Seedhead

Top Overpopulation Myths

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:26:34 +0000

A new article from the Post Carbon Reader by William N. Ryerson, “Population: The Multiplier of Everything Else,” is a must- read. Carbon consumption, climate change, habitat loss for other species, decimation of many of the world’s resources, including water, all are due to overpopulation.

Among Ryerson’s myths are:
The “Birth Dearth” Myth
The Belief That There is a Problem Only with the Distribution of Food and Other Resources
The Myth That Providing Resources is All That is Need

But his big point is that America itself has a major overpopulation problem because of both its gross numbers (third only to China and India) and its rate of consumption per person.

Hat tip: Grist

Lion Populations Plummet in Uganda

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:10:28 +0000

There are now only 415 lions in the entire country of Uganda. It is estimated that the population of lions in Africa has been decimated by 80 percent over the last century, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. Tip: Mongabay

Let’s enjoy the world we have created for ourselves.

Invasive Species: Man

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 05:36:23 +0000

It is hard to see mankind as anything but an invasive species. It’s a term that makes most of us, who are familiar with it, recoil. Rats invading islands and destroying native bird species. Wetlands destroyed by non-native rushes. A stand of Eucalyptus in California, with nothing growing. Brown tree snakes in Guam’s now sound-less forests. The huge colony of Argentinean ants that now stretches from San Francisco to San Diego.

By definition, an invasive species adversely affects the habitats they invade environmentally. Check — happening in every corner of the planet.

An invasive species has the ability to grow and reproduce more rapidly than other species. Check, man’s population growth is unstoppable. Wild animal populations are plummeting in direct relation to the surge of humans.

Often, an invasive species will alter their environment through facilitation, using chemicals or exploiting abiotic factors, which will make an ecosystem less hospitable to the creatures with which it competes. It seems possible that man has done this through the development of thousands of abiotic chemicals which are irrevocably polluting the environment.

The Extinction Museum

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 05:14:11 +0000

It’s hard to be optimistic about the continued survival of nature at the level of biodiversity now existing on the planet. Mankind does not seem to be taking the necessary steps — addressing climate change and overpopulation most importantly — to safeguard the significant number of species in danger of extinction.

It will be important to remember all of the dead and bear witness to the richness that was lost.

The Last Japanese Sea Lion

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:23:25 +0000

Japanese sea lions, a close relative of the California sea lion, went virtually extinct in the 1940s after mass predations by humans killed off most of them. The last Zalophus japonicus was a juvenile captured in 1974 off the coast of northern Hokkaido.

The Last Baiji

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:11:55 +0000

Qi Qi died in captvity in 2002, the last known Baiji to exist. He was the final survivor of a line that stretched back more than 20 million years. The Baiji, or Chinese river porpoise, is the first cetacean to have gone extinct as a direct cause of the actions of mankind.

Travelers Insurance profits from wildlife imagery

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 00:53:07 +0000

I was just watching the World Cup and caught this new tv commercial from Travelers Insurance. This is one of the cutest ads I’ve seen in a long time, but the tag line is beyond ironic: “When you’re not worried about potential dangers, the world can be a far less threatening place.” There’s no insurance for African wildlife, where threats from poaching, climate change and habitat encroachment are escalating.

As species who share this planet and are endowed with their own rights, these animals should profit from the use of their images when used commercially. Here’s to rhino and raptor residuals.

On a side note, there’s also a Step’n'Fetchit aspect to the video. Hey humans, look how happy we all are!

Bitter Ends: The Last Passenger Pigeon

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:07:06 +0000

Martha, thought to be the world’s last passenger pigeon died on September 1, 1914 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The species once numbered in the billions but after intense hunting, the passenger pigeon suffered a catastrophic decline and disappeared from the planet.

Martha, the last passenger pigeon

Dead Meat: Bluefin Tuna

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:00:10 +0000

Hmm, destroy 85 to 90% of the population of a species and dither over whether to ban more hunting of the animals?

But this is encouraging news: Europe leaning toward banning bluefin tuna catch.

Animal Haters: Alaska Legislative Council Begins PR Campaign Against Polar Bears

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:54:44 +0000

This is vile.

Alaska is pushing ahead for the state to spend $1.5 million to fight the listing of the polar bear as an endangered species.