The Thin End

Increasing global temperatures are affecting the populations of rabbits with an increased risk of soil parasite infections.  We are used to seeing rabbits as the epitome of rapid population growth - "they breed like rabbits' - is often used as a disparaging social comment.  Even Pope Francis has used the figurative term.  Rabbit numbers have fallen by up to 80% in the UK since 1995.  That is a big fall. However, rabbits are certainly fast in the breeding league.  Like most fast-breeding species, rabbits don't live long.  The average life span of a wild rabbit is just two to three years, with many falling victims to predators.  It is not uncommon for the average female rabbit to have several litters in a year because gestation is only about 1 month. Thus, each litter can have three or four babies to seven, eight, nine, and sometimes more.   But even the breeding of rabbits is dependent on conditions.  If conditions are right, they will br...

Could the release of carbon from the soil be accelerating global warming and climate change?  The answer from the latest research published in Nature appears to be a resounding 'yes.'  Perhaps it is not surprising given that the soil acts as a significant store of global carbon.  It isn't merely locked in place. Organic processes release it into the atmosphere.  Carbon is a vital ingredient of our living planet and plays a major role in the balance of our ecosystem. All life on earth is 'made' of carbon and carbon circulates. Carbon enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide from respiration and combustion. It is absorbed by plants to make carbohydrates in photosynthesis using energy from the sun. Animals feed on the plants passing the carbon compounds along the food chain. Most of the carbon they consume is exhaled back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. The animals and plants eventually die, and these dead organisms get eaten by decomposers (microbes a...