The step from using fake stories for bringing attention to real issues to using fake stories for bringing attention to fake issues is worryingly small.
If everyone had your mindset it might happen without anyone realizing. Imagine everyone thinking "Sure my anecdote is false, but what does that matter when his and hers are true?"
How do you think the "fake news" push back on Climate change started? Some climate activists started taking this above approach to their propaganda and succeeded in generating so much opposition the whole effort has been pushed back by a few years from where it was when the Paris agreement was signed. Credibility is very important.
I live in a Pasadena and we have a fair amount of coyotes. It seems like they’re out in force based on everyone on Ring posting videos of coyotes running through yards.
Normally it’s one or twice a week, but scrolling through my neighborhood alerts now, it’s been everyday for the last week.
Can’t wait for the bears and mountain lions to get bored.
Probably mostly this, but I also notice a major uptick in my own daylight Coyote sightings in the early spring. My assumption has always been that this is breeding season and animals with new pups are forced to spend more of their time foraging.
I wouldn't be surprised about behavioral responses in wildlife to reduced human activity outdoors. But anything substantial will take time. For example, if some village were abandoned, I'd expect that native plants and animals would move back in, over some years.
I also wouldn't be surprised if 2020 greenhouse emissions were less than in 2019. And indeed, it might take some years to recover the rate of increase.
And perhaps, if PV replaced old dead coal plants, there might be long term emissions reductions. Similarly, if working from home becomes the new norm, that will also cut emissions dramatically.
Even so, the population decrease will be too small, in and of itself, to have much impact.
Every year 130~million are born 55~60million die. Corona virus is not going to effect the population growth rate at all. Infact because of the lock downs chances are 9-10 months from now the number of babies being born will be a lot higher than normal.
There are lots of wildlife in big cities as long as there are some relatively quiet ecological tunnels left there (usually around the rivers). I'd expect it to take weeks, maybe even days with good weather and some luck, to get animals like deers or boars to roam freely across the whole city (they already do at night in some places) if humans had suddenly disappeared.
However, unlike those from some of the currently viral reports, these animals are already there - they're just pretty good at hiding from humans, so most people don't even realize it.
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 45.5 ms ] threadWhen people divide an issue into "our side" and "their side", it gives them a lot of ammunition when they catch us in a lie.
The problem is alarming enough without needing to lie.
If everyone had your mindset it might happen without anyone realizing. Imagine everyone thinking "Sure my anecdote is false, but what does that matter when his and hers are true?"
Normally it’s one or twice a week, but scrolling through my neighborhood alerts now, it’s been everyday for the last week.
Can’t wait for the bears and mountain lions to get bored.
I assumed it was more food waste in garbage cans since everyone is at home.
I also wouldn't be surprised if 2020 greenhouse emissions were less than in 2019. And indeed, it might take some years to recover the rate of increase.
And perhaps, if PV replaced old dead coal plants, there might be long term emissions reductions. Similarly, if working from home becomes the new norm, that will also cut emissions dramatically.
Even so, the population decrease will be too small, in and of itself, to have much impact.
However, unlike those from some of the currently viral reports, these animals are already there - they're just pretty good at hiding from humans, so most people don't even realize it.