It's Climate Change I tell'ya!! IT'S CLIMATE CHANGE!!
- Thread starter B00Mer
- Start date
But the rich elite western socialists can feel good by taxing us into third world status without the benefit of even low paying jobs.
Our per Capita emissions are among the highest in the world.
But if emissions per square kilometres are used as the metric — a calculation the United Nations has done in the past — Canada becomes one of the world’s lowest emitters, illustrating that with statistics, what you get depends on what you measure.
Canada is the coldest, second-largest country on earth with a relatively small population. By definition, we will always be a high per capita user of fossil fuels, not because every Canadian has an oil well in his or her backyard, but because of Canada’s geography, demographics and fossil fuel resources.
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Despite the Trudeau government committing over $200 billion to more than 100 programs to reduce our industrial greenhouse gas emissions, Canada remains the world’s punching bag when it comes to addressing climate change.
This year, for example, the international Climate Change Performance Index, ranks Canada in 62nd place out of 67 countries, including the European Union, responsible for over 90% of global emissions.
That was down four positions from 58th place in 2023.
The CCPI describes Canada, responsible for 1.5% of global emissions, as remaining “among the very low performing countries” in addressing climate change.
Meanwhile China, the world’s largest emitter at 30% of total emissions, ranks 11 positions higher than Canada, in the 51st spot this year (the same as in 2023), despite burning more coal than the rest of the world combined.
The top three “high” performing countries in 2024 were Denmark, Estonia and the Philippines, although the CCPI puts them in fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively because it argues no country has achieved a “very high” rating. How very woke of them.
But if emissions per square kilometres are used as the metric — a calculation the United Nations has done in the past — Canada becomes one of the world’s lowest emitters, illustrating that with statistics, what you get depends on what you measure.
Canada is the coldest, second-largest country on earth with a relatively small population. By definition, we will always be a high per capita user of fossil fuels, not because every Canadian has an oil well in his or her backyard, but because of Canada’s geography, demographics and fossil fuel resources.
EDITORIAL: Played for suckers on climate change — Toronto Sun
Despite the Trudeau government committing over $200 billion to more than 100 programs to reduce our industrial greenhouse gas emissions, Canada remains the world’s punching bag when it comes to addressing climate change. This year, for example, the international Climate Change Performance Index...
This year, for example, the international Climate Change Performance Index, ranks Canada in 62nd place out of 67 countries, including the European Union, responsible for over 90% of global emissions.
That was down four positions from 58th place in 2023.
The CCPI describes Canada, responsible for 1.5% of global emissions, as remaining “among the very low performing countries” in addressing climate change.
Meanwhile China, the world’s largest emitter at 30% of total emissions, ranks 11 positions higher than Canada, in the 51st spot this year (the same as in 2023), despite burning more coal than the rest of the world combined.
The top three “high” performing countries in 2024 were Denmark, Estonia and the Philippines, although the CCPI puts them in fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively because it argues no country has achieved a “very high” rating. How very woke of them.
Its gotta be working cuz western canada has been running at average or below average climate. Its gotta be the east that is causing grief. Cant be the north cuz they say its several degrees hotter in winter. Hotter Arctic winters mean far less air conditioning.
Serious fire concerns in both Alberta and BC. Cautious optimism in Fort Nelson that the winds stay down. Fort McMurray is under evacuation orders in some areas. Never in my life have I seen more traffic congestion than Ft Mac. Bumper to bumper as they head out.
Second time in recent memory if it happens that that city burned. Yet people come back.
The climate change quilt trip is a helluva plan. Canada's largest corporations are banks followed by LuLu Lemon. How much greenhouse gas are we actually responsible for? Meanwhile the government gives one foreign entity after another access and control to the industries that do cause harmful emissions.Our per Capita emissions are among the highest in the world.
But if emissions per square kilometres are used as the metric — a calculation the United Nations has done in the past — Canada becomes one of the world’s lowest emitters, illustrating that with statistics, what you get depends on what you measure.
Canada is the coldest, second-largest country on earth with a relatively small population. By definition, we will always be a high per capita user of fossil fuels, not because every Canadian has an oil well in his or her backyard, but because of Canada’s geography, demographics and fossil fuel resources.
Despite the Trudeau government committing over $200 billion to more than 100 programs to reduce our industrial greenhouse gas emissions, Canada remains the world’s punching bag when it comes to addressing climate change.EDITORIAL: Played for suckers on climate change — Toronto Sun
Despite the Trudeau government committing over $200 billion to more than 100 programs to reduce our industrial greenhouse gas emissions, Canada remains the world’s punching bag when it comes to addressing climate change. This year, for example, the international Climate Change Performance Index...
This year, for example, the international Climate Change Performance Index, ranks Canada in 62nd place out of 67 countries, including the European Union, responsible for over 90% of global emissions.
That was down four positions from 58th place in 2023.
The CCPI describes Canada, responsible for 1.5% of global emissions, as remaining “among the very low performing countries” in addressing climate change.
Meanwhile China, the world’s largest emitter at 30% of total emissions, ranks 11 positions higher than Canada, in the 51st spot this year (the same as in 2023), despite burning more coal than the rest of the world combined.
The top three “high” performing countries in 2024 were Denmark, Estonia and the Philippines, although the CCPI puts them in fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively because it argues no country has achieved a “very high” rating. How very woke of them.
Experts say coral reef bleaching near record level globally because of ’crazy’ ocean heat
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Seth Borenstein
Published May 16, 2024 • 3 minute read
FILE - Bleached coral is visible at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of Galveston, Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico, Sept. 16, 2023. Ocean temperatures that have gone "crazy haywire" hot, especially in the Atlantic, are close to making the current global coral bleaching event the worst in history. It's so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off.
FILE - Bleached coral is visible at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of Galveston, Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico, Sept. 16, 2023. Ocean temperatures that have gone "crazy haywire" hot, especially in the Atlantic, are close to making the current global coral bleaching event the worst in history. It's so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off. PHOTO BY LM OTERO /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ocean temperatures that have gone “crazy haywire” hot, especially in the Atlantic, are close to making the current global coral bleaching event the worst in history. It’s so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off.
More than three-fifths — 62.9% — of the world’s coral reefs are badly hurting from a bleaching event that began last year and is continuing. That’s nearing the record of 65.7% in 2017, when from 2009 to 2017 about one-seventh of the world’s coral died, said Derek Manzello, coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coral Reef Watch Program.
When water gets too hot, coral, which are living creatures, bleach and sometimes die.
In the Atlantic, off the Florida coast and in the Caribbean, about 99.7% of the coral reefs have been hit with “very very severe” losses in staghorn and elkhorn species, Manzello said Thursday in NOAA’s monthly climate briefing. Sixty-two countries are seeing damaged coral, with Thailand shutting off a tourist-laden island to try to save the coral there.
Meteorologists say a La Nina — a natural cooling of parts of the Pacific that changes the weather worldwide — is forecast to develop soon and perhaps cool oceans a bit, but Manzello said it may be too little and too late.
“I still am very worried about the state of the world’s coral reefs just because we’re seeing things play out right now that are just very unexpected and extreme,” Manzello said.
“This wouldn’t be happening without climate change. That’s basically the cornerstone of all the ocean warming we’re seeing,” Manzello said. But on top of that are changes in El Nino, the reverse of La Nina and a natural warming of ocean waters; reduced sulfur pollution from ships and an undersea volcano eruption.
Former top NASA climate scientist James Hansen said “acceleration of global warming is now hard to deny” in a new analysis and statement Thursday.
For coral, it comes down to how hot the water is and “things have just gone crazy haywire with ocean temperatures in the last year,” Manzello said. He said hurricanes bring up cool water from deep and benefit coral reefs if they don’t hit them directly.
“Hurricanes can be devastating for reefs,” Manzello. “But in the grand scheme of things and given the current situation we are in on planet Earth, they’re now a good thing essentially, which is kind of mind-blowing.”
On Wednesday, parts of the Atlantic where hurricanes often develop had an ocean heat content — which measures water warmth at depths — equivalent to mid-August, said hurricane researchers Brian McNoldy at the University of Miami and Phil Klotzbach at Colorado State University.
The world’s oceans last month broke a record for the hottest April on record. It was the 13th straight month global seas broke records, and because the oceans are slow to cool or warm, more records are likely, said Karin Gleason, NOAA’s climate monitoring chief.
Coral reefs are key to seafood production and tourism worldwide. Scientific reports have long said loss of coral is one of the big tipping points of future warming as the world nears 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming since pre-industrial time. That’s a limit that countries agreed to try to hold to in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
“This is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet,” said Andrew Pershing, a biological oceanographer who is vice president for science of Climate Central. “It’s an ecosystem that we’re literally going to watch disappear in our lifetimes.”
![climate-coral-bleaching-record[1].jpg](https://forums.canadiancontent.net/data/attachments/20/20441-fc6497f797a79024c9ec41b6aca879ed.jpg "climate-coral-bleaching-record[1].jpg")
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Seth Borenstein
Published May 16, 2024 • 3 minute read
FILE - Bleached coral is visible at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of Galveston, Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico, Sept. 16, 2023. Ocean temperatures that have gone "crazy haywire" hot, especially in the Atlantic, are close to making the current global coral bleaching event the worst in history. It's so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off.
FILE - Bleached coral is visible at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of Galveston, Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico, Sept. 16, 2023. Ocean temperatures that have gone "crazy haywire" hot, especially in the Atlantic, are close to making the current global coral bleaching event the worst in history. It's so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off. PHOTO BY LM OTERO /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ocean temperatures that have gone “crazy haywire” hot, especially in the Atlantic, are close to making the current global coral bleaching event the worst in history. It’s so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off.
More than three-fifths — 62.9% — of the world’s coral reefs are badly hurting from a bleaching event that began last year and is continuing. That’s nearing the record of 65.7% in 2017, when from 2009 to 2017 about one-seventh of the world’s coral died, said Derek Manzello, coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coral Reef Watch Program.
When water gets too hot, coral, which are living creatures, bleach and sometimes die.
In the Atlantic, off the Florida coast and in the Caribbean, about 99.7% of the coral reefs have been hit with “very very severe” losses in staghorn and elkhorn species, Manzello said Thursday in NOAA’s monthly climate briefing. Sixty-two countries are seeing damaged coral, with Thailand shutting off a tourist-laden island to try to save the coral there.
Meteorologists say a La Nina — a natural cooling of parts of the Pacific that changes the weather worldwide — is forecast to develop soon and perhaps cool oceans a bit, but Manzello said it may be too little and too late.
“I still am very worried about the state of the world’s coral reefs just because we’re seeing things play out right now that are just very unexpected and extreme,” Manzello said.
“This wouldn’t be happening without climate change. That’s basically the cornerstone of all the ocean warming we’re seeing,” Manzello said. But on top of that are changes in El Nino, the reverse of La Nina and a natural warming of ocean waters; reduced sulfur pollution from ships and an undersea volcano eruption.
Former top NASA climate scientist James Hansen said “acceleration of global warming is now hard to deny” in a new analysis and statement Thursday.
For coral, it comes down to how hot the water is and “things have just gone crazy haywire with ocean temperatures in the last year,” Manzello said. He said hurricanes bring up cool water from deep and benefit coral reefs if they don’t hit them directly.
“Hurricanes can be devastating for reefs,” Manzello. “But in the grand scheme of things and given the current situation we are in on planet Earth, they’re now a good thing essentially, which is kind of mind-blowing.”
On Wednesday, parts of the Atlantic where hurricanes often develop had an ocean heat content — which measures water warmth at depths — equivalent to mid-August, said hurricane researchers Brian McNoldy at the University of Miami and Phil Klotzbach at Colorado State University.
The world’s oceans last month broke a record for the hottest April on record. It was the 13th straight month global seas broke records, and because the oceans are slow to cool or warm, more records are likely, said Karin Gleason, NOAA’s climate monitoring chief.
Coral reefs are key to seafood production and tourism worldwide. Scientific reports have long said loss of coral is one of the big tipping points of future warming as the world nears 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming since pre-industrial time. That’s a limit that countries agreed to try to hold to in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
“This is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet,” said Andrew Pershing, a biological oceanographer who is vice president for science of Climate Central. “It’s an ecosystem that we’re literally going to watch disappear in our lifetimes.”
Experts say coral reef bleaching near record level globally because of ’crazy’ ocean heat
It's so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off.
Wanna see coral? All we're seeing is limestone being made.
Gigatonne upon gigatonne.
Gigatonne upon gigatonne.
Yet two short months ago I was reading about the health of the worlds coral reefs .Experts say coral reef bleaching near record level globally because of ’crazy’ ocean heat
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Seth Borenstein
Published May 16, 2024 • 3 minute read
FILE - Bleached coral is visible at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of Galveston, Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico, Sept. 16, 2023. Ocean temperatures that have gone "crazy haywire" hot, especially in the Atlantic, are close to making the current global coral bleaching event the worst in history. It's so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off.
FILE - Bleached coral is visible at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of Galveston, Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico, Sept. 16, 2023. Ocean temperatures that have gone "crazy haywire" hot, especially in the Atlantic, are close to making the current global coral bleaching event the worst in history. It's so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off. PHOTO BY LM OTERO /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ocean temperatures that have gone “crazy haywire” hot, especially in the Atlantic, are close to making the current global coral bleaching event the worst in history. It’s so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off.
More than three-fifths — 62.9% — of the world’s coral reefs are badly hurting from a bleaching event that began last year and is continuing. That’s nearing the record of 65.7% in 2017, when from 2009 to 2017 about one-seventh of the world’s coral died, said Derek Manzello, coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coral Reef Watch Program.
When water gets too hot, coral, which are living creatures, bleach and sometimes die.
In the Atlantic, off the Florida coast and in the Caribbean, about 99.7% of the coral reefs have been hit with “very very severe” losses in staghorn and elkhorn species, Manzello said Thursday in NOAA’s monthly climate briefing. Sixty-two countries are seeing damaged coral, with Thailand shutting off a tourist-laden island to try to save the coral there.
Meteorologists say a La Nina — a natural cooling of parts of the Pacific that changes the weather worldwide — is forecast to develop soon and perhaps cool oceans a bit, but Manzello said it may be too little and too late.
“I still am very worried about the state of the world’s coral reefs just because we’re seeing things play out right now that are just very unexpected and extreme,” Manzello said.
“This wouldn’t be happening without climate change. That’s basically the cornerstone of all the ocean warming we’re seeing,” Manzello said. But on top of that are changes in El Nino, the reverse of La Nina and a natural warming of ocean waters; reduced sulfur pollution from ships and an undersea volcano eruption.
Former top NASA climate scientist James Hansen said “acceleration of global warming is now hard to deny” in a new analysis and statement Thursday.
For coral, it comes down to how hot the water is and “things have just gone crazy haywire with ocean temperatures in the last year,” Manzello said. He said hurricanes bring up cool water from deep and benefit coral reefs if they don’t hit them directly.
“Hurricanes can be devastating for reefs,” Manzello. “But in the grand scheme of things and given the current situation we are in on planet Earth, they’re now a good thing essentially, which is kind of mind-blowing.”
On Wednesday, parts of the Atlantic where hurricanes often develop had an ocean heat content — which measures water warmth at depths — equivalent to mid-August, said hurricane researchers Brian McNoldy at the University of Miami and Phil Klotzbach at Colorado State University.
The world’s oceans last month broke a record for the hottest April on record. It was the 13th straight month global seas broke records, and because the oceans are slow to cool or warm, more records are likely, said Karin Gleason, NOAA’s climate monitoring chief.
Coral reefs are key to seafood production and tourism worldwide. Scientific reports have long said loss of coral is one of the big tipping points of future warming as the world nears 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming since pre-industrial time. That’s a limit that countries agreed to try to hold to in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
“This is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet,” said Andrew Pershing, a biological oceanographer who is vice president for science of Climate Central. “It’s an ecosystem that we’re literally going to watch disappear in our lifetimes.”
View attachment 22179
Experts say coral reef bleaching near record level globally because of ’crazy’ ocean heat
It's so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off.
It’s so hot in Mexico that howler monkeys are falling dead from the trees
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Mark Stevenson
Published May 21, 2024 • 4 minute read
A veterinarian feeds a young howler monkey rescued amid extremely high temperatures in Tecolutilla, Tobasco state, Mexico, Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
A veterinarian feeds a young howler monkey rescued amid extremely high temperatures in Tecolutilla, Tobasco state, Mexico, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. PHOTO BY LUIS SANCHEZ /AP Photo
MEXICO CITY — It’s so hot in Mexico that howler monkeys are falling dead from the trees.
At least 83 of the midsize primates, who are known for their roaring vocal calls, were found dead in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco. Others were rescued by residents, including five that were rushed to a local veterinarian who battled to save them.
“They arrived in critical condition, with dehydration and fever,” said Dr. Sergio Valenzuela. “They were as limp as rags. It was heatstroke.”
While Mexico’s brutal heatwave has been linked to the deaths of at least 26 people since March, veterinarians and rescuers say it has killed dozens and perhaps hundreds of howler monkeys.
In the town of Tecolutilla, Tabasco, the dead monkeys started appearing on Friday, when a local volunteer fire-and-rescue squad showed up with five of the creatures in the bed of the truck.
Normally quite intimidating, howler monkeys are muscular and can be around 2 feet (60 centimetres) tall, with tails as long again. They are equipped with big jaws and a fearsome set of teeth and fangs. But mostly, their lion-like roars, which bely their size, are what they’re known for.
“They (the volunteers) asked for help, they asked if I could examine some of the animals they had in their truck,” Valenzuela said Monday. “They said they didn’t have any money, and asked if I could do it for free.”
The veterinarian put ice on their limp little hands and feet, and hook them up to IV drips with electrolytes.
So far, the monkeys appear to be on the mend. Once listless and easily handled, they are now in cages at Valenzuela’s office. “They’re recovering. They’re aggressive … they’re biting again,” he said, noting that’s a healthy sign for the usually furtive creatures.
Most aren’t so lucky. Wildlife biologist Gilberto Pozo counted about 83 of the animals dead or dying on the ground under trees. The die-off started around May 5 and hit its peak over the weekend.
“They were falling out of the trees like apples,” Pozo said. “They were in a state of severe dehydration, and they died within a matter of minutes.” Already weakened, Pozo says the falls from dozens of yards (metres) up inflict additional damage that often finishes the monkeys off.
Pozo attributes the deaths to a “synergy” of factors, including high heat, drought, forest fires and logging that deprives the monkeys of water, shade and the fruit they eat.
For people in the steamy, swampy, jungle-covered state of Tabasco, the howler monkey is a cherished, emblematic species; local people say the monkeys tell them the time of day, by howling at dawn and dusk.
Pozo said the local people — who he knows through his work with the Biodiversity Conservation of The Usumacinta group — have tried to help the monkeys they see around their farms. But he notes that could be a double-edged sword.
“They were falling out of the trees, and the people were moved, and they went to help the animals, they set out water and fruit for them,” Pozo said. “They want to care for them, mainly the baby monkeys, adopt them.”
“But no, the truth is that babies are very delicate, they can’t be in a house where there are dogs or cats, because they have pathogens that can potentially be fatal for howler monkeys,” he said, stressing they must be rehabilitated and released into the wild.
Pozo’s group has set up a special recovery stations for monkeys _ it currently holds five monkeys, but birds and reptiles have also been affected — and is trying to organize a team of specialized veterinarians to give the primates the care they need.
Belatedly, the federal government acknowledged the problem Monday, with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador saying he had heard about it on social media. He congratulated Valenzuela on his efforts and said the government would seek to support the work.
Lopez Obrador acknowledged the heat problem — “I have never felt it as bad as this” — but he has a lot of human problems to deal with as well.
By May 9 at least nine cities in Mexico had set temperature records, with Ciudad Victoria, in the border state of Tamaulipas, clocking a broiling 117 F (47 C).
With below-average rainfall throughout almost all the country so far this year, lakes and dams are drying up, water supplies are running out and authorities have had to truck in water for everything from hospitals to fire-fighting teams. Low levels at hydroelectric dams have contributed to power blackouts in some parts of the country.
Consumers are feeling the heat as well. On Monday, the nationwide chain of OXXO convenience stores — the nation’s largest — said it was limiting purchases of ice to just two or three bags per customer in some places.
“In a period of high temperatures, OXXO is taking measures to ensure supplies of products for our customers,” parent company FEMSA said in a statement. “Limits on the sale of bagged ice seek to ensure that a larger number of customers can buy this product.”
But for the monkeys, it’s not a question of comfort, but of life or death.
“This is a sentinel species,” Pozo said, referring to the canary-in-a-coal mine effect where one species can say a lot about an ecosystem. “It is telling us something about what is happening with climate change.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Mark Stevenson
Published May 21, 2024 • 4 minute read
A veterinarian feeds a young howler monkey rescued amid extremely high temperatures in Tecolutilla, Tobasco state, Mexico, Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
A veterinarian feeds a young howler monkey rescued amid extremely high temperatures in Tecolutilla, Tobasco state, Mexico, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. PHOTO BY LUIS SANCHEZ /AP Photo
MEXICO CITY — It’s so hot in Mexico that howler monkeys are falling dead from the trees.
At least 83 of the midsize primates, who are known for their roaring vocal calls, were found dead in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco. Others were rescued by residents, including five that were rushed to a local veterinarian who battled to save them.
“They arrived in critical condition, with dehydration and fever,” said Dr. Sergio Valenzuela. “They were as limp as rags. It was heatstroke.”
While Mexico’s brutal heatwave has been linked to the deaths of at least 26 people since March, veterinarians and rescuers say it has killed dozens and perhaps hundreds of howler monkeys.
In the town of Tecolutilla, Tabasco, the dead monkeys started appearing on Friday, when a local volunteer fire-and-rescue squad showed up with five of the creatures in the bed of the truck.
Normally quite intimidating, howler monkeys are muscular and can be around 2 feet (60 centimetres) tall, with tails as long again. They are equipped with big jaws and a fearsome set of teeth and fangs. But mostly, their lion-like roars, which bely their size, are what they’re known for.
“They (the volunteers) asked for help, they asked if I could examine some of the animals they had in their truck,” Valenzuela said Monday. “They said they didn’t have any money, and asked if I could do it for free.”
The veterinarian put ice on their limp little hands and feet, and hook them up to IV drips with electrolytes.
So far, the monkeys appear to be on the mend. Once listless and easily handled, they are now in cages at Valenzuela’s office. “They’re recovering. They’re aggressive … they’re biting again,” he said, noting that’s a healthy sign for the usually furtive creatures.
Most aren’t so lucky. Wildlife biologist Gilberto Pozo counted about 83 of the animals dead or dying on the ground under trees. The die-off started around May 5 and hit its peak over the weekend.
“They were falling out of the trees like apples,” Pozo said. “They were in a state of severe dehydration, and they died within a matter of minutes.” Already weakened, Pozo says the falls from dozens of yards (metres) up inflict additional damage that often finishes the monkeys off.
Pozo attributes the deaths to a “synergy” of factors, including high heat, drought, forest fires and logging that deprives the monkeys of water, shade and the fruit they eat.
For people in the steamy, swampy, jungle-covered state of Tabasco, the howler monkey is a cherished, emblematic species; local people say the monkeys tell them the time of day, by howling at dawn and dusk.
Pozo said the local people — who he knows through his work with the Biodiversity Conservation of The Usumacinta group — have tried to help the monkeys they see around their farms. But he notes that could be a double-edged sword.
“They were falling out of the trees, and the people were moved, and they went to help the animals, they set out water and fruit for them,” Pozo said. “They want to care for them, mainly the baby monkeys, adopt them.”
“But no, the truth is that babies are very delicate, they can’t be in a house where there are dogs or cats, because they have pathogens that can potentially be fatal for howler monkeys,” he said, stressing they must be rehabilitated and released into the wild.
Pozo’s group has set up a special recovery stations for monkeys _ it currently holds five monkeys, but birds and reptiles have also been affected — and is trying to organize a team of specialized veterinarians to give the primates the care they need.
Belatedly, the federal government acknowledged the problem Monday, with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador saying he had heard about it on social media. He congratulated Valenzuela on his efforts and said the government would seek to support the work.
Lopez Obrador acknowledged the heat problem — “I have never felt it as bad as this” — but he has a lot of human problems to deal with as well.
By May 9 at least nine cities in Mexico had set temperature records, with Ciudad Victoria, in the border state of Tamaulipas, clocking a broiling 117 F (47 C).
With below-average rainfall throughout almost all the country so far this year, lakes and dams are drying up, water supplies are running out and authorities have had to truck in water for everything from hospitals to fire-fighting teams. Low levels at hydroelectric dams have contributed to power blackouts in some parts of the country.
Consumers are feeling the heat as well. On Monday, the nationwide chain of OXXO convenience stores — the nation’s largest — said it was limiting purchases of ice to just two or three bags per customer in some places.
“In a period of high temperatures, OXXO is taking measures to ensure supplies of products for our customers,” parent company FEMSA said in a statement. “Limits on the sale of bagged ice seek to ensure that a larger number of customers can buy this product.”
But for the monkeys, it’s not a question of comfort, but of life or death.
“This is a sentinel species,” Pozo said, referring to the canary-in-a-coal mine effect where one species can say a lot about an ecosystem. “It is telling us something about what is happening with climate change.”
It’s so hot in Mexico that howler monkeys are falling dead from the trees
It's so hot in Mexico that howler monkeys are falling dead from the trees.
Yet it is so hot in British Columbia that it is still snowing on the mountain passes .It’s so hot in Mexico that howler monkeys are falling dead from the trees
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Mark Stevenson
Published May 21, 2024 • 4 minute read
A veterinarian feeds a young howler monkey rescued amid extremely high temperatures in Tecolutilla, Tobasco state, Mexico, Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
A veterinarian feeds a young howler monkey rescued amid extremely high temperatures in Tecolutilla, Tobasco state, Mexico, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. PHOTO BY LUIS SANCHEZ /AP Photo
MEXICO CITY — It’s so hot in Mexico that howler monkeys are falling dead from the trees.
At least 83 of the midsize primates, who are known for their roaring vocal calls, were found dead in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco. Others were rescued by residents, including five that were rushed to a local veterinarian who battled to save them.
“They arrived in critical condition, with dehydration and fever,” said Dr. Sergio Valenzuela. “They were as limp as rags. It was heatstroke.”
While Mexico’s brutal heatwave has been linked to the deaths of at least 26 people since March, veterinarians and rescuers say it has killed dozens and perhaps hundreds of howler monkeys.
In the town of Tecolutilla, Tabasco, the dead monkeys started appearing on Friday, when a local volunteer fire-and-rescue squad showed up with five of the creatures in the bed of the truck.
Normally quite intimidating, howler monkeys are muscular and can be around 2 feet (60 centimetres) tall, with tails as long again. They are equipped with big jaws and a fearsome set of teeth and fangs. But mostly, their lion-like roars, which bely their size, are what they’re known for.
“They (the volunteers) asked for help, they asked if I could examine some of the animals they had in their truck,” Valenzuela said Monday. “They said they didn’t have any money, and asked if I could do it for free.”
The veterinarian put ice on their limp little hands and feet, and hook them up to IV drips with electrolytes.
So far, the monkeys appear to be on the mend. Once listless and easily handled, they are now in cages at Valenzuela’s office. “They’re recovering. They’re aggressive … they’re biting again,” he said, noting that’s a healthy sign for the usually furtive creatures.
Most aren’t so lucky. Wildlife biologist Gilberto Pozo counted about 83 of the animals dead or dying on the ground under trees. The die-off started around May 5 and hit its peak over the weekend.
“They were falling out of the trees like apples,” Pozo said. “They were in a state of severe dehydration, and they died within a matter of minutes.” Already weakened, Pozo says the falls from dozens of yards (metres) up inflict additional damage that often finishes the monkeys off.
Pozo attributes the deaths to a “synergy” of factors, including high heat, drought, forest fires and logging that deprives the monkeys of water, shade and the fruit they eat.
For people in the steamy, swampy, jungle-covered state of Tabasco, the howler monkey is a cherished, emblematic species; local people say the monkeys tell them the time of day, by howling at dawn and dusk.
Pozo said the local people — who he knows through his work with the Biodiversity Conservation of The Usumacinta group — have tried to help the monkeys they see around their farms. But he notes that could be a double-edged sword.
“They were falling out of the trees, and the people were moved, and they went to help the animals, they set out water and fruit for them,” Pozo said. “They want to care for them, mainly the baby monkeys, adopt them.”
“But no, the truth is that babies are very delicate, they can’t be in a house where there are dogs or cats, because they have pathogens that can potentially be fatal for howler monkeys,” he said, stressing they must be rehabilitated and released into the wild.
Pozo’s group has set up a special recovery stations for monkeys _ it currently holds five monkeys, but birds and reptiles have also been affected — and is trying to organize a team of specialized veterinarians to give the primates the care they need.
Belatedly, the federal government acknowledged the problem Monday, with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador saying he had heard about it on social media. He congratulated Valenzuela on his efforts and said the government would seek to support the work.
Lopez Obrador acknowledged the heat problem — “I have never felt it as bad as this” — but he has a lot of human problems to deal with as well.
By May 9 at least nine cities in Mexico had set temperature records, with Ciudad Victoria, in the border state of Tamaulipas, clocking a broiling 117 F (47 C).
With below-average rainfall throughout almost all the country so far this year, lakes and dams are drying up, water supplies are running out and authorities have had to truck in water for everything from hospitals to fire-fighting teams. Low levels at hydroelectric dams have contributed to power blackouts in some parts of the country.
Consumers are feeling the heat as well. On Monday, the nationwide chain of OXXO convenience stores — the nation’s largest — said it was limiting purchases of ice to just two or three bags per customer in some places.
“In a period of high temperatures, OXXO is taking measures to ensure supplies of products for our customers,” parent company FEMSA said in a statement. “Limits on the sale of bagged ice seek to ensure that a larger number of customers can buy this product.”
But for the monkeys, it’s not a question of comfort, but of life or death.
“This is a sentinel species,” Pozo said, referring to the canary-in-a-coal mine effect where one species can say a lot about an ecosystem. “It is telling us something about what is happening with climate change.”
View attachment 22203
It’s so hot in Mexico that howler monkeys are falling dead from the trees
It's so hot in Mexico that howler monkeys are falling dead from the trees.
El Nino’s extreme weather causing surge in hunger, UN agency warns
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Gerald Imray
Published May 22, 2024 • 3 minute read
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Extreme weather attributed to the El Nino phenomenon is causing a surge in hunger in several countries, including Zambia and Afghanistan, the UN’s World Food Programme said Wednesday, and called on donors for much-needed help.
El Nino is a natural, temporary and occasional warming of part of the Pacific that shifts global weather patterns, and studies say that as the world warms, they may get stronger.
Tens of millions of people in southern Africa rely on the weather to grow food to feed themselves.
In a statement, the WFP warned that southern Africa was the “epicentre of the crisis” after a cycle of floods and drought has battered the region over the last three years. Three countries, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia, are the worst affected and have seen between 40-80% of their staple corn crops wiped out by drought this season, leaving millions impacted, according to the UN food agency.
The WFP said executive director Cindy McCain had travelled to Zambia and seen how “severe drought has wiped out harvests in a region where 70% of the population relies on agriculture to survive.
“We can’t ask millions to wait for the next harvest season — a year from now — to put food on their tables,” McCain said in a statement. “These families need our support today while we help to build a more resilient future.”
WFP said its “teams have started to respond but $409 million US are needed for six months to assist 4.8 million people in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.”
Other countries, including Congo and Afghanistan, are facing similar problems due to changing weather conditions which have led to destroyed crops, livestock deaths and displaced people, causing a surge in hunger, the agency said in a separate statement.
This comes as hunger crises caused by conflict in Gaza and Sudan are already stretching the agency’s aid capacity.
The WFP’s call for aid came days after the regional Southern African Development Community made a plea for help after a special virtual meeting of leaders and government officials to discuss the impact of the extreme weather.
In a joint statement, the southern African countries said the region needed $5.5 billion to help more than 61 million people.
There had been a “multifaceted and cascading impact of the El Nino-induced drought and floods across multiple sectors,” the regional bloc said, noting how it had caused other problems, such as contributing to large and deadly outbreaks of the water-born cholera disease. Countries that depend on hydroelectric generators, like Zambia, are struggling to produce enough electricity because of the drought.
Alongside El Nino, the southern African region has recently seen a series of tropical cyclones that scientists said were likely made stronger and wetter by human-caused climate change and the increase in global temperatures.
While the African continent contributes the least to climate change, it is expected to suffer the most. Poorer countries are generally not as well-equipped to deal with the impact.
Even before the floods and drought, food insecurity and malnutrition were already at alarming levels in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia and humanitarian assistance had stalled because of funding shortages for aid, WFP said.
The three countries have all declared national disasters over this year’s drought, and others have provided equally grim assessments.
The United Nations humanitarian agency said this month that around half of Zimbabwe’s population of 15 million needed “lifesaving and life-sustaining” help because of the drought.
Last week, the Action Against Hunger non-profit warned that “a hunger crisis may be imminent” in Kenya in East Africa after catastrophic floods displaced more than 250,000 people.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Gerald Imray
Published May 22, 2024 • 3 minute read
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Extreme weather attributed to the El Nino phenomenon is causing a surge in hunger in several countries, including Zambia and Afghanistan, the UN’s World Food Programme said Wednesday, and called on donors for much-needed help.
El Nino is a natural, temporary and occasional warming of part of the Pacific that shifts global weather patterns, and studies say that as the world warms, they may get stronger.
Tens of millions of people in southern Africa rely on the weather to grow food to feed themselves.
In a statement, the WFP warned that southern Africa was the “epicentre of the crisis” after a cycle of floods and drought has battered the region over the last three years. Three countries, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia, are the worst affected and have seen between 40-80% of their staple corn crops wiped out by drought this season, leaving millions impacted, according to the UN food agency.
The WFP said executive director Cindy McCain had travelled to Zambia and seen how “severe drought has wiped out harvests in a region where 70% of the population relies on agriculture to survive.
“We can’t ask millions to wait for the next harvest season — a year from now — to put food on their tables,” McCain said in a statement. “These families need our support today while we help to build a more resilient future.”
WFP said its “teams have started to respond but $409 million US are needed for six months to assist 4.8 million people in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.”
Other countries, including Congo and Afghanistan, are facing similar problems due to changing weather conditions which have led to destroyed crops, livestock deaths and displaced people, causing a surge in hunger, the agency said in a separate statement.
This comes as hunger crises caused by conflict in Gaza and Sudan are already stretching the agency’s aid capacity.
The WFP’s call for aid came days after the regional Southern African Development Community made a plea for help after a special virtual meeting of leaders and government officials to discuss the impact of the extreme weather.
In a joint statement, the southern African countries said the region needed $5.5 billion to help more than 61 million people.
There had been a “multifaceted and cascading impact of the El Nino-induced drought and floods across multiple sectors,” the regional bloc said, noting how it had caused other problems, such as contributing to large and deadly outbreaks of the water-born cholera disease. Countries that depend on hydroelectric generators, like Zambia, are struggling to produce enough electricity because of the drought.
Alongside El Nino, the southern African region has recently seen a series of tropical cyclones that scientists said were likely made stronger and wetter by human-caused climate change and the increase in global temperatures.
While the African continent contributes the least to climate change, it is expected to suffer the most. Poorer countries are generally not as well-equipped to deal with the impact.
Even before the floods and drought, food insecurity and malnutrition were already at alarming levels in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia and humanitarian assistance had stalled because of funding shortages for aid, WFP said.
The three countries have all declared national disasters over this year’s drought, and others have provided equally grim assessments.
The United Nations humanitarian agency said this month that around half of Zimbabwe’s population of 15 million needed “lifesaving and life-sustaining” help because of the drought.
Last week, the Action Against Hunger non-profit warned that “a hunger crisis may be imminent” in Kenya in East Africa after catastrophic floods displaced more than 250,000 people.
El Nino’s extreme weather causing surge in hunger, UN agency warns
Extreme weather attributed to the El Nino phenomenon is causing a surge in hunger in several countries, the UN World Food Programme said.
It was 5°C when I got out of bed this morning and apparently it’s gonna be 6°C when I get out of bed tomorrow morning, & it’s almost June…
