Tag Archives: Animal Rights/Welfare

The eco guide to population growth [not] | Environment | The Guardian

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GR:  The article below contains an argument for more people on the planet.  It uses one of the standard homocentric arguments to justify population growth:  A genus among the new people will solve all our problems.  Some of the article’s contents are so biased they are painful to read.  “The shelves are wrapped in certified zero-deforestation leather from Brazil . . . .” and “. . . I’m in love with Timothy Han’s new scent, which features fairly traded Brazilian cedarwood.”  Google “controlling population growth” for more arguments.  One thing you will learn is that controlling growth is extremely difficult.  And with the current economic benefits of more consumers and workers for wealthy investors, it is impossible.

Lucy Siegle, Sunday 12 June 2016.–“The regularity with which I’m contacted by population worriers – people who think it’s pointless discussing green energy, climate change and ethical pensions when the elephant in the room is actually the new human in the room – is impressive. They say that the planet needs fewer people. End of.

“The numbers are indeed eye catching. Today there are 7 billion humans alive (twice the number who were alive in 1965) – and each hour we add 10,000 more. By 2050, UN demographers predict, there will be at least 9 billion of us putting a strain on life-sustaining resources.

“Some experts suggest we’re at “peak farmland”, – meaning the predictions of cleric Thomas Malthus, who published his population theory in 1798, are coming to fruition. Malthus suggested that our global population would outpace food supplies until war, disease and famine arrived to halt the party.I prefer to be Pollyanna-ish about it: rather than fearing more people, let’s believe that the new ones will make a difference, fix the energy gap, work out how to develop sustainable protein sources and so on [emphasis by me].”  Continue reading:   The eco guide to population growth | Environment | The Guardian

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Air pollution now major contributor to stroke, global study finds | Science | The Guardian

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GR:  Air pollution harms all species of plants and animals.  Fortunately, the most toxic concentrations are in human cities and homes where animal numbers are lower.

Science editor.–Scientists say finding is alarming, and shows that harm caused by air pollution to the lungs, heart and brain has been underestimated

Air pollution has become a major contributor to stroke for the first time, with unclean air now blamed for nearly one third of the years of healthy life lost to the condition worldwide.

In an unprecedented survey of global risk factors for stroke, air pollution in the form of fine particulate matter ranked seventh in terms of its impact on healthy lifespan, while household air pollution from burning solid fuels ranked eighth.

Source: Air pollution now major contributor to stroke, global study finds | Science | The Guardian

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Anti-wildlife, pro-hunting act reaches U.S. Senate; you can help stop it | Examiner.com

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Lisa Blanck–These are some of the animals who will be affected – you can help stop this!Courtesy: Mark Kolbe, John Moore, Bill Pugliano/Getty ImagesEarlier this year the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act (H.R. 2406) passed the US House of Representatives. The sponsor of this bill is Senator Lisa Murkowski, (R-AK), who first introduced it in September, 2015. The SHARE Act is an outright assault on animal welfare and conservation. Having passed the House, it now has reached the floor of the Senate, and, knowing it is extremely controversial, some of members of Congress are trying to bury it within another seemingly harmless Bill. They have attached this extreme anti-wildlife bill as an amendment to the Energy Policy Modernization Act (S.2012). If this bill is passed, the damage to wildlife and conservation will be dramatic and far-reaching.

The Animal Welfare Institute is fighting the passing of this bill, which would be a clear assault on wildlife worldwide. On May 20 they contacted members and humanitarians to ask for their help. Now you can make your voice heard and help stop it by simply clicking on this link and navigating to the “Contact Your Legislators” box to send an email to your State Senator. By simply typing in your address, the name of your senator will pop up. You can even personalize your letters in a box provided by AWI, who will then forward your email for you.

What will the SHARE Act do, should it be passed into legislation? Here’s a quick list:  Anti-wildlife, pro-hunting act reaches U.S. Senate; you can help stop it | Examiner.com

GR:  Thanks to Jim Robertson, ExposingTheBigGame for first reporting on this story.

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How Austrailia’s Great Barrier Reef got polluted – from farms and fossil fuels to filthy propaganda | Graham Readfearn | Environment | The Guardian

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GR:  This is the best discussion of the cause of coral death in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef I’ve seen–it’s people.

Coral bleaching at Loomis Reef, off Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Photograph: Essential Median

Graham Readfearn:  In late November 2015, as corals across the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef started to bleach white, the game was finally up.

For years, Australians had been told the country’s jewel in the ocean’s crown was on the mend. Only months earlier the Coalition government had won a two-year fight to keep the reef off a United Nations list of world heritage sites in danger.

The stakes were high. International reputations and tourist dollars were at stake. The foreign minister, Julie Bishop, and the trade minister, Andrew Robb, had even attacked Barack Obama, who feared for the reef’s future.

The reef was not in danger, Bishop insisted. The president was misinformed, claimed Robb.

Conservative commentators hanging around News Corp media have said the dangers to the reef were overblown.

The mining industry cast the views of environmentalists as green propaganda, ignoring how for the most part, conservationists were echoing the findings of the government’s own scientists.

Now, about half the corals bleached in the once pristine northern section are dead or dying.  More– How the Great Barrier Reef got polluted – from farms and fossil fuels to filthy propaganda | Graham Readfearn | Environment | The Guardian

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The Guardian view on the Great Barrier Reef: the crisis they prefer to downplay | Opinion | The Guardian

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Many of the politicians fighting Australia’s election campaign talk about the economy and immigration but the world is listening for what they say about the impact of climate change.

If the rest of the world could vote in next month’s Australian election, there would almost certainly be one issue that would be raised to the top of the country’s political agenda: saving the Great Barrier Reef. Scientists say this year 93% of its reefs experienced some bleaching, and 22% of all of the reef’s coral was killed by unusually warm waters. Unheard of just three decades ago, large-scale bleaching has become a regular occurrence. Within 20 years the conditions that drove this year’s bleaching in Australia will occur every second year. A Guardian report illustrates in vivid detail the scale of the devastation unfolding beneath the surface. Over the past 34 years the average proportion of the Great Barrier Reef exposed to temperatures where bleaching or even death is likely has increased from about 11% a year to about 27% a year.

It is a constant struggle to motivate most people most of the time about climate change. The evidence accumulates slowly; despite being an emergency, it often . . . more:  The Guardian view on the Great Barrier Reef: the crisis they prefer to downplay | Opinion | The Guardian

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To save the Great Barrier Reef ‘we need to start now, right now’ – video | Environment | The Guardian

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GR:  The video leaves us with a grim outlook.  Human wastes running into the oceans coupled with global warming will soon destroy all the reefs.  Do enough people care to force our governments to act?  Probably not.  Do you see any answers?

and , theguardian.com:  Jon Brodie from James Cook University says to give the Great Barrier Reef even a fighting chance to survive, Australia needs to spend $1bn a year for the next 10 years to improve water quality. If we don’t do that now, he says, we might need to just give up on the reef. ‘Climate change is happening much more quickly and much more severely than most scientists predicted’•

The Great Barrier Reef: a catastrophe laid bare – special report.    Source: To save the Great Barrier Reef ‘we need to start now, right now’ – video | Environment | The Guardian

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Predator Control in Alaska Wildlife Refuges

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Pat Lavin:  The state of Alaska is pursuing aggressive predator control measures on our national wildlife refuges, targeting bears, wolves and other wildlife on land that was meant for their conservation.

Alaska is a state unlike any other, home to diverse landscapes from the tundra of the high arctic to temperate rainforests in the south. Polar bears, wolves, and brown bears live here. In many parts of the state, these carnivores live in pristine habitat as they have for thousands of years, hunting their natural prey, including moose, caribou, deer, salmon and more.  More:  Predator Control in Alaska Wildlife Refuges

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Great Barrier Reef: diving in the stench of millions of rotting animals – video | Environment | The Guardian

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GR:  Watch this short video to get a clear idea of what’s happening to coral.

Richard Vevers from the Ocean Agency had never experienced anything like the devastation he witnessed in May diving around the dead and dying coral reefs off Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef. When his team emerged from the water, he says, ‘We realised we just stank – we stank of the smell of rotting animals.’ The reefs around the island have been ravaged by coral bleaching caused by climate change.  Special report by Josh Wall and Michael Slezak, theguardian.com.  Source: Great Barrier Reef: diving in the stench of millions of rotting animals – video | Environment | The Guardian

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Rescued whale sharks released back into the ocean – in pictures | Environment | The Guardian

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Two whale sharks destined for an ocean theme park in China were rescued after an 18-month investigation by Wildlife Conservation Society, covered by investigative photojournalist Paul Hilton. The operation, supported by Indonesia’s marine police, revealed where the protected species were being illegally caught and kept in sea pens by a major supplier of large marine megafauna to the international wildlife tradePaul HiltonMonday 6 June 2016 06.29 EDT.  More:   Rescued whale sharks released back into the ocean – in pictures | Environment | The Guardian

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