Going extinct?
San Diego County Republican congressmen Duncan Hunter, Randy "Duke" Cunningham and Ron Packard have backed a resolution calling for humans to be listed in The Endangered Species Act of 1973. The resolution states that the act has led to the destruction of the economy, private property rights, human rights, freedom, quality of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The resolution concludes that bugs, birds, bunnies and bushes are being overprotected to the detriment of human beings. (San Diego Business Journal)
How many are we?San Diego ranked fourth in the state for growth behind Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles counties. San Diego remains California's second largest county in total population.
San Diego County population totaled an estimated 2,664,800 on July 1, 1193 according to the California Department of Finance. There was an increase of 28,500 from July 1, 1992, an annual gain of only 1.1 percent. While the gain in population give the County the most residents ever, the amount of growth declined considerably in 1993. San Diego's peak growth during the 80s added 91,800 in 1989 for an annual gain of 3.9 percent. The increase in 1992 was 57,100 or 2.2 percent.
The increase of San Diego's 1993 population was due to more births than deaths among residents rather than migration - which showed a net decline of 3,720 in 1993, the first decline in 28 years. More people moved out of San Diego than to the area for the first time since 1965. At the same time foreign immigration increased by 19,935 contrasted with an exodus of 23,665 of San Diego residents.
Jumbo shrimp are bigger than you think
Shrimping wastes more marine life than any other type of commercial fishing operation in the United States. The long funnel-shaped nets used by shrimp-fishing trawlers hit the ocean bottom like underwater tornadoes, sucking up and killing anywhere from one to 20 pounds of fish for every pound of shrimp. Millions of pounds of immature catfish, croaker, mackerel, flounder, red snapper, and other fish are hauled up in the trawlers' nets and tossed back into the sea dead or dying. This "bycatch" may be able to be reduced by half with gear being developed by the National Marine Fisheries Service. (Sierra Magazine)
Energize for the future
Shell International Petroleum Company in London, released a draft of a study
predicting that renewable sources will dominate world energy production
by 2050. The study contradicts predictions by several international energy
groups. Most of the new demand for energy in the next 30 years will come
from
developing countries. If they have access to new energy technologies, they
may skip the fossil fuel phase entirely. The study predicts that renewable
energy technologies may become competitive with fossil fuels around 2020
or 2030. (Scientific American)
Strive for Five
The National Cancer Institute recommends that we "Strive for Five:" five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day. It's not difficult to get your five: orange juice with breakfast, and a salad or vegetable with dinner will do it. If you eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, every day, you'll cut your cancer risk in half. But surveys show that only about 9 percent of Americans get their daily five, and a recent one-day analysis of the diets of 12,000 showed that 41 percent ate no fruit at all, and only 25 percent ate a fruit or vegetable rich in vitamins A or C.