It’s surprising how much this headline affects me. Who doesn’t like penguins? And seals are nice, but penguins are so likeable. We’ve really ruined everything.
Qem 45 minutes ago [-]
I get a bit of this looming feeling every time there is discussion about the Awk programming language, because it reminds me we already got the closest thing to a penguin in the nothern hemisphere extinct by the XIX century: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_auk
Hope this time around we do a better job of avoiding complete doom for these species.
moffkalast 18 minutes ago [-]
If a bird can't fly and isn't a super fast runner, they end up as food. Tale as old as time.
bluefirebrand 1 minutes ago [-]
Have you seen a penguin swim though? They are super fast in water
srean 25 minutes ago [-]
Seals can be a bundle of cuteness. Leopard seals are impressive, in a different way.
This indeed a sad story.
nbbaier 55 minutes ago [-]
This is the exact same reaction I had
metabagel 49 minutes ago [-]
Also this...
"Trump Administration Seals Extinction Fate for Rice’s Whale in Offshore Drilling Decision"
About 15 years ago, I saw on the news in Europe that 8 students had been shot at some random high school in a random US state.
Having been conditioned by my environment to perceive such events as important, I turned to my friend and said “Man, 8 students were shot at a high school in the States!”
He asked me “What am I supposed to do with that information?” That response changed my life.
Arodex 33 minutes ago [-]
>“What am I supposed to do with that information?”
...Feel some sorrow? Think a bit about what could cause such a thing? Because one day, it may happen at your kid's school... And it may be your own kid.
An absence of both empathy and curiosity aren't exactly a response to be proud of. An unconscious life. The kind that leads to, one day, spouting the standard response: "I never imagined it could happen to me".
timdiggerm 52 minutes ago [-]
It's not as though people intentionally made these endangered because they have insufficient love for penguins. We have unintentionally done it because we have insufficient love (care) for them and many, many other things, creatures, people, etc.
oopsiremembered 46 minutes ago [-]
Ice breaking up before the chicks can swim isn't even a threat to the penguin population I had considered, and now I am horrified and saddened.
pbalau 24 minutes ago [-]
While not related to penguins, [0] is the saddest thing I ever saw.
It’s terrible that the side effect of humans creating a world of wealth, safety and comfort (for all?) is that we risk destroying the very comfort we create - but it is also awesome that we have sufficient wealth to allow people to study these birds full time, enough wealth to build communication systems that tell random strangers about the threat they are under and hopefully enough time to correct the problem.
I saw a speech by Carl Sagan that might be relevant - he said (sometime in 1990 judging by haircuts) that the US had spent 10 trillion dollars on defending itself from the threat of Soviet attack since 1945, but that the attack was not “certain” - not 100% sure. So if we were willing to spend trillions to prevent an uncertain catastrophe, why does the same logic not apply to climate chnage?
oopsiremembered 20 minutes ago [-]
Right now, for many people, this falls into what Douglas Adams referred to as an SEP field. (SEP = Somebody Else's Problem)
picafrost 24 minutes ago [-]
Life on this planet will be OK. Throughout geologic time countless species have gone extinct. The Anthropocene might be tragic for the natural world but not terminal.
But: what are we trading it for? Higher living standards for more people is a noble and good but I don't think there's evidence it requires this rate of ecological destruction. Have we ever seriously tried to decouple growth from extraction?
I'm not convinced a solar punk future exists where technology will eventually close that gap in time. Maybe it will. So far it seems that every efficiency gain gets swallowed by expanded consumption. What seems most probable now is that we don't get a better world but the same dirty one plus a Starbucks on Mars.
metabagel 15 minutes ago [-]
> The Anthropocene might be tragic for the natural world but not terminal.
I'm not so sure. I'm reminded of this quote:
“How did you go bankrupt?"
“Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
fiddeert 14 minutes ago [-]
We absolutely must have another billion Africans and another billion Indians by 2040. Is there any ecological price too high to pay for a goal as noble as that?
metabagel 18 minutes ago [-]
Plus, we are in the process of making parts of the earth unlivable for humans.
BurningFrog 3 minutes ago [-]
Most of the planet already is unlivable for humans.
wiseowise 38 minutes ago [-]
Climate change is a hoax, those leftist penguins and marxist seals just want to hamper our great economy!
milkytron 51 minutes ago [-]
[dead]
popol12 51 minutes ago [-]
Quick, book a cruise to take some picture of them before they're all dead! \s
wiseowise 37 minutes ago [-]
Don't forget to raise awareness on Instagram (and vote for parties that lead to this).
DarkmSparks 40 minutes ago [-]
"According to the IUCN Red List criteria, a species is generally classified as Endangered (EN) if its population of mature individuals falls below 2,500"
Also IUCN, with only 180,000 individuals the Emperor penguin is now classified as Endangered.
I think someone has been out hunting headlines.
darth_avocado 28 minutes ago [-]
That is objectively a wrong summary of how IUCN Red List is calculated. There’s a variety of factors including rate of decline, and any of those factors can lead to a species being in the Endangered category.
Hope this time around we do a better job of avoiding complete doom for these species.
This indeed a sad story.
"Trump Administration Seals Extinction Fate for Rice’s Whale in Offshore Drilling Decision"
https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2026/03/trump-admi...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_4uEaZQ2Kg
Having been conditioned by my environment to perceive such events as important, I turned to my friend and said “Man, 8 students were shot at a high school in the States!”
He asked me “What am I supposed to do with that information?” That response changed my life.
...Feel some sorrow? Think a bit about what could cause such a thing? Because one day, it may happen at your kid's school... And it may be your own kid.
An absence of both empathy and curiosity aren't exactly a response to be proud of. An unconscious life. The kind that leads to, one day, spouting the standard response: "I never imagined it could happen to me".
[0] https://youtu.be/qVJzQc9ELTE?si=R8K7ow2cuSuAOfex
I saw a speech by Carl Sagan that might be relevant - he said (sometime in 1990 judging by haircuts) that the US had spent 10 trillion dollars on defending itself from the threat of Soviet attack since 1945, but that the attack was not “certain” - not 100% sure. So if we were willing to spend trillions to prevent an uncertain catastrophe, why does the same logic not apply to climate chnage?
But: what are we trading it for? Higher living standards for more people is a noble and good but I don't think there's evidence it requires this rate of ecological destruction. Have we ever seriously tried to decouple growth from extraction?
I'm not convinced a solar punk future exists where technology will eventually close that gap in time. Maybe it will. So far it seems that every efficiency gain gets swallowed by expanded consumption. What seems most probable now is that we don't get a better world but the same dirty one plus a Starbucks on Mars.
I'm not so sure. I'm reminded of this quote:
“How did you go bankrupt?" “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.” ― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
Also IUCN, with only 180,000 individuals the Emperor penguin is now classified as Endangered.
I think someone has been out hunting headlines.
https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/categories-and-criteri...
No one is farming for headlines.