| The Magazine of the CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES |
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Life on the Edge Sometimes we organize the articles in an issue around a specific theme. Other times the theme emerges like vapor rising over a swamp. Such is the case this time. As we considered suitable titles for each story, we kept getting drawn into the macabre. First, we have those deadly sea creatures that hang out in warm waters, usually in the vicinity of coral reefs. These are ancient and diverse habitats, and the animals that live there are in a perpetual arms race. Some species continually evolve new toxins and delivery systems and others respond with the latest defenses and antidotes. Humans, only recent intruders into this world, are not in the loop and tend to be vulnerable. Gary C. Williams recounts scary tales of careless friends who dropped their guard for a moment and found swift retribution. We follow that by a menace closer to home. Around the edges of Long Valley Caldera, near Mammoth Mountain, carbon dioxide is slowly escaping from underground magma. Usually it dissipates quickly after it surfaces, but occasionally it lingers in depressions where it can reach lethal concentrations. Author Christine Colasurdo tells of the likely catalyst—a swarm of earthquakes in 1989 that opened cracks leading deep into the Earth. Meanwhile, the magma continues to expand. Even more insidious is the yellow star-thistle, David R. Dudleys "Wicked Weed of the West." It turns out that the star-thistle has been in California almost as long as northern Europeans, but it is only in the last decade that it has taken over the landscape. Anyone who has hiked anywhere in the Coast Ranges over the last few years is already aware of, and probably horrified by, the extent of this aliens presence. The map on page 35 shows just how ubiquitous it has become. Moreover, theres little hope of relief. Any eradication program will need patience, carefully timed grazing, probably chemicals, and continual diligence. The final villains in this issue are ones we should have the most control over: our own appetites. Very few of us are likely to kick the bucket from the sting of a blue-ringed octopus, or carbon dioxide poisoning in the shadow of a volcano, or starvation from the stranglehold of star-thistles. Many more will die of overindulgence: specifically, too many calories in and not enough out. It wont say that on any death certificate, of course, but as Jerold M. Lowenstein points out in his regular column "Counterpoints in Science," obesity may soon replace undernourishment and infectious diseases as the most significant contributor to ill health.
We want to acknowledge two extraordinary individuals who recently parted this life, both of them much too soon. Luis Baptista, the Chair and Curator of Ornithology and Mammalogy at the California Academy of Sciences, died suddenly on June 12 while at home with his birds. Baptista was a world-famous expert in the fields of avian behavior and language and a regular contributor to these pages. Earlier this year his research into the association between birdsong and classical music struck a chord, and he was interviewed by journalists from all over the world. Here at the Academy, Baptista was a constant joy, with tales about birds, and music, and language, and his roots in Hong Kong and Macao. He was as excited about preserving Macanese, the Portuguese dialect of Macao, as he was about the fate of Golden Gate Parks white-crowned sparrows, many of whom he could identify by their individual song. In late July, we were shocked to learn of the death of Marc Reisner, author of Cadillac Desert, the most insightful book on water in the western states ever published. Reisner, who was interviewed by California Wild in last winters issue, demonstrated that not only was it possible to be both an environmentalist and an entrepreneur, but that one passion could enhance the effectiveness of the other. Luis Baptista and Marc Reisner were passionate and inspiring, and their enthusiasm and optimism offer the best antidote for all the risks that beset us. Keith K. Howell is Editor of California Wild. |
Fall 2000
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