Fireflies Disappearing?

Is there actually evidence leading to the disappearance of fireflies? Over the last few years The Museum of Science has found evidence leading to the decline in the firefly population. But so far no one knows if it's true. Right now to prevent fireflies from disappearing they have started a program that will go on for 10 years which will have volunteer citizen scientists start to actually count the number of fireflies. On the third year of the Firefly Watch they will start to map out sightings and info about the bug to find out if they are actually disappearing and if so, why they are.





They way they count fireflies is pretty simple. Each night members of the Firefly Watch go out into their backyards and count the number of lights that blink across their yards. This will help scientists figure out what needs to be studied about the supposed disappearance of fireflies. One of the theories for them disappearing is pollution from humans. People that actually want to see the data collected so far can go onto their website and it will show maps of where and what the conditions were that fireflies have been spotted at.

I chose this article because I just wondered what it would be like to be outside in the summer and there not be any fireflies around ever again. This article relates to class because we were talking about pollution and how it effects the earth and our surroundings. So if pollution is actually a factor in the disappearance of fireflies that just means that eventually some other type of animal could go extinct because of us and the pollutants we put into our environment.



Extinction threat for world's smallest seahorse.

Of course everyone knows about the oil spill earlier this year. But did you know that the world's smallest seahorse may become extinct because of it? The dwarf seahorse's are barely 2 cm tall and only live in the shallow waters of the gulf, they also can be found in the seagrass mats that float in the water. Those mats were burned, by BP, so that the oil didn't wash up on the shore. The oil has also made it merely impossible for the seahorses to survive. Seahorses mate for life and they don't have that much offspring so it makes it even harder for them to regain the amount of seahorses that they had before the spill. The oil could effect reproduction cycles making it hard for seahorses to reproduce considering that males carry the eggs. If it couldn't get any worse for them, they are poor swimmers so it's hard for them to escape to oil-free places.

Project seahorse is a group trying to help save the seahorses from extinction. They say that it is crucial to their survival that BP takes steps to help protect the seagrass in the next few months to avoid any more damage to the seahorse population. Koldwey said "We are urging BP to continue to use booms in the clean-up to isolate the oil slicks. These can be skimmed, left to evaporate, or treated with biological agents like fertilisers, which promote the growth of micro-organisms that biodegrade oil."

I picked this story because it just shows the effect that humans have had on not only the environment but all of the other living things on this earth. If BP hadn't drilled for oil the seahorses wouldn't be facing extinction right now. I think this relates to class because it shows how it is an interdisciplinary project because more than one group of scientists/people need to help to save the seahorses.

About Me.

I'm Carly. Somethings I like are anything involving art. Something that I dislike is camping. Things I would like to learn about in environmental are about being green and respecting the environment. That's about it.