Thanks to David King and kulu for the links. The growth junkies in Australia continue speaking out of self-interest and advocate for higher population which of course gives them more people to sell their widgets to so they continue to manipulate the truth to their advantage while native species are crammed into ever-smaller areas.

Australia continues to use agricultural chemicals, endosulfan and carbendazim. Two-headed bass found in the Noosa River are at the center of a controversy surrounding pesticide drift from neighboring farms in Queensland and the pesticides have been implicated in the contamination of the river, which has yielded thousands of chronically deformed fish.

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?cat=13

The chemical corporation, FMC, flogs carbofuran to farmers in Australia too, to spray on fruits, sugarcane, grains and the garlic industries and this year FMC expressed dismay at the USEPA’s decision to ban the chemical.

US conservationists say carbofuran has killed two million birds, and USEPA spokesman says the latest scientific data shows carbofuran poses a serious health risk to young children.

Kenya’s wildlife is being poisoned by carbofuran, also supplied by FMC throughout Africa. Kenyan herders have been baiting lions with this chemical (to protect their cattle) which has taken a massive toll, not only on lions but hyenas, leopards, jackals, vultures and other birds which are dying in droves.

Dr Laurence Frank from the university of California Berkeley advised that 20 years ago, there were some 200,000 lions in Africa. Today, there are 30,000 and the numbers are going down all the time.

Lions are being poisoned at a staggering rate in Kenya, and there's little chance cubs outside the wildlife reserves there will make it to adulthood. Dr Frank believes that poison, combined with other threats, will make the lion in Africa extinct.

Australia has advised it has no plans to ban carbofuran, however, if large beasts are being slaughtered by carbofuran, which also “poses a serious risk to children,” what impact is this chemical having on Australia’s smaller native species and what chance do they have while the economic predators are in the front line defending this mechanized madness?

Turn Right Then Left - you say "Nor, is anyone dumb enough to claim that people don't cause the extinctions of many animals - perhaps not through climate change, but matters such as logging, pollution and so forth"

I assume you are referring to Australia and if so , please give me an example where logging has led to the extinction of a species.

Tragedy

I'm with TRTL when he states: "Nor, is anyone dumb enough to claim that people don't cause the extinctions of many animals - perhaps not through climate change, but matters such as logging, pollution and so forth." I trust you're not all that dumb Tragedy for you appear to be challenging this statement?

There is a problem for citizens in Australia in obtaining the facts on environmental issues, logging, threatened species or extinctions and in 2007, researchers from UWA revealed that every government in this nation has been guilty of suppressing vital information on environmental matters (and other issues) to which the public are entitled.

In addition, many of the most "glowing" research papers on the logging of our forests are sponsored by or are performed by those who are pillaging the forests' resources. That's a bit like having your family on the jury when you're the defendant eh?

So for instance, let's have a look at a paper on the Jarrah forests in WA - a paper which does not cite industry as their sponsors:

"Six bird species (Golden Whistler Pachycephala pectoralis, Western Gerygone Gerygone fusca, White-naped Honeyeater Melithreptus lunatus, Spotted Pardalote Pardalotus punctatus, Striated Pardalote Pardalotus striatus, and Grey Fantail Rhipidura fuliginosa) all declined in gap and shelterwood areas following logging but before the postlogging burn.

Contd......

Contd.....

"The first five of these species glean invertebrates in the canopy and sub-canopy, so logging would reduce foraging sites and food supply. The Grey Fantail hawks from low foliage and may have lost perching sites. Three gleaners increased in abundance by using piles of logging slash as a foraging site (Splendid Fairy-wren, Red-winged Fairy-wren, White-browed Scrubwren Sericornis frontalis), but this opportunity would disappear after the postlogging burn.

"Dusky Woodswallows Artamus cyanopterus also increased, presumably because the opening of the canopy improved opportunities for hawking (Craig 1999).

"Significant numbers of Common Brushtail Possums were killed during logging in gap (33 – 35 %) and shelterwood (67 %) (Morris et al. 2000), However, retained habitat trees appeared to encourage persistence of Common Brushtail Possums (Morris et al. 2000).

"Burrows et al. (2001) noted an overall 30-35 % decline in Common Brushtail Possums in logged areas and more severe impacts on Western Ringtail Possums.

"Twelve of the 17 radio-collared Western Ringtail Possums from logged areas died within three weeks of logging and all animals were dead within 20 months of logging. The 12 radio-collared animals on control sites lived longer, but were all dead within 40 months of logging, reflecting an ‘overall decline at the landscape scale.'

http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:9246/jarrahfauna.pdf Page 17

Extinction of and threatened quokka communities Western Australia - (Australian Government:)

"Quokka population (part of the Northern Jarrah Forest population) may have been affected by bauxite mining, which has occurred to within 20 m of the swamp around the upper reaches of the site. The disturbance may have contributed to the local decline of this population (Hayward et al. 2003)."

Findings:

1 Rottnest Island Rottnest Island 8 000-12 000 individuals Nature Reserve

2 - Northern Jarrah Forest (Mining and Logging area):

Serpentine to Jarrahdale Chandler Road <50
Rosella Road <10 State forest
Kesners Swamp <50 State forest
Wild Pig Swamp Presence unconfirmed; presumed locally extinct State forest
Holyoake Presence unconfirmed; presumed locally extinct State forest

3 Central Jarrah Forest:

Harris River Hadfield <50 State Forest
Hoffman Presence unconfirmed; presumed locally extinct State Forest
Victor Road <50 State Forest

Tragedy,

Protagoras has provided you with some good scientific evidence of the detrimental effects of logging on species numbers.

It should be blatantly obvious that if you destroy a creatures habitat it cannot survive unless it moves on and competes with the already resident populations in an as yet undestroyed area. Habitat destruction is incremental and in Australia never-ending. Local species extinctions are commonplace and the reasons for those extinctions normally are the result of a combination of factors of which habitat destruction is the most significant. Logging is is an excellent way of destroying habitat.

Tragedy, are you concerned about species extinction or are lining up for a job or holding onto a job in the logging industry? Just interested that's all. There is plenty of literature available should you wish to broaden your education on the threats to species viability posed by habit destruction.

Kill 'em all. Kill the bloody lot of them!

If God was gonna shed a tear for exterminated marine ecologies he would have by now!

The sooner we make room for 9 billion people to live first world lives the better it will be for economic growth & prime ministerial grand ambitions.

I can't wait to start my own media empire. Think I'll call it Fox & Fiends#1. I'll have to work hard to compete with Fox & Fiends#2 through Fox & Fiends#9,000,000,000.

But with all those whales gone and 9Billion bums on toilet seats poisoning the oceans, their will be no growing, growing, marine ecologies left to absorb equatorial heat. So, my pretties, all the heat in the world will FLOW to the Poles and melt them good! We can then find enough new OIL to drive our crudest ambitions and children and grand children and great-great- ....... children FOREVER.

I just can't, I just can't, I just can't wait.

Kill all the whales and any other heat-absorbing marine ecosystem now.

Yoooo Haaaah!

And if 100Million low landers get killed by floods from glacial melts , whose gonna miss em'. Too low too slow!

Don't you know, its all about US:

I wondered should I go or should I stay,
the band had only one more song to play.
And then I saw you out the corner of my eye,
a little girl, alone and so shy.
I ate the last whale with you,
two lonely people together.
I fell in love with you,
the last whale won't last forever.
But the economics we had were growing strong,
through the oil drilled in the whale&ice-free Arctic we'll get along.
And then the flame of love died in your eye,
my heart was broke in two when you said goodbye.
I ate the last whale with you...
It's all over now, nothing left to say,
just my tears and the orchestra playing.
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.
What's to happen to all our children and great-great ....
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.
I ate the last whale with you...
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.