Ignore shocking decline of farm birds at our peril

It may or may not come as a surprise that some European bird populations are in precipitous decline, but what is more surprising and shocking is the emerging scale of the losses, and that they are occurring under our noses.

New information from the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme shows that widespread farmland birds are declining across Europe at an alarming rate. The downward trend in an index of population of 36 specialist farmland birds for the last 30 years equates to an estimated loss of 297 million farmland birds in Europe during that period ? a 50 per cent decline since 1980. That is a lot of biodiversity in anyone's money.

Just one example is the eponymous skylark, whose song is so evocative of the countryside in summer. Its numbers have fallen by nearly half ? we have lost 37 million of them. While the rate of decline has slowed in recent decades, the downward trend continues and there's little room for optimism.

This is particularly the case in Eastern Europe and in those countries that joined the European Union most recently. Their traditional farming systems host some of the richest wildlife communities in Europe but they are now under severe threat.

You might assume this was all a mystery to the scientists, but it is not ? the causes of the declineMovie Camera are well known. We probably know more about European farmland birds than most other taxa on Earth. The research is extensive and compelling, and it shows the decline of farmland wildlife has been driven primarily by changes in farming: especially a move towards intensive and specialised methods; the loss of hedgerows and marginal natural habitats; changes in crop and cropping patterns; and the increased use of fertilizers and pesticides.

Many animals and plants have been similarly affected. The changes themselves have been driven in large part by Europe's infamous Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which was introduced in 1962 in a post-war climate still haunted by food shortages. No one would argue that food production and food security are not important ? they are vital ? but these new numbers suggest that the current balance is wrong.

You might question whether it matters that we have lost 297 million farmland birds if you're not a birdwatcher, but I'd argue that it does because it suggests a wider disregard for nature and its value. There is growing recognition that biodiversity loss can affect lives and economies directly and indirectly through the loss of a range of ecosystem services upon which we all depend. We ignore biodiversity loss at our peril.

Reversing this trend is simple: there must be a better balance between wildlife and food production and how both are valued. This isn't a choice between food and wildlife; we can have both, as plenty of farmers are demonstrating in the UK, particularly through agri-environment schemes.

However, European agricultural policy needs substantial reform so that it delivers measures to help birds and other wildlife right across the continent's farmed landscape and on a much greater scale. This means that funding for agri-environment schemes must increase significantly, and the quality and implementation of schemes must improve so they deliver wildlife's needs on the ground. For birds, this means nesting habitats and food in the summer and winter.

Policies must also support low-intensity farming systems that deliver a range of ecosystem benefits in addition to wonderful biodiversity. We know exactly what to do to start turning these devastating numbers around, but the political will is needed to make it happen. This isn't rocket science nor does it need a rocket science budget.

Quite simply, we are sleepwalking into disaster and it is time to wake up.

Profile: Richard D. Gregory is project manager of the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme and head of species monitoring and research in the department of conservation science at the UK's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

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IU to host 100 Middle Eastern, North African students in Coca-Cola, State Department program

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 7-Jun-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: George Vlahakis
vlahakis@iu.edu
812-855-0846
Indiana University

Students will develop plans for new enterprises during 4-week program at IU's Kelley School of Business

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- In an effort to increase the understanding of entrepreneurship and business education in the Arab world, the Coca-Cola Co. and the U.S. State Department are sponsoring 100 college students from across the Middle East and North Africa to study in a unique program at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.

Students will come in mid-June to IU Bloomington from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Morocco and Tunisia to learn about developing business plans, social entrepreneurship, nonprofit management and other topics.

After nearly four weeks at IU, they will compete in a team business plan competition, developing ideas for enterprises they can pursue upon their return home. After leaving Bloomington, they also will visit Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Ga.

The curriculum for the Global Business Institute-Middle East North Africa has been tailored to meet the needs of the 61 men and 39 women in the program. All are currently enrolled college students in fields such as computer science, engineering, medicine and business and are between the ages of 18 and 24. All of them have ideas for starting businesses, which is how they were selected. More than 5,300 students applied for the program.

"Indiana University's Kelley School of Business is pleased to collaborate with the Coca-Cola Company and the State Department to bring these students from the Middle East and North Africa to Bloomington during the summer of 2012," said Dan Smith, dean of the Kelley School. "As the premier entrepreneurship education institution, the Kelley School understands how critical entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial mindset are to creating a flourishing economy.

"Small and medium-sized businesses are the motor for local economies around the world, and these future enterprises in North Africa and the Middle East will be built by the young university students who are inspired to become their own CEOs," Smith added.

The GBI-MENA program is another effort by the Kelley School's Institute for International Business, which has been involved in social entrepreneurship projects in Malaysia, Barbados, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and supports the internationalization of a plethora of academic programs.

"The Coca-Cola Company understands that for its business to be successful over the long term, the communities in which it operates need to be sustainable -- sustainable economically, sustainable environmentally and with strong community support systems," said Curt Ferguson, president of Coca-Cola Middle East and North Africa.

"The Coca-Cola Company seeks to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, so that they can create the local companies and NGOs which will make tomorrow better in their own communities," Ferguson added.

"The State Department is pleased to join hands with the Coca-Cola Company and Indiana University to develop a unique program to provide entrepreneurship education to college students from across the region during the summer of 2012," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman. "By investing in entrepreneurship education, we hope that these young people will gain the expertise and new ideas to allow them to become agents of change and action when they return home to become tomorrow's leaders and business executives."

Another collaborator in the program is Partners for a New Beginning, an alliance of public-private partnerships that is committed to deepening engagement between the United States and local communities in the Arab world on issues of education, exchange, economic opportunity and science. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is Partners for a New Beginning's chair.

While most faculty teaching in the program are from the Kelley School, it also will include those from IU's School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Maurer School of Law.

They will include Jeffery McMullen, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship who designed one of the first courses on social entrepreneurship in the country; Donald F. Kuratko, executive director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; Feisal Istrabadi, university scholar in international law and diplomacy and director of the Center for the Study of the Middle East; and Sameeksha Desai, an assistant professor in SPEA and associate director of the Institute for Development Strategies.

In addition to the classroom education, students will work most evenings with faculty coaches, who will help them develop the feasibility studies for their business ideas. They also will visit several major Indiana-based companies and business incubators, as well as cultural and recreational sites that provide them with a better understanding of the U.S.

"There is great potential in this program for building some significant, long-term relationships," said LaVonn Schlegel, the Institute for International Business' managing director. "These students are going back into their home countries with new ideas and new energies. Our plans are to find ways to keep these relationships and networks going beyond the end of their time together at IU.

"My hope is that beginning with this first cohort, and all that follow, we will be creating long-lasting ties, and thus understanding, between these students and the people they come into contact with through GBI-MENA."

Partners in the program expect that it will become an ongoing initiative each summer.

###


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?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 7-Jun-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: George Vlahakis
vlahakis@iu.edu
812-855-0846
Indiana University

Students will develop plans for new enterprises during 4-week program at IU's Kelley School of Business

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- In an effort to increase the understanding of entrepreneurship and business education in the Arab world, the Coca-Cola Co. and the U.S. State Department are sponsoring 100 college students from across the Middle East and North Africa to study in a unique program at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.

Students will come in mid-June to IU Bloomington from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Morocco and Tunisia to learn about developing business plans, social entrepreneurship, nonprofit management and other topics.

After nearly four weeks at IU, they will compete in a team business plan competition, developing ideas for enterprises they can pursue upon their return home. After leaving Bloomington, they also will visit Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Ga.

The curriculum for the Global Business Institute-Middle East North Africa has been tailored to meet the needs of the 61 men and 39 women in the program. All are currently enrolled college students in fields such as computer science, engineering, medicine and business and are between the ages of 18 and 24. All of them have ideas for starting businesses, which is how they were selected. More than 5,300 students applied for the program.

"Indiana University's Kelley School of Business is pleased to collaborate with the Coca-Cola Company and the State Department to bring these students from the Middle East and North Africa to Bloomington during the summer of 2012," said Dan Smith, dean of the Kelley School. "As the premier entrepreneurship education institution, the Kelley School understands how critical entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial mindset are to creating a flourishing economy.

"Small and medium-sized businesses are the motor for local economies around the world, and these future enterprises in North Africa and the Middle East will be built by the young university students who are inspired to become their own CEOs," Smith added.

The GBI-MENA program is another effort by the Kelley School's Institute for International Business, which has been involved in social entrepreneurship projects in Malaysia, Barbados, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and supports the internationalization of a plethora of academic programs.

"The Coca-Cola Company understands that for its business to be successful over the long term, the communities in which it operates need to be sustainable -- sustainable economically, sustainable environmentally and with strong community support systems," said Curt Ferguson, president of Coca-Cola Middle East and North Africa.

"The Coca-Cola Company seeks to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, so that they can create the local companies and NGOs which will make tomorrow better in their own communities," Ferguson added.

"The State Department is pleased to join hands with the Coca-Cola Company and Indiana University to develop a unique program to provide entrepreneurship education to college students from across the region during the summer of 2012," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman. "By investing in entrepreneurship education, we hope that these young people will gain the expertise and new ideas to allow them to become agents of change and action when they return home to become tomorrow's leaders and business executives."

Another collaborator in the program is Partners for a New Beginning, an alliance of public-private partnerships that is committed to deepening engagement between the United States and local communities in the Arab world on issues of education, exchange, economic opportunity and science. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is Partners for a New Beginning's chair.

While most faculty teaching in the program are from the Kelley School, it also will include those from IU's School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Maurer School of Law.

They will include Jeffery McMullen, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship who designed one of the first courses on social entrepreneurship in the country; Donald F. Kuratko, executive director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; Feisal Istrabadi, university scholar in international law and diplomacy and director of the Center for the Study of the Middle East; and Sameeksha Desai, an assistant professor in SPEA and associate director of the Institute for Development Strategies.

In addition to the classroom education, students will work most evenings with faculty coaches, who will help them develop the feasibility studies for their business ideas. They also will visit several major Indiana-based companies and business incubators, as well as cultural and recreational sites that provide them with a better understanding of the U.S.

"There is great potential in this program for building some significant, long-term relationships," said LaVonn Schlegel, the Institute for International Business' managing director. "These students are going back into their home countries with new ideas and new energies. Our plans are to find ways to keep these relationships and networks going beyond the end of their time together at IU.

"My hope is that beginning with this first cohort, and all that follow, we will be creating long-lasting ties, and thus understanding, between these students and the people they come into contact with through GBI-MENA."

Partners in the program expect that it will become an ongoing initiative each summer.

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


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Mobile Crash Reporting Solution Crashlytics Acquires FireTower.app To Expand Into Mobile Web

crashlyticsCrashlytics, a Cambridge-based startup that helps developers understand why their mobile apps are crashing, has just beat out an unnamed competitor to acquire the bootstrapped startup called?FireTower.app. The FireTower solution was focused not on mobile apps, but on web applications, allowing developers to find javascript errors in their websites. Now, Crashlytics will be repurposing that technology for use by mobile web developers. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Crashlytics co-founder Wayne Chang says the other side is "very happy."

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The states with the widest gap between rich and poor

Spencer Platt / Getty Images file

Scene form New York City: A businessman walks by a homeless woman begging for money. New York tops the list of states where the wealth gap is greatest.

By Michael B. Sauter, 24/7 Wall St.

While some income inequality is generally considered necessary in a free market economy, extreme inequality is not. In the United States, there are far more poor people than wealthy ones -- and the gap between the rich and poor is growing. Income inequality is a problem among more developed countries, but the U.S.?is?among the worst.

24/7 Wall St.: The happiest countries in the world

The U.S.?has?the fourth worst income inequality compared to other developed countries, according to the?Organisation?for Economic Co-operation. ?Though some are better than others, all 50 states have higher inequality than most of the developed world.?24/7 Wall St.?examined?the 10 states with?widest gap?between the rich and poor.

Scored between one and zero, the Gini coefficient is a measure used by economists to rank income inequality. Zero reflects perfect income equality, where everyone makes the same. A score of one reflects an economy where one person has all of the money and everyone else has none. Higher numbers represent significant concentrations of wealth, extreme poverty, and a limited middle class.

The Census began tracking inequality in the U.S.?in?1967. The Gini coefficient was 0.397 then. The most recent number puts it at 0.469. Though states range from 0.419 in Utah to 0.499 in New York,?America?s income divide has widened.

While the states we examined have high inequality, they?re not?necessarily?wealthy states.?Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, have among the lowest median incomes in the country and also have the worst income inequality scores.?States with the highest incomes, including?Connecticut, Massachusetts and California, are also on the list.? All ten states have -- relative to the size of their middle class -- a large percentage of their population living at one end of the income spectrum, and in some cases large percentages at both ends.

In four of the states on this list, more than 7 percent of households earn at least $200,000 each year, much larger than the national proportion of roughly 4 percent. On the other side of the spectrum, five of these states have among the top 10 largest percentages of households earning less than $10,000 each year. Only two of these states, New York and California, have very large proportions of both extremely wealthy households and extremely poor households.

Having a large population appears to be a factor contributing to inequality as well. Of the states on this list, eight are among the 25 most populous states in the country. The four most populous states -- New York, California, Texas and Florida -- have among the worst income inequality. It appears that a large, populous state is more likely to have extremely poor rural areas and large citieswith?wealthy suburbs.

24/7 Wall St.: The most dangerous cars in America

While having high or low median income does not appear to correlate to high income inequality, education does. Looking at the percentage of the population 25 years and older with a high school diploma, eight of the 10 are in the bottom third. This includes California, Texas and Mississippi, which have the three least educated populations in the United States.

In addition to state Gini coefficient scores, which were provided by the Census Bureau, 24/7 Wall St.?reviewed?the distribution of household income in these states, as well as the median income. We also considered the percentage of residents 25 years and older with at least a high school diploma and the percentage with at least a college degree; the percentage of households below the poverty line; and the percentage of households receiving food stamps.

These are the states with the widest gap between rich and poor.

1. New York

  • ?Gini coefficient:?0.499
  • ?Median income: $54,148 (14th highest)
  • ?Households earning $200,000 a year or more:?7.4 percent (6th highest)
  • ?Population living below the poverty line:?14.1 percent (21st highest)

New York is the state with the highest income inequality, though its Gini coefficient has decreased from its 2009 level of 0.502 to 0.499. Median income has increased significantly from $50,216 in 2009 to $54,148 in 2010. Also, the number of households earning $200,000 or more increased from 6.15 percent in 2009 to 7.4 percent in 2010. The population living below the poverty line has decreased slightly. Despite dropping from a Gini coefficient above 0.5, New York still has a long way to go.

2. Connecticut

  • ?Gini coefficient:?0.486
  • ?Median income: $64,032 (4th highest)
  • ?Households earning $200,000 a year or more:?10.3 percent (2nd highest)
  • ?Population living below the poverty line:?10 percent (5th lowest)

Connecticut has the second-worst income inequality in the U.S., with a 0.006 jump in inequality since 2009. Median income has increased from $63,851 in 2009. Slightly more households have fallen below the poverty line since 2009, but Connecticut maintains its position as one of the states with the smallest number of residents living in poverty. As much as 36 percent of Connecticut residents over 25-years old hold a bachelor?s degree, which is the fourth-highest rate in the country and helps explain why Connecticut enjoys some of the highest rankings of high-income households in the country.

24/7 Wall St.: Top ten CEOs sent to prison

3. Louisiana

  • ?Gini coefficient:?0.475
  • ?Median income: $42,505 (10th lowest)
  • ?Households earning $200,000 a year or more:?3.5 percent (tied for 23rd lowest)
  • ?Population living below the poverty line:?17.7 percent (5th highest)

Though Louisiana?s 2010 unemployment rate of 7.5 percent was lower than the national average and the lowest on this list, Louisianans face other constraints limiting upward mobility for the majority of households. A sizable portion of the population has not completed their high school education -- only 82.5 percent of residents older than 25 had a high school diploma, while only 21.8 percent had a college degree. Additionally, though much of the population may be employed, 15.3 percent of residents received food stamps, and the state?s median income is lower than all but nine states.

4. Massachusetts

  • ?Gini coefficient:?0.475
  • ?Median income: $62,072 (6th highest)
  • ?Households earning $200,000 a year or more:?9.0 percent (4th highest)
  • ?Population living below the poverty line:?12 percent (13th lowest)

Massachusetts has the fourth-worst income inequality in the U.S. --?worse?than its 10th place in 2009. Median income has increased considerably from $59,373 in 2009, while the proportion of households earning more than $200,000 remained in fourth place. More households have slipped below the poverty line as the poverty rate has increased from 10.3 percent in 2009. Massachusetts? top ranking in the country with the highest percentage of individuals over 25 holding a bachelor degree may exacerbate the income disparity.

5. Florida

  • ?Gini coefficient:?0.474
  • ?Median income: $44,409 (15th lowest)
  • ?Households earning $200,000 a year or more:?4.1 percent (20th highest)
  • ?Population living below the poverty line:?14.9 percent (16th highest)

With an unemployment rate of 11.3 percent in 2010, Florida has had trouble creating the jobs necessary to eliminate its sizable income gap. Though 8.1 percent of Florida households earn at least $150,000 a year, 12.4 percent of the state population remain on food stamps. Many Floridians live in extreme poverty, as Florida has the third-largest number of households -- in excess of a quarter million -- earning less than $10,000 a year. Yet the opposite strata of the income distribution is also well occupied. Florida has the fifth-most households earning more than $200,000 annually.

Read the rest of the list of states with the widest gap between rich and poor?at?the 24/7 Wall St.?website.

?

?

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ASUS shows off its first Thunderbolt monitor, along with 3D, WiDi and multitouch displays (video)

Take a stroll around ASUS' Computex booth, and you'll see a wall full of new displays -- and we're only half counting the one made for the PadFone. By our count, the company is getting ready to release four new monitors: one with multitouch, one with Wireless Display, one that does passive 3D and one with Thunderbolt (the company's first). Starting with the multitouch model, it has a folding hinge that allows the 23-inch screen to lie completely flat. As you'll see in the video below, it makes for a more ergonomic angle if you're playing simple games like Fruit Ninja, though we can also see it coming in handy for more social activities such as Scrabble or finger painting with kids. And as bizarre as the form factor might look, we also found the hinge mechanism easy to operate: it's reassuringly sturdy, without feeling too loose or rigid. On its own, the IPS, 1920 x 1080 display offers rich colors and wide viewing angles. As far as connectivity is concerned, there's a USB 3.0 socket, along with HDMI, VGA and a DisplayPort.

Moving on, that 27-inch, 1080p 3D monitor has an MHL port, allowing it to work with select tablets and phones. There's 2D-to-3D conversion built in, but we have to warn you the three-dimensional experience is fairly lackluster. To use this you'll need passive, not active 3D glasses, and like other monitors that rely on this technology, you'll have to work hard at finding just the right position where the 3D really pops. Even after you settle into that spot, the three-dimensional rendering isn't nearly as convincing as on some other displays we've seen. If you the 3D starts to make you nauseous, you might enjoy it as a standalone display, thanks to its low-glare IPS panel. Want to connect it to a PC? There are also built-in DVI and HDMI / HDMI.4 sockets.

Next up, ASUS is getting ready to ship its first Thunderbolt monitor, which has a 27-inch, 1080p screen, along with a DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Lastly, there's a 27-inch Wireless Display-compatible model with 1080p resolution, a DisplayPort and a pair of HDMI sockets. As far as all of these displays are concerned, we don't know pricing or availability, though ASUS was at least able to confirm that the Thunderbolt model is headed to the US. For now, check out our photos below and head past the break for a short video tour.

Continue reading ASUS shows off its first Thunderbolt monitor, along with 3D, WiDi and multitouch displays (video)

ASUS shows off its first Thunderbolt monitor, along with 3D, WiDi and multitouch displays (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 01:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Stocks Lift on Strong ISM

Today's stronger-than-expected read on the ISM Services Index points to growth and saves the U.S. economic outlook from a recession. Michael Ozanian, Forbes Magazine executive editor and Art Hogan, Lazard Capital Markets, share perspective.

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Fed's Yellen says recent economic data disappointing

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Congo army claims 200 mutineers killed since April

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Fans warned of 'toxic' Euro 2012 soccer jerseys

When you see fans hitting the deck during Euro 2012 soccer competition next week, don?t assume that hooligans are to blame. It might just be their souvenir team jerseys. A European consumer watchdog group is warning fans of nine countries that the official team jerseys for sale are contaminated with toxic chemicals. Hey, as long as they don?t charge extra.

The shirts are all made by adidas, Nike and Puma, and show ?worrying? signs of lead and other chemicals, according to a statement by the BEUC group. Shirts for teams from Poland, Spain, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Italy, France, Holland and Portugal are all affected, says the group. The BEUC said that Poland?s jersey ?should be banned outright?, and that ?harmful chemical cocktails? can be found in others.

BEUC director-general Monique Goyens said: ?Football fans pay up to ?90 (?73) for the shirt of their favourite team. It is inexplicable that heavy metals are used in mass consumer products. It is clearly foul play by manufacturers to use substances harmful to both people and the environment.

?Host country Poland?s shirt should be banned outright from shops as it contains an organotin compound, used to prevent sweat odour, in higher doses than the legal limit. Organotin can be toxic to the nervous system.?

Italian and Spanish fans get an added bonus: the group says the their jerseys are tainted with nonylphenol, a chemical which is banned from waste water because of its harmful effect on the environment.

I for one am anxious to see what happens when these shirts are hit by flares.

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