https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/wa-department-of-agriculture-alerts-chicken-and-poultry-owners-of-potential-bird-flu-threat/article_79ea0bd6-7246-11eb-a03e-272a9cd6b11e.html

WAHINGTON STATE –The Washington State Department of Agriculture is warning bird feeders, farmers and hobby chicken owners about the potential threat of theHighly Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus,also known as the bird flu.

According to the World Health Organization for Animal Health reports show a high number of bird flu cases spreading across several countries. And while the Avian virus has not made it to the U.S at this time, experts say it’s important to stay proactive.

The bird flu is mostly found among wildlife birds and is not known to pose a threat to humans, however, when spread to domestic birds like chickens it has the potential to wipe out entire flocks.

“Do as much as you can to keep your poultry separated from wild waterfowl, if your chickens are not protected from wild waterfowl they are at risk for contracting Avian Influenza from wild carriers,”…

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2021/02/another-wolf-hunt-republicans-push-to-open-season-on-michigan-wolves.html?fbclid=IwAR0zHsummtbpy0sm-2GGUeYV5x3UFgA_Yi8WyhT2ukUlEWUNESUJJvnVlXo

Updated Feb 18, 2021;Posted Feb 18, 2021

Facebook ShareTwitter Share13,132sharesByGarret Ellison | gellison@mlive.com

LANSING, MI — Republican state lawmakers want Michigan to hold another hunting and trapping season for gray wolves in the Upper Peninsula after the federal governmentstripped the animals of endangered species protectionduring the final months of the Trump administration.

Sen. Ed McBroom, a Republican who represents the western U.P., and Sen. Jon Bumstead, R-Newaygo, introduced a resolution Thursday, Feb. 18, that urges the state to organize a hunting season this year because there’s “no statutory requirement or precedent” to delay one.https://ee92db376085a70d2bebd8ddcbc7b302.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html

The resolution,S.R. 15, was promptly scheduled for a natural resources committee hearing on Wednesday…

A warming Arctic Circle could be responsible for bursts of cold weather in the south.

STEPHEN JOHNSON18 February, 2021

Credit: Philip via Adobe Stock

https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/texas-snowstorm-arctic?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

• Winter Storm Uri brought snow and freezing temperatures to Texas this week, causing multiple deaths and damage to infrastructure.
• Climate scientists have spent years exploring the relationship between extreme winter weather and warming temperatures in the Arctic Circle.
• Some studies suggest that the warming Arctic disrupts a natural phenomenon known as the polar vortex, which normally contains cold air in the north.

Winter Storm Uri battered the southern U.S. this week with frigid temperatures and unusually high snowfall. In Texas, the cold weather brought widespread power outages and damage to infrastructure, contributing to at leastseveral dozen deaths.

But while the consequences of the storm are evidence, its causes are more of a mystery. In the context of climate change, the recent weather…

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-texas-winter-storms-arctic-cold/

BY JEFF BERARDELLI

FEBRUARY 20, 2021 / 7:20 AM/ CBS NEWS

For many, especially folks who live in the South, the arctic outbreak that has gripped the nation’s heartland for the past week is the kind of cold that only happens once in a century. Countless record cold temperatures were set. Conditions overwhelmed the Texas power grid, cutting off electricity to millions and bursting water pipes, creating a humanitarian crisis.

But withclimate changemaking for generally warmer winters and causing heat records to outnumber cold recordsby 2 to 1globally over the past decade, this historic cold snap may seem counterintuitive. It’s not. In fact, paradoxically, a warmer climate may have actually contributed to the extreme cold.

The science of meteorology has come a long way in the past few decades, so much so that meteorologistssaw this extreme winter weather comingmany weeks…

February 19, 2021 1Comment

The use of neck snares for wolves is particularly cruel. Wolves have extremely well-muscled necks and suffer greatly when trapped in these devices. Photo by John Pitcher/iStock.com

Strangling neck snares are among the cruelest methods of trapping animals. These devices, made of cable wire looped through a locking device, are designed to tighten around the animal’s neck as he thrashes around and struggles to free himself, cutting his mouth and breaking his teeth in his desperation. Eventually, sometimes over a period of hours or days, the animal dies, his head swollen and bleeding because of the snare—a grotesque death trappers have dubbed “jelly head”.

These devices not only endanger the animals they target but have also been known totrap and kill dogs, as well as other wildlife, including endangered, threatened and imperiled species like grizzly bears, lynx and wolverine.

Organizations like the American…