environment

Have a Heart, Do Your Part, Help End Animal Extinction

rbradfo

As mentioned in our blog earlier this week, animal endangerment and extinction are almost always due to overpopulation of humans. Humans have caused the deforestation of major rain forests and pollution of water systems. They have hunted some species to extinction. While we cannot do much to control our ever-growing population, there are ways we can help prevent our species from overrunning the planet and eliminating the creatures we share Earth with. Here are a few ways you can you help prevent animal endangerment and extinction!

1. Check Out the World Wildlife Fun
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According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)’s website, the vision of this non-profit organization is, “to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature.” And that is precisely what they do. Through education and awareness, the WWF has contributed immensely to conservation efforts around the world, whether it’s through call-to-action campaigns (such as the Earth Hour City Challenge) or by helping establish national parks. The WWF is always looking for donations. These donations are put towards conservation research, campaigns headed by the WWF, fundraising efforts, and other relief funds. You can also become a WWF Member and receive invitations to WWF activities (including fundraisers), progress reports on activities headed by WWF, travel opportunities, and much more.

2. Look Into Other Non-Profits for Conservation
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There are dozens of non-profits that focus their efforts on conservation. The Natural Resources Defense Control has a comprehensive list of non-profits that are environmentally focused. You can find that list here, but we’ve picked a few of our favorites to highlight below:
Defenders of Wildlife: This non-profit focuses habitat conservation and biodiversity.
Earthwatch: This non-profit is much more scientific research based.
Greenpeace: Looking to get active? Greenpeace is really into peaceful protests!
Oceana: This non-profit focuses most of it’s efforts on ocean conservation, as well as pollution clean-up.
The Wilderness Society: The Wilderness Society not only focuses on the environment, but energy conservation as well.

3. Volunteer!
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Volunteering is the most hands-on help you could give towards conservation efforts. All of the non-profits listed above have volunteer opportunities year-round. Whether you give one-time help at a beach clean-up or volunteer to clear litter from the highways in your city each weekend, your volunteering helps more than you know. By volunteering your time and effort, you are allowing others to focus their efforts on bigger projects that require more man power (and time/money) to complete.

How Overpopulation Caused Animal Extinction and Endangerment

rbradfo

Humans tend to get a little “holier than thou” about their presence here on Earth. The fact of the matter is that we’re just one in literally millions. Some of the best guesstimates from top biologists around the world are that there are seven MILLION species of plants and animals on the planet — and that’s not including bacteria! When you break that number down by vertebrate (with a backbone) and invertebrate (without a backbone), our presence on Earth becomes even more insignificant — of the seven million estimated species on Earth, only 5,500 species identify as mammals like us. When you take that number into consideration, we are really only 1 in 5,500: the odds are still against us in many ways. So how is it that one small species has been capable of causing the extinction of thirty species in the last fifty years alone? You guessed it: overpopulation.

While some animal species have gone extinct due to destructive forces of nature (RIP T-Rex) or disease (RIP platypus frog), many of the thirty animals that have gone extinct in the last five decades were killed off due to habitat destruction and illegal hunting (better known as animal poaching) — two activities that are directly caused by overpopulation of humans.

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One of the most widely discussed extinctions to happen in the last half-century occurred only four years ago. In 2011, the western black rhinoceros was declared extinct due to hunting. Between 1970 and 1992, the western black rhino saw a staggering decline in numbers — roughly 96% of the western black rhino population had depleted in only 22 years time. The horn of a western black rhino was used for a variety of human needs — weapons, medicine, and jewelry just to name a few. With the rising population, more animal poachers began hunting the western black rhino to keep up with demand. Oddly enough, rhino horn actually has zero medical benefits, so this creature was poached to extinction for nothing more than human greed and ignorance.

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The Florida panther is one of the few big cat species that inhabits the United States. Unfortunately, the Florida panther is on the endangered species list due to overpopulation. This big cat once thrived throughout much of the southeastern United States and is now only found in 5% of its original habitat range. A majority of these panthers died due to habitat destruction caused by humans building roads through their home. The increased number of panthers in one concentrated area caused too much competition, which led to many panthers dying out of starvation. As of 2011, there’s only an estimated 100-120 Florida panthers left in the United States. Rapid population growth is leading to more deconstruction of their natural habitat. The Florida panther may be extinct because of overpopulation sooner than we think.

Pop Pulse on Pollution Solutions

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A rapid increase in urban area dwelling poses one of the most detrimental threats against long-term sustainability. The environment truly suffers the most, even though we are quick to defend our human discomforts: sitting in stagnant bumper-to-bumper traffic, washing dishes by hand, heck – we’re even irritated by sorting our waste to reduce the amount of rubbish and refuse. Some people don’t even bother getting their trash to a bin; making habit of discarding garbage on the side of the road or on the sidewalk.

If only the affect was considered before we complain about trivial things and taking the easy way. All it takes is a few minutes of research to understand WHY it is imperative to our existence as a species to develop renewable sources and WHAT you can do leave a smaller footprint.

Not to recall stereotypes of a neo-pagan, tree-hugging, hemp-wearing, peace sign-posing hippy, but if the Earth was treated like the gift that it is, we wouldn’t have issues of deforestation, air pollution, and mass sewage storage. Pollution alone can (and has) dismantle ecosystems, endanger and eradicate various species of animals who also call this big spinning rock home, and cause disease and health issues for the Earth’s most dominant and dangerous species.

If the majority of civilization is headed towards occupying major cities, we need to get our priorities in order. For one, if the bulk of your neighbors and fellow cityfolk subscribe to environmentally hazardous (basically lazy) behavior, you are more likely to adopt these behaviors by succumbing to a risky form of groupthink. Many of the latest residents tourban areas will have roots in tending farms and looking after land, so it’s important for their new communities to assist them in making economical choices that can sustain city living.

The United States Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA) developed a comprehensive list of ways you can reduce air pollution at home, on the road, and in store by adjusting buying behavior. We recap the big ones for you, but please visit the full list here.

AT HOME:

  • Conserve energy by turning of appliances and lights and unplugging devices when they are not in use or when you leave the room
  • Recycle paper, plastic, glass bottles, cardboard, and aluminum cans
  • Keep woodstoves and fireplaces well maintained
  • Plant trees around your home to provide shade in the summer, but to allow light in the winter. Potted plants also do a great job of reducing air pollutants. We recommend fruit trees, river birch, holly, star magnolia, and boxwood. David J. Nowak of the USDA Forest Service coined the mnemonic device to aid in remembering the benefit of trees: Temperature reduction, Removal of air pollutants, Emission of volatile organic compounds and Energy effects on buildings
  • Connect your outdoor lights to a timer or use solar lighting.
  • Wash clothes with warm or cold water instead of hot.
  • Lower the thermostat on your water heater to 120F.
  • Use low-VOC or water-based paints, stains, finishes, and paint strippers.
  • Make the choice to smoke outdoors, or quit altogether

ON THE ROAD:

  • Keep tires properly inflated and aligned.
  • In the summer, fill gas tank during cooler evening hours to cut down on evaporation. Avoid spilling gas and don’t “top off” the tank. Replace gas tank cap tightly.
  • Avoid waiting in long drive-thru lines. Park your car and go in.
  • When possible, use public transportation, walk, or ride a bike.
  • Get regular engine tune-ups and car maintenance checks (especially for spark plugs).
  • Use an energy-conserving (EC) grade motor oil.
  • Ask your employer to consider flexible work schedules or telecommuting.
  • Report smoking vehicles to your local air agency.
  • Join a carpool to get to work.

MAKE SMART PURCHASES:

  • Choose efficient, low-polluting vehicle models.
  • Choose products that have less packaging and are reusable.
  • Shop with a canvas bag instead of using paper and plastic bags.
  • Buy rechargeable batteries for devices used frequently.

 

Combating Gentrification

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Does urban growth automatically mean more gentrification? Not necessarily. Here’s some sure fire ways to avoid gentrification from coming to fruition.

1. More low-income housing!

This one seems almost too obvious of an answer. By making providing low income housing at an equal rate as high cost areas grow, displacement may still happen but at the poorest of a city are not literally losing ground in their city. Making sure that low income housing projects don’t disappear in the future is crucial to preventing gentrification from taking place.

Going back to our previous example of Rosewood Courts. While I agree that the land value of Rosewood has increased in value over the years, that does not given developers the right to tear it down and rebuild for the incoming upper to middle class families, thus displacing the previous residents.

However, there are various programs in place for those who do get displaced or just need low income housing today. The City of Austin has many different programs to choose from, therefore I cannot argue that the displaced residents will automatically become homeless. Most of the problem gentrification brings is the displacement of people from their homes that they’ve lived in for decades.

That being said, according to Roger Valdez from Smart Growth Seattle, neighborhoods have notoriously shifted from wealth to poverty to wealth again within the decades since it’s been around. The process of a changing area is not something new and cannot be solely blamed on gentrification. However, one it becomes to the point that only minorities are being displaced and there are no new low income housing areas to go along with the growth of the city’s wealthy metropolitan area, then that becomes a gentrification problem.

2. Protect existing low income housing areas

Again, this one seems too obvious of answer as well. Protecting existing areas will slow down the process of gentrification and it will keep families in the homes they’ve owned for the last couple of decades. It makes sure that families stay in the areas they want to, regardless of their income. Sadly, there are not many programs out there to help families keep their home as much as ones to help them find a new one. I suggest demanding a program for the families who do not wish to move out of the area so they can keep their home.

For more good reads on the subject, I suggest Kalima Rose’s blog post on Race, Poverty, and Environment.