North America – Page 6 – See Animals Wild

October 27, 2021June 30, 2022

Grizzly bears are rebounding in the USA, how can this success story continue?

Back in 1975, the American Grizzly bear was declared endangered. With only minor differences, the American Grizzly bear is the same species as the European bear, that lives from Western Spain, through Europe to the Kamchatka bear of far Eastern Russia.

In 1975 the USA lower 48 states grizzly bear population numbered somewhere between 136 animals and 312, so it was essential that it was protected. Nowerdays the same 48 states have a population of around 1500, but given that this number would have been as high as 50,000 when people started migrating to the USA in large number, this recovery is only just getting going.

October 25, 2021June 30, 2022

Methane emissions in the USA are a significant and rising problem, yet the companies deny the issue

Methane emissions are 80 times more warming that carbon dioxide. They do not stay in the atmosphere for ever, but in the short term, they could still cause the human race an enormous task which could quickly become unmanageable. Methane (natural gas) is often found in the same place as oil yet, bizarrely, extractors are generally after one or the other. By making rules on methane capture, significant quantities can be stopped from escaping into the atmosphere, never mind the fact that this methane can then be sold, greatly increasing income.

According to a recent NASA study, methane is responsible for about 25% of the global warming that has occurred since the industrial revolution.

Under Obama the central American government tightened rules on methane extraction in an attempt to deal with this issue. The larger companies engaged with the new rules, but unfortunately the smaller companies which are responsible for much of the fracking that occurs complained and the EPA under Trumps oversight (Trump had installed many fossil fuel executives into its ranks) reversed these cuts.

The industry claimed that there was not much leakage and that the problem was under control. Unfortunately this was a lie. At the same time that they were claiming tiny leaks publicly, privately they were admitting to a huge problem.

So far, these lies which are going to cost the world population have not been punished at all. What is worse, we wouldn’t know about the behaviour were it not for a secret recording made of a member of the independent petroleum association. According to the recording Ron Ness president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council told the meeting “We’re just flaring a tremendous amount of gas. This pesky natural gas. The value if it is very minimal”. A few months later, the same organisation had a lawyer state that it is not in their interests to let even a molecule of gas escape.

Yet this requires us to be fools. The most long lasting view of an oil rig is with a flame blowing out, burning off excess gas.

We need to make pollution the expensive option. If venting is the cheapest way to work, lets tax it to such an extreme level that it is worth their while to catch the waste. Of course the best way to end this practice is for the producers to go out of business. While we are moving in that direction at a reasonable speed, it is perhaps too slow for the survival of the way of life that we humans have got used to over the last few millenia. If we continue as we are, the climate we will leave for out children will not be as pleasant.

October 24, 2021June 30, 2022

Global warming is happening, and even with the cuts promised, we are likely to see significant sea level rises: what is this likely to cost

It is an unfortunate fact, all over the world, that people have chosen to live near the sea. There are many reasons for this, but the basic fact is that this is often the most productive land.

The problem now, though, is that all these peoples lives are liable to change. This is because small rises in sea levels could make them homeless. As much as 1 billion people live at low enough elevation to make this a threat.

Countries like Bangladesh are very flat, and it is estimated that as many as 20 million people within Bangladesh would become homeless by 2050 under current trends (this assumes that we meet our carbon cut targets. There would be many others that would be lost.

Forgetting the hundreds of millions of people in the developing world, there are famous buildings and places which should underline this issue in the west as well.

Buckingham palace would be under water up to the first floor if we fail to act. A temperature rise of 1.5 degrees C would merely bring the water level to the front door. Many other famous buildings such as the pentagon, the tower of London and Tokyo tower in Japan would all be lost.

This is all a long winded way of stating, that even with the dramatic cuts the world is hoping to make over the next few decades, many people on earth are still likely to loose their lives have their lives changed dramatically, in most cases for the worse.

October 19, 2021June 30, 2022

I wrote in the past looking at consensus on human caused climate change – new study

There is a constant argument that we should not be acting on climate change because we have not reached consensus. This really is not the case.

A look at 90,000 studies which looked at the climate found that 99.9% of them agreed that humans were the cause. The degree of certainty is now the same as that on evolution or on plate tectonics -the debate is over.

It is true that you can still find supposedly learned men and women who will disagree, but we are now at the point where it is akin to arguing the world is flat. Yes there are thousands of “flat earthers” worldwide, but those denying climate change should be put in the same category as those who deny the shape of the earth (and think that the millions of people who would have to be in on it are all dutifully keeping quiet.

This study has been compiled by Cornell University and shows that the miniscule minority still fighting against this truth, is now just a small number of noisy voices.

This is terrifying! In the USA there are 30 US senators and 109 representatives who “refuse to acknowledge the scientific evidence of human-caused climate change”.

It is now time for Facebook and twitter to stop giving an unchallenged voice to purveyors of falsehoods. Denying the science of climate change is likely are more dangerous for the future of the human race than denying the obvious facts about vaccines.

October 19, 2021June 30, 2022

Government in USA killed a pack of wolves despite it having been adopted by a school

The US department of Agriculture wildlife service branch has killed 8 pops from a wolf pack in Idaho, this despite the pack having been tracked by a school for 18 years.

Wolves are an essential part of Idaho’s ecosystem, yet they are being removed anyway after they have returned

October 7, 2021July 1, 2022

The website was hacked! nothing lost, and wildlife tourism to Africa can return

Hello everyone! We survive

So, the website was hacked. Nothing was stolen, from what I was told they were just able to delete the website. Thankfully we back up, so we have survived.

We have added a significant extra layer of protection which should make it impossible for the same problem to arise (it had nothing to do with the attack on Facebook and WhatsApp). While we do on occasion have sharing buttons, that is the extent of our link so we were safe.

Bigger news, many red list countries have been upgraded allowing travel. These countries include

October 2, 2021June 30, 2022

1 in 3 of the wolves living in Wisconsin were killed after they lost protection

More than 2000 hunt licences were given out in Wisconsin for the first season of wolf hunting.

They had an aim to kill 119 wolves, yet within 3 days they had shot or traped 218 wolves and so the season was brought to an early close. Added to these official numbers it is thought that Poachers killed around 100 more wolves within the state.

The alarming thing is that these illegal hunting numbers will works out on the assumption of extreme conservative estimates.

This only happened after the trump administration declare the wolf no longer endangered – ignoring virtually all science (they still occupy a very small portion of the range that they once had in the USA). Furthermore, the States department of national resources initially banned the hunt, and it only went ahead when a pro hunting group sud and a judge ordered the ban illegal.

Alarmingly this is not the worst case. Idaho’s new rule allows up to 90% of the world’s population to be killed. In no one’s books does this constitute a rational or long-term decision.

Bizarrely in Wisconsin the current rules state that a hunt must occur each year regardless of whether it is scientifically justified. It should not be controversial to suggest that hunting quotas be based in science and not written by those who benefits from more of the animals being killed, but unfortunately in the USA, this is often how it happens.

I would hope that president Biden looks at this ridiculous decision made by trump on the way out of the door, and put in clear scientific requirements before the wolf is pushed back towards the brink of extinction. It is in the interests of those who enjoy hunting, that the hunt is sustainable, as without, the hunt will cease again in just a few years.

August 30, 2021June 30, 2022

The Florida manatees are facing significant threat to the long-term survival

Runoff from farms has caused an algae bloom which has not left space for enough sea grasses – the primary food of the manatee.

Without food the manatee population is severely endangered and likely to suffer mass starvation. 12 manatees have already died this year due to this poisonous algae.

The united fish and wildlife service changed the conservation status of manatees from endangered to threatened in 2019: this was clearly not a good move.

A considerable number of Floridians are blaming the current administration and Rick Scott who has determinately reduce the budget of of these environmental protections. Without a significant changing governmental behaviour this is unlikely to be reversed anytime soon.

August 28, 2021June 30, 2022

There are roughly 50 billion birds in the world but just a few species dominate

Just four birds have a population over a billion, house sparrows European starlings ring-billed gulls and barn swallows.

At the other end, there are over 1180 species with 5000 or less members left.

The last time this survey was done was 24 years ago, the estimate was 200 to 400 billion birds, though it is clear that some of this reduction in numbers will be down to a more accurate survey – still many birds are heading rapidly in the direction of extinction.

The first thing to be done in conservation is to understand the current situation, so this is a great first step. Now the world needs to work hard on conserving what is left – unfortunately this is a rather bigger task. However now we know what needs to be done we merely need to get on with it.

July 21, 2021June 30, 2022

Parts of the Amazon rainforest (as with the Congo and others around the world) are no longer carbon sinks

For as long as people have studied the carbon cycle, forests are considered essential carbon sinks. Unfortunately as we damage them, their ability to absorb carbon reduces.

A new study has confirmed, that large parts of the Amazon rainforest have crossed this line.