Monday, 18 Dec 2006

Don't Have a Cow

About 20 percent of farm-animal breeds* are endangered, says FAO

Word association time: What comes to mind when you think "endangered animals"? Odd-looking tropical frogs and obscure birds with funny names? Time to adjust your thinking: The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that one in five breeds of farm animal are in danger of extinction. Of more than 7,600 breeds that the FAO has in its farm-animal database, 190 have kicked the bucket in the last 15 years -- about one breed a month. The globalization of livestock production is the "biggest single factor" impacting farm-animal biodiversity, says the FAO, as global agriculture focuses heavily on specialized, über-productive livestock. Indeed, a mere 14 species provide 90 percent of the human food supply from animals. FAO's José Esquinas-Alcázar is stressing the importance of maintaining animal genetic diversity, which he says will "allow future generations to select stocks or develop new breeds to cope with emerging issues, such as climate change, diseases, and changing socioeconomic factors." Foresight -- what a strange concept.

*[Correction, 19 Dec 2006: This summary originally incorrectly referred to endangered "species" of farm animal; it is instead "breeds" that are endangered.]


Fun-loving pop-rock band Barenaked Ladies gave their recent U.S. tour an eco-makeover, reducing their footprint with carbon offsets, compostable dishes, and an album distributed via USB thumb drive. They've also partnered with nonprofit Reverb to set up an "eco-village" where concertgoers can learn about going green. Grist's Sarah van Schagen sat down with lead singer Steven Page to chat about his plans to clean up the music industry, his love of cities that "really work," and why being Canadian made him green.

The Great White Hopeless

Chinese white dolphin is likely extinct

The baiji, a white dolphin found only in China's Yangtze River, appears to have gone extinct. Lipotes vexillifer has been swimming China's longest river for some 20 million years, but in the end it was no match for China's surging economy. In the last few decades, the Yangtze's shallows have been dredged for shipping, many of its fish have been caught or driven away, and noise pollution has increased, perhaps disrupting the sonar of the nearly blind cetacean. In 1986, 400 baiji still swam the river; in 1997, a survey found 13; a 38-day search concluding last week came up empty-handed. An animal must go unseen for 50 years to be formally declared extinct by international scientific bodies, and Chinese scientists will continue searching, but most foreign experts agree with expedition co-leader August Pfluger that the dolphin is "functionally extinct."*

*[Correction, 19 Dec 2006: This summary originally stated that the baiji was the first large aquatic mammal to be killed off by human activity. The Steller's Sea Cow was actually the first.]


You know how they say it's the thought that counts? Today a reader worries about how thoughtful he'll seem when he wraps his holiday gifts in the Sunday funnies. On the other hand, using brand-new candy-striped wrapping paper only to see it torn off and thrown away is depressing. What to do? Advice maven Umbra Fisk comes through with a few creative ideas for letting your eco-ness shine without scaring off your loved ones.

Inuit All Along

Inuit climate petition against U.S. is rejected

Is climate change a human-rights issue? The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights decided to dodge the question. Arctic Inuit submitted a petition to the commission a year ago, accusing the U.S. government of violating Native peoples' rights to their traditional ways of life by declining to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions. The IACHR recently responded with a brief letter that was "evasive and dismissive," says Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier, who submitted the 175-page petition. In its reply, the commission claimed there was insufficient evidence of human-rights violations. But Watt-Cloutier is keeping up the fight, inviting commission members to the Arctic for a hearing, making plans for an awareness-raising five-state "Arctic Voices" tour, and -- perhaps most likely to be effective -- being interviewed for Glamour.