The news is buzzing with talk about climate change and animal extinctions- -does the past hold lessons for current communities to learn from? I wonder if the rich will exterminate the poor, or vice versa. I imagine that the last 10-20 years of my life will be admist a very turbulent scene here in America and abroad.

Marcus' solo project Extinctions had a show in Richmond last night with Jonathon Vassar and a couple other bands. It was a terribly rainy day and a pretty miserable drive but the show was nice, the venue was cozy, and the company was enjoyable. We stayed with Jonathon and Antonia in their log cabin which was wonderful. I totally want to live there. Jonathon made us breakfast this morning ( ...

Researchers have uncovered a strikingly pattern for ancient mass extinctions: extinctions rates during mass extinctions were significantly higher in open-ocean-facing settings than in epicontinental seas, indicating that open-ocean settings were more susceptible to the mass-extinction-causing agents.

Arnie Miller, University of Cincinnati professor of paleontology in the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, and co-author Michael Foote of the University of Chicago publish their research in the Nov. 20 issue of Science with their paper, "Epicontinental Seas Versus Open-Ocean Settings: The Kinetics of Mass Extinction and Origination."

"dal letame nascono i fior dai diamanti non nasce niente" From dung flowers are born From diamonds nothing comes "Via del Campo", Fabrizio de André (Italian poet-musician) Until 20.000 years ago North America showed a biodiversity of large mammals comparable with modern Africa, if not greater. 10.000 years later 34 genera with animal-species weighing more than a ton were ...

By Rady Ananda Human activities are blamed for what may be Earth’s greatest extinction spasm. Of the five categories of these activities, global elites address purported over-population. Earth has between 12 and 18 billion arable acres. There are less than 7 billion people, each of whom requires a little over an acre to eat well. In

... large-bodied animals at the end of the Ice Age, and how the disappearance happened earlier than first thought. How does this affect what we understand about pre-clovis? Is this support for the presence of humans in North America before Clovis?" Read more...Megafaunal Extinctions and Preclovis originally appeared on About.com Archaeology on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 09:01:05.

Novel carbon-trading could stop large-scale extinctions "Dollar for dollar, a carbon-focused approach contributes little to slowing biodiversity loss and will save far fewer species than a biodiversity-focused strategy that targets the most imperiled forests," said lead author Oscar Venter, doctoral candidate at the University of Queensland. A biodiversity-based system would change ...

Our planet has been ruthless to some of the species living on it over the long years of its existence. Extinction events and evolutionary bottlenecks have almost wiped out life on Earth on several occasions, but the culprit has always been nature. Now, it's humans. Excessive hunting and increased pollution are destroying the world's habitats and its ecosystems, and many species have ...

We've reported on the mysterious syndrome affecting Northeast bats here, here and here; now scientists are developing a more accurate picture of the sheer volume of the plight, but are still far from any answers. "At least 1 million bats in the past three years have been wiped out by a puzzling, widespread disease dubbed 'white-nose syndrome' in what preeminent U.S. scientists ...

... 12,900 years ago seemed like a good bet for the cause of the extinctions. But, the short-lived Clovis culture inhabited North ... a strike against the idea that climate caused the changes which then caused the extinctions. The new research adds much needed information to a spotty fossil ... for Bone-Crushing Wolves Discovered Megafauna Extinctions Not Entirely Humans’ Fault If Climate Didn’t ...

... whose wastes are particularly toxic. This fills in the equation. Mass extinctions certainly have happened. The direct slaughter needed much more explanation. A ... Killer Algae A Key Player In Mass Extinctions by Staff Writers Boulder CO (SPX) Oct 22, ... in Portland, Oregon. "If you go through theories of mass extinctions, there are always some unanswered questions," Castle said. "For ...

... find extinction rates higher in open-ocean settings during mass extinctions Adding tools against breast tumors When East meets West: ... find extinction rates higher in open-ocean settings during mass extinctions Posted: 19 Nov 2009 11:00 PM PST ... uncovered a strikingly pattern for ancient mass extinctions: extinctions rates during mass extinctions were significantly higher in open-ocean-facing ...

... you consider the worst case scenarios are simply the end of human civilization, mass extinctions, and a planet dramatically altered from the one on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth ... change-accelerated breakdown of the world's agricultural and economic systems, refugees, extinctions, diseases, mass migration, and increased Malthusian resource wars. In the meantime, there ...

... plovers in the Peak District. Climate modelling suggests that this will result in localised extinctions of the bird by the end of the century. There are plenty more examples like these. This is the beginning of a road which will end in mass extinctions and loss of biodiversity if we don’t change lanes now. So whatever happens in Copenhagen over the next fortnight, we need ...