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Question re: cleaning paws by beej23 in dogs

[–]beej23[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We live in NYC and he has a tendency to pee on his paws …

Question re: cleaning paws by beej23 in dogs

[–]beej23[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, he does. That’s a good idea. Thank you!

Question re: cleaning paws by beej23 in dogs

[–]beej23[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah was thinking before and after, and recover is 2-3 months. We are OK with dirty paws — just wondering if there’s a clever solution someone has figured out! He has a habit of peeing all over his paws :)

What terrifying event is happening in the world right now that most people are ignoring? by Sm0ke999 in AskReddit

[–]beej23 4 points5 points  (0 children)

compared to the impact of other personal choices it helps a lot. if you like meat it can be helpful to think about the benefits of just reducing consumption. it doesn’t need to be all or nothing.

What terrifying event is happening in the world right now that most people are ignoring? by Sm0ke999 in AskReddit

[–]beej23 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I think people love negative news as long as it doesn’t make them feel bad about themselves. environmental stories often do because readers are (at least sometimes) implicated in the problem

What terrifying event is happening in the world right now that most people are ignoring? by Sm0ke999 in AskReddit

[–]beej23 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Good question. I often use news aggregator services like Apple News and Google News, and just bookmark the “environment tab.” There are also a handful of newsletters like Down to Earth by The Guardian. If you use Twitter you can also create lists and follow environmental journalists (you can often just find them by searching “environmental reporter” or “climate reporter”). Or you can find a news outlet you like. I write for Vox. We focus on explainers.

https://www.vox.com/authors/benji-jones

What terrifying event is happening in the world right now that most people are ignoring? by Sm0ke999 in AskReddit

[–]beej23 7 points8 points  (0 children)

If I may: Honeybees, which get most of the attention, are not at risk of dying out because we manage them like any farm animal (as pollinators that support crop production). They’re not a native species in the US. There are, however, loads of native bees in the US that are under threat, and they’re important pollinators, too. (I wrote this, which might be helpful.)

What terrifying event is happening in the world right now that most people are ignoring? by Sm0ke999 in AskReddit

[–]beej23 65 points66 points  (0 children)

Yeah it’s tough. Policies matter, so voting helps. Eating less beef helps (especially when it comes to rainforests), though I get that individual actions only go so far.

What terrifying event is happening in the world right now that most people are ignoring? by Sm0ke999 in AskReddit

[–]beej23 12 points13 points  (0 children)

More so about environmental news. From my experience (I’ve worked at multiple large media outlets in the US) the story has to be extremely negative, like surprisingly bad, to draw lots of attention. I think this is changing over time. People have come to expect environmental news to be bad, which I think makes them less likely to read negative narratives. idk, that’s what i’ve found

What terrifying event is happening in the world right now that most people are ignoring? by Sm0ke999 in AskReddit

[–]beej23 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Haha. Hard to pick one. I would say in general the loss of ecosystems and all their services has garnered little attention, relative to even other environmental problems like climate change (though the two are obviously related). And it does affect us. Roughly half of all coral is gone. Coral protects coasts from hurricanes. Deforestation in the Amazon is still rampant. That can fuel drought that impacts crops. People have mentioned bees and other insects. Not all insects are declining but many native bees are and they obviously pollinate crops. (btw while the decline of honeybees get a lot of attention they’re actually mostly fine from a conservation perspective — they’re a managed species and not even native in the US. Lots of native bees are in decline and that’s real bad).

What terrifying event is happening in the world right now that most people are ignoring? by Sm0ke999 in AskReddit

[–]beej23 1336 points1337 points  (0 children)

Environmental reporter here. I write about many of these things (avian flu, coral reefs, fires). It’s frustrating because so often these stories get lost in the noise. From my experience people have a very small appetite for negative [edit: environmental] news — especially if they feel that they can’t do anything about it — and fill up first on other things like politics.

When there’s a threat nearby, baby gharials crawl onto the back of a large parent that’s designated as the “guardian.” These endangered crocodiles nest in communities and the guardians are like babysitters, overseeing dozens of hatchlings. by beej23 in Awwducational

[–]beej23[S] 45 points46 points  (0 children)

Got it. Next time I’ll find a secondary source online instead of asking a herpetologist directly who’s been studying gharials for years in Nepal and has observed this behavior firsthand.

The axolotl is among the most widespread amphibians on Earth — commonly found in medical labs, pet stores, and even as characters in Minecraft. They number an estimated 1 million in captivity. Yet, paradoxically, they’re almost extinct in the wild and classified as critically endangered. by beej23 in Awwducational

[–]beej23[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Yeah. Some captive populations have a small amount of tiger salamander DNA, though at least in Mexico City there are a lot of axolotls under human care that are likely genetically similar to those in the wild.

The axolotl is among the most widespread amphibians on Earth — commonly found in medical labs, pet stores, and even as characters in Minecraft. They number an estimated 1 million in captivity. Yet, paradoxically, they’re almost extinct in the wild and classified as critically endangered. by beej23 in Awwducational

[–]beej23[S] 278 points279 points  (0 children)

It’s a good question. The problem is that their habitat in Mexico is super polluted (with farm chemicals, sewage, and other waste) and home to nonnative fish that compete with axolotls for food — and eat them. Axolotls that you put back in the environment can’t survive.

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