With thunderstorms beginning to roll through the Southeast, Gore staffers were last seen racing to get the cameras rolling, lest any rain spoil the props. One has to wonder if a man so fear-ridden could capably lead a nation where the complex issues are legion, the perils more certain, and the consequences of poor judgment more immediate than a century or two down the road. Well, some scientists have been doing their best to link biodiversity to something sexier, like ozone depletion, but they keep encountering problems. The June 27 New Scientist magazine, for example, covers yet another study implicating a fungus in the apparent worldwide decline of amphibians. This time the fungus was found attacking 10 species of frogs and toads in Australia, seven species in Panama, and six species in American zoos and aquariums.
Fungi are a natural component of the ecosystem.
If you're heading for Triton, one of Neptune's moons, you should know that the atmosphere there has suddenly warmed. F. Though Triton is 30-times farther from the Sun than Earth, scientists believe changes in frost patterns or in the reflectivity of Triton's ice may have caused it to absorb more of the Sun's heat. Of course, if they discover Tritonians operating a coal-fired power plant, that theory is out the window. Which does lead to a bit of confusion. According to the June 10 Hong Kong Standard , Dr. Sinyan Shen, editor of the journal World Resource Review and director of the Illinois-based Global Warming International Center, told attendees at the Center's 9th annual conference, held in Hong Kong, that bird flu, red tide, AND mad cow disease were all due to global warming.