Odds and ends of environmental stuff. And the Ten Commandments.

Environmental stuff - good news and bad news. 

 

First the good news: the Iberian lynx is no longer an endangered species. Apparently the lynx population on the peninsula has risen from just 94 in 2002 to 2,021 last year, with the overwhelming majority – almost 86% – found in Spain. I remember 20+ years ago making my AS and A-Level Spanish students read texts about the dire state of things for the lynx. They are still officially vulnerable. Last year, 144 lynxes were killed on Spanish and Portuguese roads. And there’s a problem with the rabbits - a principal source of food for the lynx - because a disease is reducing their numbers.  But it’s nice to know that the lynx is no longer considered endangered. 

The bad news? We are seeing fewer swallows than we used to. Swallows are usually here from April to September, when they travel back to South Africa, almost 6,000 miles. But climate change is messing things up. A mixture of wet springs and summer droughts, leading to major falls in numbers of the flying insects on which they feed, has reduced the swallow’s breeding population by almost a quarter in the past 25 years or so. Increasingly industrialised farming contributes to the problem. 

Then there’s an odd feature I came across about people in Zakopane, in Poland, having their photos taken with white bears. It is clear from the photos that these are people dressed up as bears. I tried to find out why this happens … to no avail.

 

But I did find an odd headline: 

White bear in the election campaign. The fight for the mayor's seat of Zakopane is ongoing.

A man dressed as a white bear on Krupówki barged into the ongoing campaign in Zakopane before the local elections. Local opposition candidates want to put an end to the chaos in the Cultural Park. Mariusz Koperski, supported by KO, believes that "Zakopane must regain its credibility as a tourist destination"

It looks like a nice part of the world. The Tatra Park has brown bears (not white ones), wolves, lynx, and eagles. I have not found out what the ‘chaos’ is all about. 

Other odd news from far-flung parts of the world: 

Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom under a bill signed into law by the Republican governor, Jeff Landry, on Wednesday.

Opponents question the law’s constitutionality, warning that lawsuits are likely to follow. Proponents say the purpose of the measure is not solely religious, but that it has historical significance. In the law’s language, the Ten Commandments are described as “foundational documents of our state and national government”.

We live in interesting times. And some parts of the USA sometimes seem more foreign than countries where English is not the first language. 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!