Just found this one out in my online wanderings. The Chinese Baiji, a freshwater dolphin appears to be extinct or in so low of numbers that they will be shortly.

They had been trying to save that species, but it appears to have been a failure. The Yangtze River is just too busy for the dolphins to survive.

Apparently it wasn’t just toxins in the water, which they say weren’t at a sufficiently hazardous level to have caused this extinction. It appears instead to be more related to the amount of traffic on the river, which made it difficult for the dolphins to use their sonar.

I know in the coming years reports of various species going extinct will become more and more common. That’s just how the world today is and little can be done for it. However we can work to slow these things down and save many species.

Technorati Tags: baiji, extinction, extinct, preservation, dolphins

I was reading over on MSN about the Arctic ice potentially disappearing during the summer by the year 2040. Pretty depressing thought.

You just have to think about how this will impact the wildlife in that area. I don’t know what an ice-free summer will do to polar bears and their ability to hunt, but it can’t be good.

Of course, the 2040 estimate is one of the most grim, and estimates of when arctic summers will actually be ice-free range as far as 2105. Can’t say that any of them make it any better.

These kinds of environmental changes are a big part of why I want to do better for the environment myself. There’s a lot government can do, but plenty of work for individuals to do to cut back on emissions and improve our planet’s health.

Technorati Tags: arctic ice, environmental change

Well, some still think so. Fortunately, the new head of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee understands that global warming is not a hoax. Barbara Boxer, one of the Senators from California, is taking over that position.

I’m quite delighted, and not just because she’s my Senator. That does make it even better, of course.

It’s just so good to see a Senator who has the common sense to recognize the problems we are facing, rather than just turning around and calling it a hoax. So long, Jim Inhofe. Our environment won’t miss your policies and politics.

I know this isn’t likely to cause miraculous changes in overall environmental policies. But I’ll take every improvement I can get, just to get things moving in Washington.

I look forward to seeing how things develop. Convincing both individuals and big business that something has to be done isn’t going to be an easy job. It’s going to take a very long time, and there will no doubt always be those who are in denial. But we have to do something, to try. So very much depends on it.

Technorati Tags: barbara boxer, senate, global warming