We're passionate about this stuff, but every other tumblr about ecology/animal behavior/climate change seemed so stale and staid - biology is about life and diversity and beauty and not being afraid to get dirty in the name of science!
Malala Yousufzai, Girl Shot By The Taliban, Asks Pakistan Not To Rename College For Her.
Did you read that, raging liberals of Pakistan and the West? Malala does not want the attention. She does not want to be a symbol. She does not want to lose her life because your obsession with symbolizing Muslim women into icons of resistance render damage to their very lives. If you genuinely care, try to understand the context and gravity of the situation.
{via mehreenkasana}
And for God’s sake, stop reblogging that ridiculous comic strip that completely cartoonizes her.
(via spittingonhegel)
That comic has over 100,000 notes. This has less than 2,000 so far. Malala has been asking people to stop for awhile now. I guess respecting women is a bit too difficult when it’s easier to use them and their experiences to push your own narrative. (via mohandasgandhi)
Honestly, this reminds me so much of Tawakkol Karman and how she was lauded as an international hero for opposing Saleh’s repressive regime and even hailed as the face of revolution and “the iron lady of Yemen” for supporting democracy. When she publicly denounced drone strikes however, many people didn’t show her the same adulation, because her words aligned directly against the actions of the West. Whatever strokes the ego of American exceptionalists.. I suppose.
(via maarnayeri)
Great whites are the scariest sharks ever, thanks to movies and television and their natural aura of gruesome death, but of course also despite the protections we already had in place for them, commercial fishing is reckless and whoops, we’re accidentally killing them so fish-eaters can…
Indian Man Single-Handedly Plants Entire 1,360 Acre Forest!
Read his AMAZING story:
A little over 30 years ago, a teenager named Jadav “Molai” Payeng began burying seeds along a barren sandbar near his birthplace in northern India’s Assam region to grow a refuge for wildlife. Not long after, he decided to dedicate his life to this endeavor, so he moved to the site where he could work full-time creating a lush new forest ecosystem. Incredibly, the spot today hosts a sprawling 1,360 acre of jungle that Payeng planted single-handedly.
It all started way back in 1979 when floods washed a large number of snakes ashore on the sandbar. One day, after the waters had receded, Payeng , only 16 then, found the place dotted with the dead reptiles. That was the turning point of his life.
“The snakes died in the heat, without any tree cover. I sat down and wept over their lifeless forms. It was carnage. I alerted the forest department and asked them if they could grow trees there. They said nothing would grow there. Instead, they asked me to try growing bamboo. It was painful, but I did it. There was nobody to help me. Nobody was interested,” says Payeng, now 47.
While it’s taken years for Payeng’s remarkable dedication to planting to receive some well-deserved recognition internationally, it didn’t take long for wildlife in the region to benefit from the manufactured forest. Demonstrating a keen understanding of ecological balance, Payeng even transplanted ants to his burgeoning ecosystem to bolster its natural harmony. Soon the shadeless sandbar was transformed into a self-functioning environment where a menagerie of creatures could dwell. The forest, called the Molai woods, now serves as a safe haven for numerous birds, deers, rhinos, tigers, and elephants — species increasingly at risk from habitat loss elsewhere.
Despite the conspicuousness of Payeng’s project, Forestry officials in the region first learned of this new forest in 2008 — and since then they’ve come to recognize his efforts as truly remarkable, but perhaps not enough.
“We’re amazed at Payeng,” says Assistant Conservator of Forests, Gunin Saikia. “He has been at it for 30 years. Had he been in any other country, he would have been made a hero.”so amazing
My open letter to the New York Times to dedicate more resources to environmental coverage.
Dear New York Times,
You have failed the American public.
Last week, you cowardly announced at 5pm Friday evening as your staff slithered away for the weekend, that you closed your one and only “Green Blog.” The “Green Blog” was dedicated to environmental reporting and opinion.
Yet, you insist on keeping open - 9 sports blogs, 9 fashion blogs, 4 business blogs, and 5 tech blogs. These blogs are in addition to your regular features and daily coverage.
Why did you kill your ONE environmental blog while the rest of the world’s leading newspapers have tripled and quintupled resources towards regular environmental reporting?
Because your chiefs are out of touch. The above screen shots demonstrate how incredibly out of touch you have become.
Dedicate more resources to environmental coverage.
Right now, leaders of 177 countries (that’s 91% of the world’s 194 countries!) have gathered in Bangkok to discuss the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Case in point: The above screen shots were taken minutes ago. The NYTimes has TWO articles on the same topic: scary Chinese people who eat everything. And not a single Times’ reporter is covering the CITES.
Instead, the Times’s focus is on British tabloid-esque trash full of articles referring to virgins, gays, junk food, diets, and scary Chinese boogie-men.
Al Jazeera, on the other hand, is currently running dozens of polished, tactful, and brutally honest articles covering the environment. The environment is one of the most discussed topics around the world. Al Jazeera knows this, and has dedicated massive resources to creating epic content.
Today, right now, you can read incredibly desperate and equally touching pieces by expert journalists who have the full support of the organization.
Al Jazeera, right now, has invested heavily in environmental coverage. Above, you can see this manifested in countless opinions, info-graphics, banners, videos, tweets, slide-shows, interactive maps, and hard-nosed, boots-on-the-ground editorials and features.
Its coverage of the most important environmental disaster stories of 2013 and beyond - CITES - is an utter embarrassment to the NYTimes.
Coverage at The New York Times? Zero.
Dedicate more resources to environmental coverage.
What should the NYTimes do?
1) Look at the above screen shots. Just look at them. Contemplate what you’ve truly become. The NYTimes reads like a lazy gossip rag, while Al Jazeera supports, nurtures, and sends their reporters into the field.
This should be the reverse. And I shouldn’t have to write this post against the Times.
2) Retire Jill Abramson. She is the bane of your existence as Alec Baldwin painfully exposed last month on his podcast. I know on good authority what many of the Times’s reporters really think of Abramson. And, I’m told, their private misgivings and opinions are couched in fear - fear of retribution and punishment. As such, reporters instead publicly crow Abramson as some sort of wise sage who gets a free pass.
Baldwin’s interview exposes Abramson as someone living in the 1980s and has clearly edged into senility. I highly recommend that you give the interview a listen (and if your butt hurts afterward, it’s because you were inadvertently forced to perform Kegels for 40 minutes listening to her cringe inducing responses).
3) Revamp your open-door policies. The purpose of a Free Press is to speak truth to power. The NYTimes cannot be taken seriously if your own reporters feel terrorized by internal politics, petty retribution, and shaky job-security.
4) Reporters: Stand up to your chiefs. Don’t feed a culture of internal reprise. Make the case that the Times is going to die unless it begins to take seriously what is really happening in the world.
5) Replace Jill Abramson with a public-facing, diverse, savvy, and active executive editorial board that can take risks and weather lumps. Staff this board with a diverse mix of hyper-intelligent reporters, editors, and managers from across newsrooms. Abramson is famously hell bent on Washington politics. Her myopic management framework is stale and it just has to stop.
Off the cuff suggestions (I’m winging this): Hire Andy Capper of Vice Magazine and shower him with money. Get advice from Jay Rosen and also that young dude who founded Tumblr. Poach Scott Rosenberg from Grist and, perhaps, some of the excellent editorial staff at the LA Times. Partner with Al Jazeera, the BBC, and the Guardian to create a shared international bureau. (And my gods, do something better with the stunningly brilliant Sam Tennenhaus).
In other words, let go of the precious past and get with reality.
6) Please, please end your racist, naive, fear-mongering coverage of China. China is not a boogie man bent on taking over the role of the world’s biggest bully (the U.S. are masters of this already). Instead, report on why economic growth requires massive pollution. Explain how integral economic growth cannot occur without a culture and legal framework built on the polluter pays principle. Show the world that you understand that environmental damage and species extinction is complex and nuanced. Blaming a foreign nation exposes you as lazy frauds with a conservative agenda. Instead, create dialog and inform your readers the ugly ills of fast growth and the need for strong environmental policies across the developing world.
7) Listen to your readers. A search of the phrase, “An Open Letter to the New York Times,” returns over 8 million hits. Most of these letters rail against the talking heads of the Opinion Pages. Very few have asked the paper to reflect on how it can better itself.
8) Dedicate more resources to environmental coverage. No excuses.
The world needs and loves the New York Times. And, as we witness its death, it has the opportunity to revamp, reshape, and rebuild on its original mission to Report with Integrity, Speak Truth to Power, be Connected to a Diverse and Changing World, and Inform and Empower Citizens.
With best intentions,
Michael Cote
Snakes in a Frame: Stunning Photographs of Slithering Beasts
Mark Laita captured plenty of photographs of snakes striking, their mouths agape, in the making of his new book, Serpentine. But, it wasn’t these aggressive, fear-inducing—and in his words, “sensational”—images that he was interested in. Instead, the Los Angeles-based photographer focused on the graceful contortions of the reptiles.
“It is not a snake book,” says Laita. As he explained to me in a phone interview, he had no scientific criteria for selecting the species he did, though herpetologists and snake enthusiasts will surely perk up when they see the photographs. “Really, it is more about color, form and texture,” he says. “For me, a snake does that beautifully.” - Continue reading at Smithsonian.com.
If you want to shell out the money for it, I highly recommend his book, Serpentine.
Care for the red pandas! Love them!
lets talk about this fella here a moment
this baby is a ribbon eel, part of a group of fish called the moray eels. moray eels are basically hilarious because they are always fucking delighted (they can’t actually close their mouths so basically they’re grinning from ear to ear every moment of their lives).
wait i hear you say, if they can’t close their mouths how do they eat. pharyngeal jaws, my friend, pharyngeal jaws. don’t know what those are?
have you ever seen alien?
i shit you not, moray eels have a second set of teeth in the back of their throats that are spring loaded to jump out and grab things that swim into their mouths.
now if that wasn’t awesome enough, the ribbon eel is the only protandric moray. that means that although this little fella is clearly, by his colouring, a young adult male, give him a long enough lifespan and he’ll get bigger, turn yellow-brown, and become female.
that’s right, this is a species made entirely of young pretty men and powerful older women.
also if you put them into captivity they stop eating and die within about a month. the ribbon eel lives to be free~
(Source: whoagifs)
A one sized approach by the national government will not work. Scientists the region criticized Vientnam’s guiding climate plan, stating that it doesn’t address local issues or impacts.
Dr Duong Van Ni of Can Tho University said that different approaches were needed for each locality because the impact of climate change varied from area to area within the country.
“The risks from climate change include higher sea levels. But the upper part of the Mekong River is also affected, which means the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta needs a clear strategy to have reserves of fresh water,” he said.
“Water volume from the upper to the lower part has changed dramatically in recent years due to climate change and changes made in the upper basin. This could lead to a major water shortage in the next 20 years,” Ni added.
Prof Le Huy Ba, former lecturer at HCM City Industry University, said the ministry’s report incorrectly separated the two issues of climate change and the environment.
He said the report had an “inaccurate scientific approach” that focused on prevention rather than adaptation.Ni of Can Tho University said the major risk from climate change is the spread of disease from rising temperatures and different weather conditions.
“There will be more mosquitoes because of increased flooding,” he said. Ni also said that the proposal focused on the delta’s inland areas but ignored the sea areas around the region.Via Vietnamnet
Doing my usual yearly Thylacine research and giving myself the sads.
80 years since the last known capture, 77 since the last known death. What I wouldn’t give to see this marsupial brought back from extinction.
It’s eerie to see the video of an animal you can no longer ever see
One day we’ll have this same experience over pandas.
![lamamama:
“But I am very poorly today and very stupid and hate everybody and everything.”
- Charles Darwin, in a letter dated October 1, 1861 [x]
Even he had those days.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mc5iyanenu1qac0gjo1_500.jpg)
