APOD: Asteroids in the Distance (2011 Mar 06)

[geckzilla]

Anthropogenic global warming APOD is thataway, and has some fairly good posts in it along with some fairly preposterous ones. This APOD is of a clearly differing topic.

[neufer]

Global warming is unlikely to be directly responsible for any known current global extinction.

Many Amphibians would probably disagree.

Not to mention some critters who've been living by/moving up mountain peaks and can't move any higher to stay cool.

I sincerely doubt that any amphibians are at risk from global warming.
Global warming has had a noticeable impact mostly in the Arctic.

Humans have been destroying species for a long time now...
mostly by the introduction of rats, cats, snakes, goats, etc.

[bystander]

I sincerely doubt that any amphibians are at risk from global warming.

• You may be right, I may be crazy
  But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for
  Turn out the light, don't try to save me
  You may be wrong, for all I know, you may be right
  
  • — Billy Joel

I tried to find an article I thought I read linking the disappearance of amphibians all over the globe to loss of habitat and a changing climate, but what I found was they are blaming it on a fungus.

[neufer]

I sincerely doubt that any amphibians are at risk from global warming.

• You may be right, I may be crazy
  But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for
  Turn out the light, don't try to save me
  You may be wrong, for all I know, you may be right
  
  • — Billy Joel

<<Albatrosses are among the largest of flying birds, and the great albatrosses (genus Diomedea) have the largest wingspans of any extant birds. The albatrosses are usually regarded as falling into four genera, but there is disagreement over the number of species.

The name albatross is derived from the Arabic al-câdous or al-ġaţţās (a pelican; literally, "the diver"), which travelled to English via the Portuguese form alcatraz ("gannet"), which is also the origin of the name of the former prison, Alcatraz. The word alcatraz was originally applied to the frigatebird; the modification to albatross was perhaps influenced by Latin albus, meaning "white", in contrast to frigatebirds which are black. They were once commonly known as Goonie birds or Gooney birds, particularly those of the North Pacific. In the southern hemisphere, the name mollymawk is still well established in some areas, which is a corrupted form of malle-mugge, an old Dutch name for the Northern Fulmar. The name Diomedea, assigned to the albatrosses by Linnaeus, references the mythical metamorphosis of the companions of the Greek warrior Diomedes into birds. Finally, the name for the order, Procellariiformes, comes from the Latin word procella meaning a violent wind or a storm.

Of the 21 species of albatrosses recognised by the IUCN, 19 are threatened with extinction. Numbers of albatrosses have declined in the past due to harvesting for feathers, but today the albatrosses are threatened by introduced species such as rats and feral cats that attack eggs, chicks and nesting adults; by pollution; by a serious decline in fish stocks in many regions largely due to overfishing; and by long-line fishing. Long-line fisheries pose the greatest threat, as feeding birds are attracted to the bait, become hooked on the lines, and drown.>>

Scientists: Oldest wild bird in US is new mother
The Associated Press

In this Febuary 2011 photo provided by the US Geological
Survey, a Laysan albatross, roughly 60-years-old, named
Wisdom is seen with a chick at the Midway Atoll National
Wildlife Refuge near Hawaii. USGS / AP Photo

HONOLULU -- <<The oldest known wild bird in the U.S. is a new mother. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist spotted the Laysan albatross that's at least 60 years old a few weeks ago. It was with a chick at Midway Atoll, a remote wildlife refuge 1,300 miles northwest of Honolulu. A U.S. Geological Survey scientist first banded the seabird as she incubated an egg in 1956. She was estimated to be at least 5 years old at the time. The albatross has since worn out five bird bands.

Bruce Peterjohn, the chief of the North American Bird Banding Program, said the albatross is the oldest wild bird documented by the 90-year-old bird banding program, which is run by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and Canada. "She looks great," Peterjohn said in a news release Tuesday. "To know that she can still successfully raise young at age 60-plus, that is beyond words." The bird, named Wisdom, has likely raised at least 30 to 35 chicks during her life, Peterjohn said.

Albatross lay just one egg a year. But it takes most of a year to incubate and raise a chick, and the seabirds sometimes take a year off from parenting after successfully raising a fledged bird.>>

[JuanAustin]

Are there any plans to mount a mock mission to deflect 2009 MN4 as if it were going to strike the earth, like a practice-simulation? What better opportunity to plan and execute a global drill! How often does the human race get to practice for the real thing?

[neufer]

Are there any plans to mount a mock mission to deflect 2009 MN4 as if it were going to strike the earth, like a practice-simulation? What better opportunity to plan and execute a global drill! How often does the human race get to practice for the real thing?

What if the botch the mission and cause 2009 MN4 to hit the earth?

The government gave up decades ago on any attempt to try to change the intensity and/or direction of hurricanes for fear that they might be sued for having made the situation worse than it would have been otherwise (in either an actual attempt or a "practice" attempt).