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Earth A Live: Focus on environment
Roads: enemy of the environment
Roads have long been considered the environment’s enemy, creating (literal) avenues for deforestation and development. Now, it seems, they are also to be blamed for another major environmental woe: invasive species.
According to recent studies conducted at the University of California at Davis, new roads are one of the quickest ways to introduce non-native species to an area, at a tremendous cost to the local flora and fauna. The studies found that invasive species are more likely to be found near roads, and that they spread further with every improvement to roadways, such as grading or paving. Not only does vehicular traffic provide a way for non-native species to hitchhike into a new area; the roads themselves create a welcoming environment for unwanted species.
Non-native species are considered one of the greatest threats to forests and rangelands in the US, invading 1.7 million acres every year.
Trash-to-treasure
Pennsylvania State University undertook a massive new recycling programme — not for paper or plastics or food waste, but for the mammoth piles of stuff that students leave behind at the end of every school year, from sneakers to TVs to sofas.
The end-of-term junk problem grew into a major headache on US campuses during the 1990s, as students brought more and more stuff with them to school. Many colleges and universities just toss the left-behind items into dumps, but Albert Matyasovsky of Penn State couldn’t bear to see all of those useful goods sent to landfills, so last year he funnelled the detritus to the campus stadium for a massive flea market. This “trash-to-treasure” sale raised $15,000 and is now set to become an annual event. Other colleges are partnering with a Massachusetts’ nonprofit organization called “Dump and Run” that helps them set up a system for collecting student cast-offs, selling them, and channeling the proceeds toward nonprofits.
Air pollution can provoke heart attacks
Minor increases in urban air pollution can provoke heart attacks, new international research indicates. A study of seven European cities and regions, including London, Madrid, Paris, and Rome, found that when sulphur dioxide levels rose even slightly, hospital visits for coronary problems increased over the following 48 hours. The research, published in the European Heart Journal, is expected to put pressure on government officials to further crack down on polluters.
“When this link between pollution and heart disease was first seen, everyone thought there had been some mistake,” said Jon Ayres of Aberdeen University. “But we are now building up a body of evidence that there is an effect, and at quite low levels.”
Waterless urinal
Speaking of water conservation, a waterless urinal designed by a Los Angeles company could save some 40,000 gallons per year for each model installed. The device resembles a conventional urinal, except that atop the drain is a plastic cartridge with an oil-like liquid seal that prevents unsavoury odours from escaping while urine flows to the sewer system. No flush needed. About 259 fixtures were installed last year. But the L.A. plumbing code requires that all sanitary devices be hooked up to a water supply. When two city council members recently tried to change the rule, they ran into opposition from the city Department of Building and Safety as well as from the plumbers and pipe-fitters unions. They say the consumer should not be exposed to an insanitary condition because of panic over water conservation. But the maker of the urinals argues that the devices are completely sanitary and plans to keep pressing for changes to building codes.
Big apes mix gorilla and chimp qualities
A population of great apes living in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo have stumped experts. The Bili forest primates look like giant chimpanzees but act like gorillas.
Since 1996, wildlife photographer and conservationist Karl Ammann has been collecting samples of skulls, hair, and feces along with footprints and photographs to try to identify the mystery apes. He even recovered one skull that had the prominent brow ridge of a gorilla but otherwise looked like a chimpanzee skull. So far, Ammann deduced that the apes eat mainly fruit, which is characteristic of chimps, not gorillas.
Experts suspect they may be a previously unknown culture of chimps that nests on the ground like their larger relatives.
Alternatively, they may be a whole new subspecies of great ape. Initial results from hair DNA analysis seem to indicate that the animal is a chimpanzee. But the jury is still out.
The writer works in Communications for IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Pakistan.
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