The Yangtze River Dolphin is probably Extinct.

[Spankbelly]

Name the last species (off the top of your head- don't cheat by using the internet) of any organism that was present ONLY in America that went extinct because of human activity..........

I don't understand your argument. Are you saying it's ok for America to kill off a species first, as long as it also happens to live elsewhere?
And when the last refuge is overrun, then it's Mexico's fault for driving the species to extinction?
And extinction is of no importance as long as the general public have no knowledge of its specifics?
I disagree. All governments of all people and all the peoples themselves have a hand in this.
It is not a matter of white men verses yellow men.
It is a problem of man. A problem of all humanity overrunning all the world.
The fact is everything that is not the pet of man or the sustained food of man, will eventually become extinct. Unless it can survive amongst us as a hidden pest.

 

[Arachnar]

I don't understand your argument. Are you saying it's ok for America to kill off a species first, as long as it also happens to live elsewhere?
And when the last refuge is overrun, then it's Mexico's fault for driving the species to extinction?
And extinction is of no importance as long as the general public have no knowledge of its specifics?
I disagree. All governments of all people and all the peoples themselves have a hand in this.
It is not a matter of white men verses yellow men.
It is a problem of man. A problem of all humanity overrunning all the world.
The fact is everything that is not the pet of man or the sustained food of man, will eventually become extinct. Unless it can survive amongst us as a hidden pest.

I think that not everyone is careless, buts it's the whole "Oh I can't do anything about it" or "I'll do something eco'friendly tommorow" or just plain inaction.

I think at some point we'll have to say stop, we gotta do something! I think every generation is getting wiser and more conscience. On the other hand we have more cars than ever, we continue building more complicated plastics and device that can last a whole lotta time and we're producing them more than ever before.

I totally agree this is a Human issue as it has always been, not a race issue.

 

[Spankbelly]

I think that not everyone is careless, buts it's the whole "Oh I can't do anything about it" or "I'll do something eco'friendly tommorow" or just plain inaction.

I think at some point we'll have to say stop, we gotta do something! I think every generation is getting wiser and more conscience. On the other hand we have more cars than ever, we continue building more complicated plastics and device that can last a whole lotta time and we're producing them more than ever before.

I totally agree this is a Human issue as it has always been, not a race issue.

Yep. And things might actually be improving.
I truly am amazed by the power of humans as a whole to effect the world they live in, for the bad and the good. There is a mind shift occurring. I may not agree with why it is occurring, but it is coming.
This "global warming/energy/famine/disease" crisis may be the best thing to happen to the human race.
Whether or not those crisis are 100% real.

 

[Scorponok]

I think that not everyone is careless, buts it's the whole "Oh I can't do anything about it" or "I'll do something eco'friendly tommorow" or just plain inaction.

I think at some point we'll have to say stop, we gotta do something! I think every generation is getting wiser and more conscience. On the other hand we have more cars than ever, we continue building more complicated plastics and device that can last a whole lotta time and we're producing them more than ever before.

I totally agree this is a Human issue as it has always been, not a race issue.

When is that some point? When America is no longer the biggest polluter, then it starts accusing the new number one to stop polluting? Hmmm....I never hear a peep from America about CO2 reduction when it was number one for god know how many years. It is still the only country to reject kyoto protocol, and may I ask you why?

 

[Spankbelly]

When is that some point? When America is no longer the biggest polluter, then it starts accusing the new number one to stop polluting? Hmmm....I never hear a peep from America about CO2 reduction when it was number one for god know how many years. It is still the only country to reject kyoto protocol, and may I ask you why?

Because Kyoto is bogus. Even the countries that agreed to it know it is bogus and are not even trying to meet it. Like...oh say, Canada.

 

[Spankbelly]

Because Kyoto is bogus. Even the countries that agreed to it know it is bogus and are not even trying to meet it. Like...oh say, Canada.

Kyoto is not about saving the environment. ZERO.
It is about transferring wealth through "green credit payments".

 

[Scorponok]

If they have any say in the building of the 3 gorges dam or have polluted the Yangtze River or its tributaries in any way, then YES.

For the record, I do understand that the Chinese people living close to the dam who would have to be evacuated due to mass flooding were against the building of the dam, but these people represent only a small percent of 1.3 billion

If you own anything that's made in china then you are contributing to the industrial pullution of the yangtze river, resulting in the extinction of the dolphins. Therefore, it is you, the consumer of chinese goods, who are killing the dolphins.

Also, since you are such a genius why don't you go look up the chinese conservation efforts to try to save the dolphins.

 

[ewurm]

It's unfortunate that the population couldn't be kept in existence. It seems we lose species on a weekly basis.

 

[Spankbelly]

It's unfortunate that the population couldn't be kept in existence. It seems we lose species on a weekly basis.

Sadly that estimation might be accurate. We might actually be losing a species per week.
When America was discovered the reports sent back to England told of waters so thick with fish that they slowed the passage of ships. They were fishing by dipping apple baskets in the water and hauling up a catch.
That might have been a bit of a sales pitch exaggeration.
But when Canadian fleets of fishing trawlers are being craned onto cargo ships to be taken to Russia, because we don't have any fish left...you know there are big problems.
The Captain Highliner plant on the east coast hasn't had a trawler dock in seven years. They have frozen fish from around the world trucked in from cargo ports. The only part of the product that is made in Canada is the box, that says product of Canada.
I've heard reports that the oceans will be effectively dead in 30yrs, even of species we don't eat. Because of drag nets constantly destroying bottom habitat. And nets indiscriminately catch and kill everything.
I hope that Soylent Green stuff tastes good.

 

[Alistriwen]

Humanity as a whole is pretty bad no matter what parcel of land they live in. This topic came up a few months back (and probably before and after that too) on this message board and will likely again. Rather than be enraged and point fingers at national governments which have far more concerns on their plate than the survival of one species, do whatever you can to reduce your impact on the remaining species on our planet.

I don't think there is a country on earth that can claim to have never contributed to the extinction or near-extinction of a species of Animal. Canada with our lofty self-image as a super green enviro-friendly country has wiped out countless native species on our soil. Under the Liberal government, we spent so many tax dollars buying carbon credits from countries that could never possibly produce their carbon quota it's hard to believe. Unfortunately, the environment has just become the latest political pawn and very few governments are really moving to make any progress. Ultimately, any change will come from the ground up.. the citizens must do their part and implore their governments to do the same.

In the case of the 3 gorges dam, there was a lot more at stake than the river dolphins living there, which mind you, were already on their way towards extinction before the dam was constructed. Not that this is any different than the multitude of damming projects all around the world, the only difference here is that it's a cool big fish that's being lost.

The Chinese government certainly deserves special note as one of the worst contributors to the destruction of our planet in modern times, but would the situation have been much different had any European or North American nation had over one billion people to tend to at the time of their industrialization? It's so easy to point fingers to deflect blame elsewhere, but ultimately, "all it takes for evil to prevail is for one good man to do nothing." Everyone loves a scapegoat though.

It's a shame that this wonderful creature will no longer grace the waterways of our planet, but these dolphins are not the first, nor will they be the last to go. Our only hope is that in the future, more enlightened and advanced generations will be able to preserve what little will be left to them in ways we never thought of.