The Tropical Dry Forest of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Currently acting quite rainyâŠ
With respect to habitat loss and biodiversity loss, folks today often accept as ânormalâ a baseline where massive change has already occurred 3/n
Shifting baseline occur because long-term change is typically so slow that it is invisible. But these changes (re-emergence of screwworm, measles, fascism) are happening fast - possibly fast enough for folks to notice.
The problem of âshifting baselinesâ in long-term change is that what everyone grew up with, they think is normal. But lack of screwworms is not ânormalâ - historically they were present but government policies eliminated them (good!) 2/n
Iâve seen this toaster. Itâs saved as a trophy behind the scenes by the team that led to this discovery.
Voting feels extra good when your state government is trying to take away voting power.
Im thinking about this (and human diseases that are preventable by vaccines) in the context of shifting baselines. My perceived baseline (and the baseline for lots of folks) is a US with no screwworm and no measles. 1/n
Before European invasion of the Americas, the US was way wilder. Bison, Elk, Red Wolves, and Mountain Lions (what we today call Florida Panthers) were widespread in the southeast US. Itâs almost impossible to imagine this part of the US so âwildâ today, because of generations of change 4/n
Quantifying harm posed by invasive species to animal welfare will reveal a moral problem for so-called "compassionate conservation", which demands protection for even invasive animals.
Is it compassionate to allow invasive rats, mice, cats to injure & kill wildlife?
#bioinvasion #invasivespecies
