by dbiello

Mar 29, 2008

Either the ingenuity unleashed by the United States own special mix of free markets and government regulation will solve the climate change crisis or the rest of the world, having witnessed an American government content to stick its head in the sand, will forcibly compel the country into a green future. Such, at least, were the terms of the debate last night that wrapped up Day 1 of the State of the Planet conference at Columbia University.

FROM TREE-DWELLING TO TERRIFYING: The discovery of a bat-size, branch-hopping pterodactyl helps round out the origins of the far larger variety that would dominate the skies millions of years later, according to a new report. Among the smallest pterodactyls yet discovered, Nemicolopterus crypticus was (at least in its juvenile form) a toothless creature with a 25-centimeter (9.8-inch) wingspan and possessing curved foot bones that suggest a life spent grasping tree branches.

They say the teensy pterodactyl (envisioned here snacking on an insect) is closely related to the monster, six-meter- (20-foot-) wide and larger wingspan pterosaurs that soared during the upper Cretaceous, 65 million to 100 million years ago.

Courtesy of Michael Skrepnickaption

Fossil remains indicate that insects actually eat more plant material when the planet is warmer. Karen Hopkin reports.

According to a new study, published in the February 12 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences…

plants, too, are likely to face problems as the earth heats up. And their biggest problem is likely to be: insects.

Seems that with more CO2 in the atmosphere, plants take up more carbon. That actually makes their leaves less nutritious for plant-munching bugs—so the insects just eat more. So, a warmer planet will be home to some hungry bugs. Which I daresay will not please the trees. Or anyone else who relies on plants for food—which includes, ultimately, all of us.