This article by Sam Knight starts the new week off on a compelling note: Letter from the U.K. Does Extinction Rebellion Have the Solution to the Climate Crisis? The success of Extinction Rebellion, a British campaign of civil disobedience aimed at addressing the climate crisis, has been something to behold. In April, the group, which was formally … Continue reading Pondering Extinction Rebellion’s Approach
One more on the same topic of recent days, last for a while I promise: To Tell the Story of Biodiversity Loss, Make It About Humans The authors of a sweeping United Nations report on species in danger of extinction faced the same question I often do in reporting: Why should anyone care about the … Continue reading What Is The Cost Of Extinction To You?
We are all used to looking at guidebooks to learn more about a country before we visit – but how often do we stop and think about the things we can’t see there anymore? We’ve created Unknown Tourism, a series of vintage-style travel posters to commemorate some of the wonderful creatures we’ve lost, and are … Continue reading Extinction As Impetus For Travel?
Climate change, habitat loss, and predation are all threats to birds in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, among other challenges facing the species throughout North America, with migratory shore birds being classified as particularly vulnerable. Scientific American reports with Reuters reporting, but make sure to check out the North American Bird Conservation Initiative information … Continue reading More than 1/3 of North American Bird Species at Risk of Future Extinction
In last Sunday’s edition of the New York Times, the eminent ecologist E. O. Wilson–who we’ve posted about several times in the past for his inspiring and erudite thoughts on nature and biophilia–wrote an opinion editorial on “The Global Solution to Extinction,” in which he partly reminisced about his studies in biology, and also offered his suggestion … Continue reading How to Prevent Extinction
The world’s most endangered marine mammal is a small porpoise called the vaquita — Spanish for little cow. The vaquita has been under threat for years, but now the poaching of a rare fish may be driving the tiny Mexican porpoise to extinction.Scientists estimate that fewer than 100 vaquita porpoise exist today, all of them in the … Continue reading Extinction By Accident
Thanks to Conservation for this note on the relationship between the proper identification of a species’ extinction risk and the amount of time practically required to do something about it: Congratulations, you’ve made the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species! Now what? Is that enough to promise your salvation? Or will the increasing press of climate … Continue reading Reversing Extinction Risk
My favorite doomsday journalist (and I mean that as the highest compliment) posted over the weekend an unamusing memo to remind us that this is an important centenary anniversary. It ups the ante on our commitment to the community of birdwatchers, casual and serious alike, who support important conservation of wildlife habitat all over the world. It is not … Continue reading Conservation, Passenger Pigeons, History Of Extinction
I consciously favor stories of alternative approaches and progress on solving environmental challenges rather than the easier-to-find doom and gloom stories, which can have the effect of making one want to turn off the news altogether. I also strive, often in vain, to not be trite. But on occasion I am willing to push that … Continue reading Extinction And Its Discontents
When Phil first mentioned the series he would share here, the fit could not have been more perfect. It was based on his own experience as a diver; on his own informed understanding of environmental challenges at once universal and personal (as a diver, he has witnessed changes that disturb him); on his role as … Continue reading Extinction Reversal
From the fellow who brought you Dolly, a philosophical yet practical consideration of the ethics of cloning an extinct species: It is unlikely that a mammoth could be cloned in the way we created Dolly the sheep, as has been proposed following the discovery of mammoth bones in northern Siberia. However, the idea prompts us to consider … Continue reading Extinction Is Forever, Except When It Is Not
We are always more than happy to share news stories where a turn of luck, a bit of effort, and/or the will to survive keep a species in the game. Here we thank Dr. Lee Durrell, the WCT and the WWT for their news release on the return of a nearly gone group of ducks: … Continue reading Madagascar Pochard, Rescued From Expected Extinction
In our Kerala days we visited Wayanad many times, but I would remember if I had met Shaji. We would have sought his advice to expand on the agricultural initiatives at the properties we developed and managed. Monika Mondal’s story ‘The tuber man of Kerala’ on a quest to champion India’s rare and indigenous crops … Continue reading Unexpectedly Amazing In Kerala
We have featured these banks before, but they are worthy of a more detailed inside look. So, thanks to by Salomé Gómez-Upegui, Rita Liu and the Guardian. Their article, Seed banks: the last line of defense against a threatening global food crisis is full of images and written descriptions that put these banks in better perspective: … Continue reading More On Seed Banks
The title of this post should have a question mark at the end of it, or should be considered clickbait. For bird nerds this is likely not even news. But it is important in terms of natural history in general. Ivory-billed woodpeckers have been mentioned a couple of times in our pages; but the chance … Continue reading Ivory-billed Woodpeckers In Louisiana
Disappearing species as a topic in these pages has taken many forms. Hunters of disappearing species, less so. My exposure to this topic is limited to one project that Seth participated in. But the fact that Seth also had experience on a different type of project in Rwanda’s Nyungwe National Park made this article particularly … Continue reading Tracking Disappearing Species
He has been mentioned in our pages three times before today. Now, on the fourth occasion, it is about Stewart Brand’s Long, Strange Trip: In 1966, Stewart Brand was an impresario of Bay Area counterculture. As the host of an extravaganza of music and psychedelic simulation called the Trips Festival, he was, according to John Markoff’s “Whole … Continue reading Stewart Brand In Perspective
Thanks to Pete McKenzie for this story, How Maori Stepped In to Save a Towering Tree Crucial to Their Identity, in the New York Times: Tāne Mahuta, an ancient tree named after the god of forests in Māori mythology, is threatened by the slow creep of an incurable disease. WELLINGTON, New Zealand — In an ancient … Continue reading Maori Tree-Saving
The photo to the left might have appealed to me last year or earlier. But having tried giving up beef for so long, and finally prevailing, now it has no appeal. It does not disgust me, but I expect to get there. Ligaya Mishan’s article What Does the End of Beef Mean for Our Sense … Continue reading Less Beef Is Better, No Beef Is Best
Our thanks to Dan Saladino, a food journalist and author of Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them as well as recipient of a James Beard Award for food journalism. He offers an inside look at a relatively unknown coffee varietal with potential, and at the same time, … Continue reading Stenophylla, A Coffee With Real Potential & Poster Child For Food Diversity
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