Links tagged “species”
- The Return of the Dead: Countering Species Extinction Claims – The most aggressive claims rest on shaky foundations’
In the last 500 years only some 80 mammals are recorded as having gone extinct. In his book, More From Less, Andrew McAfee, a board member of HumanProgress.org, discusses how relatively rare recorded extinctions are – with some 530 across all species in the last five centuries. More importantly, he notes, the rate of extinction “appear[s] to have slowed down in recent decades; for example, no marine creatures have been recorded as extinct in the last fifty years.”
Matt Ridley, another board member and frequent contributor to this site, argues that despite the human population doubling in the last half-century, “the extinction rate of wild species, especially in the most industrialized countries,” seems to have fallen rather than increased. While absence of evidence isn’t the same as evidence of absence, and there might be millions of unrecorded species in the world’s oceans and tropical forests, the most aggressive claims rest on shaky foundations.
- CNN report buries this good news in paragraph 12 on polar bears: ‘They are doing quite well…Svalbard’s polar bear numbers do not appear to have decreased in the last 20 years’
CNN: Jon Aars, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Polar Institute: "Polar bears are optimistic animals," Aars says. "It seems that they are quite resistant, and they are doing quite well despite the fact that they've lost a lot of their habitat." Despite the odds, Svalbard's polar bear numbers do not appear to have decreased in the last 20 years, he says.
- UN’s ‘Harmony with Nature’ project: Urge need to ‘shift from a human-centered to an Earth-centred society’ – ‘COVID-19 pandemic was linked to the poor health of ecosystems’
UN touts being 'the champion of non-anthropocentrism'
"The Nonhuman Rights Project in the United States instituted court proceedings on behalf of elephants and chimpanzees, arguing that they should be treated as “persons” and freed from captivity." ...
"In Sweden, the organizations Swedish Earth Rights Lawyers and Rights of Nature Sweden have drafted a declaration for the rights of Lake Vattern." ...
"The need for jointly imagining and creating a new normalcy that prioritizes planetary health and human well-being for all." ...
"The process of recovery from COVID-19 provides us with a unique opportunity to build back better, together, so as to transform the world into one where humans truly live in harmony with Nature."
- Bugs Are Safe for Humans to Eat, Says EU – ‘Food safety regulator approved mealworms as safe for human consumption’
- Cold Autumn Kills Thousands of Birds – Media Blame Global Warming
- Reset your diet! World Economic Forum touts eating bugs to save the planet! ‘Good grub: why we might be eating insects soon’
World Economic Forum: "The market research company predicts the global market for edible insects could grow to $1.18 billion by 2023. That’s almost triple its current level." ...
"Per kilo of live weight, bugs emit less harmful gas than more mainstream farm animals. A cow, for example, produces 2.8 kg of greenhouse gas per kilo of live body weight. Insects, on the other hand, produce just 2 grams." ...
"From the farmer’s point of view, raising insects is going to be radically different from raising sheep, pigs, or cattle. No more coping with mud, muck and filth. An end to shifting heavy sacks of feed. And forget about having to go outdoors in all weather to manhandle livestock." ... "It may not be too long before we can all buy a bag of edible insects at our local grocery store."
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- The Great Diet Reset: World Economic Forum promotes fake meat from a printer in video – ‘Machines can currently print up to 6kg of meat an hour’
- ‘There is no such thing as cruelty-free milk’ – NYT touts animal rights activists war on drinking milk: ‘Is Dairy Farming Cruel to Cows?’
NYT: "Animal rights activists have a markedly different take on farms like Mr. Chittenden’s that satiate the nation’s appetite for milk, cheese and yogurt. To them, dairy farmers are cogs in an inhumane industrial food production system that consigns these docile ruminants to a lifetime of misery." ...
"Milk consumption has dropped by 40 percent since 1975, a trend that is accelerating as more people embrace oat and almond milk. Over the past decade, 20,000 dairy farms have gone out of business, representing a 30 percent decline, according to the Department of Agriculture. And the coronavirus pandemic has forced some producers to dump unsold milk down the drain as demand from school lunch programs and restaurants dried up. During his Academy Awards speech last February for best actor, Joaquin Phoenix drew rousing applause when he urged viewers to reject dairy products."
- Harvard School of Public Health links Climate & COVID: ‘The root causes of climate change also increase the risk of pandemics’ – ‘We also need to take climate action to prevent the next pandemic’
Dr. Aaron Bernstein, Director of Harvard Chan C-CHANGE: "We also need to take climate action to prevent the next pandemic." ... "Climate change alters how we relate to other species on Earth and that matters to our health and our risk for infections." ... "Many of the root causes of climate change also increase the risk of pandemics."
"If we really care about preventing this kind of problem in the future, we need to think hard about climate change and the biodiversity crisis. I was actually in a room with a child and a family when I first thought that this is exactly the time that we need to think more about the broader issues that we face. We simply cannot afford to deal with a crisis like this pandemic on top of another climate-related crisis—like a hurricane, tornado, wildfire, or heatwave—when we absolutely know how to implement climate solutions, and can put them into action right now. Doing so will make us healthier today and protect our future."
- Great Barrier Reef Heresy? And the importance of asking questions
