Vending machines for some very smart crows

intelligence

New Caledonian crows are smart, very very smart. Last January the BBC highlighted a study that illustrated their tool making ability. They were shaping hooks out of plant material that they then used to fish for insets. These were not simply random twigs, but consisted of hooks that were far more efficient. These crows are … Read more

Red-Hot Planet: heat records set all over world during past week

heat

The heat is cranking up everywhere. Jason Samenow writes in the Washington Post about the heat records that are being shattered all around the planet. He starts off by correctly pointing out that a new record in just one place is not Climate, but instead is weather. We will hit extremes, that is normal, it happens. … Read more

Rate of worldwide forest loss is truly shocking

deforestation

In a warming world where we are pumping out vast quantities of CO2, trees truly do matter. They absorb CO2 sucking it out of the air and in return they emit oxygen. Tree loss is a huge deal because as we reduce forest we are in effect increasing CO2. Once gone, the CO2 that they … Read more

‘Atlantification’ of Arctic Barents sea tipping it towards new climate regime

barents sea

Roughly about one year ago I was writing about a study that appeared in Science concerning fundamental changes within the Arctic Ocean. Today I have an update on that. A new study has been published in Nature titled “Arctic warming hotspot in the northern Barents Sea linked to declining sea-ice import“. Quick Summary Basically they used … Read more