Endangered Species Day

 Posted by at 2:06 am  Politics
May 172014
 

I had never heard of the first eight of these, but May 17 is the ninth annual Endangered species day.  This year the focus is on the species that are likely to die out due to the effects of global climate change.  For Republican readers, “Endangered Species Day” is not the title of an exclusive restaurant’s special menu.

0517ESDayLogoThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated today the ninth annual Endangered Species day, a day to recognize America’s most imperiled animals. When given this task, many will likely think of the polar bear, and its increasingly fragile arctic habitat — a phenomenon not-so-subtly connected to climate change.

As HBO host John Oliver so poignantly put it last week, “no climate report is complete without the obligatory photo of a polar bear balancing on a piece of ice.” And he’s right — the disappearing polar bear has indeed become an emotional symbol of how man-made emissions of carbon dioxide are threatening the natural world.

But it’s not just the polar bears that are hurting. Scientists recently warned that one-third of animal species across the world are likely to lose half or more of their habitat range if global temperatures increase by more than 4°C by 2100. And while many of these animals have been migrating with haste to avoid these challenges, the globe is still in the throes of one of the worst rates of species die-offs since the end of the dinosaur age. If global carbon emissions aren’t reduced, those rates only stand to increase.

So in honor of Endangered Species Day, here are five species most at risk from climate change in the U.S. — some of which you may be surprised to see… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Click through for pictures and bios of the five most endangered species.  Thousands more are at risk.  Sadly Republican science deniers are not on the list.

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  12 Responses to “Endangered Species Day”

  1. Republicanus/Teabaggers should be an endangered species that is NOT put on the list!

    • I'm with you!  Anything with an (R-xx) behind its name should be on the Endangered (maybe even Extinct?) list.

    • When I originally wrote this comment, I was being a little tongue in cheek. But on further contemplation, I agree with myself. The climate change/science deniers are, politically, primarily Republicanus/Teabaggers. They are the rapists and pillagers of Mother Earth all for the almighty dollar.

    • They should be on the list of spedcies that are endangered, but not on the list of species to be saved.

    • I only wish to place Republicans/Tea-Bags on the list but, it would be no great loss.

  2. Genetically engineered salmon can't be good for the wild salmon either.  Cringe!  It's too bad Andy Borowitz's article on a grizzly-polar bear merger couldn't come true and help out both species (yes, I do realize he was referring to telecom companies really).  I was a wee bit surprised not to see the pangolin; I guess the FWS was deliberately looking for cute species, but I find pangolins cute.

  3. It's a real shame TeapublicanTs aren't disappearing.

  4. I clicked through the article and read the comments.  Some deniers had a lot to say.  Will they still be so vocal when these species are all extinct?  Probaby.  The Republicans are deniers because they get the majority of their contributions from the people who are killing the planet.  

  5. The Repuglicons believe they deserve to take what they want regardless of the consequences to others, they care not a jot for other human beings or for animals or the earth, and they will kill us all by despoiling the earth whilst saying they aren't doing a thing…. When will the half of humanity that is ignoring what is happening wake up??

  6. Thanks to all!  Pat summed it up perfectly!

  7. The thinking (hu)man must oppose all cruel customs no matter how deeply rooted in tradition or surrounded by a halo . . . We need a boundless ethic which will include the animals also. – Dr. Albert Schweitzer

     

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