You make me sick

A type of ocean algae is causing sickness and even death among sea lions and dolphins in the Los Angleles area. The warming of the oceans increases the population of the algae which produce Domoic acid. There were similar outbreaks in 2002 and 2003. Consumers were warned to stay away from locally harvested seafood in case they were contaminated by the acid. See full article at www.enn.com

Take Action!

The GMA (Grocery Manufacturers Association) is attempting to water down the wuality of foods such as chocolate and even some nuts. What will this do to the quality of all foods eventually if they are given the right to do this to some. A research group in Wisconsin has decided to take action and has requested to reopen the proceedings so that the public will be able to voice their opinions on the issue. Let's TAKE ACTION! Visit www.slowfoodusa.org to find out what you can do

Alien "Water Weed" in Africa Choking Lakes, Killing Fish

what this talked about was a lake in Uganda getting strangled by an exotic plan species, and how i effected the community around it.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070502-hyacinth.html

Wind Farms good for the Environment but bad for Ecology

Wind Farms are a very useful way to help the environment because it saves on fossil fuels, but it is killing many birds, and bats. In the next 15 years the Wind Farms could generate 7% of the Nations Electricity. The inpacked on the wildlife habitat worries many scientists. Having these wind-energy had reduced the air pollution, but at what cost to our wildlife? Wind Farms are a great thing, but what about our wildlife they need to matter too.

Washingon will destroy dams to revive a river

This article discusses knocking down two hydroelectric dams along the Elwha River. These dams have been aging for a long time now and since it is so expensive to restore a dam the people of Washington has decided to rip it down. The major thing about knocking this dam down is it's the tallest to ever to come down. Reserchers have said they will pay close attention to the impact of doing this because in the near future many other dams must be destroyed because of no funding to fix the aging dams.

Bee population dying

This article talked about bee and how there numbers, over the last couple years, have been drastically reduced. The article said that there were a couple of reasons for this phenomenon; one of the most important being mites. Mites were accidentally introduced to the US in 1980 and have since caused much damage to bees. The article also touched on how our environment is no longer “bee friendly.”

I think that this is kind of scary. Bees do a lot for our environment and help pollinate a lot of the food we eat, not to mention a lot of the flowers/ plants across the US. Then there is also the whole honey/wax thing… what would we do without honey, bees wax, etc? I think that this is a problem that needs to get fixed; I don’t want a world without flowers :)

http://www.extension.umn.edu/honeybees/components/03-26-2007_whycollapsing.html

Our Home

100 mile per hour winds, two people struck and killed by lightning and one killed in a submerged car, this is what our world is coming to. In Dallas Texas there has been huge storms killing three people so far and destroying homes. How bad will the weather get? This is the outcome we have lead our world to by mistreating it. Want to see a picture? Visit http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,269874,00.html

Earth Day

As we all know or may know, Earth day was just a couple of weeks ago. I really feel kind of sad about the way our country has exploited the planet we live on. When I jumped on the web site below I thought why not sign up and try to contribute and maybe give something back to the planet I've been taking so much from over the years. I know a lot of the problems we face today seem extremely overwhelming but what we all need to remember is we are not alone. By working together as a team, we can and have accomplished a lot of great things. Taking it one day at a time baby.......

http:www.globalwarming101.co/content/8/8889005/

Eat Local

Eating locally food has it's many benefits. Not only is it better for the environment but you know exactly how your food is being produced and where it comes from. I am all for bying locally grown food. check out more at
http://environment.about.com/od/greenlivingdesign/a/locally_grown.htm

Organic Options Growing Across Yale

Yale has convienced it Cooking Staff, it's facility, and it's student body to get on board. They have created a sustainability food project that is working. They are growing there own food, buying from local venders, adding classes to support the project. The Students volunteer to work in the gardens, the cooks are excited about creating new dishes. The school only uses products that are local grown, if the area can't grow it, they don't serve it. It has really created a whole new life style for the college. The change has come full circle from the dining halls, to the student lifes, to the classroom. It is working here, why can't it work in other communities? You really need to read this article, it makes alot of sense.

Where's US CO2 coming from?

Our Field Trip

Class,

We're going to Fort Snelling State Park, just across the Mendota Bridge. We'll meet at the visitor center at the beginning of class where Kao Thao, the Park Guide, will be speaking to us about the history and ecology of the area briefly. We'll leave Kao and the Visitor Center and explore Pike Island, which lies on the confluence of the Minnesota River and the Mississippi River. Each car will need to pay a $5 parking fee, so it'd be more economical to carpool.

Fort Snelling State Park
101 Snelling Lake Road, St. Paul, Minnesota 55111.
tel: (612) 725-2389 or Visitor Center (612) 725-2724

Getting There: Take the Post Road exit off Highway 5 and follow the signs.

Link to the State Park DNR site: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/fort_snelling/index.html

A Google Map of the area: http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&q=hiawatha+park+minnesota&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&om=1&hl=en&t=h&ll=44.890828,-93.173568&spn=0.010504,0.023839&z=16&iwloc=addr

the world IS coming to an end!!!!

Researchers are saying backyard grilling is contributing to heart and lung disease as well as air pollution. What kind of sick world are we living in when something as tasty and indulgent as grilled food items are becoming potentially hazardous to our health and to the health of the planet? I'll tell you what, it is a world I do NOT want to live in. If you can stomach this article then please feel free to read more about it. Acckkk....http://environment.about.com/od/health/a/charcoal_grills.htm

Grist for your projects

Class,

Having a hard time finding information about your research project? Need some pizzaz in your paper? Find the grist you need at the source. Take a look at the resource links on the left side of the page here and click on "Grist." Search the site and I believe you'll be pleased.

Jay

Greece: Beware of biotech companies bearing GMOs

Here is another story of great big Monsanto trying to dominate, and force their way into a place where local farmers have happily grown there own food for thousands of years. The Greecian government has tried to maintain a ban on GMOs since 2003, but are accused of creating an illegal trade barrier. U.S. ambassadors are insisting that Monsanto's products must be allowed into the country. Who will win this showdown?


http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2007/04/19/zakynthos/index.html?source=rss

Shipping Suffers with Drop in Lake Superior's Level

The article talks about the five great lakes and how they are getting small due to below normal percipitation.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9899341

Chine admits tainted food link

China has finally acknowledged that a chemical called Melamine is in in a lot of their produce sent to America that is being put in our pet food. China is willing to start much more extensive searchs because of this problem. However, a lot of China's food sources are widely spread so it would be difficult to moniter them all. They also state that over 6,ooo hogs have been effected with this chemical besides many house pets.

Whole Foods promotes local buying

I found an article about Whole Foods promoting buying local. The article discusses that people should buy local to fend off bigger chains like Walmart and Kroger Foods. "the influence of top chefs, farmers markets, Michael Pollan's book 'The Omnivore's Dilemma,' and concerns about the environmental effects of shipping food long distances have raised shoppers' interest in buying local." It's easier for large chains like Walmart to sell the organic products at a cheaper price than a local farmer can. However, the article also goes on to say that fuel costs for shipping the items are down and freshness up when buying local. "The grocery chain (Whole Foods) has launched a program to loan $10 million annually to help independent local producers around the country expand. Whole Foods holds seminars around the country to teach producers how to get products onto shelves — and how to command premium prices by emphasizing their local roots."


Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070430/ap_on_bi_ge/whole_foods_buying_local_2

FDA Agents Raid Pet Food Plant, Offices

http://www.comcast.net/news/health/index.jsp?cat=HEALTHWELLNESS&fn=/2007/04/28/648808.html
it is sad to say we have to watch what our pets are eating. there have been recalls on their food just as there is always recalls on ours. read the news report at this web address

Organic Fertilizer

One of my friends is monsanto certified. Of course I found this out after watching the movie and continued to chew his butt out for using the product. He claimed that their is no other product to use besides monsanto. After he told me that I wondered what kind of fertilizers their are, and if they are available? The answer is yes. Here is a site I found for organic fertilzers. On this site they use kelp and it explains what kelp does to help your plants grow. Check it out. The Organic Broadcaster.

Fruity Cocktails Are Good For You

The US Department of Agriculture came across an interesting find while trying to find a better way to preserve strawberries while they are being stored. They found that treating the berries with alcohol increased the antioxidant capacity in the fruit. These antioxidants help to rid your body of the cell damaging compounds called free radicals. According to this study fruity cocktails have the same benefits so drink up!


http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/diet.fitness/04/20/nutrition.cocktails.reut/index.html

Down Periscope

The good folks at Washington have recruited a few new oceanographers. Narwhals, a 16 foot long whale with a 9 foot long horn have recently been tagged with little computer chips to track their migration patterns in the area of Baffin Bay. It's the area between Canada and Greenland and they're trying to moniter it for global warming and such activities.

http://www.enn.com/anim.html?id=1748

honey bees are disapering

i found a article about how honey bees are dieing due to being over worked Urban sparl, mites and dieses. this is a big problem because honey bees pollinate most of are flowers and fruits that you see in the stores. there more information on http://www.extension.umn.edu/honeybees/components/03-26-2007_whycollapsing.html

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/business/344084,4_3_JO17_FOODSAFETY_S1.article( link)

i found this article about how a very littl amount of imported foods are inspected, yet there are regularily amounts of food removed from salde due to contaminations, it talks about the growing number of different products like catfish and green beans mainly from china being contaminated or unsafe, being confiscated by the food and drug administration at the border coming in, it really amazes me that things like this continuouisly go on and we never really aknowledge it because of the lack of information we are provided with


(link wouldnt trnasfer so i put it in the subject)

conflicts over water!

Water usage in the Midwest, large livestock confinements, meat and grain processing plants, expanding urban regions, are all increasing water use. Rural industries like livestock production, feed lots are being sited near ethanol plantsto be able to use grain distillars as as a foodsource, which is a byproduct of etanol production. Eethanol along with irrigation is affecting local aquafirs. These aquafires are normally recharged by heavy rainfall, but over pumping is insuring that the water table will be lower than expected. here is the link to the article http://www.agobseratory.org/library.cfm?refid=89449