Glass spells danger for birds

When windows are clean and clear, birds often see only what is on the other side, which may include greenery and sky. As a result, unsuspecting birds sometimes fly straight into the glass at full speed. Also, they may see decorative plants inside glass lobbies or homes and try to land on them.

Coated reflective glass can also be a problem. Under certain conditions, birds may see, not the glass, but a reflection of the surrounding area or sky and, here again, come to grief. Birds have even been killed by glass at visitors’ centers and on observation towers at bird sanctuaries and wildlife refuges! Ornithologist and biology professor Dr. Daniel Klem, Jr., believes that more birds are killed by flying into windows than by any other cause related to human activity, except perhaps habitat destruction.

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Loango - Beach Like No Other

Loango National Park is possibly one of the most outstanding wildlife destinations in Africa. It conserves miles of unspoiled beaches fringed by freshwater lagoons and dense equatorial forest. But what really make Loango’s beaches unique are the animals that walk along the sand—hippos, forest elephants, buffalo, leopards, and gorillas.

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Dangers of Polluted Water

According to a United Nations report, “more people now die from contaminated and polluted water than from all forms of violence including wars.” The UN reports that two million tons of waste—agricultural and industrial, as well as sewage and so on—are discharged every day into rivers and seas, spreading illness and damaging ecosystems.

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The Enigma of Britain’s House Sparrows

The ubiquitous house sparrow, with its familiar chirpings and twitterings, has long been part of the British scene. But it is now disappearing—often suddenly—from urban areas, and nobody knows why. The Independent newspaper of London has offered a £5,000 ($7,200) prize for the first scientific paper from anyone who can solve the mystery. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the British Trust for Ornithology will act as judges. The project is expected to take at least two years to complete.

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That Amazing Weed—The Dandelion

Dandelions “are reviled as Public Enemy No. One by golf course superintendents and fastidious lawn owners everywhere” and as “the weed that won’t go away,” states The News of Mexico City. Yet, the dandelion “is one of the world’s most healthful plants” and can contribute much to your health and diet. Rich in Vitamin A and potassium, the dandelion is more nutritious than broccoli or spinach.

All its parts are useful. The young leaves can be used as greens in salads or in almost any recipe calling for spinach; the dried, roasted roots, for a coffeelike beverage; and the blossoms, for wine. Historically dandelion has been used as a liver tonic and cleanser, as a blood purifier and builder, and as a mild diuretic. The dandelion is “one of the top six herbs in the Chinese medicine chest,” declares The News. And for people who have a lawn or access to a pasture, dandelions are free.

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Threat From Shrinking Glaciers

The world's lagest body of ice outside the polar regions will disapper within 40 years if the current rate of melting continues, reports The Sunday Telegraph of London. A combination of rising global temperatures and the relatively low latitude of the Himalayas threatens the region's 15,000 glaciers. The Gangotri glacier, which is one of the sources of the Ganges River, has shrunk by almost one third if its length in the past 50 years.

Syed Hasnain, a scientist who monitors the glaciers, warns that if the current rate continues, "rivers such as the Ganges, the Indus and the Brahmaputra, which recieve about 70 to 80 per cent of their water from snow and glacial melt, will dry up." The result would be "an ecological disaster," he warns. Meantime, the risk of serious flooding grows. When glaciers shrink, lakes are formed that are surrounded by fragile walls of ice, boulders, and sand. As melting countinues, the walls brust, sending deavastating floods to he Valleys below.

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