Global impoverishment of natural vegetation revealed by dark diversity - and humans are the reason

"Our activities have become a planet-shaping force, from changing the climate through our emissions to farming 44% of all habitable land. As our footprint has expanded, other species have been pushed to extinction."
>>
https://theconversation.com/invisible-losses-thousands-of-plant-species-are-missing-from-places-they-could-thrive-and-humans-are-the-reason-252378
#biodiversity #loss #destruction #ecosystems #impoverishment #flora #sprawl #roads #infrastructure #graziers #livestock #LoggingImpacts #pollution #DarkDiversity #extinction

Koala habitat

"A lone koala walking through a three-lane tunnel, right in the path of a semi-trailer. The image is a grim sign of the times as Australia’s koala habitat continues to be destroyed. "

"We're moving into their habitat and their corridors, and they're being forced into suburbia... A lot of them are being hit by cars and there are a lot of dog attacks."

"Koalas are listed as endangered across NSW, ACT and Queensland."
>>
https://au.news.yahoo.com/grim-reality-behind-image-of-lost-koala-the-saddest-photo-ive-seen-in-a-long-time-051430371.html
#biodiversity #koalas #habitat #destruction #suburbia #sprawl #roads #cars #dogs #extinction

Dreams of environmental redemption: Reanimate the thylacine

"Perhaps we want an iconic marsupial we can walk on a lead to our local brunch spot."

"Certainly we are not up to the job: we have no experience in making thylacines happy. We have restructured the habitat where the tiger lived, decimated its prey, destroyed its culture. We have built a lot of roads: if everything goes very well and thylacines become as common as pademelons, we can look forward to seeing one on our morning commute, smeared across the highway by a logging truck."

"More likely we are hoping for something to erase our guilt, not just for the extinction of this animal (we could blame someone else for that) but for all the extinctions to come. More likely we want to feel that the damage we do isn’t permanent, that we can travel back in time." Jane Rawson
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/31/can-we-recreate-a-lost-world-in-tasmania-anything-could-happen
#Biodiversity #restoration #thylacines #extinction #marsupials #roads #LoggingIndustry #destruction #wildlife #science #creation #ecology #restoration #MAGA #Australia #writing

_The Evening Post_, 31 March 1925:
TARANAKI TOLL-GATES
It is understood that in pursuance of powers which he may exercise the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. J. G. Coates) is taking the steps which are necessary for the abolition of the toll-gates in #Taranaki as from 1st April.
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19250331.2.81

It's weird what grabs the attention and what doesn't.

I was looking up some UK #statistics and it looks like the most dangerous thing our sons do is drive a car.

Over 78% of all car fatalities are male and that's even higher in the younger groups.

Strangely, that's not why men's insurance is higher. That's mostly because men are more likely to make a claim.

Apparently women cause more accidents per capita in the #USA, which is a very odd geographical difference if you ask me.

These are the kinds of discrepancies that make me suspicious of #social #research

Someone must be getting this wrong, surely. #american #women can't be worse #drivers than their #British counterparts, can they?

If it's not winter, it's road construction season.

(It's #HootinTootinTuesday again! Post some jokes or funny memes under this hashtag today, and bring lots of smiles to #Mastodon.)

Deforestation in tropical regions
Sprawling roads enhanced tropical forest loss during the period 2001–2020

"It has been estimated that, between 2001 and 2020, more than 96% of deforestation worldwide happened in the tropics..The expected road expansion triggered by economic growth will accelerate deforestation in tropical regions in the coming decades."

Zheng, X., Chen, J., Zou, Z. et al. Sprawling roads enhanced tropical forest loss during the period 2001–2020. Commun Earth Environ 6, 218 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02158-8
#roads #biodiversity #deforestation #ParisAgreement #forests

Koala filmed drinking on a rural road had to be euthanised

"Koalas that come down to the ground to seek out water are typically suffering from bad health issues. The iconic animal was recently spotted by a driver hovering over the ground and using its tongue to lick moisture off the bitumen."
https://au.news.yahoo.com/grim-truth-behind-seemingly-innocent-sight-on-rural-road-didnt-realise-061349467.html
#koalas #roads #drivers #vehicle #Biodiversity #habitat

"Researchers put the UK’s pothole problem on the road to recovery"

#UK #UnitedKingdom #Roads

https://www.positive.news/science/researchers-put-the-uks-pothole-problem-on-the-road-to-recovery/

Careless drivers III
Speeding vehicles demolish roundabouts. They are just razed to the ground.
#cars #roads #speeding #drivers #NSW #infrastructure #roundabouts #destruction

Careless drivers knocking down signage II

Cnr of #RosesRoad, John Locke Pl. Ever since the #GlenifferRoad 'upgrade'. No road is ever wide enough.
#Cars #speeding #roads #motorists #Bellingen #speeding #BellingenShire #inaction #gleniffer #koalas #RecklessDriving

From water pollution to blue gold

Water "“blighted by mats of algae, mountains of foam, scum, and dead fish floating on the surface. Pollution from water companies and agricultural runoff are driving the contamination, which affects all parts of the country, causing toxic algal blooms, mass die-offs of fish, and risks to human health."

"A country that once let raw sewage and industrial wastewater flow directly into its water. Today, it is 98%, and the country has a reputation for pristine swimming waters, sometimes referred to as its “blue gold” – and it’s all thanks to a complex network of sewage plants."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/17/from-sewage-and-scum-to-swimming-in-blue-gold-how-switzerland-transformed-its-waterways-aoe
#water #pollution #micropollutants #ecosystem #health #swimming #Australia #sewage #floods #runoff #ImperviousSurfaces #roads #MassMortalities #SepticTanks #sprawl #biodiversity #rivers #civilisation

Chlamydia detected in Sydney’s only disease-free koala population

"The koalas were tested after they were found in Appin in south-western Sydney in September with injuries suggesting they had both been hit by cars." >>

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/20/chlamydia-detected-in-sydneys-only-disease-free-koala-population
#Koalas #roads #cars #Sydney #AppinRoad #roadtrauma

Koala! Go fetch our data!

An underweight koala, with several high-tech monitoring devices attached to its body is lost in a bulldozed habitat. It is making way for cars and a highway. The endangered animal had " a collar with a VHF tracker around its neck, a pin stitched between its shoulder blades and a blue tag on its ear."
>>
https://au.news.yahoo.com/koala-wearing-mysterious-devices-on-busy-road-sparks-concern-whats-going-on-062151602.html
#biodiversity #koalas #wildlife #harassment #mobility #roads #cars #telemetry #ethics #science #monitoring #tracking #conservation #MobilityDesign #LogisticsWarehouse #VegetationClearing #machines

_The Evening Post_, 19 March 1925:
SLIP ON RIMUTAKA HILL ROAD

(BY TELEGRAPH—PRESS ASSOCIATION.)

MASTERTON, 19th March.
The #Rimutaka Hill road was blocked an at 2.30 this afternoon through a slip coming down where a Public Works gang was widening the road. One car, with the assistance of ropes, got round the edge of the slip this evening, but it is doubtful if heavy traffic will get through until to-morrow night or possibly later. It is expected that the obstruction will not be removed for 48 hours.
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19250319.2.117

The human carnage on the roads - "accidents" and road violence

"In Australia, a country with a terrible occurrence and societal acceptance of violent road deaths (would we, for example, be so lackadaisical about the death “toll” were we measuring killings, accidental and otherwise, involving knives or dogs or lawnmowers?), we are culturally imbued with notions of our “rights” rather than our “privileges” when it comes to motor vehicle driving. Something to do with our vast expanses and wide-open roads perhaps."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/18/when-dad-couldnt-drive-any-more-it-was-devastating-but-he-was-just-too-old
#RoadViolence #cars #SUVs #roads #violence #accident #RoadTrauma #RoadTrafficFatalities #roadkill #sprawl #Australia #MobilityDesign

Although the #bridge closure would have been inconvenient, I had a look at what this #forge / #blacksmith makes and its not that large/heavy items (vehicles over 7 500 kg are forbidden from the bridge anyway) - I do wonder if it was a coincidence his business had trade decline and the real reason is even relatively middle class folk are skint, and simply can't afford artisan forged garden ornaments? #Suffolk #roads #transport

https://archive.ph/RemQr