Environmental News

@hill let him take his day off to burnish status as ... that which it may be. I need to put time into global plant herbivory for a manuscript about larger questions.

Peace out.

 

[CO2] has been consistently monitored at high elevation in Hawaii since 1958. First by Keeling the Elder then Keeling the Younger.
Current Administration seems to plan to discontinue support:

Trump administration's proposed NOAA cuts threaten decades-long CO2 data collection, scientist says - CBS News

While this could be painted as a very bad thing, I doubt it will end. On the govt side it has high status (we care ... no, really). On the private side, it is such an icon that I feel confident that new funding would appear if needed. Corporations having conscience, greenwashing their products, call it what you like.

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At some point in 1970's I think, parts of govt wanted to defund this, but other parts prevailed in favor of it. I think this project is bulletproof.

Your bullets may vary.

 

This modification of wood chemically removes some lignin, then compresses wood with heating. Other modifications of wood fill the tubular holes in xylem with various chemicals. I don't know that any process has emerged as a clear winner.

Plywood and its thicker relative, cross-laminated timber, leaves wood unmodified but creates layers of different orientations.

Wood in natural form does what trees need, but not everything that people need of it.

My favorite from long ago was fiberglass infused wood used for making drum sticks. We used them in marching band. Also if one set then on fire, the flames would persist while playing (essentially waving sticks in the air). We enjoyed that, but the band director did a bit less.

 

Mites (Acari) are abundant, diverse, and the second-most troubling disease vector after mosquitoes. Those I am known to hate.

But mites are beneficial to many plants by eating many plant problems. Readers might enjoy:

Mighty mite defense systems: More mites, more protection for plants

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First mite domatia I learned of was on grape leaves. A topic I avoided discussing with people who use grape leaves to wrap foods.

 

Water stories from Gizmodo. Big:

Mega-Tsunamis That Shook the World for 9 Days Revealed in New Satellite Images

Little:

Texas Woman Dies From Brain-Eating Amoeba After Using Tainted RV Water

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Not a netti-pot user, but dang folks, your brain is just on other side of a bunch of 'vascular'. Use clean water.

 

An enemy of mosquitoes is a friend of mine:

Scientists develop 'mosquito STD' to combat malaria

 

Super good question! Cerebral blood-brain barrier excludes too-large stuff brought up by carotid arteries, and should certainly exclude ~10 micron-size amoeba. I think we are seeing here bypass of BBB by nasal sinus arteries (contents). Naegleria fowleri have done this nasally before. Not very many times, happily.

Swimming in fresh (not sea) water, not a pool with blasting by chemicals, one might pinch nostrils shut. It's you inside of there and it ought not be them.

 

That analysis is off limits to me, but general ideas have been around for a while. Some species pollinate plants (we may consider that 'noble'), but not plants that require specialized pollinators. So that function could be performed by other insects.

Nearly all (it seems) of ~3500 mosquito species feed on blood. About 10 species specialize on human blood. As they typically take more than one meal, they move little bits of blood from one person to another. Thus act as disease vectors, and kill more humans than any other critters. Realize if they were just 'one and done', we would not be in this fight.

Making extinct the 10 human problem species is not a permanent solution because some of the other 3490 ish species could switch to us. No, we got ta snuff them all.

Let other pollinators fill the gaps. Some animals get much of their protein from mosquitoes. Well, boo hoo. Learn to eat something else.

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Other arthropod species feed on blood; some flies, some ticks and some unholy homopterans. Some of those are also disease vectors. We'll get to them later.

Humans have never been shy about snuffing other species inimical to the human enterprise. Don't 'grow a conscience' with this gang.

 

"Realize if they were just 'one and done', we would not be in this fight." Quoting myself

Leeches do this singular feeding. As such, they take yer blood without disease vectoring. Not a really nice thing (I have been leeched) but they show it can be done without those consequences.

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No discussion like would be complete without vampire bats. Multi-feeders and disease vectors. They inspire many dramatic stories. Bat-fear and bat-hate comes from them. Let that drama guide your thinking about 'Mosquitoes? yes or no?'