Two-Headed Sharks And Ancient Viruses
If you’re like me, you sometimes find it difficult to talk about climate change. Not because it’s infuriating to try to convince people that climate change is a thing and is at the very least within our power to counter even if it’s not a direct result of our actions. (It is infuriating, and it is a result of our actions but we’re going to look past that.) It’s difficult because it has been the same pending danger for so long. The conversation has gotten a bit stale and easy to ignore.
So today, I’d like to list some of the less publicized effects caused by disrespecting the environment. I’m not talking about the well-trodden path of overall warming of the planet or the rising sea level, we’re talking prehistoric diseases, two-headed sharks, and the disappearance of more birds than you knew existed. I don’t expect to convince anyone of anything, but I can try to diversify the conversation.
Did you catch that joke I threw in about two-headed sharks? Funny part is, that’s not a joke. Since 2016, scientists in both laboratory conditions and the wild have noticed an increase in the number of sharks being born with two heads. Nobody is quite sure why this is happening, but most researchers are citing a smaller gene pool because of a less hospitable ocean resulting in inbreeding. Sea temperatures rise, sharks can’t survive like they used to, two-headed sharks.
The good news is none of these creatures has made it past infancy. The bad news is a two-headed shark isn’t simply the next movie franchise from the Sci-Fi channel.
Speaking of creatures living in the sea, let’s talk about creatures living in the air. According to research done by the National Audubon Society, 389 species of birds in North America are vulnerable to extinction because of the climate crisis. I didn’t know there even were that many types of birds, (until I met my wife) but that accounts for two-thirds of the birds in North America. Think of three birds. Now imagine two of them disappeared forever. That’s climate change.
The Pentagon also thinks we should be worried about climate change. Never mind the birds and sharks, the pentagon has said climate change is a national security threat. It essentially claims that as different regions of the world become less hospitable, (because the world is on fire,) nations become more desperate as resources become scarcer. That scarcity lays the ground for tyrannical governments to take route. Not only does that create militaristic concerns, it also results in mass migration as these climate refugees try to escape.
We’re also preventing polar bears from mating. Polar bear males have a baculum, a bone that assists with reproduction. Because of food shortages and a presence of toxic chemicals in what food is available, polar bear bone density is decreasing resulting in low fertility success because of fractured bacula. Climate change is breaking polar bear penises.
Also, as the ice melts, viruses can travel further than they could before. This is likely what resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of seals back in 2002. Melting ice can also release viruses that have been frozen since we relied on wooly mammoths for food. Not only can the viruses travel further, there are ones we can’t begin to prepare for.
Climate change keeps me up at night as I think about how my family will survive when things get apocalyptic. If climate change isn’t already haunting your dreams, think about the two-headed sharks, the political turmoil, or how angry those poor polar bears must be.
