Feral Hogs - Time for difficult management decisions

 

from forbes.com

‘Feral Swine Bomb’ Explained: Why Wild Hogs In 35 States Have Scientists Worried

Jun. 15th, 2024

Wild hogs have taken over areas in Florida and North Carolina this spring, exploding to nearly three dozen states as part of a troubling decades-long uptick federal officials warn could ignite a dreaded “feral swine bomb,” sparking concerns a growing population can spread diseases to humans, and destroy critical agricultural land and forests.

Wild hogs can be found in nearly three dozen states, and their numbers keep increasing.

Copyright 2011 AP. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Key Facts

Feral hog populations have grown substantially over the past four decades, taking over areas in the South, California and southern Great Plains, as well as multiple counties in Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New Hampshire, according to a 2023 report from the USDA.

The hogs—which were introduced back in the 1500s by early Spanish colonists—now occupy parts of 35 states, including every county in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Hawaii and all but one county in Louisiana, Texas and California, causing roughly $1.5 million in agricultural damage per year, according to the Department of Agriculture.

While several states and federal agencies have taken actions in recent years to

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New evidence from Australia suggests earlier presence of freshwater and dry land

 from CNN:

Ancient crystals reveal the earliest evidence of fresh water, scientists say

By Katie Hunt, CNN|Jun. 3rd, 2024

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A new analysis of ancient grains of crystal embedded in rock from the Australian outback suggests Earth had dry land and fresh water some 4 billion years ago — a time when scientists had thought the planet was completely covered in ocean.

Chemical clues contained in the crystals revealed that the hot, molten rocks in which they originated came into contact with fresh water during the crystals’ formation, according to a study published Monday the journal Nature Geoscience.

“By examining the age and oxygen isotopes in tiny crystals of the mineral zircon, we found unusually light isotopic signatures as far back as four billion years ago,” said lead study author Hamed Gamaleldien, an adjunct research fellow in Curtin University’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Australia and an assistant professor at Khalifa University in the United Arab Emirates, in a news release. “Such light oxygen isotopes are typically the result of hot, fresh water altering rocks several kilometres below Earth’s surface.”

Gamaleldien said that evidence of the presence of fresh water could only be explained by the existence of dry land — where water would collect and seep into the continental crust.

“We have two important things here. We have discovered the earliest evidence of fresh water and