...from one generation to another. The speed and direction of change is variable with different species lines and at different times. Continuous evolution over many generations can result in the development of new varieties and species. Likewise, failure to evolve in response to environmental changes can, and often does, lead to extinction. When scientists speak of evolution as a theory they do not mean that it is a mere speculation. It is a theory in the same sense as the propositions that the earth is round rather than flat or that our bodies are made of atoms are theories. Most people would consider such fundamental theories to be sufficiently tested by empirical evidence to conclude that they are indeed facts. As a result of the massive amount of evidence for biological evolution accumulated over the last two centuries, we can safely conclude that evolution has occurred and continues to occur. All life forms, including humans, evolved from earlier species, and all still living species of organisms continue to evolve today. They are not unchanging end-products. For those who have difficulty in accepting evolution because of what they perceive as contradictions with their fundamental religious beliefs, it may be useful to distinguish the ultimate origin of life from its later evolution. Many, if not most, biological scientists accept that primordial life on earth began as a result of chance natural occurrences 3.5-4 billion years ago. However, it is not necessary to...
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...of the contents of the document.] 2012 Nishant Aishwarya Roll Number - 26 Introduction Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative. Wildlife can be found in all ecosystems. Deserts, forests, rain forests, plains, grasslands, and other areas including the most developed urban sites, all have distinct forms of wildlife. While the term in popular culture usually refers to animals that are untouched by human factors, most scientists agree that wildlife around the world is impacted by human activities. Humans have historically tended to separate civilization from wildlife in a number of ways including the legal, social, and moral sense. This has been a reason for debate throughout recorded history. Religions have often declared certain animals to be sacred, and in modern times concern for the natural environment has provoked activists to protest the exploitation of wildlife for human benefit or entertainment. Literature has also made use of the traditional human separation from wildlife. Foods, Pets, Traditional Medicine: Anthropologists believe that the Stone Age peoples and hunter-gatherers relied on wildlife, both plants and animals, for their food. In fact, some species may have been hunted to extinction by early human hunters. Today, hunting, fishing, or gathering wildlife...
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...Society, 2003). It is noteworthy that the devastating consequences of the crude oil spill in the region with its eventual hazards on both aerial and terrestrial environments is tantamount to an irreversible chain effect on both the biodiversity and human safety. Abbot (2007) in her article entitled “Think Jamaica is Bad? Try Nigeria” notes that the discovery of oil has been an ecological disaster for the Niger Delta where the oil is extracted. Oil and natural resources of a country are often considered to be national assets. Oil penetrates into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of mammals, reducing its insulating ability, and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water. Animals that rely on scent to find their babies or mothers fade away due to the strong scent of the oil. This causes a baby to be rejected and abandoned, leaving the babies to starve and eventually die. Oil can impair a bird's ability to fly, preventing it from foraging or escaping from predators. As they preen, birds may ingest the oil coating their feathers, irritating the digestive tract, altering liver function, and causing kidney damage. Together with their diminished foraging capacity, this...
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...Acclaim for Yann Martel's Life of Pi "Life of Pi is not just a readable and engaging novel, it's a finely twisted length of yarn— yarn implying a far-fetched story you can't quite swallow whole, but can't dismiss outright. Life of Pi is in this tradition—a story of uncertain veracity, made credible by the art of the yarn-spinner. Like its noteworthy ancestors, among which I take to be Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, the Ancient Mariner, Moby Dick and Pincher Martin, it's a tale of disaster at sea coupled with miraculous survival—a boys' adventure for grownups." —Margaret Atwood, The Sunday Times (London) "A fabulous romp through an imagination by turns ecstatic, cunning, despairing and resilient, this novel is an impressive achievement. . . . Martel displays the clever voice and tremendous storytelling skills of an emerging master." —Publisher's Weekly (starred review) "[Life of Pi] has a buoyant, exotic, insistence reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe's most Gothic fiction. . . . Oddities abound and the storytelling is first-rate. Yann Martel has written a novel full of grisly reality, outlandish plot, inventive setting and thought-provoking questions about the value and purpose of fiction." —The Edmonton journal "Martel's ceaselessly clever writing . . . [and] artful, occasionally hilarious, internal dialogue . . . make a fine argument for the divinity of good art." —The Gazette "Astounding and beautiful. . . . The book is a pleasure not only for the subtleties of its philosophy...
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...and Future Directions for Coastal Fisheries in Asian Countries. WorldFish Center Conference Proceeding 67, 1 120 p. Abstract This paper reviews the coastal fishery resources of Bangladesh emphasizing the coastal environment, capture fisheries and management issues relative to the sector. Bangladesh’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers an area of about 166 000 km2. This area has abundant natural resources such as fish, shrimps, crabs and other marine products. Shrimp and fish trawling is the most important economic activity in this area. The fishery sector makes a significant contribution to the national economy in terms of foreign exchange, income generation and employment. It is very important in nutrition, especially in providing animal protein. In 1997 - 99, the marine fisheries sector contributed 22% of the total fishery production of 1 373 000 t. However, the resources are being destroyed in many ways. The fisheries resources have declined and fishers are getting poorer. The decline is partly due to estuarine set bag net, push net, and beach seine fishing, which result in recruitment over-fishing. A multiplicity of factors adversely affect the coastal fishery resources of Bangladesh. Various laws, ordinances and acts have been formulated to manage the fisheries resources and to protect the coastal zone environment. Most of the laws have been amended to meet current needs. However, marine fisheries...
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...Yann Martel: Life of Pi life of pi A NOVEL author's note This book was born as I was hungry. Let me explain. In the spring of 1996, my second book, a novel, came out in Canada. It didn't fare well. Reviewers were puzzled, or damned it with faint praise. Then readers ignored it. Despite my best efforts at playing the clown or the trapeze artist, the media circus made no difference. The book did not move. Books lined the shelves of bookstores like kids standing in a row to play baseball or soccer, and mine was the gangly, unathletic kid that no one wanted on their team. It vanished quickly and quietly. The fiasco did not affect me too much. I had already moved on to another story, a novel set in Portugal in 1939. Only I was feeling restless. And I had a little money. So I flew to Bombay. This is not so illogical if you realize three things: that a stint in India will beat the restlessness out of any living creature; that a little money can go a long way there; and that a novel set in Portugal in 1939 may have very little to do with Portugal in 1939. I had been to India before, in the north, for five months. On that first trip I had come to the subcontinent completely unprepared. Actually, I had a preparation of one word. When I told a friend who knew the country well of my travel plans, he said casually, "They speak a funny English in India. They like words like bamboozle." I remembered his words as my plane started its descent towards Delhi, so the word bamboozle ...
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...COMMUNITY BASED ECOTOURISM THE SCALE OF ECOTOURISM MARKET DEMAND 2. DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FROM DONORS AND AID AGENCIES THE RISE OF DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PROJECTS OVERVIEW OF TYPES OF DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTIONS AND ASSISTANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES AND NGOS THE ROLE OF CONSULTANTS THE PROJECT PROCESS: ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION CONCLUSIONS 3. PRIVATE SECTOR ENTREPRENEURS AND DEVELOPERS PROFILE OF ECOTOURISM ENTREPRENEURS SOURCES OF FINANCING AND CAPITAL STRUCTURE GROWTH, PROFITABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY: THE ABILITY TO HAVE AN IMPACT CONCLUSIONS 4. 5. HYBRID: NGO VENTURE CAPITAL CASE STUDIES A. INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK, IADB B. US AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, USAID C. WORLD BANK: LESOTHO D. THE EUROPEAN UNION: SWAZILAND E. WORLD BANK IN SWAZILAND F. THE NATURE CONSERVANCY, TNC G. CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL, CI H. CONSERVATION CORPORATION AFRICA, CC AFRICA I. TURTLE ISLAND J. MAHO BAY K. KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, MALULEKE COMMUNITY AND MATSWANI SAFARIS 6. CONCLUSION -2- 1. Introduction The focus of this paper is on the different roles played by the donor and NGO community on the one had, and private sector entrepreneurs on the other hand, in financing and developing ecotourism. Much has been written about the role of the international development community (which comprises both the bi- and multilateral aid agencies and international NGOs), and there is a tendency amongst...
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...Environmental Studies For Undergraduate Courses Erach Bharucha Textbook for Environmental Studies For Undergraduate Courses of all Branches of Higher Education Erach Bharucha for University Grants Commission Natural Resources i Preliminary Pages.p65 1 4/9/2004, 5:06 PM Credits Principal author and editor – Erach Bharucha Unit 1 – Erach Bharucha Unit 2 – Erach Bharucha, Behafrid Patel Unit 3 – Erach Bharucha Unit 4 – Erach Bharucha Unit 5 – Shamita Kumar Unit 6 – Erach Bharucha, Shalini Nair, Behafrid Patel Unit 7 – Erach Bharucha, Shalini Nair, Behafrid Patel Unit 8 – Erach Bharucha, Shambhvi Joshi Case Studies – Prasanna Kolte Co-ordination and compilation – Behafrid Patel Textbook Design – Narendra Kulkarni (Mudra), Sushma Durve Manuscript review and editing – Chinmaya Dunster, Behafrid Patel Artists – Sushma Durve and Anagha Deshpande CD ROM – Jaya Rai and Prasanna Kolte © Copyright Text – Erach Bharucha/ UGC, 2004. Photographs – Erach Bharucha Drawings – Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environment Education and Research All rights reserved. Distributed by University Grants Commission, New Delhi. 2004. ii Environmental Studies for Undergraduate Courses Preliminary Pages.p65 2 4/9/2004, 5:06 PM Vision The importance of Environmental Studies cannot be disputed. The need for sustainable development is a key to the future of mankind. The degradation of our environment is linked to continuing problems of pollution, loss...
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...TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT A RESOURCE BOOK Edited by Adil Najam Mark Halle Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT A RESOURCE BOOK Edited by Adil Najam Mark Halle Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz Trade and Environment: A Resource Book © 2007 International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) and the Regional and International Networking Group (The Ring). Trade and Environment: A Resource Book Edited by Adil Najam, Mark Halle and Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz ISBN 978-1-895536-99-7 Published by International Institute for Sustainable Development, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, The Regional and International Networking Group This publication is available online at http://www.trade-environment.org http://www.iisd.org http://www.ictsd.org http://www.ring-alliance.org Cover photos from iStockphoto. Readers are encouraged to quote and reproduce this material for educational, not-for-profit purposes, provided the source is acknowledged. Printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Trade and Environment: A Resource Book The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD, http://www.iisd.org) contributes to sustainable development by advancing policy recommendations on international trade and investment, economic policy, climate change, measurement and assessment, and natural resources management. Through the Internet, we report on international negotiations and...
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...• English/US • Answers • Store • Outreach • Media • Kids • Education • Donate • Answers in Genesis • Answers • Animals • Dinosaurs • Dinosaur Extinction • The Extinction of the Dinosaurs The Extinction of the Dinosaurs by Michael J. Oard on August 1, 1997 Share: • • • • Originally published in Journal of Creation 11, no 2 (August 1997): 137-154. Shop Now First published: TJ (now Journal of Creation) 11(2):137–154 August 1997 by Michael J. Oard Dinosaur extinction is still a major enigma of earth history. In this review article, extinctions in the geological record will be briefly mentioned. Many of the imaginative theories for the extinction of the dinosaurs will also be presented. Within the uniformitarian paradigm, the meteorite impact theory, once considered ‘outrageous’, now is the dominant theory. However, the volcanic theory is still believed by a majority of palaeontologists. Both theories have their strengths and weaknesses. The unscientific behaviour of those involved in the meteorite paradigm change will be briefly explored. Evidence that the dinosaurs died in a cataclysm of global proportions will be presented, such as the huge water-laid dinosaur graveyards found over the earth. Occasional monospecific bone-beds and the rarity of fossils of very young dinosaurs suggest a catastrophic death and burial. The billions of dinosaur tracks recently discovered provide testimony to unusual, stressful conditions. Nests, eggs, and babies...
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...Dinosaur extinction is still a major mystery of earth history. In this review article, extinctions in the geological record will be briefly mentioned. Many of the imaginative theories for the extinction of the dinosaurs will also be presented. Within the uniformitarian paradigm, the meteorite impact theory, once considered ‘outrageous’, now is the dominant theory. However, the volcanic theory is still believed by a majority of paleontologists. Both theories have their strengths and weaknesses. The unscientific behavior of those involved in the meteorite paradigm change will be briefly explored. Evidence that the dinosaurs died in a cataclysm of global proportions will be presented, such as the huge water-laid dinosaur graveyards found over the earth. Occasional nonspecific bone-beds and the rarity of fossils of very young dinosaurs suggest a catastrophic death and burial. The billions of dinosaur tracks recently discovered provide testimony to unusual, stressful conditions. Nests, eggs, and babies are a challenge to a Flood model, but there are enough unknowns associated with the data that solid conclusions are difficult to draw. The part that impacts and volcanism play in a Flood paradigm will be briefly discussed. The question of whether the K/T boundary and the extinction of the dinosaurs should be considered a synchronous event within the Flood will be considered. Introduction Dinosaurs bring wonder to children and adults alike. That such great beasts once roamed the earth...
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...March 2, 2013 – The Everglades Flood Control and Restoration: A Century of Disaster OUTLINE ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Before drainage of the Everglades began over a century ago, the wetlands of southern Florida were an interconnected hydrological assortment of lavish freshwater lakes and streams, cypress swamps, secluded estuarine lagoons, freshwater sloughs, tree islands, wet prairies, and mangrove swamps spanning 3.6 million hectares. After a century of intrusion, the daunting task of understanding, fixing, maintaining, and regaining a sustainable, natural Everglades-type ecosystem in South Florida is monumental. The area south of Lake Okeechobee now has a human population of over four million people, with greedy agricultural and urban demands for more water and more space. Therefore, several uphill battles have ensued. The conceptual plans for restoring this ecosystem, currently on record, are all extremely expensive to implement. A more thorough definition of the environmental and societal objectives and measures of success are required. How the ecosystem will respond to the return of a more natural hydrological pattern is uncertain, but needs to be addressed as the expected and desired outcome through measures of performance. The critical level of deterioration of the Everglades has created a crisis-management atmosphere instead of a full spectrum response and future prevention methodology. The political and social aspects of the Everglades...
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...Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION The world population is living, working, vacationing, increasingly mixing along the coasts, and standing on the front row of the greatest, most extraordinary, plastic waste tide ever faced. Washed out on the coasts in obvious and clearly visible form, the plastic pollution display obviously seen on the beaches is only the preface of the greater story that unfolded further away in the world’s oceans, yet mostly originating from where people stand: the land. In 2008, our global plastic consumption worldwide has been estimated at 260 million tons, and, according to a 2012 report by Global Industry Analysts, plastic consumption is to reach 297.5 million tons by 2015. Plastic is versatile, lightweight, flexible, moisture resistant, strong, and relatively inexpensive. Those are the attractive qualities that lead us, around the world, to such a voracious appetite and over-consumption of plastic goods. However, durable and very slow to degrade, plastic materials that are used in the production of so many products all, ultimately, become waste with staying power. Our tremendous attraction to plastic, coupled with an undeniable behavioral propensity of increasingly over-consuming, discarding, littering and thus polluting, has become a combination of lethal nature. Plastic bags are in use by consumers worldwide since the 1960’s, (Mc Kinley, 2010). These bags are sometimes called single-use bags, referring to carrying items from a store to a home. Open bags with...
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...500 extraordinary islands G R E E N L A N D Beaufort Sea Baffin Bay vi Da i tra sS t a nm De it Stra rk Hudson Bay Gulf of Alaska Vancouver Portland C A N A D A Calgary Winnipeg Newfoundland Quebec Minneapolis UNITED STATES San Francisco Los Angeles San Diego Phoenix Dallas Ottawa Montreal ChicagoDetroitToronto Boston New York OF AMERICA Philadelphia Washington DC St. Louis Atlanta New Orleans Houston Monterrey NORTH AT L A N T I C OCEAN MEXICO Guadalajara Mexico City Gulf of Mexico Miami Havana CUBA GUATEMALA HONDURAS b e a n Sea EL SALVADOR NICARAGUA Managua BAHAMAS DOMINICAN REPUBLIC JAMAICA San Juan HAITI BELIZE C a r PUERTO RICO ib TRINIDAD & Caracas N TOBAGO A COSTA RICA IA M PANAMA VENEZUELA UYANRINA H GU C U G Medellín A PAC I F I C OCEAN Galapagos Islands COLOMBIA ECUADOR Bogotá Cali S FR EN Belém Recife Lima BR A Z I L PERU La Paz Brasélia Salvador Belo Horizonte Rio de Janeiro ~ Sao Paulo BOLIVIA PARAGUAY CHILE Cordoba Santiago Pôrto Alegre URUGUAY Montevideo Buenos Aires ARGENTINA FALKLAND/MALVINAS ISLANDS South Georgia extraordinary islands 1st Edition 500 By Julie Duchaine, Holly Hughes, Alexis Lipsitz Flippin, and Sylvie Murphy Contents Chapter 1 Beachcomber Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Aquatic Playgrounds 2 Island Hopping the Turks & Caicos: Barefoot Luxury 12 Life’s a Beach 14 Unvarnished & Unspoiled 21 Sailing...
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...Bad Bug Book Handbook of Foodborne Pathogenic Microorganisms and Natural Toxins Introduction Food safety is a complex issue that has an impact on all segments of society, from the general public to government, industry, and academia. The second edition of the Bad Bug Book, published by the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides current information about the major known agents that cause foodborne illness. The information provided in this handbook is abbreviated and general in nature, and is intended for practical use. It is not intended to be a comprehensive scientific or clinical reference. Under the laws administered by FDA, a food is adulterated if it contains (1) a poisonous or otherwise harmful substance that is not an inherent natural constituent of the food itself, in an amount that poses a reasonable possibility of injury to health, or (2) a substance that is an inherent natural constituent of the food itself; is not the result of environmental, agricultural, industrial, or other contamination; and is present in an amount that ordinarily renders the food injurious to health. The first includes, for example, a toxin produced by a fungus that has contaminated a food, or a pathogenic bacterium or virus, if the amount present in the food may be injurious to health. An example of the second...
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