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How many more residents can the environment of United States support? That question hasn't been comprehensively studied, but there's a group that says that it should be.
Phil CafaroThe idea of a national study of the environmental impacts of population growth through immigration is not new, notes Phil Cafaro, president of Progressives for Immigration Reform and a Philosophy professor at Colorado State University. He's hoping that it's time is finally arriving.
It should be noted that there are those, including some respected civil rights organizations, who skeptically view Cafaro's organization as a front for deceptive political efforts to "greenwash" immigration politics.
The graph on the left, prepared by Cafaro, shows projected US population gains through the end of this century under four quite different immigration ceilings.
The two components of population growth are immigration and fertility, Cafaro, says, and in the United States' recent past, the two have been compounding.
A complex interaction between native crabs and oysters and invasive Atlantic snails (seen at right) is playing out beneath the waters of Tomales Bay. {mp3remote}http://media.krcb.org/audio/nbr/11-20-12.mp3{/mp3remote}
Dr. David Kimbro has studied the predatory effects of invasive Atlantic snails on native Olympia oysters in Tomales Bay. He explains how they arrived there more than a century ago. {mp3remote}http://media.krcb.org/audio/nbr/movedwest.mp3{/mp3remote}
There also are native Pacific snails in Tomales Bay, but unlike their invasive (or as scientists say "introduced") Atlantic cousins (right), the local snails have learned how to safely coexist with the snail-eating red rock crabs (below). UC Davis biologist Ted Grosholtz explains. {mp3remote}http://media.krcb.org/audio/nbr/avoid.mp3{/mp3remote}
The smaller, green European crab, another introduced species in Tomales Bay, can handle the less salty water in the shallow portions of the bay, but because they will eat a wider variety of foods, these crabs have not developed the same skills for preying on snails that the red rock crabs display.
Not all invasive plant species spread on land. A fast-growing and rapidly reproducing oriental kelp has been found in San Francisco Bay, and could threaten the commercial oyster beds in Tomales.
Dr. Chela Zabin, contemplating one sample of the 900-plus pounds of kelp she and her colleagues eliminated over the last two years. Above: Undaria pinnatifida, grown to maturity. (All images, credit: SERC)When the invasive kelp species, undaria pinnatifida, was first spotted in San Francisco Bay in 2009, having apparently migrated up from southern California, an immediate survey was done to ascertain if it had also spread any further north. The results then were negative, says Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) marine ecologist Chela Zabin, but subsequent monitoring has been less thorough.
There are clear, readily apparent differences between the native kelp of the north coast's submarine "forests" and the oriental invader, as can be seen in these comparative drawings. But Zabin explains, the undaria is similar enough to compete successfully for two important resources.
More information about recognizing and combating undaria pinnatifida can be found here.
Sonoma County has set an ambitious goal for greenhouse gas reductions by 2015. A new report shows that encouraging progress toward that target is being made.
Ann HancockThe linkage between using less electricity and gasoline and curtailing CO2 emissions is direct and easy to understand. Cutting down the waste stream that goes into the county landfill is also important, explains Ann Hancock, executive director of the Climate Protection Campaign in Santa Rosa, but in more ways that may be immediately obvious.
The new Sonoma County Greenhouse Gas Report for 2011 can be read and downloaded here. The chart cummarizing the progress detailed in the report can be seen below. Used with permission
Widely used chemical pesticides that boost agricultural production and assist in landscape maintenance, may also have serious harmful impacts on developing children.
Emily Marquez, Ph.D.For obvious reasons, it's not possible to conduct studies on these questions with human subjects. But biologist Emily Marquez says the animal-based studies that have been done have a strong track record as accurate predictors of the effects the chemicals have on both children and adults.
You can download the full report, A Generation in Jeopardy, How pesticides are undermining our children's health and intelligence, here.
