[ By Chris in Animals & Habitats , Nature & Ecosystems , Science & Research . ] (Images via: Wonders of Pakistan , Daily Mail , Max Waugh , Consejo , Flickr , It’s Nature , Indy Media , Get Eco Now , Invasive Species East , CMS , Jagtheesh ) Defined as man-, animal- or machine-made noise that has a harmful effect on surrounding life, noise pollution or environmental noise from transportation, construction and many other loud and annoying activities is wreaking havoc on natural habitats and environments. From birds in the sky to elephants on land to dolphins in the sea, noise pollution is threatening all types of species and altering the way in which these animals communicate, mate and even protect themselves from larger predators. No Solace High Above from Noise Pollution (Images via: P Base , Science Daily , University of Manchester , Happy Pet Travels ) For many types of bats, owls and birds, noise pollution from planes, machinery and car traffic in urban areas and construction in natural habitats is changing normal ways of life. Environmental noise has been shown to affect the way that bats and owls find and hunt for prey. For example, gleaning bats such as the Bechstein’s bat are less likely to hunt in noisy areas. According to researchers, too much noise pollution could put these animals at risk of extinction by making once fulfilling environments unlivable. While some birds like great tits , waterbirds, birds of prey, corvids and starlings are able to adapt to urban noise by tweeting louder, other birds with lower frequencies are not as adaptable at changing their tunes, which may affect these winged-friends from communicating with and finding each other for mating, and even propel them to fly away to less noisy environments. Turn Down the Sound on the Ground (Images via: Flickr , AJ Tours and Transfers Zambia , Free Webs , Wildlife Pictures Online ) For Zimbabwe elephants , helicopters that fly above their herding grounds can be as frighteningly loud as an elephant stampede. As tourist helicopter rides over Victoria Falls (see top right image) have been ramped up in recent years, environmentalists warn that such increased activity may scare the area’s large concentration of elephants, causing them to run and flee to other areas. If such altered elephant behavior occurs as a result of helicopters, environmentalists worry that the entire ecosystem – meaning thousands of other wild animals and birds – will suffer as well. However, the local government has not seemed too concerned about these possibilities, saying that the tourist shows must go on. The Budweiser Frogs Wouldn’t  Put Up With This (Images via: AARP , The Magnolias , Bourbonnais Township Park District , University of Oklahoma , P Base ) For female grey tree frogs, increasing noise from nearby traffic has been shown to slow their abilities to listen for and locate male frogs that are calling for their services during the mating season. As for European tree frogs, they simply don’t call as much due to increasing noise pollution. Unfortunately, both grey and European tree frogs have struggled to adapt their calls to the growing demands of increased environmental noise, which environmentalists say could lead to less reproduction and declining populations of these frogs. I Don’t Mean To Be A Crab But Please Be Quiet (Images via: Learnativity , King Snake , Built City ) While hermit crabs are equipped with great protection (their shells) from larger predators, they are not as quick to shield themselves when environmental noise is present. According to a recent study, hermit crabs that were distracted by nearby noises from boats were slower to hide in their shells when presented with a simulated predator, in this case a donut that was covered with a black T-shirt and attached to a pole swung near the crabs. Based on the study’s findings, the hermit crabs in quiet areas quickly hid from the potential predator. On the other hand, the hermit crabs in noisy areas appeared distracted by the boat noise and did not retract as quickly, suggesting to researchers how noise can put crabs in a disadvantageous position when predators are near. Hardly Noise Free under the Sea (Images via: Okinawa , Flickr , Anon , Switched ) The deep blue sea would seem to offer some peace and quiet for whales, dolphins and porpoises, but this is not the case as noise from sonar, commercial shipping and drilling for oil and gas are causing great harm. In the case of military sonar and seismic testing, it is believed that whales, dolphins and porpoises can become scared by the high-pitch sounds, causing them to surface in water that is beyond their physical limits and beach themselves. Communication among these animals is also affected by underwater noise pollution like sonar, which has caused some dolphins to go temporarily deaf and whales to be separated from their calves. Sadly, it doesn’t appear that the ocean’s noise level is going to be reduced any time soon, that is unless some more stringent sound regulations are passed. With climate change , the oceans are expected to get noisier as molecules that usually absorb sound are changed by the water becoming more acidic. In fact, some experts are predicting that sound absorption in the ocean may decrease by 60 percent and that underwater noise may travel 70 percent further in the future as a result of climate change. Beetles and Loud Rock Music: Literal Beatle Mania (Images via: Photobucket , Chesapeake Tree Services , Sky Blu , Myremecos ) Loud noise is detrimental to so many species that scientists are using it to their advantage, in this case for more noble purposes. To combat the effects of ravenous bark beetles that are damaging many types of trees (see top right image), researchers recently conducted an experiment in which loud rock music from Metallica, Guns & Roses and Queen and backward recordings of Rush Limbaugh were blasted near trees infested with these beetles. According to the study’s findings, the loud noise severely bothered the beetles to the point where it disrupted their tunneling, feeding and reproduction habits. In some cases, the loud recordings caused the beetles to kill each other, thus possibly providing a new way to handle these pests and save infested trees. Of course, this experiment was performed in a controlled laboratory setting and does not take into account how the music would affect birds and other species that live in the trees. Judging by the response of most animals to noise pollution, such music would likely be problematic for these other animals despite eradicating one major problem: annoying bark beetles. Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebEcoist: Climate Change: 13 Animals Facing Future Dangers Deforestation, global warming and other climate changes could have serious effects on dolphins, amphibians, turtles, penguins and many other animals. 2 Comments – Click Here to Read More »» Unseasonably Cold, Globally Warm Animal Dangers Unseasonably cold weather and globally warm scenarios pose grave animal dangers to tropical fish, sea turtles, colobine monkeys, gorillas and other marine animals. Click Here to Read More »» Hungry, Hungry Animals: 10 Unique Stories of Consumption From bonobos ranking food by sound to rats falling in love with junk food, animal appetites, eating habits and consumption are tales of the cool and absurd. Click Here to Read More »» [ WebEcoist - By Chris in Animals & Habitats , Nature & Ecosystems , Science & Research . ]

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Shut Up: How Noise Pollution Is Affecting 10 Animals

Expect a hundred comments about how climate change is a hoax, reminding us of how much snow fell this month, the non-shrinking glaciers or hacked emails. They will probably be from people who will not even bother reading Al Gore’s long op-ed in the Sunday New York Times. If they did, they would find that he addresses all of these issues. To summarize it, he writes: If only it were true, it would be a great relief; The errors in the reports and the emails are embarrassing, but do not change the overall picture; Global warming puts more moistu… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Al Gore Op-Ed in New York Times: "We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change"

Image credit: Coulomb Technologies From San Francisco’s plans to be the EV charging capitol of the US to serious efforts to build a national electric vehicle charging network , Coulomb Technologies’ ChargePoint concept seems to be making waves. But how can EV owners easily access this ne… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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iPhone App Aids Electric Vehicle Charging

Photo montage credit via Papageien Backerei . Germans haven’t allowed economic turmoil to put a dent in their organic food purchases, according to market research group GfK – 94% of German households made organic food purchases in 2009. That strong support of organic may be the reason a wacky business idea called Parrot Bakery with its organically-grown parrot treats has succeeded in spite of recession, according to Spiegel International . In the U.S., the situation’s a bit different. Organi… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Paradox: Natural Pet Food Sales Growing Faster Than Human Ones

The Aegean town of Akyaka (left) wants to become an eco-friendly “slow city” while the Munzur Valley (right) in eastern Turkey is threatened by plans to build a dam in the area. Photos via Friends of Akyaka (L) and Arser (R) via Wikimedia Commons. On the global Environmental Performance Index recently released by the U.S. universities Columbia and Yale, Turkey

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February Eco-Tidbits from Turkey

Judging from its launch press release, the Bloom Box “energy server” is the greatest thing since sliced bread. And perhaps it is. After months of media speculation, Bloom Energy finally took the wraps off its fuel cell technology last week at a press conference featuring such luminaries as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former United States Secretary of State Colin Powell. Heavy hitters, to be sure, trotted out to add credence to company’s claim that their new Bloom Box centers will soon provide “clean, reliable, and affordable power 24/7.” Who wouldn’t want that? What the Bloom Box does Bloom says its fuel cells convert a number of fuel sources — natural gas or biogas, for instance — into energy through an electrochemical process. This sounds a lot cleaner and sexier than combustion methods of power generation, and Bloom promises to deliver compact 100 kilowatt units in a footprint not much bigger than an automobile parking spot. The idea is to build decentralized networks of Bloom Boxes, each powering small groups of buildings. Since power transmission is inherently inefficient, the concept moves us one step closer to the nirvana of an “energy internet,” where nodes share and generate energy, not just consume it. But wait a minute … With claims like this (and an optimistic launch report by CBS’ 60 Minutes ), it’s no surprise that mainstream media reports have been little short of gushing. But not so fast, says Hank Green of the popular CleanTech blog EcoGeek . Despite Bloom Energy’s rosy press release (linked PDF download), there remain some nagging inconsistencies: The Bloom cell really only runs on one kind of fuel: methane. Where it’s sourced is irrelevant. The first Bloom energy servers will be ferociously expensive. Claims of quick returns on investment seem unlikely. Bloom says its cells are even cleaner than renewable sources, such as wind and solar energy. This is patently false. Hank is still a big fan of Bloom Energy, and we’re looking forward to seeing how this technology develops, too. Read the rest of his comments at EcoGeek. You can see the 60 Minutes Bloom Box report below. Watch CBS News Videos Online

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The Bloom Box: Too good to be true?

The Nobel Prize-winning international scientific panel studying global warming is seeking independent outside review for how it makes major reports.

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Climate panel, under attack, seeks review

The death of Sea World Orlando orca trainer Dawn Brancheau has revived the question of whether or not it is ethical — or even safe — to keep killer whales in captivity. Brancheau died from drowning and injuries sustained Wednesday when Tilikum, a massive 12,000 pound male orca, grabbed the highly experienced marine mammal handler during a public talk at the popular Florida park. Rescue workers were forced to pen and lift Tillikum from the water to recover Brancheau’s body. While park visitors report that the orcas seemed “agitated” prior to the incident, the precise cause of the attack will probably never be known. Is it time to free Willy? Captive Orcas are sometimes released back into the wild. Keiko, the performing orca who portrayed the subject of the 1993 movie Free Willy , was returned to the Icelandic waters from which he was taken after an exhaustive effort to make him ready for freedom. Though Keiko eventually migrated to Norway, he never fully integrated into wild orca pods, despite continuing care by wildlife managers. Whatever Tillikum’s future, it almost certainly will not include release. Captivity takes a toll on orcas, particularly a specimen of Tilikum’s size. Years of concrete walls and steel pens have worn down his teeth to the point that trainers must rinse his jaws each morning to prevent infection, and he’s an integral part of Sea World’s breeding program. Activist and scientists speak out Orcas are wide-ranging animals which, in the wild, might swim up to 100 miles per day. The confines of a whale tank — no matter how large — force orcas into sedentary behavior unnatural to their species. Marine mammal specialists believe this cramped lifestyle causes a high degree of emotional and physical distress for killer whales, despite the best intentions of their handlers. Now Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the famous oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, and president of the Ocean Futures Society , is speaking out. While recognizing the tragedy of Dawn Brancheau’s death, Cousteau asks whether it is time for humans to how we view killer whales. “Maybe we, as a species, have outgrown the need to keep such wild, enormous, complex, intelligent, and free-ranging animals in captivity,” says Cousteau in the video below. “[In captivity} their behavior becomes abnormal — even pathological. Maybe we have learned all we can from keeping them captive.” What do you think? Has our custody of orcas gone beyond scientific curiosity, to mere exploitation? Is it time to set the orcas free? Post image by Flickr user suneko under a Creative Commons license

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Is it time to set orcas free?

Jeff Garlin weighs in on going green. Image from Simon Spotlight Curb Your Enthusiasm ‘s Jeff Garlin is on a carbon and calorie loss diet. His new memoir, My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World, released this past week, chronicles his year-long journey to lower both his physical footprint and his carbon footprint. With wisecracks and candid wisdom, he describes facing down his food addiction and the steps he took for the environment. But is the comedian’s two-pronged attack to go lean and gr… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Curb Your Footprint: Curb Your Appetite

Green apple. Image credit: Aztec International, Inc . candle making scents. Those of you who have read my previous missives on personal electronics know I have little use for the like of Greenpeace’s electronics rating scheme and am anoyed by the constant hectoring of Apple by NGO’s. Often they are chasing trailing indicators and pushing protocols that miss the big picture. Continuing along those lines, I recently congratulated Apple’s Board of Directors for opposing shareholder demands that Apple publish an ann… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Behind The Scenes, A Green Apple ‘Walking The Walk’