Food for Thought
“I swear there is no greatness or power that does not emulate those of the earth, There can be no theory of any account unless it corroborate the theory of the earth, No politics, song, religion, behavior, or what not, is of account, unless it compare with the amplitude of the earth, Unless it face the exactness, vitality, impartiality, rectitude of the earth.”
Walt Whitman
Category Archives: Biodiversity
Safety in numbers . . . of species
[Hot off the presses, from Eurekalert. Also covered in Science Daily and various other venues. ] Will loss of plant diversity compromise Earth’s life-support systems? Meta-analysis and reflections on two decades of biodiversity research provide some answers and reveal new … Continue reading
Who pays for overfishing? Poor people in Africa (and elsewhere)
[Based in part on my evaluation for the Faculty of 1000, accessible only by subscription I'm afraid] The pervasive detrimental impacts of overfishing on marine life and ecosystems have been widely publicized in recent years, ratcheting up calls for stricter … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Oceans, Science, Sustainability
Tagged economics, fishing, food, population, research
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The future of marine fish
[This article was an invited piece for the American Institute of Biological Sciences' Action Bioscience online site. I had occasion to mull its content afresh recently after a visit to the University of British Columbia's Fisheries Centre, whose "Sea Around … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Oceans, Sustainability
Tagged fishing, food, natural capital, research, restoration
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Autumn falling
Just now I felt the need, as I sometimes do, to just step outside and stand quietly for a while. Letting my breathing and heart rate ease into a quieter rhythm, allowing the soft breeze to wash away the cloud … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Biophilia, Timberneck Biodiversity Restoration Project
Tagged soul
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The world with us
Alan Weisman recently published a book that got a lot of press attention for its novelty idea of considering The World Without Us — that is, what earth would look like if some unlikely event wiped out humans and left … Continue reading
Networking the Natural Patriot
One of these days I really have to write another real post, instead of sending out hat tips to other sites (as important as that is), rehashing my own posts under different cover, and other sleight-of-hand. But for the moment, … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Biophilia, Blogospheria, Politics, Sustainability
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Le Carnaval du Bleu
. . . is up at Cephalopodcast — this month’s round-up of blue bloggers (meaning ocean-themed, as opposed to morose and crooning about lost love or some such ill).
Posted in Biodiversity, Biophilia, Blogospheria, Oceans
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Algae to the rescue: the egg hatches
[Over the last year, through a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, euphoria and despair, exciting breaks, wild goose chases, dead ends, dark nights of the soul, and so on, we have been working to develop a project to employ … Continue reading
Approaching the ultimate limits?
As an academic ecologist researching or teaching about ecosystems, a common dilemma is the issue of how to define the boundaries of a system. Where, for example, does the Chesapeake Bay end and the Atlantic begin? What is the edge … Continue reading
Can religion save the world?
I mean the natural world here. Yes, the suggestion might at first seem counterintuitive (perhaps even obscene) given the fierce opposition to any restraint on rapacious commerce and “development” that became, rightly or wrongly, intertwined with fundamentalist religion in the … Continue reading
