Captain Compassion wrote:

On Tue, 21 Mar 2006 13:05:05 -0800, "Erik A. Mattila"
<eam@nospamimpix.com> wrote:

Captain Compassion wrote:

On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 14:35:28 -0800, "Erik A. Mattila"
<eam@nospamimpix.com> wrote:

Captain Compassion wrote:

On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 17:48:31 GMT, "Taylor" <123@456.com> wrote:

"Captain Compassion" <daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net> wrote in message
news:pipt121khp818ve9hvni159jqstd51hp90@4ax.com...

Humans spur worst extinctions since dinosaurs: UN
Reuters ^ | 3-20-06 | Alister Doyle

Humans are responsible for the worst spate of extinctions since the
dinosaurs and must make unprecedented extra efforts to reach a goal of
slowing losses by 2010, a U.N. report said on Monday.

Habitats ranging from coral reefs to tropical rainforests face
mounting threats, the Secretariat of the U.N. Convention on Biological
Diversity said in the report, issued at the start of a March 20-31
U.N. meeting in Curitiba, Brazil.

"In effect, we are currently responsible for the sixth major
extinction event in the history of earth, and the greatest since the
dinosaurs disappeared, 65 million years ago," said the 92-page Global
Biodiversity Outlook 2 report.

A rising human population of 6.5 billion was undermining the
environment for animals and plants via pollution, expanding cities,
deforestation, introduction of "alien species" and global warming, it
said.

It estimated the current pace of extinctions was 1,000 times faster
than historical rates, jeopardizing a global goal set at a 2002 U.N.
summit in Johannesburg "to achieve, by 2010, a significant reduction
in the current rate of biodiversity loss."

"Unprecedented additional efforts' will be needed to achieve the 2010
biodiversity target at national, regional and global levels," it said.
The report was bleaker than a first U.N. review of the diversity of
life issued in 2001.

NOT ABATING

According to a "Red List" compiled by the World Conservation Union,
844 animals and plants are known to have gone extinct in the last 500
years, ranging from the dodo to the Golden Toad in Costa Rica. It says
the figures are probably a big underestimate.

"The direct causes of biodiversity loss -- habitat change,
over-exploitation, the introduction of invasive alien species,
nutrient loading and climate change -- show no sign of abating," the
report said.

Despite the threats, it said the 2010 goal was "by no means an
impossible one."

It urged better efforts to safeguard habitats ranging from deserts to
jungles and better management of resources from fresh water to timber.
About 12 percent of the earth's land surface is in protected areas,
against just 0.6 percent of the oceans.

It also recommended more work to curb pollution and to rein in
industrial emissions of gases released by burning fossil fuels and
widely blamed for global warming.

The report said, for instance, that the annual net loss of forests was
7.3 million hectares (18 million acres) -- an area the size of Panama
or Ireland -- from 2000-2005. Still, the figure was slightly less than
8.9 million hectares a year from 1990-2000.

And it said that annual environmental losses from introduced pests in
the United States, Australia, Britain, South Africa, India and Brazil
had been estimated at more than $100 billion.

About 300 "invasive species" -- molluscs, crustaceans and fish -- have
been introduced to the Mediterranean from the Red Sea since the late
19th century when the Suez Canal opened.

It gave mixed overall marks for progress on four key goals.

It said there was "reasonable progress" toward global cooperation but
"limited" advances in ensuring enough cash and research. It estimated
that annual aid to help slow biodiversity losses sank to $750 million

from $1 billion since 1998.

And it said there was "far from sufficient" progress in better
planning and implementation of biodiversity decisions and a "mixed"
record in better understanding of biodiversity.



--
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance

"Civilizaton is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.

"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce

"Long term commitment in relationships is only necessary because it takes
so damn long to raise children. Marriage may well be some kind of trick
to keep the males around beyond sexual satiation." -- Captain Compassion

"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant

Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net

If it's between us or them, I vote us.

I second the motion.

I read a graffitti on a restroom wall in Klamath, CA once: "***** the
Redwoods - let's cut them all down."

Or a Florida developer who was quoted "Who gives a ***** about some
species of bird."

But interestingly, the feds defined the "public value" of the migratory
bird sanctuary in Sonny Bono's (R-CA) Salton Sea restoration project as
an "aesthetic value". Now, take the misses out for a romantic encounter
with a beautiful sunset at your favorite parking lot.

I was down there a couple of weeks ago and there is nothing aesthetic
about the Salton Sea.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Cap'n. The smell of well seasoned
Limburger Cheese is an "acquired" taste. But I do like the birds down
here. And the southern Salton Sea's bird sanctuary attracts many bird
watchers - a small but important niche of Imperial County's economy.

A freshly irrigated alfalfa field teaming with Ibis, Curlews, Igrets is
pretty cool, even when it's hot. And then there's the occassional
Roadrunner. Personally, I hope the little critters make it.

The Salton Sea is dying. It was at one time a great place to fish but
now is nearly dead. No more 100 Corvina days. It grows too salty.
maybe it's time to flood it again.

Aldo Leopold has a chapter on the delta in his "Sand County Almanac."
It was pretty awesome - the largest "desert wetland" in the world.
There were Jaguars there until the late 30s. Also a unique species of
deer, which I think has survived in the San Pedro Martir mountains
behind San Felipe (which the Mexican Government has turned into a
protected biosphere along with the northern gulf.

Salton Sea (or Lake Cahuilla) has come and gone many times since the
beginning of the Pleistocene. Apparently, when the Spaniards first came
to the area the lake was about half dried up since the river had
meandered back south. It's interesting to look at the old maps - the
sixteenth c. maps show the delta, with a short river winding north to a
large lake. It was word of mouth information, I think. The Indian's
(probably Cucapah) told the Spaniards about it.

One of the key guys in the irrigation project was Oliver Wosencraft, who
earlier was one of the three Indian treaty commissioners, working in
Northwest California, and who facilitated the genocide in the region.
When he first moved to the Imperial Valley, he worked on an project to
convince California to divert the Colorado and flood the whole valley.
If he had succeeded, I would be writing this 130' underwater right now.
But when someone figured out how to get the water over here from
Yuma, he abandoned the plan and went for irrigation.

But you can still get fresh Corvina in San Felipe. Very delicious. But
then you have to put up with those friggen 4 wheelers that are crawling
all over town like giant cucaraches. But Corvina, Tecate and 2 cycle
fumes make an interesting flavor, I must say.

Captain Compassion wrote:

On Tue, 21 Mar 2006 13:05:05 -0800, "Erik A. Mattila"
<eam@nospamimpix.com> wrote:

Captain Compassion wrote:

On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 14:35:28 -0800, "Erik A. Mattila"
<eam@nospamimpix.com> wrote:

Captain Compassion wrote:

On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 17:48:31 GMT, "Taylor" <123@456.com> wrote:

"Captain Compassion" <daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net> wrote in message
news:pipt121khp818ve9hvni159jqstd51hp90@4ax.com...

Humans spur worst extinctions since dinosaurs: UN
Reuters ^ | 3-20-06 | Alister Doyle

Humans are responsible for the worst spate of extinctions since the
dinosaurs and must make unprecedented extra efforts to reach a goal of
slowing losses by 2010, a U.N. report said on Monday.

Habitats ranging from coral reefs to tropical rainforests face
mounting threats, the Secretariat of the U.N. Convention on Biological
Diversity said in the report, issued at the start of a March 20-31
U.N. meeting in Curitiba, Brazil.

"In effect, we are currently responsible for the sixth major
extinction event in the history of earth, and the greatest since the
dinosaurs disappeared, 65 million years ago," said the 92-page Global
Biodiversity Outlook 2 report.

A rising human population of 6.5 billion was undermining the
environment for animals and plants via pollution, expanding cities,
deforestation, introduction of "alien species" and global warming, it
said.

It estimated the current pace of extinctions was 1,000 times faster
than historical rates, jeopardizing a global goal set at a 2002 U.N.
summit in Johannesburg "to achieve, by 2010, a significant reduction
in the current rate of biodiversity loss."

"Unprecedented additional efforts' will be needed to achieve the 2010
biodiversity target at national, regional and global levels," it said.
The report was bleaker than a first U.N. review of the diversity of
life issued in 2001.

NOT ABATING

According to a "Red List" compiled by the World Conservation Union,
844 animals and plants are known to have gone extinct in the last 500
years, ranging from the dodo to the Golden Toad in Costa Rica. It says
the figures are probably a big underestimate.

"The direct causes of biodiversity loss -- habitat change,
over-exploitation, the introduction of invasive alien species,
nutrient loading and climate change -- show no sign of abating," the
report said.

Despite the threats, it said the 2010 goal was "by no means an
impossible one."

It urged better efforts to safeguard habitats ranging from deserts to
jungles and better management of resources from fresh water to timber.
About 12 percent of the earth's land surface is in protected areas,
against just 0.6 percent of the oceans.

It also recommended more work to curb pollution and to rein in
industrial emissions of gases released by burning fossil fuels and
widely blamed for global warming.

The report said, for instance, that the annual net loss of forests was
7.3 million hectares (18 million acres) -- an area the size of Panama
or Ireland -- from 2000-2005. Still, the figure was slightly less than
8.9 million hectares a year from 1990-2000.

And it said that annual environmental losses from introduced pests in
the United States, Australia, Britain, South Africa, India and Brazil
had been estimated at more than $100 billion.

About 300 "invasive species" -- molluscs, crustaceans and fish -- have
been introduced to the Mediterranean from the Red Sea since the late
19th century when the Suez Canal opened.

It gave mixed overall marks for progress on four key goals.

It said there was "reasonable progress" toward global cooperation but
"limited" advances in ensuring enough cash and research. It estimated
that annual aid to help slow biodiversity losses sank to $750 million

from $1 billion since 1998.

And it said there was "far from sufficient" progress in better
planning and implementation of biodiversity decisions and a "mixed"
record in better understanding of biodiversity.



--
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance

"Civilizaton is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.

"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce

"Long term commitment in relationships is only necessary because it takes
so damn long to raise children. Marriage may well be some kind of trick
to keep the males around beyond sexual satiation." -- Captain Compassion

"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant

Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net

If it's between us or them, I vote us.

I second the motion.

I read a graffitti on a restroom wall in Klamath, CA once: "***** the
Redwoods - let's cut them all down."

Or a Florida developer who was quoted "Who gives a ***** about some
species of bird."

But interestingly, the feds defined the "public value" of the migratory
bird sanctuary in Sonny Bono's (R-CA) Salton Sea restoration project as
an "aesthetic value". Now, take the misses out for a romantic encounter
with a beautiful sunset at your favorite parking lot.

I was down there a couple of weeks ago and there is nothing aesthetic
about the Salton Sea.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Cap'n. The smell of well seasoned
Limburger Cheese is an "acquired" taste. But I do like the birds down
here. And the southern Salton Sea's bird sanctuary attracts many bird
watchers - a small but important niche of Imperial County's economy.

A freshly irrigated alfalfa field teaming with Ibis, Curlews, Igrets is
pretty cool, even when it's hot. And then there's the occassional
Roadrunner. Personally, I hope the little critters make it.

The Salton Sea is dying. It was at one time a great place to fish but
now is nearly dead. No more 100 Corvina days. It grows too salty.
maybe it's time to flood it again.

My one and only foray into duck hunting took place down there at a
refuge called Wister (if memory serves) about 35 years ago. Probably
the closest I've ever been (or ever want to be) to a gaggle of gun
toting republicans.

One poor duck wandered overhead, passing over two jettys that had the
look of anti-aircraft batteries and soon sounded like same. Everyone
had wandered out there before dawn, in a heavy damp fog and took a
spot. When the sun came up they (we) were elbow to elbow and when that
poor duck got hit he set his wings and every hunter that had taken a
shot was yelling "my duck" "my duck" and running out into the mud,
hoping, it seemed, to have the wounded duck land in their arms. Great
comedy.