Losing the Lemming

Climate change may be responsible for shrinking lemming populations in Norway, a new study shows.
Lemming populations throughout Scandinavia tend to explode naturally every three to five years, causing huge numbers to go in search of food. Occasionally this leads the rodents to jump into water and swim to new pastures—the origin of the myth that lemmings commit mass suicide.
In recent years, however, outbreaks have become a rarity in many parts of Scandinavia.
more HERE

Iceland Declares War on Polar Bears

Sarah Palin and Iceland have something in common…both are willing to kill innocent creatures whose habitat is disappearing…seems what’s really become extinct is humanitarianism.
An Icelandic commission has recommended that any polar bears that manage to reach the island nation from Greenland should be shot because it’s too expensive to ship the dangerous animals back to their natural habitat or to zoos.
The commission was appointed last summer after two of the bears were shot dead. They had apparently managed to swim up to 200 miles after ice floes that carried them part of the way from Greenland melted beneath their feet. Polar bear sightings had been rare in Iceland until this past June.
The killings sparked outrage from conservation groups that blamed authorities for not keeping the bears isolated until they could be safely relocated.
The arrival of two bears with a two-week period could lend credence to warnings that global warming is now melting the bears’ habitats.
more HERE

Ahh…Venice!

Wake boarder Duncan Zuur makes the best of a second day of flooding in Venice’s storied St. Mark’s Square. But considering that only foot traffic is allowed on Venice’s streets and piazzas, what’s pulling him?
more on the flood HERE

Where Have All the Acorns Gone?

Nut-bearing trees in Pennsylvania and in parts of surrounding states have dropped few of the nuggets important to the survival of squirrels and mice, and a main diet of many other creatures, from turkeys to blue jays to deer. Last year, you could hardly walk, there were so many acorns. It was like marbles. But there are none this year.
Local residents have reported squirrels gnawing on plastic Adirondack chairs and devouring porch pumpkins.
The lack of acorns this fall — following a bumper crop last year — has been so startling and across the board among oaks, hickories and walnuts, that some naturalists are worried that something is amiss. The global warming red flag has even been raised.
more HERE and HERE