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| Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP |
Human’s
expectation of animals is based on a flawed understanding of the complexity of
animal’s communications and a belief that animals are not capable of emotional
responses. We need to change our expectations.
If cinema is a machine for building empathy between humans, as some have argued, scientific studies such as this one are an empathy machine that builds empathy between ourselves and other representatives of the animal kingdom, helping us to explore the highest branches of the evolutionary tree of life and, looking across its boughs and branches, to see animals such as goats in high-up branches where once we least expected them.
Operation
Thunderball
No 007 in this one, but a lot a arrests and animals recovered. A global crackdown on poachers and wildlife smugglers. It’s a start, nothing more.
But today we have been given a glimmer of hope. The World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Criminal Police Organization (otherwise known as INTERPOL) have announced the success of Operation Thunderball.
According to the WCO, in June the two agencies conducted nearly 2,000 seizures in a historic joint-operation, noting that “Initial results have led to the identification of almost 600 suspects, triggering arrests worldwide. Further arrests and prosecutions are foreseen as ongoing investigations progress.”
“No
other species do what beavers do, except humans.”
Beavers
are not just dam builders. They are environmental engineers who specialize in creating and restoring wetlands. Their special skills are being recognized and
partnerships with human ranchers and water agencies are being formed with this
species that humans nearly hunted to extinction.
Across North America and Europe, public agencies and private actors have reintroduced beavers through “re-wilding” initiatives. In California and Oregon, beavers are enhancing wetlands that are critical breeding habitat for salmonids, amphibians, and waterfowl. In Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico, environmental groups have partnered with ranchers and farmers to encourage beaver activity on small streams. Watershed advocates in California are leading a campaign to have beavers removed from the state’s non-native species list, so that they can be managed as a keystone species rather than a nuisance.
Bourbon
and Creek Water Don’t Mix
A fire
at the Kentucky warehouse of Jim Beam resulted in a massive spill of bourbon
into the Kentucky River. Thousands
of dead fish floated along the river as the plume of bourbon contaminated water
flowed downstream.
Nearly 45,000 barrels of alcohol were destroyed in the fire, which required firefighters from four neighboring counties to assist in putting it out. Firefighters held back from dousing the blaze with too much water -- anticipating that bourbon-tainted runoff might contaminate nearby bodies of water.
Australia
Has Plans to Destroy the World
Australia’s
per capita carbon footprint is worse than China, India and the US. The Australian government is comfortably in bed
with the fossil fuel industry and they are the worlds largest exporter of coal
and gas. Not so planet friendly down under.
Australia's current government is friendly to the fossil fuel industry, so it is reasonable to expect approval for most proposed coal developments and liquid natural gas projects in Western Australia. If those go through while other countries around the world implement policies to meet their requirements under the Paris climate agreement, then Australia will be responsible for nearly one-fifth of the world's carbon emissions.
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