Articles by Sarah K. Burkhalter

An assessment.

The UN's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was completed by 1,360 researchers from 95 countries and published last year; a five-volume coda has just been published that "outlines four plausible ways the planet could develop politically, economically, and socially by 2050, and the effect they would have on people and the environment." According to a CSM article:

By 2050, it estimates that the highly global approach - with liberal trade policies, and concerted efforts to reduce poverty, improve education and public health, yet respond reactively to environmental issues - could yield the lowest population growth and the highest economic growth. But the environmental scorecard would be mixed.

In a fragmented world that focuses largely on security and regional markets and takes a reactive approach to ecological problems, economic growth rates are the lowest and the population is the highest of the four pathways.

Two other paths, which place a greater emphasis on technology and a proactive approach to the environment, yield population growth rates somewhere in the middle, and economic growth rates that may be slow at first, but accelerate with time.

Huh. The title of the article is "Forecast for Earth in 2050: It's not so gloomy," but I, living in a highly reactive, security-focused, highly influential country, am skeptical.

People, animals at risk of famine.

In case you weren't aware ...

Drought is causing crisis conditions in East Africa, leaving millions hungry in Kenya, Somalia, and bordering countries. Sudanese herders have driven livestock into a Ugandan wildlife reserve in an effort to find water. The drought is affecting animals too: Elephants are leaving sanctuaries to find food and hippos are dying as water levels are depleted.

You know when you feel totally helpless ... ?

A surprisingly short post, considering the ground to be covered.

When one sees a headline that says "Environmental hazard: space junk," one might assume the article will be about the environmental hazards of space junk. One would be mistaken, as the article is about the potential danger of spacecraft being hit by space junk. An issue in some circles, surely, but "environmental hazard"? Might I suggest to the Boston Globe headline writer that "Junk in the trunk" might have been better?

Luckily, a reader feeling disgruntled over having been eco-misled can link from the space junk article to the the highly adorable "Hamster, snake best friends at Tokyo zoo." Aochan the snake was given Gohan the hamster (whose name means "meal") as a tasty treat, but elected to make her his buddy instead. They live together in a cardboard box and sometimes snuggle up to take naps.

Yay! Cute animal stories make me happy. Plus you can link from snake-hearts-hamster to fun human-interest story "Man trapped in toilet when lock freezes." The world is a terribly interesting place.

Global warming could wipe out the bottom of the food chain.

When you woke up this morning, did you thank [God, your lucky stars, the Big Bang] for plankton? If you didn't, consider adding it to your daily routine. Sure plankton are teeny-tiny and look like scary aliens, but they're also moderately important, in that sustaining-life sort of way.

Sadly, global warming could kill them off. The Independent wins my nomination for "Most Sinister Opening Paragraph o' the Day":

The microscopic plants that underpin all life in the oceans are likely to be destroyed by global warming, a study has found.

The article goes on to tell how this has "catastrophic implications" and is "potentially devastating," not just because the little critters are chow for bigger critters, but also because they absorb carbon dioxide in their wee bodies and take it with them when they die and sink to the ocean floor. Thanks for taking one for the team, plankton.

Of course this was entirely expected and scientists have been taking steps to resolve this imminent disaster, right? Uh, no.

Scientists had believed phytoplankton, which survives best at depths of about 100 metres, is largely stable and immune from the impact of global warming.

Whoops!

Without phytoplankton, the oceans would soon because marine deserts.

This is depressing, so I'm going to end this post with an exciting contest! Fun, fun! First person to name the band and song title of the following lyric wins a virtual high five from me!

"The ocean is a desert with its life underground, and a perfect disguise above."

Good luck!