For the first time since 1941, anthrax has hit Western Siberia, with 1,500 reindeer dying and 13 Yamal nomads being hospitalized including 4 children.

This is because unusually high temperatures (it’s 10 degrees Fahrenheit higher than normal) have melted permafrost containing the corpse of a reindeer that died of the bacteria 75 years ago.

Anthrax goes dormant when frozen, turning into a spore that reanimates when the temperature rises. Scientists estimate it can survive in this state for a minimum of 100 years.

In Siberia, dozens of herders have been relocated, a quarantine is in place and a state of emergency has been declared by the mayor.

This renews concerns that ancient viruses and bacteria could once again pose a threat, as the earth warms.

In 2014 scientists discovered that a Siberian virus, pithovirus sibericum, which lay dormant in permafrost for 30,000 years, became infectious again once thawed.

The article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/07/28/anthrax-sickens-13-in-western-siberia-and-a-thawed-out-reindeer-corpse-may-be-to-blame/

this is not a consequence of global warming i had ever envisioned but now it’s the scariest thing i’ve ever heard

Climate change doesn’t just affect the weather.

GOP Platform Proposes To Get Rid Of National Parks And National Forests

By Jenny Rowland / Think Progress 7/15 The Republican platform committee met this week to draft the document that defines the party’s official principles and policies. Along with provisions on pornography and LGBT “conversion therapy” is an amendment calling for the indiscriminate and immediate disposal of national public lands.

The inclusion of this provision in the Republican Party’s platform reflects the growing influence of and ideological alliance between several anti-park members of the GOP and anti-government extremists, led by Cliven Bundy, who dispute the federal government’s authority over national public lands.

“Congress shall immediately pass universal legislation providing a timely and orderly mechanism requiring the federal government to convey certain federally controlled public lands to the states,” reads the adopted language. “We call upon all national and state leaders and representatives to exert their utmost power and influence to urge the transfer of those lands identified.”

The provision calls for an immediate full-scale disposal of “certain” public lands, without defining which lands it would apply to, leaving national parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, and national forests apparently up for grabs and vulnerable to development, privatization, or transfer to state ownership.

Keep reading

Source; please do not remove.

PSA to all my #pokemongo players, we can do a lot of good for homeless pets and rescues by using this app while we’re playing!

Downloaded! :D To all my fellow Trainers go and download this to help these four legged friends!!

PLEASE DO NOT GET A "DORY" FISH

The fish from the new Finding Dory movie, the blue tang, is in danger.

With the new movie coming out, everyone and their kid is going to want a blue tang. Clown fish sales SKYROCKETED in 2003, when the original movie Finding Nemo was released. Unlike the blue tang, clownfish can be bred in tanks, are a more easy saltwater fish to care for, only needing 4 gallons per clownfish, and an anemone.

The blue tang CANNOT BE TANK BRED. They are captured live from the ocean, which can be damaging to the coral reefs.

The blue tang gets HUGE, and eventually you’ll need a tank the size of your couch to accommodate it.

The blue tang gets SICK. VERY EASY.

Do NOT get a blue tang, SERIOUSLY. If you are well equipped, an experienced saltwater fish owner, I mean go for it, but don’t get them as your child’s pet. They will be bored of it in a week anyway, and the fish will probably die. There’s tons of Finding Dory merchandise (shirts, bags, stuffed animals, seriously they have everything) to buy yourself or your child.

PLEASE SAVE THE BLUE TANG.

What you need to know about presidential candidates’ climate plans

An interesting perspective.

That’s right! You, too, are a part of the ocean ecosystem. And probably in more ways than you think!

We use products from the ocean for a lot of different things. You can’t have shampoo, cake, ice cream, whipped cream, instant mac ‘n cheese, or toothpaste without the ocean (these are all made with kelp!) A lot of seafood products wouldn’t exist without the organisms in the ocean they are made from.

We have a huge impact on the ocean because of the waste we produce. You contribute to this in some of the following ways:

There’s a lot more, but those are some of the big ones. Pretty much any waste we produce impacts the ocean. I know we can’t stop using toilets, driving cars, performing oil changes, etc. That’s why I have a list of things you can do to help clean up the ocean:

Good luck enjoying, learning about, and protecting the ocean!

Find Dory, but don’t buy her!

Finding Dory, the sequel to Finding Nemo, is coming out today, June 17th 2016. A few years ago, Finding Nemo was such a massive success that it drove demand for pet clownfish through the roof, and resulted in hurting the wild population, instead of fostering an appreciation for marine animals in their natural habitats. Over 90% of the clownfish sold came from the big, blue sea! Let’s avoid doing the exact same thing with Dory, shall we?

The case of Dory, or the case of blue tangs, is a bit different from clownfish. A “Finding Nemo effect” and a similar pet-trade boom could have catastrophic results for this species.

First of all, blue tangs aren’t bred in captivity. Blue tangs are pelagic spawners, meaning that they need sufficient space to breed and mate in mid-water columns. Once the eggs are hatched in captivity, it is extremely difficult to keep them alive. This means that every blue tang you will see in tanks or at the pet store has been taken from the wild. 

Second of all, chances are they were taken illegally. Regulations and their enforcement vary from country to country, but live saltwater fish like Dory are too often illegally collected using sodium cyanide as a liquid stun gun. For clownfish, scientists have witnessed local extinctions in areas they were collected in, and to the destruction of reefs and other species with this method.

Moreover, very little is actually known about the species. Subsequently, researchers don’t know if the blue tang population would be able to withstand increased demand after the movie release.

Behavioral ecologist Culum Brown works on fish cognition and welfare, and he reveals what is known about the species in an interview with NPR:

So what can you do to save Nemo and Dory?

If you must have a clownfish in your tank, make sure it was bred sustainably in captivity and not taken from the wild. As for having a Dory, you get it, it’s a big no-no. Keep Dory on the reef.

The aquarium industry harvests more than 1 million clownfish from their natural habitats every year so they can be sold as pets. This overharvesting, along with other stressors like global warming, is likely leading to the depletion of clownfish populations in places like the Philippines and the Great Barrier Reef.

Captive breeding has proved to be a sustainable alternative that can meet the demands for ornamental fish like Nemo, without hurting the reef’s populations. Tank Watch is also an app that helps you identify the captive-bred (good) from the wild-caught (bad) fish. 

While you go out and see this movie over the weekend, remember to educate yourself on the many species represented (including a whale shark and a beluga whale!). Many of them are under some sort of threat in the wild. All of these species are better off out in the sea, so if you fall in love with one of them and instead of taking Dory out of the ocean, I hope you moviegoers will support research, education and conservation!