What Noise Does Eevee Make

Cyclone Sidr hits Bangladesh



In the day of 15 November, Cyclone Sidr arrived on Bangladesh, with sustained winds of 215 km / h and top speeds of 250 km / h.

The cyclone came on one of the most populated areas and poorest on the planet. From the very serious Times of London, the toll could reach ten thousand deaths.



In addition, the cyclone is an ecological disaster. Indeed, it has devastated mangrove outstanding, which survived the last 500 Bengal tigers.

I had already reported the disappearance Island Lohachara . We can measure in the coming months the impact of Cyclone Sidr.

For more information:
1. Bangladesh cyclone "could claim lives 10.000 (The Times)
2. Cyclone Sidr (Wikipedia)
3. Tropical Cylone Sidr (Earth Observatory)
4. The balance of the cyclone Sidr over the 2,200 dead in Bangladesh (The World)
5. Cyclone Sidr an 'Ecological disaster' (IOL - South Africa)
6. Island Lohachara disappeared (Gaia - January 2007)

Photos: MODIS Rapid Response Project at NASA / GSFC and Rafiqur Rahman

Meaning Of Colored Jelly Rings

Syndrome collapse of bee colonies



recent years , there is an inexplicable phenomenon: bees, suddenly, at any time (except in winter where the hive is in sleep) does not fit into their hive. There is also an absence of dead bees in the hive or nearby. Bee colonies disappear altogether.

This phenomenon is not new. It was reported locally in 1896. But the disappearances have become important and begin to spread since the late 1990s. The warning was given as early as 2000 in Europe and in 2006 the United States.

Apples but also almond, avocado, cherries, onions, cucumbers, cotton, groundnuts, melon, etc.. depend 90% or 100% of bees for pollination. "If the bee were to disappear from the globe, man would have only 5 years to live." said Albert Einstein, they say.

So it is true that there are other insect pollinators than honeybees, and that the multiplication of colonies of honeybees is technical excellence. But in 2007, there was a peak alarming disappearance of bees.

In 2007, the rate of almost deserted or abandoned hives reached 70% or 80% in regions and countries most affected. A quarter of the livestock of U.S. apiaries have just disappeared during winter 2006-2007 and 35 states were affected by a U.S. congressional report in June 2007 .

It is unclear why bee colonies are disappearing. Several hypotheses have been advanced, among which are:
- IAPV virus (Israeli acute paralysis virus of bees).
- The mobile phone. Two scientists from the University of Landau in Germany showed that the waves produced by a mobile phone prevented bees from returning to their hive.
- Pesticides like Gaucho and Regent TS.

What is certain is that it is hard to imagine a world without bees. It is equally certain that it is man who is behind these mass disappearances of honeybee colonies.

For more information:
1. Syndrome collapse of bee colonies (Wikipedia)
2. Colony Collapse Disorder (Wikipedia)
3. Requiem for the Honeybee (The Institute of Science in Society)
4. Recent Honey Bee Colony Declines (Federation of American Scientists)

Credit: Luke