Sioux trying to buy sacred land in Black Hills

More than half a dozen Sioux tribes are trying to come up with the $9 million purchase price for Pe' Sla (also known as Reynolds Prairie) which is a sacred parcel of land in the Black Hills of South Dakota, seized long ago...http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/us/sioux-race-to-find-millions-to-buy-sacred-land-in-black-hills.html?hpw

For more information and to donate to the cause check out: http://www.defendblackhills.org/

Capture the ephemeral spectacle of autumn color

Autumn colour on the trees in the Scottish Borders near Peebles.
Photograph: David Cheskin/PA

This week's Guardian Environment Blog urges us to stop and admire the ephemeral colors of autumn:http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/oct/02/greenshoots-autumn-colour-nature

Italians buying more bikes than cars

The Italians are seeking cheaper means of transport amid the ongoing economic crisis, which is good news for the environment. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19801599

For the first time since the end of the Second World War the number of bicycles sold in Italy has overtaken the number of cars. In a radical departure for the car-mad country, home to Fiat, Ferrari and Lamborghini, 1,750,000 bikes were bought in 2011 compared to 1,748,000 cars.

With deep austerity cuts and record high petrol prices, the purchase of new cars has dropped to levels not seen since the 1970s. Families are buying bikes, car pooling, and ditching second cars – a major shift for a nation with one of the highest car ownership rates in the world (around 60 cars for every 100 people).

Blood Ivory

Shopping at my local grocery store today and came across the October edition of National Geographic magazine at the check out.  I was stunned to read that "25,000 elephants were killed last year" and "elephants are being illegally killed across Africa at the highest rates in a decade, and the global religious market for ivory is a driving force." Catholic statues have been made with ivory for centuries, but the church now officially condemns the practice in a bid to prevent the slaughter of elephants for their tusks. Importing ivory has been (officially) banned in the Philippines since 1981 we are told. 
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/09/26/blood-ivory-in-the-philippines/

On the following interactive map, see where elephants are losing ground -- and where the smuggled ivory is going:

Ban on trade of polar bear items

A polar bear on pack ice in Svalbard archipelago, Norway.
Photograph: Ralph Lee Hopkins

The Guardian: Environmental activists in the United States and Russia have come together to push for unprecedented protection for the polar bear, hoping to stave off the decline of its already dwindling population.

With Arctic Sea ice at a record low because of climate change, polar bears have been deprived of a key habitat and feeding ground. Legal trade in polar bears, mainly in the form of trophy skins and furs, remains legal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, leading to the death of hundreds more each year.

Activists from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Human Society International (HSI) are hoping to change that by supporting government initiatives to upgrade the polar bear's status from appendix two to one within the convention, thus banning all international commercial trade...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/01/polar-bear-legal-trade-ban?newsfeed=true

Barrier Reef loses over half its coral cover

Photo: REUTERS

Grim news according to a new study published today: Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has lost more than half its coral cover since 1985, with two-thirds of that decline occurring since 1998. The loss has been caused by a combination of factors such as coral bleaching, hurricanes and storms, warmer seas and starfish colonies which kill off organisms.  This study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the most comprehensive survey of a reef system over such a long period. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/01/great-barrier-reef-coral-cover

Deadly blue-green algae

Photo: Reuters

A recent story published in The Atlantic discusses the rise in toxic blue-green algae:

"Every summer, as temperatures rise, "blooms" of cyanobacteria like the one in Grand Lake St. Marys develop in lakes and rivers across the country, turning waters intense green and coating swaths of their surfaces with putrid-smelling blue-green algae that looks like pea soup. The blooms occur in nearly every state, peaking in August and September. Though no national agency tracks the blooms, experts say they are getting worse, driven by fertilizer and manure run-off into lakes and streams combined with a warming climate."  http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/09/blue-green-algae-iridescent-but-deadly/261794/

Even the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington DC is clogged with algae. The algae appeared less than a month after the re-opening of the pool following a $34 million renovation. http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/eco-tourism/stories/algae-clogs-newly-renovated-lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool-in-dc

Photo of Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool: Politico

More info. on cyanobacteria/blue-green algae: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria