Masinagudi, Tamil Nadu
Bird of the Day: Leaf Bird
Masinagudi, Tamil Nadu
Ornithological Climate Change Indicators
Map showing peafowl-sightings between 1990-2010 (Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society)
Map showing peafowl-sightings in Kerala between 2010-2015 (Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society)
Few of our readers will fail to notice that eBird and Citizen Science are important elements of the RAXA Collective DNA. Stories related to Kerala and the state’s healthy birding population are equally on our radar.
The folks at India Climate Dialogue recently turned to eBird observations to document changes in climate patterns in Kerala, an important watershed state for the Indian subcontinent using peafowl population as one of the indicators. Especially during mating season, the birds find it difficult to move their trailing feathers in areas of dense foliage, so they’re attracted to drier climactic areas. The eBird data above illustrates their movement into Kerala, meaning more areas are opening up.
High heat in February-March is not unusual in Kerala, and in reality it is this heat trough that pulls the monsoon from Indian Ocean into the Indian subcontinent. The heat epicentre heralds the monsoon and runs like a pilot car through the peninsula, taking the same path that the southwest monsoon will follow a few months later. Since the southwest monsoon starts from the coast of Kerala, it is the state that has to feel the heat first, so that pre-monsoon showers start in May and the monsoon arrives in June. Continue reading
Boquete and Barú
The first waterfall on the Lost Waterfalls Trail
During Easter weekend, I took an eight-hour bus ride from San José, Costa Rica to David, Panama, and then a 45- to 60-minute bus ride from David to Boquete, a mountain town in the foothills of Barú, Panama’s only volcano and the country’s highest peak at 3,474 meters above sea level. Barú Volcano National Park is adjacent to the international park that Costa Rica and Panama share, called La Amistad (The Friendship), though it is far smaller than La Amistad, at around 14,000 hectares compared with 207,000. I was joined on the four-day weekend trip by my friend and coworker, Jocelyn, who had never been to Panama before, and we enjoyed hiking the conservation areas above the town of Boquete, admiring the many waterfalls in the region and also looking for the high-elevation bird species native to the cloud forest, many of which are endemic to Costa Rica and western Panama, as I wrote in my previous volcano-related post.
In addition to the national park, which charges $5 for entrance and has two main trails (one to the peak of the volcano, which takes about five hours to ascend, and one across the forest and part of the mountain ride, called Sendero Los Quetzales), there are some private forest reserves that charge a small admission fee. One is called the Lost Waterfalls Trail, which features three cascades and costs $7; another is called the Pipeline Trail, which follows a series of water tubes to the source and costs $3.
Medicine Crow, Last War Chief of his Tribe, Dies at 102
Barack Obama reaches around the headdress of chief Joseph Medicine Crow to place a 2009 presidential medal of freedom around his neck. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP/The Guardian
The history and rights of Native Americans in the United States have held interest for us over the years, with our last story mentioning a tribe being early last month, in reference to buffalo hunting near Yosemite. Yesterday, the great Crow tribe historian, war chief, and historian Joseph Medicine Crow, who was also a second world war veteran, a holder of the presidential medal of freedom, and a nominee for the congressional gold medal, passed away at 102 years old. Aisha Gani reports for the Guardian:
Medicine Crow, who was raised by his grandparents in a log house in a rural area of the Crow Reservation near Lodge Grass, Montana, wore his war paint beneath his second world war uniform.
As a child, Medicine Crow listened to stories about the Battle of Little Bighorn – the conflict that pitted federal troops led by Lt Col George Armstrong Custer against native Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. He translated for his great uncle, White Man Runs Him, when white reporters came to interview him about the battle, and would go on to become a lifelong emissary between the Crow community and white Americans.
Fighting Food Fraud
Food fraud is a common issue all over the world. Inspectors of veterinary services and fraud inspect seafood products at the Rungis international market, located near Paris. Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images
In just under four minutes, this story (National Public Radio, USA) gives a cogent briefing on one dimension of food transparency, a topic commonly addressed in these pages:
If you’ve been following any of the big news stories on food fraud lately — you’ll know that it’s tough to know what exactly is in our food — and where it’s been before it makes onto our dinner plates.
Earlier this year, Wal-Mart was sued for stocking tubs of Parmesan cheese that contained wood pulp filler. Olive oil is often mixed with sunflower oil and sold as “extra virgin.” And you might recall the great European horse meat scandal of 2014: Traces of horse meat were found in Ikea meatballs and Burger King beef patties, in cottage pies sold at schools in Lancashire, England, and in frozen lasagna sold all over Europe.
And that’s “just the tip of the iceberg,” says Chris Elliott, the founder of the Institute for Global Food Security, a laboratory in Northern Ireland that tests food from all over the world in order to uncover fraud. Continue reading
Sumatran Rhino Siting In Borneo
A rhino in the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park, Indonesia (2008). Photo credit: Willem v Strien / Greenpeace
Thanks to EcoWatch for this remarkable news:
An excited World Wildlife Fund (WWF) team released details of how the female rhino was safely captured in East Kalimantan (part of Indonesian Borneo) last month and has now been transported to a more protected region. Over the last few years, evidence from camera traps and footprints has indicated that these rhinos still survived in Borneo’s forests, but this is the first known encounter with a live animal since the early 1970s. Continue reading
Strange Brew
“Mezcal makes you cry, sing, dance, hug the neighbor you just met an hour ago.” ILLUSTRATION BY BJORN LIE
One more gem from the magazine issue that most recently also brought you this, and this:
Mezcal Sunrise
Searching for the ultimate artisanal distillate.
BY DANA GOODYEAR
Bricia Lopez is the mezcal queen of Los Angeles. Five years ago, Lopez, who is thirty-one and imposingly savvy, persuaded her father to let her build a mezcal bar at Guelaguetza, the restaurant that he opened when the family moved north from Oaxaca, a center of mezcal culture, in the mid-nineties. He didn’t know if Americans would like mezcal, or if Mexicans would admit that they did. But he decided to trust Bricia, and she focussed her offerings on premium mezcals—high proof, small lots, no worm. At that point, there were only a handful of brands on the market. Since then, mezcal imports have spiked, and labels have proliferated. Lopez now carries thirty. When I visited her at the bar the other day, she was in the midst of a renovation, doubling its size. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Snowcap Hummingbird
Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica
Architectural History, Revised
Thanks to the Guardian for this unexpected revision to our architectural history–click above to go to a four and a half minute video explaining:
Fifty-seven years after Jørn Utzon commissioned the work, a 6.5-square-metre wool tapestry by the Swiss-French architect, designer and painter Le Corbusier has been finally unveiled in its intended home. Jan Utzon (the son of Sydney Opera House architect Jørn Utzon), Lasse Andersson (Head of Exhibitions, Utzon Center) and others reveal the untold story of a collaboration between two of the 20th century’s greatest architects, for one of the 20th century’s greatest buildings
Bird of the Day: Black-hooded Oriole
Koratty, Trichur District, Kerala
Not A Cute Cat Video
It is science, folks. Thanks to BBC Earth, here we ask for a minute and a half of your time in the interest of understanding exactly how cats do what they do. As we see it, this may translate into your future action in the interest of conservation of their natural habitat (the wild cats, of course, not the backyard bird-eating domestic variety):
How do cats always land on their feet?
This cat not only defies gravity but lands again safely and it all happens in less than a second
Caracals are expert bird hunters, capable of catching them in mid-flight with incredible leaps. Continue reading
Waste Not, Want Not Tiger Habitat
A tiger wades into the waters of Raj Bagh lake in Ranthambhore tiger in Rajasthan, India. Conservationists warn ‘tiger corridors’ connecting habitats across Asia are crucial for the survival of the species. Photograph: Aditya Singh/Alamy
From today’s Guardian in the Environment section, some welcome news on one of our most posted-on topics:
Forests still large enough to double the world’s tiger population, study finds
Satellite maps show tiger habitat is being lost but still adequate for meeting international goal of doubling tiger numbers by 2022
Forests that harbour tigers are being lost but are still large enough to take double the world’s tiger population in the next six years, according to a study using new satellite mapping technology. Continue reading
Climate Handshake
Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with U.S. President Barack Obama at a press conference following their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 12, 2014. Photo credit: Xinhua / Liu Weibing
Thanks to EcoWatch, as usual, for keeping us up to date on all things climate change-related:
The two nations will also “take their respective domestic steps in order to join the agreement as early as possible this year” and urge other countries to do the same, “with a view to bringing the Paris agreement into force as early as possible.”
The presidents also indicated that they are planning agreements to limit aviation emissions and the powerful greenhouses gases known as HFCs. Experts and environmental groups are heralding the announcement as a “significant” step, saying that the U.S.-China commitment sends a “strong signal” to other countries.
Here’s the U.S.-China joint presidential statement on climate change:
1. Over the past three years, climate change has become a pillar of the U.S.-China bilateral relationship. Both countries have taken strong measures at home to build green, low-carbon and climate-resilient economies, helping galvanize global action to combat climate change and culminating in the Paris Agreement reached last December. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Common Wood Pigeon – coming in for the kill!
London, England
With Quinoa, All’s Well Only If It Ends Well
A man holds Peruvian quinoa. New studies of detailed data gathered by Peru’s government find that the global quinoa boom really was good both for Peruvians — both those who grow it and those who eat it. Juan Karita/AP
Thanks to National Public Radion (USA)’s Salt program for this important update:
Your Quinoa Habit Really Did Help Peru’s Poor. But There’s Trouble Ahead
The price of quinoa tripled from 2006 to 2013 as America and Europe discovered this new superfood. That led to scary media reports that the people who grew it in the high Andes mountains of Bolivia and Peru could no longer afford to eat it. And while, as we reported, groups working on the ground tried to spread the word that your love of quinoa was actually helping Andean farmers, that was still anecdote, rather than evidence.
Continue reading
Non-metaphorically Strange Fruit
A mix of tropical and hybrid fruits recently available in the United States. Credits: Photograph by Anthony Cotsifas. Styled by Michael Reynolds. Retouching: Anonymous Retouch. Prop assistant: Caleb Andriella. Photo assistants: Karl Leitz and Jess Kirkham. Fruit courtesy of Melissa’s Produce and Frieda’s Specialty Produce.
From the New York Times, the most unusual short news feature we have seen in some time just came to our attention. An April Fool’s item, perhaps? Click to the end of the story to see these “fruits” identified:
In a world of very few absolutes, here is one: Nature has no more perfect offering than fruit, nothing that seems better engineered to delight and entice humankind’s every sense. But of course, the real purpose of fruit is not to make humans happy, but to make more fruit: While it is the result of a relentless biological process that we happen to enjoy, the creation of fruit itself — from its larval stage as a flower to its dropping from the tree or bush onto the ground and growing into a new tree or bush — would go on whether we were there to appreciate it or not. Continue reading
UberPool’s Social and Environmental Impacts
For “baby boomers” the concept of car pooling is a standard one – and not just for over-scheduled kids being taken to after school soccer, dance and music classes. In the mid-20th century fewer people owned a car, and if they did it was one per family, so it was a common occurrence for friends or neighbors to coordinate their morning commutes. Augmented by public transportation, those trips were part of the community fabric.
As the now global Uber app continues to both expand and adapt to the market’s changing demands and needs, it’s possible that UberPool may have both social and environmental impacts.
Unlike a standard Uber ride, in which a single rider starts a one-time trip, UberPool works like a party line for cars. Travis Kalanick, Uber’s co-founder and chief executive, describes it as the future of his company — and thus the future of transportation in America.
Call up the app, specify your destination, and in exchange for a significant discount, UberPool matches you with other riders going the same way. The service might create a ride just for you, but just as often, it puts you in a ride that began long ago — one that has spanned several drop-offs and pickups, a kind of instant bus line created from collective urban demand…
…Mr. Kalanick said it was likely that soon, in big cities and even in many suburbs, most Uber rides will be pooled, meaning each Uber car will be serving more than one rider most of the time.
If that occurs, and if Uber continues growing at its breakneck pace, it would represent a momentous transformation in how Americans get around. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Common Shelduck
Gazaldoba, Siliguri, West Bengal
Not So Surprisingly, An Awesome Podcast
After a few of us listened to the first few podcasts recommended in this earlier post, we started poking around the Gimlet website. We found this. Wow. Did you see the movie called The Big Short? If so, and if you found it awesome, there is a high probability that this podcast will work for you. Both Adams worked together on that film, one as the improbable director (whose other movies, all lowbrow forms of “humor” you would not have seen promoted on this site) who showed a level of genius transforming dry into crisp; the other was an advisor on the film because of his proven ability to make dry money-related things seem crisp. So, no huge surprise that they can make unlikely topics pop. Continue reading
Sustainable Socks
Raymond McCrea Jones for The New York Times
News about socks? News about the deep south of the USA? Both seemed unlikely to show up on these pages until just a few minutes ago. And then we read this, and it fits the news we can use test:
Organikos 