A USGS report released today finds a slow recovery for California's sea otters. After several years of declining numbers, advocacy groups were hoping to see a reversal of that trend. Lori Abbott tells us what the numbers showed.

Photo credit:  Cindy Tucey

KRCB's North Bay Report examined the threats to the sea otter population early in 2011. You can find that archived story here.

Engineers at a company co-founded by a University of Texas at Dallas professor have identified a material that can reduce the pollution produced by vehicles that run on diesel fuel. The material, from a family of minerals called oxides, could replace platinum, a rare and expensive metal that is currently used in diesel engines to try to control the amount of pollution released into the air.
In a study published in the August 17 issue of Science, researchers found that when a manmade version of the oxide mullite replaces platinum, pollution is up to 45 percent lower than with platinum catalysts.
DR. K J Cho"Many pollution control and renewable-energy applications require precious metals that are limited – there isn't enough platinum to supply the millions and millions of automobiles driven in the world," said Dr. Kyeongjae "K.J." Cho, professor of materials science and engineering and physics at UT Dallas and a senior author of study. "Mullite is not only easier to produce than platinum, but also better at reducing pollution in diesel engines."
For the environmentally conscious, the higher fuel efficiency of diesel engines makes an attractive alternative to engines that run on gasoline. On the flip side, compared with gasoline engines, diesel vehicles produce more nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which are known as NOx pollutants.
In June, the World Health Organization upgraded the classification of diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic in humans, putting it in the same category as cigarette smoke and asbestos. Countries throughout the world have drafted guidelines to reduce diesel air pollution in the next decade.
Platinum orePlatinum, because of its expense to mine and limited supply, is considered a precious metal. Estimates suggest that for every 10 tons of platinum ore mined, only about one ounce of usable platinum is produced.
"Our goal to move completely away from precious metals and replace them with oxides that can be seen commonly in the environment has been achieved," Dr. Cho said. "We've found new possibilities to create renewable, clean energy technology by designing new functional materials without being limited by the supply of precious metals."

Rat poison used on illegal marijuana farms may be sickening and killing the fisher, a rare forest carnivore that makes its home in some of the most remote areas of California, according to a team of researchers led by University of California, Davis, veterinary scientists.

Researchers discovered commercial rodenticide in dead fishers in Humboldt County near Redwood National Park and in the southern Sierra Nevada in and around Yosemite National Park. The study, published last month in the journal PLoS ONE, says illegal marijuana farms are a likely source. Some marijuana growers apply the poisons to deter a wide range of animals from encroaching on their crops.

Fishers in California, Oregon and Washington have been declared a candidate species for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act. A member of the weasel family, fishers likely become exposed to the rat poison when eating smaller animals that have ingested it. The fishers also may consume rodenticides directly, drawn by the bacon, cheese and peanut butter “flavorizers” that manufacturers add to the poisons.

Other species, including martens, spotted owls, and Sierra Nevada red foxes, may be at risk from the poison as well.

Read more: Poisons on public lands put wildlife at risk

While California's State Parks struggle to keep their gates open and provide b basic services to visitors, there is a move underway to upgrade one of the National Monuments in the state into a full-fledged National Park, Lori Abbot reports.