From:
david.j.worrell@gmail.com
Both of those opinions of yours are *stupid* and are only an
ineffectual attempt to justify your feeble path of doing nothing.
I'll talk about things worth talking about, instead.
***
In this time of threatened biodiversity, hovering on the edge
of a new man-made mass-extinction, the Trump Administration
is right now making a major effort to seriously undermine the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (signed by Nixon). That act could
probably use a bit of tweaking by now, but I guarantee you that
these greedy ninnies will go far beyond correcting it to seriously
endanger even more of our existing species. At least, they'll try.
http://tinyurl.com/y9zthhg9
While this man below is the sort of man Trump and his idiot minions
are undermining every day, instead of focusing on people who destroy
or do nothing, I'd rather focus on a person who did something.
Lincoln Brower, expert and advocate for iconic monarch butterfly,
dies at 86
http://tinyurl.com/yb98td2b
Lincoln Brower poses for a photo at Sweet Briar College
in Lynchburg, Va., when the Center for Biological Diversity
presented him with the EO Wilson Award for Outstanding Science
in Biodiversity Conservation on Dec. 2, 2016:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cbrefzdyb8ar83u/brower.jpg?dl=0
Lincoln Brower, who was considered one of the foremost experts on the iconic monarch butterfly and a scientist who advocated for protection for the declining species, has died. He was 86.
Linda Fink, his wife, confirmed Friday that Brower died July 17 at home in Nelson County, Va., after a long illness.
Brower studied the orange-and-black-winged insect for more than six decades. It
is famous for its epic migration each year.
“What attracted Lincoln is they’re so incredibly interesting,” said Karen
Oberhauser, a monarch expert and director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum.
Light as a paper clip, the butterflies migrate like birds or whales. Most travel 2,000-plus miles from various states in the U.S. and Canada to the mountains of Mexico. A much smaller number goes to the California coast.
In those places, the winter climate typically doesn’t freeze them. But it’s
cool enough that the insects maintain their fat preserves to begin their return.
It’s a multigenerational journey north as the butterflies and their offspring
feed off milkweed. Eventually, the cycle starts anew.
Brower spent a lot of time in Mexico, where massive clusters of monarchs hang like Spanish moss in fir forests.
“Just imagine a place where there are a hundred million of whatever you were studying hanging from the trees,” said Brower's son, Andrew Brower, who studies butterflies and is a biology professor at Middle Tennessee State University.
Brower also charted the butterflies’ stark decline. Its overall population has fallen by about 80% over the last two decades, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation group.
Herbicide use, logging and severe weather events have all threatened the butterfly. In 2002, freezing temperatures and rain led to a massive die-off in Mexico.
“Sticking in my hand to gently pull out the beautiful delicate creatures I’ve worked with for 25 years, there was an almost overwhelming feeling of sadness,” Brower told the Associated Press.
In 2014, Brower placed his name alongside conservation groups to petition the federal government to protect the monarch under the Endangered Species Act.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to make a decision next year.
“He was the only scientist who joined the petition — it's a gigantic deal,” said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “A lot of scientists shy away from advocacy.”
Brower grew up in northern New Jersey, his son said. He earned a biology degree
from Princeton University and a doctorate in zoology from Yale University.
He taught at Amherst College before moving to the University of Florida. At the
time of his death, he was a professor at Sweet Briar College in Virginia and an
emeritus professor at the University of Florida.
“If the monarch butterfly migration is to survive, it will be in large part thanks to Dr. Lincoln Brower's dedication and work during the past half century,” Homero Aridjis, a former Mexican diplomat and environmentalist, said in a statement.
***
It's very cool that his son is also a professor who studies butterflies.
The Center for Biological Diversity:
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/
"We've sued Trump 81 times — and we're just getting started."
Trump lawsuit tracker:
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/trump_lawsuits/index.html
Another thing one can do to help support biodiversity is to buy
organic produce. A lot of people these days argue against organic farming/produce since it has lower yields, costs more in stores,
and is not significantly better for you nutritionally. But this is
to miss the fact that the primary benefit of organic produce is that
organic farms are better for BIODIVERSITY.
Organic farming matters - just not in the way you think
http://tinyurl.com/yax4rlqr
So this is yet another place where simply spending a little
extra money can really help out. And yeah, we do that too.
I was in Colorado for a week earlier this month, including Denver:
http://tinyurl.com/y88njuo3
"Denver has now become the 10th, and largest, Colorado municipality
to commit to 100 percent of its electricity being powered by
renewable energy."
"The goal is part of Denver’s new 2018 80×50 Climate Action Plan,
which targets sectors with the highest greenhouse gas emissions
and establishes a strategy to reduce those emissions by 80 percent,
compared to 2005 levels, by 2050."
That will save the lives of both animals and humans. It may also
benefit biodiversity (at a minimum, it won't further threaten it).
If every major city did this, several big problems could be mitigated.
But as I've pointed out, you don't have to wait for your city.
Individuals have options to do this too. And you've been informed,
so ignorance is no excuse.
.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)
