Man-made jungle islands spell extinction for the smallest critters

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rainforests

Nidhi Subbaraman NBC News

Sep. 26, 2013 at 2:15 PM ET

Anthony Lynam

The Chiew Lam Reservoir is surrounded by rainforest, and dotted with more than a hundred forested islands.

In 1987, the Thai government finished flooding 65 square miles of rainforest to feed a hydroelectric dam. The wide blanket of jungle, chock-full of small mammals, became an inland archipelago comprising more than a hundred tiny islands. Stranded, the smallest of the furry critters are now dying off. All but one, that is: The hardy Malayan field rat.

This isn't just a problem in Thailand, say researchers. Jungle tracts across the world are being carved into isolated patches, separated by roads or agriculture. The rapid elimination of the island mammals in the Chiew Lam Reservoir foretells the fate of forests elsewhere.

"We observed the annihilation of an entire group of animals all native small animals," Luke Gibson, a graduate student at the National University of Singapore told NBC News, adding that the "dramatic results are a warning" for other similarly fragmented landscapes. "It seems really bleak for these small forest fragments," he said.

Luke Gibson

This 'moonrat' is among the last of a dwindling population of small mammals still living on the islands of the Chiew Lake Reservoir.

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Man-made jungle islands spell extinction for the smallest critters

Cayman Islands travel guide

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Best for The beach, romance, families, watersports, food, nature, pampering, escapism.

Unless youre a banker, diving is the number one reason to come to this affluent tax haven. Around the trio of islands are over 300 marked dive sites, ranging from pristine, shallow reefs, to stunning, precipitous walls and shipwrecks. Crystal-clear waters, minimal currents and first-rate diving schools make the destination ideal for inexperienced divers, and for snorkelling. At Stingray City, you can even commune with the marine life by simply standing on a sandbar.

All that said, the appeal of this British Overseas Territory does not solely rest with what lies beneath. This is particularly true of Grand Cayman, by far the most developed island. As well as high-quality accommodation and restaurants, it has the fantastic white-sand Seven Mile Beach (actually only five and a half miles long) - lined with shiny high-rise hotels and condominiums, it has something of a Miami feel to it. The smaller islands of Little Cayman, where iguanas have the right of ways on roads, and Cayman Brac, with hiking trails and a parrot reserve, are infinitely slower paced and more down to earth.

Timing advice For diving, November to April, when waters are calmest and visibility is best; the annual Pirates Week festival, with street dances, a parade and fireworks, runs November 7-17 2013.

Book with Caribtours, Dive Worldwide, Kenwood Travel.

More information caymanislands.co.uk.

More on the Cayman Islands Cayman Islands: the simple pleasures of a Caribbean hideaway The treasures of the Cayman Islands

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Islands fight to stay above water amid climate change

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Rising seas, disappearing glaciers, melting ice, storm surges: The threat of climate change still feels distant to many people.

Not for residents of small, low-lying islands in the Pacific. Global warming has arrived, and it's turned their nations - Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Kiribati and others - into slowly sinking ships. In some regions, the freshwater has turned salty, farmlands are barren and officials say rising waters will submerge entire nations by century's end unless concerted action is taken.

Concerted action has most definitely not been taken.

As a result, many of these countries have resorted to extreme measures. They've engaged global legal experts to figure out whether a drowned nation still exists, have threatened legal action against coal plants a hemisphere away and have tried to drum up support for a case at the International Court of Justice. Quixotic as these tactics may sound, they risk alienating wealthy countries - the very ones they'll rely on for humanitarian aid to help refugees from droughts and floods.

"There's a real existential question for these islands," says Earthjustice attorney Erika Rosenthal, who works with small island states to stem the volatile tides of global warming. For these tiny nations, climate change raises the "most urgent questions of national sovereignty."

Sound like Sturm und Drang? More like Apocalypse Slowly. Well before the water submerges them, the islands will become uninhabitable. Salt water contaminates drinking-water supplies and ruins arable land. Subsidence and increased flooding wipe away coastline dwellings. Then there's the evil twin of global warming, ocean acidification, which harms sea creatures and those who eat and sell them.

In the capital atoll of the Marshall Islands, "The principal source of drinking water is capturing rainwater runoff from the airport runway," because the groundwater has become undrinkable, says Michael Gerrard, a Columbia law professor who advises the tiny nation on legal remedies. Insult to injury: The north of the country is in the midst of a serious drought. It's water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.

Climate-change talks and treaties have offered the islands little recourse. The United States, responsible for 18 percent of global emissions, hasn't ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Canada dropped out last year. Kyoto's successor treaty, to take effect in 2020, is being negotiated now, but carbon-emitting infrastructure moves at a much faster pace than international bureaucracy. "Every time a coal-fire plant is built, they're locking in infrastructure" that contributes to future warming, says Rosenthal - and delaying an inevitable move to renewable energy. Climate-change negotiators generally agree on a goal to limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius, but analysts say that goal is unrealistic and has likely already been scuttled.

When the survival of your island nation rests with powers much larger than you, what do you do?

In 2009, the Marshall Islands' ambassador to the U.S. asked Gerrard to look into that very question, as well as other queries that sound surreal: Is a country underwater still a nation-state? Does it retain its seat at the United Nations? What happens to national assets like fishing rights? And where should its citizens go? (No easy answers, but the questions are explored in a recent book Gerrard edited.)

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UAW GM Flint Sit-Down Striker Olen Ham – Part 4 (Organizing the South, Health Care, Two Tier) – Video

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UAW GM Flint Sit-Down Striker Olen Ham - Part 4 (Organizing the South, Health Care, Two Tier)
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Health care reform spurs urgent care centers

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HOUSTON -

You may have noticed more and more freestanding emergency rooms popping up in the Houston area.

Well, you can soon expect to see many more.

With health care reform on the horizon, it is becoming an attractive and convenient option for families.

The spacious waiting room at the newest MedSpring location in Katy seems like a waste considering urgent care facilities like this one claim to slash those dreaded emergency room wait times.

"We know families are busy now and we know all of our time is very valuable, said MedSpring Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jon Belsher. So we want to get you in and out as quickly as we can. Most of our visits are actually under 45 minutes."

Dr. Belsher isn't surprised to learn a recent study by Kaiser Health found urgent care centers around the country have doubled to more than 400 in the last four years.

Houston leads the trend with 41 "freestanding" emergency rooms.

Of their 14 locations, MedSpring has five in the Houston area, including River Oaks, Memorial, Kingwood and Sugar Land.

More are on the way with the timing coinciding with health care reform.

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Gene therapy relieves pain in dogs

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A revolutionary gene therapy developed in Colorado could relieve people's chronic pain, such as arthritis or fibromyalgia but first, it is being tested on pets with incredible results.

A Lafayette veterinarian is using cutting-edge research to heal dogs.

It may not look like it when 9-year-old Amos, a Labrador Retriever mix, is running happily after the ball, but he has arthritis, bad.

His owner, Vicki Riedel knew immediately.

"He is always by my side," said Riedel. "When I would go outside or downstairs,and he wouldn't come with me, I knew he was really hurting."

Their vet tried one medication after the next.

"And they all helped a little bit, but none of them really helped a lot, and he seemed to be getting worse and worse," said Riedel.

But a few weeks ago, Amos met pet pain specialist Dr. Rob Landry.

"Amos has a history of chronic pain in both his elbows," said Landry, a Lafayette veterinarian who has been testing a breakthrough gene therapy for chronic pain for the last two years.

"It's amazing," said Laundry with a smile.

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Futurism is already here

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The multidisciplinary work of Italian painter, sculptor, set designer, writer and designer Fortunato Depero (1892-1960) has never before been exhibited in Spain. But now, Fundacin Catalunya La Pedrera has brought together 200 pieces, the majority of them faithful to Futurism up until 1930, when he returned to Italy after two years in New York, "the Futurist metropolis par excellence."

According to the exhibition's curator, Antonio Pizza, Depero was the artist who best personified the Futurism movement. He and his fellow Futurists, who included such intellectuals and artists as Umberto Boccioni, Gino Severini, Antonio Sant'Elia, Giacomo Balla and, especially, poet and playwright Filippo Tommaso Marinetti - who founded the movement with the manifesto he published on the front page of Le Figaro in 1909 - adored machines, energy and speed and advocated radically doing away with everything from the past. In 1915 Depero and Balla published their Futurist Reconstruction of the Universe where they optimistically anticipated the radical metamorphosis of art in which the esthetic was filled with dynamism and speed, but also an anthropological project that would change social structures in keeping with the new industrial era.

Their works broke traditional ways of thinking. The paintings burst out of the frames, as in Severini's Plastic Rhythm of the 14th of July; and neither did film, fashion, theater, music, dance, advertising, design escape the new Futurist vision. Perhaps Depero's best-known work is his bottle design for Campari soda, but the rest of his oeuvre remains unknown to the general public. On show here are his designs for furniture for bars, restaurants and homes, and dressing rooms, such as the one he devised for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. There are also his architectural projects, such as his plastic book pavilions or the Casa d'Arte Futurista he built in Rovereto, and toys and puppets.

Choosing not to focus on a high-profile personality who would guarantee long lines makes the show a risky bet. But it is a glimpse of things to come. According to Fundacin La Pedrera culture director Marga Viza, the Guggenheims in Bilbao and New York, as well as "a renowned cultural institution" in Madrid, are already planning Futurism exhibitions.

Depero y la reconstruccin futurista del universo . Until January 12 at La Pedrera, C/ Provena, 261-265, Barcelona. http://www.fundaciocatalunya-lapedrera.com

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Futurism is already here

Syrian Sunni Arab freedom fighters attack Hezbollah outpost with explosives: Jobar – Video

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Syrian Sunni Arab freedom fighters attack Hezbollah outpost with explosives: Jobar
A compound occupied by Hezbollah shia jihadists is attacked with a powerful explosive device. The video uploaded in http://www.liveleak.com other videos, here. News...

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Part 1:Egypt Constitution Take two: Implications on freedom, politics and society. – Video

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Part 1:Egypt Constitution Take two: Implications on freedom, politics and society.
The tenth of the media roundtable discussion series "Behind the Headlines," titled "Egypt Constitution Take two: Implications on freedom, politics and societ...

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Humana Receives Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award

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LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Humana Inc. (HUM), a leading health and well-being company, has been awarded the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, in honor of its commitment to supporting National Guard and Reserve employees.

Humana received the award at the 18th annual Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award ceremony on September 26 in Washington, D.C.

This week, we honor members of the National Guard and Reserve who carry that legacy forward, said President Barack Obama. We thank the employers who support them, and we reaffirm our promise to provide our troops, our veterans, and our military families with the opportunities they have earned.

The award ceremony took place at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) formally recognized 15 employers that had been named recipients of this years Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. Previous award recipients and Department of Defense leadership were in attendance, in addition to trade associations and civilian government leaders.

This is a tremendous achievement to be named a recipient of such a high honor from the Secretary of Defense. We are especially proud of all of our associates who are committed to both Humana and our great nation by serving in the National Guard and Reserves, said Tim McClain, President of Humana Government Business. Our long history with the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs confirms Humanas commitment to not only delivering health care solutions to our government partners, but providing service and a source of employment to our nations heroes and their families.

Through its wholly owned subsidiary Humana Government Business, Humana has a long history supporting military and Veterans health care administrating health-benefits for over three million active duty, retired military personnel and their families under the Department of Defenses TRICARE program. In addition, Humana Government Business provides an array of health care solutions for the Department of Veteran Affairs.

The Freedom Award is the Department of Defenses highest honor for employer support of National Guard and Reserve employees. The 2013 award recipients represent large and small businesses, as well as public sector agencies. They have distinguished themselves from a field of nearly 2,900 nominations submitted by Reserve Component Service members. These employers have gone above and beyond their legal obligations to military employees, offering formal and informal initiatives that ensure service members and their families are taken care of throughout all types of military service. The recipients measures of support included creating special hiring programs, providing personal support to families such as home maintenance, and continuing full benefits, salary, and additional paid leave options during deployment.

About Humana

Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is a leading health care company that offers a wide range of insurance products and health and wellness services that incorporate an integrated approach to lifelong well-being. By leveraging the strengths of its core businesses, Humana believes it can better explore opportunities for existing and emerging adjacencies in health care that can further enhance wellness opportunities for the millions of people across the nation with whom the company has relationships.

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Humana Receives Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award