Lions Aren't Lazy

Male lions get a bad rap. Once thought to be lazy, it turns out that they use a completely different hunting strategy than female lions. Using new technology, scientists have enhanced their understanding of nature ? and lions - from the air.

Why It Matters

• The Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO) has over 1000 kg of high tech sensors and computers to produce 3-dimensional chemical and biological maps of ecosystems.
• Global emissions of carbon from deforestation now equal emissions from the transportation sector globally.
• Technology can be used to see beneath the forest canopy and to evaluate ecosystems quantitatively.

Show What You Know

With the link below, learn more about the Carnegie Airborne Observatory. Then answer the following questions.

• TED, Ecology from the air, Greg Asner (video): http://www.ted.com/talks/greg_asner_ecology_from_the_air 

1. What is the result of years of drought in the Amazon as seen by the CAO?
2. Using the Amazon as an example, how could mapping carbon in Peru and Brazil help with planning for climate change?
3. How did the CAO spot illegal gold mining in the Amazon Rainforest? Would this have been discovered without the CAO?
4. What does the speaker mean when he says that we are going to need to learn how to manage biodiversity on a planet of protected ecosystems? Why is that a problem?
5. Earth systems existed for billions of years without intelligent life to direct them. Why is human involvement needed to manage the planet now? What does the speaker say is needed?