on sale, for $3/lb., frozen buffalo burgers. I enjoyed a luscious one last night, and I am snorting happily. Can folks help me compare buffalo farming, which is spread around the northwest US (at least), on the issues of warming? If I feel good about it I'll put a few 2 lb. boxes in my freezer!

Recycled products help to reduce the usage of virgin materials. We should buy products that can be recycled.So,lets conserve energy and make our Earth green.

I want to calculate the Importance Value Index (IVI) of fungi isolated from different natural habitats soil,Index of dominance .Please send me the formula with example.

Few days ago, I read an article that talked about the ill effects of incandescent light bulbs. So, I decided to replace them with CFLs only to discover that they do not work as efficiently as expected. To add to this I also discovered that it contains toxic substances like mercury and if broken should be handled with care. Totally confused!! Someone recommended that I replace CFLs with LEDs. Do you think it’s a better option?

So I'm writing a paper, and I look outside the window and see snow. Now, it's April, it's cold, and it's snowing. Snowing hard, and the flakes are much larger than they've been all winter. It's not really accumulating, but it's been coming down for almost an hour. I live in the East Coast of the States, and we haven't gotten snow after March in quite a while. I don't know much (anything) about weather or meteorology so I'm curious as to why this is happening. Any explanations?

What if there was a way to tap into the magma at Yellowstone as an unlimited source of energy for the entire North American continent? Is there a way to "disarm" Yellowstone to release the inexorable energy build-up, and use the energy at the same time? What I envision, if possible, is a way to allow Yellowstone to "let off steam" at a steady rate so it won't explode, and use the energy to generate electricity for the USA? It would require a lot of exploration and testing to find a safe way to tap into Yellowstone. A series of either small nuclear or conventional explosives could open a passageway for the magma and allow a giant magma gyser on the surface where …

Is it possible to make giants plants or fruits by treating them with growth hormon ?

I have a swimming pool. Of course algae is always a problem and I use chlorine and copper sulphate together with maintaining the proper pH to keep it under control. However, I'm wondering whether algae could simply be electrocuted? Obviously there would need to be extremely careful controls but would dipping the positive end of a 220v AC cable into the water at one end of the pool and the negative at the other end, then turning on the power for a few seconds kill algae? I've spent some time searching the Internet for any reference to using high voltage electricity as an alternative method of controlling algae but have found nothing.

In Southwest Oregon, Josephine County has given its Soil and Water Conservation Service $85K for small farm canola crop planting. Described as useful for marginal soils without irrigation (a spring crop, I guess?) this is being supported also by a Eugene-based Northwest Seed Crushers Company who will actually contract to farm your little 5- or 10-acre field, if not contract for your seed crop to crush for oil. My colleague solidspin who is actually into the biodiesel industry deeper than you can imagine, says yes but soybeans are what I need for biodiesel. Stay tuned, folks. For optimum fuel-oil soybeans, but canola yields oil and also feedstock-grade meal. Merg…

Hi, I'm new to this site, and wanted to get some opinions from people about rivers and building developments. I'm doing some research looking at the kinds of developments that get built close to rivers, and what kinds of things get taken into account by the planners, developers, etc - environmental and ecological concerns, for instance? (I imagine that concerns for the local environment or ecosystems often comes a poor second to economics, but maybe I'm wrong!) Does anyone have experience of this? Perhaps something through work or personally? My work is in the UK, but I would be interested to hear about experiences in other countries too. Thanks for any thoughts peopl…

Hello, I was trying to measure the bulk density of soil samples taken by root auger of diameter 7.5 cm at 2 depths 0-10, 10-25 cm. I did not dry the whole sample for bulk density measurements because I had to take sub samples for other analysis from the same soil. I used the following formula for calculating it but my bulk density values are coming very high. Is someone can tell me whether I am using the right formula or not. % soil moisture=(Wet wt. of subsample-Dry wt. of subsample/Dry weight of subsample)*100 Dry weight of whole soil= (Fresh wt of whole soil/% soil moisture+100)*100 BD=Dry wt of whole soil/volume. Thanks,

When we work for long hours under a CFL Lamp, it weakens our eyes and affects our health.It contains toxic substances like mercury which can lead to cancer. Guess its time for us to replace CFL bulbs for LEDs

does anyone kno what are the importance sof water holding capacity and air contnt???!?!?!?!?