Old Village Green Hill wallpaper, Global warming impacting blue mussel, Whooping cough returns

Old Village Green Hill wallpaper

Too hot to handle: Impacts of climate change on mussels

Climate change is causing higher air and water temperatures along the east coast of the United States. These changes have shrunk the geographic region where blue mussels are able to survive, according to findings by University of South Carolina researchers published in the Journal of Biogeography. Mytilus edulis, or blue mussels, a popular seafood, used to live along the East Coast as far south as Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, but now exist only as far south as Lewes, Delaware, according to Sierra Jones, a PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences at USC.

A Canadian government report from 2003 showed the commercial value of that year’s blue mussel harvest to be over C$30 million. Not an insignificant amount of money for those who make their living harvesting and selling blue mussels.

Georgia scientists: Gulf oil not gone, 80 pct remains. Some reports had previously stated the oil had either dissolved or been absorbed by dispersants.

Deadly Whooping Cough, Once Wiped Out, Is Back

California is in the midst of its worst outbreak of whooping cough in a half-century. More than 2,700 cases have been reported so far this year — eight times last year’s number at this point. Seven of the victims, all infants, have died.

….The California epidemic has raised plenty of questions about the role of vaccination and the increasing numbers of parents who decide not to vaccinate their children. California’s Department of Public Health cites three schools in the state where 80 percent of parents have signed a “personal belief exemption” to keep their children from being vaccinated.

…In the background, he says, parents see a frightening increase of autism, coupled with reports of a potential link to vaccinations.

“All of that has stopped parents in their tracks from wanting to take any chance that they were going to expose their child to something that might be dangerous,” Karp says. “I totally understand that. The good news is — we have a large body of information now to show zero association between vaccines and autism.”

They may have meant well, but the anti-vaccine contingent has been thousands of lives at risk all without any empirical evidence. A British doctor often cited by anti-vaccine activists was recently barred from practicing medicine in England – “The council said he had shown “a callous disregard” for the suffering of children involved in his research.” Whooping cough is not just for children, adults can catch it too.

Unfortunately this report on the discovery(or final confirmation) of a new species of new world primate is only available via pdf, Callicebus caquetensis: A New and Critically Endangered Titi Monkey from Southern Caquetá, Colombia

Abstract: We describe a new species of titi monkey Callicebus (Primates: Platyrrhini) from the Department of Caquetá, Colombia, that belongs to the Callicebus cupreus group. Diagnostic characteristics: it is similar in fur color to C. ornatus and C. discolor, but has no white band on the forehead as in C. ornatus and C. discolor, and the hands and feet are not white as they are in C. ornatus. The karyotype of this species is 2n = 46, and very similar to that published for C. cupreus. Comparing it to neighboring species, it is more similar cytologically to C. discolor than to C. ornatus. It should be classified as Critically Endangered (CR) due to the severe fragmentation of its habitat and very small population.

….Common name. This monkey is called “macaco” throughout its known distribution, although some use the name “tongo” in the La Solita creek. “Huicoco” is also used, as it is for Callicebus torquatus which García found at the headwaters of La Solita creek. We recommend “Caquetá titi monkey” in English.

There are more photos and some nice maps in the pdf.

President Obama Pushes Green Energy Made in America

On Monday, Obama touted his ideal green energy plan that includes American-made programs and materials.

On President Barack Obama’s tour yesterday of a Wisconsin renewable energy site, he discussed the importance of clean energy manufacturing and automobiles with a “Made in the United States” stamp, according to an Associated Press report.

The president sounded optimistic that the U.S. would be a leader in hybrid and electric vehicle batteries. We’ll soon be producing 40% of the world’s supply of high-tech batteries. Just a few years ago the U.S. was only manufacturing about 5%.