Children // Current TV

I Hate My Kids: Six Year-Old Noise Bomb

Raising a six year-old is more dangerous than you think.

TonyDiGerolamo
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The Child Abuse Hysteria Special - Baby LK Report For May 6th 2012 for these stories and all the latest dirt on the child protective industry visit

Baby LK recaps the week in news for the child protection industry.

Beverly_Tran
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Sound The Alarm

A 2005 shot of Brendan Margison surfing in front of the now-damaged nuclear power... more

covelogibbs
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Beverly Tran To Confront Maura Corrigan and Others

I am an official candidate for the 4th District Representative of Michigan. If you... more

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Ecosystem effects of biodiversity loss rival climate change, pollution

Loss of biodiversity appears to affect ecosystems as much as climate change, pollution and other major forms of environmental stress, according to results of a new study by an international research team.

The study is the first comprehensive effort to directly compare the effects of biological diversity loss to the anticipated effects of a host of other human-caused environmental changes.

The results, published in this week's issue of the journal Nature, highlight the need for stronger local, national and international efforts to protect biodiversity and the benefits it provides, according to the researchers, who are based at nine institutions in the United States, Canada and Sweden.

"This analysis establishes that reduced biodiversity affects ecosystems at levels comparable to those of global warming and air pollution," said Henry Gholz, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research directly and through the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.

"Some people have assumed that biodiversity effects are relatively minor compared to other environmental stressors," said biologist David Hooper of Western Washington University, the lead author of the paper.

"Our results show that future loss of species has the potential to reduce plant production just as much as global warming and pollution."

Studies over the last two decades demonstrated that more biologically diverse ecosystems are more productive.

As a result, there has been growing concern that the very high rates of modern extinctions--due to habitat loss, overharvesting and other human-caused environmental changes--could reduce nature's ability to provide goods and services such as food, clean water and a stable climate.

Until now, it's been unclear how biodiversity losses stack up against other human-caused environmental changes that affect ecosystem health and productivity.

"Loss of biological diversity due to species extinctions is going to have major effects on our planet, and we need to prepare ourselves to deal with them," said ecologist Bradley Cardinale of the University of Michigan, one of the paper's co-authors. "These extinctions may well rank as one of the top five drivers of global change."

More at the linkLoss of biodiversity appears to affect ecosystems as much as climate change, pollution... more