Ecology and the Environment

Ecology and the Environment Ecology and the Environment

Background:

In the past half-century or so, our American awareness of ecology and the environment has grown from being obscure esoteric knowledge of a few biologists and dedicated nature lovers into a sort of mass consciousness. Now we are aware that our actions, our creations, our chemicals, our pesticides all may have an effect on the world's overall environment.

Hands off the Canadian Geese Hands off Canadian Geese

Just say no to aerial pesticide spraying of the San Francisco Bay Area with Checkmate. No aerial spraying

Create Hetch Hetchy National Park Create Hetch Hetchy National Park

The new polyethylene-covered plastic-coated city park in Clayton, California the polyethylene plastic park in Clayton, CA

Google search engine adds a bird-killing industrial wind turbine to its corporate logo Google wind turbines

Bird-killing guillotines in Berkeley? Industrial wind turbines in Berkeley? Published by the Berkeley Daily Planet as a commentary in April 2006.

Life in the coming post-petroleum oil-free second Stone Age: Many experts say that we have already consumed over half of the world's known oil reserves and that we are rapidly using up the rest: Our coming life without oil: oops, no gasoline, no cars, no SUVs, no more commercial fertilizers, no more food transport, no more computer chips, no more personal computers and no more plastics... Post-petroleum stone age

Herbiciding "non-native" Smooth Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) in salt water marshes in Alameda, California with Imazapyr. Herbicides vs. Cordgrass

Representative Pombo is trying to do a kind of reverse Noah's Ark, a Pombo's Ark, where the endangered species are thrown overboard two-by-two. Pombo's reverse Noah's Ark

Modern industrial windmills are just bird-killing and bat-killing machines. Windmills

Ammonium perchlorate (NH4ClO4), the oxidizing agent in solid rocket fuel, has been found in ground water, lettuce, cows' milk and now mothers milk across the USA. : Ammonium perchlorate

Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) Monarch Butterfly

Hands off our Farallones Islands National Wildlife Refuge Hands off our Farallones We environmentalists won: One of the original two backers of the bill (Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.VA) dropped his support on 18 February 2005. The other original backer of the bill, Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA), dropped his support on 18 April 2005.

On the possible restoration of the beautiful Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park Hetch Hetchy Valley

PCBs in Polar Bears:

The most recent depressing bit of news was published in the Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, California) on 29 June 2003 that gave light to a recent scientific study of the manmade chemicals now being carried in the flesh and blood of Polar Bears (Urus maritimus) in the far North. PCBs, DDT, toxaphene, dieldrin and chlordane are all found in their fat tissues. See article, "Far from cities, polar bears share toxic load," by Maria Cone, Contra Costa Times, 29 June 2003, pageA10. (This article was originally published in the New York Times).

The Amber Waves Organization expresses its opposition to the use of Genetically Modified Rice to produce pharmaceutical drugs The Amber Waves Organization expresses its opposition to the use of Genetically Modified Rice to produce pharmaceutical drugs

Some useful early and modern reference books on ecology and the environment:

Buchsbaum, Ralph, Basic Ecology, 1957. Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania and Carmel, California: Boxwood Press, A nice book on ecology and natural interrelationships among plants, animals and the physical environment.

Carson, Rachael, Silent Spring, 1962. An instant classic about the serious negative effects of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides (DDT in particular) on American bird life. It was poohpoohed by corporate and government critics at the time, but this book was right on the money.

Storer, John H., The Web of Life, 1953. New York: The New American Library of World Literature, Inc. (A Signet Key Book).

Colborn, Theo; Dumanoski, Dianne; Myers, John Peterson; Our Stolen Futures : are we threatening our fertility, our intelligence, and our survival? - a scientific detective story, 1996. New York: Dutton.

Ehrlich, Paul R.; Ehrlich, Anne H.; The Population Bomb, 1969. Another classic book on the enviromental effects of the growth of human population by Stanford University Biology Professors.

Ehrlich, Paul R.; Ehrlich, Anne H.; The Population Explosion, 1990. A second classic book on the enviromental effects of the growth of human population by Stanford University Biology Professors.

Note: If these books are not available at your local library, you may be able to get them through the inter-library loan (ILL) program for a nominal charge. These books may also be available used at the ABEbooks web site, which has the listings of hundreds of book dealers around the world: ABEbooks search

Ecology links:

ecology.com (may be a little sluggish in opening up) ecology.com

Ecology WWW page: Ecology WWW page

The Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand

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Web page last updated on 21 March 2008.