U.S. declares more than 20 species extinct after exhaustive searches • Hacker News Board

Re: U.S. declares more than 20 species extinct after exhaustive searches

#31

Post by shadowgovt » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 7:22 PM UTC

inter_netuser wrote: post #10

_gmnw wrote: post #4

This is super depressing, it's crazy to see how much the flora/fauna have changed locally in my lifetime. It makes me wonder how much worse it actually is. Is looks like most of these were initially listed in the 80s, not too long after Endangered Species Act passed. Is there some sort of time limit before they officially declare something extinct?

How come they don’t investigate WHAT is actually causing this exactly? Yes climate is changing but did it change that much since 80s? What if it’s some pesticide? or some food packaging or something

Over 20 species, so causes are as varied as the species.

In several cases, it was a combination of human activity and (relatively) fragile initial population conditions. 11 of the species are native to Hawaii and Guam, and when human expansion puts pressure on your ecosystem, there's nowhere to move to. One of the fish species lived in one particularly slow-flowing section of one river.

When your whole universe is one island, there's a lot of things humans can do that would render 100% of your habitat unusable.

Re: U.S. declares more than 20 species extinct after exhaustive searches

#32

Post by mumblemumble » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 7:23 PM UTC

OJFord wrote: post #24

'Exhaustive'? They may have been exhaust ing (!) but can you really ever search exhaustively for a species?

At the very very least, "exhaustive" and "exhausting" are potential synonyms.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exhaustive#Adjective

I'd argue that definition 2 is also a decent fit, and definition 1 is acceptable if you permit mild hyperbole. (Which I'd advise doing, as mild hyperbole is more-or-less the default register of Standard American English.)

Re: U.S. declares more than 20 species extinct after exhaustive searches

#33

Post by shadowgovt » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 7:24 PM UTC

_gmnw wrote: post #19

BitwiseFool wrote: post #13

I like to think that the Hawaiian practice of using native bird feathers for large and elaborate cloaks might let us pursue de-extinction through DNA extraction and cloning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BBAhu_%CA%BBula Just think about how many individual birds' feathers contributed towards making these. And we know plenty of the yellow feathers are from the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō bird which was declared extinct. The Kauaʻ…

I love that the answer is always more technology will save us. Whether it's carbon removal advances or cloning, we just look towards future advancements instead of cleaning up our act. I understand that expecting some sort of big shift in how we live is not feasible, it's just a shame.

Tech is what humans do. What humans are bad at is artificial limits on growth.

Between the two, I very much expect one to save us before the other, if either can save us at all.

Re: U.S. declares more than 20 species extinct after exhaustive searches

#34

Post by justin66 » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 7:25 PM UTC

inter_netuser wrote: post #10

_gmnw wrote: post #4

This is super depressing, it's crazy to see how much the flora/fauna have changed locally in my lifetime. It makes me wonder how much worse it actually is. Is looks like most of these were initially listed in the 80s, not too long after Endangered Species Act passed. Is there some sort of time limit before they officially declare something extinct?

How come they don’t investigate WHAT is actually causing this exactly? Yes climate is changing but did it change that much since 80s? What if it’s some pesticide? or some food packaging or something

> How come they don’t investigate WHAT is actually causing this exactly?

Who exactly do you believe should be studying causes of species extinction but is not doing it?

Re: U.S. declares more than 20 species extinct after exhaustive searches

#35

Post by mhalle » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 7:25 PM UTC

Well know species, such as the Monarch butterfly, are candidates for extinction, but don't make it to the list because other species are "higher priority":

https://www.fws.gov/savethemonarch/ssa.html

Re: U.S. declares more than 20 species extinct after exhaustive searches

#36

Post by EastOfTruth » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 7:26 PM UTC

And we are still discovering new ones: https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/7-new-animals-...

Re: U.S. declares more than 20 species extinct after exhaustive searches

#37

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 7:26 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: U.S. declares more than 20 species extinct after exhaustive searches

#38

Post by daveslash » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 7:28 PM UTC

shadowgovt wrote: post #31

inter_netuser wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How come they don’t investigate WHAT is actually causing this exactly? Yes climate is changing but did it change that much since 80s? What if it’s some pesticide? or some food packaging or something

Over 20 species, so causes are as varied as the species. In several cases, it was a combination of human activity and (relatively) fragile initial population conditions. 11 of the species are native to Hawaii and Guam, and when human expansion puts pressure on your ecosystem, there's nowhere to move to. One of the fish species lived in one particularly slow-flowing section of one river. When your whole universe is on…

Yeah, I agree. To add onto your sentiment that it was a combination [of things]... I'd like to add that it's a bit reductionist for people to suggest an extinction is one thing (e.g. it was pesticides, it was climate change, etc...). Sure, sometimes it might be ONE thing, but I would guess that in most cases it's a combination of stresses coming together.

Re: U.S. declares more than 20 species extinct after exhaustive searches

#39

Post by arcticfox » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 7:29 PM UTC

mdni007 wrote: post #20

I have a flat pigtoe in my aquarium. What should I do?

Is that a theoretical question or a real one? Because if it's a real question, that would be really spectacular

Re: U.S. declares more than 20 species extinct after exhaustive searches

#40

Post by WalterBright » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 7:29 PM UTC

dmkolobov wrote: post #30

WalterBright wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't expect things to change much with corporate's death grip on the government. Statements like this always imply that if the government ran the businesses (socialism) things like this wouldn't happen. But the evidence is it is worse . The USSR had major problems with their heavily polluting industries, which persist today.

Comments like that suggest no such thing. There is plenty of middle ground, including restrictions on corporate election donations, and generally limiting corporate lobbyists access to our legislators.

Again, you're saying government control won't have these problems.

Socialist governments produced tremendous environmental problems because even though the government consisted solely of altruistic, self-sacrificing, dedicated, incorruptible administrators, the people still needed food, clothing, and washing machines. And the government would try to provide them, rather than face mass starvation.