A study on a species of seal called the Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus), an endangered species living on the coast of southeastern Alaska, found that, often, these animals die from plastic or rubber bands that their hook or fishing gear used to catch salmon.

Between 2000 and 2007, researchers found 386 cases where animals died because of waste, but the number of victims seems to be much higher. In addition, experts argue that the same is true for other species of mammals, seabirds and turtles.

In Alaskan waters, Steller sea lions, northern fur seals well (Callorhinus ursinus) are the animals most affected by marine litter. However, unlike sea lions, seals Nordic seem to swallow hooks.

During an investigation, the scientists found that a population made up of nearly 500,000 seals that live on the island Pribilof northern summer and autumn, 100 copies were damaged waste.

Experts explained that in these areas, where sea currents converge, forming islands of waste that fish prefer them because they provide shelter. So the seals that eat these fish end up Foraging in piles of debris, injuring it. If adults are injured in search of food, babies become trapped in trying to play with the cable loop or plastic, which come as some loops.

To stop the disaster, under the slogan “Lose the Loop” (“Escape the trap”), experts recommend that before putting them away, to cut to pieces any cable or plastic debris that might catch these animals. Other proposed solutions to reduce the volume of waste discarded by ships and any material that could wrap around the neck of an animal.

Streaks are meant to keep away hematophagous flies, scientists say. The study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology shows that the pattern created by black and white stripes like zebras are becoming unattractive to the “insect-vampire”.

The secret lies in how it reflects light striped pattern.

“Initially, we studied horses with brown hair, black or white. We found that among horses that are black or brown hair is horizontally polarized light, which makes them very attractive to breeze horses,” explains Susanne Akesson from Lund University, member of research team that conducted the study.

“Horses with white hair reflected polarized light,” added Dr. Akesson, which is not appealing breeze. Therefore, white horses have problems with tăunii, unlike those with black or brown hair.

Having discovered that tăunii prefer dark hair, researchers have studied zebras, wanting to know what kind of light they reflect and the effect of light on hematophagous flies.

Researchers have created several “artificial way” with different patterns, which left them in kind, located near a farm in rural Hungary.

“Artificial horses were covered with glue, which allowed us to see how many insects draw each pattern. We found that the pattern that is common among zebras drew the lowest number of flies, insects fewer than completely white plates, reflecting polarized light, “said Dr. Akesson.

Thus, the study suggests that these stripes zebras have evolved to protect from pests.

Professor Matthew Cobb, a specialist in biology at Manchester University who was not involved in the study, says that research is “rigorous and exciting”, adding that “my suspicion is that this is not the only reason why zebras have stripes.”

More than we could imagine the whole Sahara as a green and fertile plains. However, this land, which is now for us all, Desert, was once – in a few thousand years ago – a huge green expanse, replete with vigor, swarming of animals and inhabited by people who enjoyed this abundance and living on her account. What happened to that haven?

Last time the luxuriance of the Sahara lasted about 7,500 years ago until about 3,000 years ago. But, as we may seem unusual compared to the current state of this region, there was a unique event. It was an episode of a “serial” number of such successive periods in geological history of the region. Phases in the Sahara was green and wet alternating with dry periods, the Sahara desert that appearance gained him know today, became a desert sometimes even larger than today.

With geological data, scientists were able to identify several so wet periods, three of which were followed in North Africa during the last 120 thousand years and have had a significant impact on biodiversity of the three continents of the Old World.

• Pluvialul Abbassia started about 120,000 years and took that. 30,000 years.
• There followed a long drought, which, 50,000 years ago, the Upper Paleolithic, began a new period of heavy rains, which lasted approx. 20,000 years ago, ending 30,000 years ago.
• The most recent wet period occurred in the Neolithic Age, Neolithic subpluvialul call specialists. In the meantime, high precipitation fell (though not as abundant as in the two previous wet periods, hence the name given subpluvial rainy latter period). Subpluvialul Neolithic occurred after the last glacial period, because it was, say climate scientists, Earth’s axis tilt changes, the nearest planet to the Sun, enough to increase temperatures. Paradoxically, getting more sun, the Sahara became wetter, training monsoon: air over land, heating, rises, being replaced by air came from the ocean, cooler and wetter, which brought rain. These changes in monsoon regime have made for thousands of years, these moist winds bring abundant rainfall over the Sahara.

Since seven millennia ago, this phenomenon was strong (with heavy falls of rain) for 2000 years, after which the intensity decreased gradually until the installation of dry periods, the latter by ca. 3,500 years. Since then, the region has gradually aridizat and Sahara (re) became the desert we know today.

During the latter period wet and human civilization in North Africa had grown considerably, and the latter rain had great importance for humans in this region. In his time flourished settlements and human activities. After him, from one century to another desert expanded, forcing people to retreat to the edges of the Sahara or to take refuge in the few remaining green oasis.

But, in the several millennia of abundance, this region would have seemed a paradise to anyone living flaring. Lakes were much higher, there were many rivers and green vegetation, lush plains and hills covered. In the middle of the desert highlands, today some barren hills and rocky slopes were covered with forests of oak and walnut, linden and elm, olive and pine ienuperi says Roland Oliver, professor of African history at the University of London. Waters full of fish flowing through the grass fields, the extent to which swarmed million animals.

Elephants, giraffes, buffalo, all kinds of other herbivores thrived on account of lush greenery, whose growth was supported by the abundance of rain. Sahara was a savannah vibrating with life, as today’s savannahs of Africa in the rainy season.

Samples of rock art preserved until today, as are the famous frescoes of the Tassili n’Ajjer (Algeria) or the Akakus (Libya) show that in those areas – now in full desert and hot – such living animals: some of them can be easily recognized in the representations of the surface rocks.

Then green Sahara and species housed in the meantime disappeared interesting representatives of megafauna, such as Sivateherium and Pelorovis.

Sivatherium was a towering herbivore, a relative of the giraffe, okapi somewhat similar to today (another mammal related to the giraffe). Sivatherium have, however, that feature two pairs of “horns” bone of the skull bone extensions – some straight, as giraffe horns are present, but longer, and two behind them, expand on, giving the animal a unique look, unusual even among today’s species.

As Pelorovis, it was a species of wild cattle, impressive length of his horns, four feet.

Both these species have disappeared behind approx. 5000 years, probably due to changes in habitat, the transformation of green heaven in hell when hit by the sun today.

This sequence of states of the region Sahara, the desert plain mănoasă, favored, say experts, animal and plant species spread from Africa to Eurasia and vice versa (the land bridge connecting two continents today, in northeast Egypt) which explains the existence of species common to both continents. The so-called Saharan pump theory: in the rainy, animal populations remained isolated in the valleys of the rivers or something more hospitable areas, distant from each other, while in rainy periods, the species is spread easily large areas of each continent and could even migrate from one continent to another.

5 people millennia ago Sahara lived in settlements built on the shore waters, enjoying an abundance of fish, shellfish, waterfowl and various mammals, their food. These coastal communities engaged in intense activity of hunting and fishing, gathering wild plants (including cereals), pottery and manufacturing tools. There was controversy among experts on the lifestyle of these populations, were hunter-gatherers and farmers, sedentary or nomadic? The latest findings suggest that there were hunters-gatherers who were completely sedentary.

But as wet climate was replaced by the desert populations have adapted to new ways of life, becoming more sedentary and grabbing the animal husbandry and cultivation of plants. Very sparsely populated today, still holds Sahara settlements, even in arid regions, witness the power of the human species to adapt to difficult conditions.

Is recent climate change, which will likely lead to desertification of much of the southern Europe in the coming decades, we will require an effort similar adaptation?

Unlike Neolithic people we are, it seems, partly responsible for what happens to Earth’s climate. You will need a more complex adaptation – technological, social, cultural – to meet this challenge. The corrective measures will be necessary to readjust what we ourselves have disturbed the balance of the planet, and accepting the challenge and adjust our way of life, to the extent that changes are the result of natural phenomena related to cosmic cycles. From energy to agriculture, from migration to the cuisine, many will change later this century and the world for over a century might look like it is now as much as like the Sahara arid and hot today with the green, wet and fertile five millennia ago.

This will lead to the extinction of many organisms that live in Earth’s waters, the most affected being mollusks and corals.

In certain regions of the planet, the acidity increased more in the last two centuries earlier than 21,000 years, the study said.

Increased acidity of oceans makes it difficult to build protective layers they need to survive among mollusks and corals.

Measurement of changes in ocean acidity level is a difficult operation, because it varies depending on the season, year and regions. To do this, scientists measured the saturation of aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate. As ocean acidity increases, the aragonite saturation decreases.

Direct observations of ocean acidification goes back only 30 years, but thanks to this new technique, scientists could simulate the conditions of the oceans 21,000 years ago until today.

In certain key areas where coral reefs are the aragonite saturation is 5 times lower than the lowest level ever recorded before the industrial age. Scientists say that this leads to a 15% decrease in the level of calcification of corals and other ocean organisms.

Scientists warn that the next 90 years, calcification rate recorded among marine organisms will fall by over 40%.

“Any significant drop below the minimum that bodies have become accustomed over thousands of years will be considerable stress for them and the ecosystems in which they live,” said Dr. Tobias Friedrich of the University of Hawaii.

“In certain regions of the planet, the rate of change in ocean acidity from human activity is 100 times that found in the previous 21,000 years,” said Friedrich.

Co-author, Professor Axel Timmermann, added: “Our research results indicate that we will witness a considerable reduction of the diversity, complexity and resilience of coral by the middle of this century”.

The particles have been codenamed “Criegee bi-radicals” and their existence was postulated in the ’50s by Rudolf Criegee. These particles have been detected only recently, with a unique device, designed in the National Research Laboratory Sandia in the US.

Researchers found that these invisible particles oxidize pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide that are produced by combustion, thus cleaning astmosfera.

Scientists have observed that the Criegee bi-radicals react more quickly than previously thought, accelerating the formation of sulphate and nitrate in the atmosphere. These compounds stimulate the formation of aerosols and subsequent cloud formation that have the potential to cool the planet.

In the last hundred years, the average temperature recorded at the Earth’s surface increased by approximately 0.8° C, 66% of this increase taking place in the last three decades. Dr. Carl Percival at the University of Manchester, one of the authors of the study, says that the Criegee bi-radicals could be used to fight pollution and global warming.

Based on technology “Biorock” which allows corals to recover, the project is now implemented in 20 countries in Southeast Asia, Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific.

The project was launched in 2000, in waters near the village of Pemuteran, on the north coast of Bali island. Then, a metal frame named “crab” was covered with coral and bright giants, including hundreds of fish and found shelter.

Rani Morrow-Wuigk a coral diving that natural degradation observed during the 90 ‘, was advised by marine scientist and architect Wolf Hilbertz use his invention to enable ecosystem restoration.

Hilbertz’s project involved the construction of marine metal scaffolding, connected to low voltage electric current. Thus, electrolysis of seawater caused an accumulation of lime, and tests showed that, in most cases, corals grow 2 to 6 times faster than normal, allowing recovery of a reef in just a few years.

Thus, Rani decided to use project proposed by German scientist. She decided to build 22 structures, using their own money and funding provided by the Taman Sari, a holiday resort that support reef recovery.

Today there are about 60 such structures in Pemuteran Bay, an area of ​​2 hectares, and the reef was not only saved, but he is more vibrant than ever.

Technology not only saves Biorock corals, but it makes it more resistant to global warming and the phenomenon of fading. Thanks to this technique, the survival rate of corals increased from 16% to 50%.

What is cardboard?

The carton is made of cellulose from wood and often recycled materials. The wood can come from sustainably managed forests. The kraft is purchased in rolls transported by sea, rail or road.

The material is corrugated Kraft in our partner factories certified ISO 14001, with water-based glue. Ink and wash water passing through the treatment plant site and are reused in a closed circuit. The waterproof membrane such tables is obtained by applying a varnish food starch-based non-toxic.

Many cardboard furniture are made in France. They are 100% recyclable and reusable because their installation is done by folding and interlocking, no glue or other assembly materials such staples, screws, nails etc..

The different types of cardboard used for making furniture and decorative accessories in box:

- Corrugated double corrugated: made from five sheets of kraft based on 100% recycled fibers.

- Cardboard Mini-Micro: single face corrugated micro flute with a mini apparent, consisting of two sheets of kraft based on 100% recycled fiber, water-based glue and starch (eg vases)

- Micro mini corrugated board with a groove, consisting of three sheets of kraft made from 100% recycled fiber, water-based glue and starch. (Eg the Eiffel Tower miniatures and cards)

- Microbes: two mini corrugated flutes, composed of five sheets of kraft fiber-based 100% recycled

- Compact Kraft, charcoal gray and Celloderme ecocard: carton high density, rigid, non-brittle, with good bendability. Based on long fiber cellulose 100% recycled. Treatment Lamasse: resin glue, starch, colors.

Cardboard is: mono material, recycled, recyclable, reusable, biodegradable and compostable

The attraction ecological cardboard is a flagship eco-design. Indeed the manufactured product from a manufacturing environment-friendly 80 to 100% of the raw material comes from recycled materials clean. It gives you a healthy furniture (no VOC emissions, for example). It is durable: we estimate the duration of a cardboard chair for children over 10 years. And infinite, and it recyclable and produces no pollution for its destruction.

The attraction fun: This product is flexible: it sold flat mounts easily by fitting. Also you can cut such offices, tables and shelves to the height that suits you. In addition all our products are customizable cardboard to infinity by your own care (preferring oil painting green as “Auro”) or by us in hot stamping, screen printing and offset against collage or stickers.

The tapes led to the brand LED 4G are intended mainly for the interior and exterior lighting of dwellings or businesses. This new range offers a choice to install an innovative lighting design and offering a warm atmosphere. These tapes allow LEDs to balance design and low power because their power is limited to 2.4 watts per meter.

The range currently has thirty references, you can select according to the following criteria:
- The color of light: cool white or warm white
- Light intensity: strong or mood lighting
- The level of sealing: IP 20 (without sealing) for indoor or IP68 (immersion up sealing for aquariums or outdoor)
- Length: 1 m, 2 m or 5 m

Their price is between € 9.95 and € 94.95 depending on the characteristics above.

The study conducted by researchers at Duke University revealed that the surface ice of the North Atlantic, which normally pair of Greenland seals, has declined by about 6% every 10 years from 1979.

According to scientists, generations of seal pups die from lack of habitat.

For this study, scientists have analyzed the Gulf St. Lawrence (the main area on the east coast of Canada where seals breeding) using satellite images captured during the period 1992 to 2010. They then compared these data with reports indicating the seal mortality. They also compared the rate of failure of these seals with the North Atlantic Oscillation, a phenomenon that controls the intensity and winds blowing from the west and exercising a great influence on the formation of sea ice.

Thus it was concluded that, during a North Atlantic Oscilaiţe low and a thin cap of sea ice, the mortality rate of pups increased.

Although Greenland seals have adapted to the early melting of ice, shortening the period of care of offspring in just 12 days, it is unknown whether this species will survive in the absence of sea ice.

Over half of this tremendous loss was recorded after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, in March last year.

Although the number of natural disasters was within the average and the number of deaths was below average for damage to property caused by such disasters amounted to 380 billion dollars, compared with 75 billion dollars, annual average seen so far.

From an economic perspective, 210 billion dollars were casualties from the tsunami and earthquake in Japan. Disasters have been here and most human victims, reported 15 840 deaths.

Fortunately, scientists say that some of the events we saw in 2011 are held once every 1,000 years.

Although the number of geological disasters such as earthquakes, there seems to be increasing in recent years, the same can be said about the weather catastrophes, which occur increasingly more often.

However, the link between climate change and natural disasters loss products is questionable. It seems that the damage was so great because of overcrowding and construction that have been raised in areas where, typically, there are storms.

Among the most costly natural disasters falls and landslides and floods in Thailand (40 billion dollars), the earthquake in New Zealand (16 billion dollars), severe storms and tornadoes of April 22 to 28 U.S. (15 billion dollars) and Hurricane Irene in the United States (15 billion dollars).