Say it isn’t so Reeko – a world without giraffes?!?!
Sorry kids, but that lovable knock-kneed doofus we call giraffes may soon be no more. Today the International Union for Conversation of Nature classified the crane-necked creature as “vulnerable” meaning it’s at a high risk for extinction. If humans don’t change their behavior, the only giraffe we’ll ever see is between the covers of a book (yeah, they’re almost extinct too).
The giraffe joins the elephant, orangutan, bees, and coral as creatures that may soon face extinction. Their disappearance comes amidst the loss of habitat, varying degrees of devastating climate change, and illegal poaching.
The director of Stanford University’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve told CNN we have at the most, 20 years to change the way we treat nature or we will bring about the sixth mass extinction event in the entire history of planet earth. And we need not think of that only as “scary”, but as an embarrassment. We’re the civilization that will go down in history as the selfish, greedy dweebs who killed off all the animals.
“But Reeko, I’m just a kid! It’s not my fault!”
But there are things you can still do to help. Firstly, reduce your carbon footprint. Turn off lights, computers, TV’s and gaming systems when you are not using them. Unplug electronic gadgets (don’t just turn them off). Turn the thermostat up (or down) when Mom and Dad aren’t looking. Use your bike if possible instead of asking your parents for a ride. Recycle everything you can. Drink tap water, not bottled water, from a reusable bottle (and roll your eyes while saying “tsk, tsk” when you see others doing otherwise). Read books on ecology and outdoors. Maybe even choose a “green career” to help solve climate change problems. But most importantly – drive your parents crazy with panicked climate change end-of-the-world talk so they think they’re psychologically damaging you for life if they don’t start conserving energy and pushing for *real* change to human behavior.