#study writes

[halflifesk666]

[asgardian--angels]

Planet's Fucked: What Can You Do To Help? (Long Post)

Since nobody is talking about the existential threat to the climate and the environment a second Trump term/Republican government control will cause, which to me supersedes literally every other issue, I wanted to just say my two cents, and some things you can do to help. I am a conservation biologist, whose field was hit substantially by the first Trump presidency. I study wild bees, birds, and plants.

In case anyone forgot what he did last time, he gagged scientists' ability to talk about climate change, he tried zeroing budgets for agencies like the NOAA, he attempted to gut protections in the Endangered Species Act (mainly by redefining 'take' in a way that would allow corporations to destroy habitat of imperiled species with no ramifications), he tried to do the same for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (the law that offers official protection for native non-game birds), he sought to expand oil and coal extraction from federal protected lands, he shrunk the size of multiple national preserves, HE PULLED US OUT OF THE PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT, and more.

We are at a crucial tipping point in being able to slow the pace of climate change, where we decide what emissions scenario we will operate at, with existential consequences for both the environment and people. We are also in the middle of the Sixth Mass Extinction, with the rate of species extinctions far surpassing background rates due completely to human actions. What we do now will determine the fate of the environment for hundreds or thousands of years - from our ability to grow key food crops (goodbye corn belt! I hated you anyway but), to the pressure on coastal communities that will face the brunt of sea level rise and intensifying extreme weather events, to desertification, ocean acidification, wildfires, melting permafrost (yay, outbreaks of deadly frozen viruses!), and a breaking down of ecosystems and ecosystem services due to continued habitat loss and species declines, especially insect declines. The fact that the environment is clearly a low priority issue despite the very real existential threat to so many people, is beyond my ability to understand. I do partly blame the public education system for offering no mandatory environmental science curriculum or any at all in most places. What it means is that it will take the support of everyone who does care to make any amount of difference in this steeply uphill battle.

There are not enough environmental scientists to solve these issues, not if public support is not on our side and the majority of the general public is either uninformed or actively hostile towards climate science (or any conservation science).

So what can you, my fellow Americans, do to help mitigate and minimize the inevitable damage that lay ahead?

I'm not going to tell you to recycle more or take shorter showers. I'll be honest, that stuff is a drop in the bucket. What does matter on the individual level is restoring and protecting habitat, reducing threats to at-risk species, reducing pesticide use, improving agricultural practices, and pushing for policy changes. Restoring CONNECTIVITY to our landscape - corridors of contiguous habitat - will make all the difference for wildlife to be able to survive a changing climate and continued human population expansion.

**Caveat that I work in the northeast with pollinators and birds so I cannot provide specific organizations for some topics, including climate change focused NGOs. Scientists on tumblr who specialize in other fields, please add your own recommended resources. **

We need two things: FUNDING and MANPOWER.

You may surprised to find that an insane amount of conservation work is carried out by volunteers. We don't ever have the funds to pay most of the people who want to help. If you really really care, consider going into a conservation-related field as a career. It's rewarding, passionate work.

At the national level, please support:

The Nature Conservancy

Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Cornell Lab of Ornithology (including eBird)

National Audubon Society

Federal Duck Stamps (you don't need to be a hunter to buy one!)

These first four work to acquire and restore critical habitat, change environmental policy, and educate the public. There is almost certainly a Nature Conservancy-owned property within driving distance of you. Xerces plays a very large role in pollinator conservation, including sustainable agriculture, native bee monitoring programs, and the Bee City/Bee Campus USA programs. The Lab of O is one of the world's leaders in bird research and conservation. Audubon focuses on bird conservation. You can get annual memberships to these organizations and receive cool swag and/or a subscription to their publications which are well worth it. You can also volunteer your time; we need thousands of volunteers to do everything from conducting wildlife surveys, invasive species removal, providing outreach programming, managing habitat/clearing trails, planting trees, you name it. Federal Duck Stamps are the major revenue for wetland conservation; hunters need to buy them to hunt waterfowl but anyone can get them to collect!

THERE ARE DEFINITELY MORE, but these are a start.

Additionally, any federal or local organizations that seek to provide support and relief to those affected by hurricanes, sea level rise, any form of coastal climate change...

At the regional level:

These are a list of topics that affect major regions of the United States. Since I do not work in most of these areas I don't feel confident recommending specific organizations, but please seek resources relating to these as they are likely major conservation issues near you.

PRAIRIE CONSERVATION & PRAIRIE POTHOLE WETLANDS

DRYING OF THE COLORADO RIVER (good overview video linked)

PROTECTION OF ESTUARIES AND SALTMARSH, ESPECIALLY IN THE DELAWARE BAY AND LONG ISLAND (and mangroves further south, everglades etc; this includes restoring LIVING SHORELINES instead of concrete storm walls; also check out the likely-soon extinction of saltmarsh sparrows)

UNDAMMING MAJOR RIVERS (not just the Colorado; restoring salmon runs, restoring historic floodplains)

NATIVE POLLINATOR DECLINES (NOT honeybees. for fuck's sake. honeybees are non-native domesticated animals. don't you DARE get honeybee hives to 'save the bees')

WILDLIFE ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER (support the Mission Butterfly Center!)

INVASIVE PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES (this is everywhere but the specifics will differ regionally, dear lord please help Hawaii)

LOSS OF WETLANDS NATIONWIDE (some states have lost over 90% of their wetlands, I'm looking at you California, Ohio, Illinois)

INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE, esp in the CORN BELT and CALIFORNIA - this is an issue much bigger than each of us, but we can work incrementally to promote sustainable practices and create habitat in farmland-dominated areas. Support small, local farms, especially those that use soil regenerative practices, no-till agriculture, no pesticides/Integrated Pest Management/no neonicotinoids/at least non-persistent pesticides. We need more farmers enrolling in NRCS programs to put farmland in temporary or permanent wetland easements, or to rent the land for a 30-year solar farm cycle. We've lost over 99% of our prairies to corn and soybeans. Let's not make it 100%.

INDIGENOUS LAND-BACK EFFORTS/INDIGENOUS LAND MANAGEMENT/TEK (adding this because there have been increasing efforts not just for reparations but to also allow indigenous communities to steward and manage lands either fully independently or alongside western science, and it would have great benefits for both people and the land; I know others on here could speak much more on this. Please platform indigenous voices)

HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS (get your neighbors to stop dumping fertilizers on their lawn next to lakes, reduce agricultural runoff)

OCEAN PLASTIC (it's not straws, it's mostly commercial fishing line/trawling equipment and microplastics)

A lot of these are interconnected. And of course not a complete list.

At the state and local level:

You probably have the most power to make change at the local level!

Support or volunteer at your local nature centers, local/state land conservancy non-profits (find out who owns&manages the preserves you like to hike at!), state fish & game dept/non-game program, local Audubon chapters (they do a LOT). Participate in a Christmas Bird Count!

Join local garden clubs, which install and maintain town plantings - encourage them to use NATIVE plants. Join a community garden!

Get your college campus or city/town certified in the Bee Campus USA/Bee City USA programs from the Xerces Society

Check out your state's official plant nursery, forest society, natural heritage program, anything that you could become a member of, get plants from, or volunteer at.

Volunteer to be part of your town's conservation commission, which makes decisions about land management and funding

Attend classes or volunteer with your land grant university's cooperative extension (including master gardener programs)

Literally any volunteer effort aimed at improving the local environment, whether that's picking up litter, pulling invasive plants, installing a local garden, planting trees in a city park, ANYTHING. make a positive change in your own sphere. learn the local issues affecting your nearby ecosystems. I guarantee some lake or river nearby is polluted

MAKE HABITAT IN YOUR COMMUNITY. Biggest thing you can do. Use plants native to your area in your yard or garden. Ditch your lawn. Don't use pesticides (including mosquito spraying, tick spraying, Roundup, etc). Don't use fertilizers that will run off into drinking water. Leave the leaves in your yard. Get your school/college to plant native gardens. Plant native trees (most trees planted in yards are not native). Remove invasive plants in your yard.

On this last point, HERE ARE EASY ONLINE RESOURCES TO FIND NATIVE PLANTS and LEARN ABOUT NATIVE GARDENING:

Xerces Society Pollinator Conservation Resource Center

Pollinator Pathway

Audubon Native Plant Finder

Homegrown National Park (and Doug Tallamy's other books)

National Wildlife Federation Native Plant Finder (clunky but somewhat helpful)

Heather Holm (for prairie/midwest/northeast)

MonarchGard w/ Benjamin Vogt (for prairie/midwest)

Native Plant Trust (northeast & mid-atlantic)

Grow Native Massachusetts (northeast)

Habitat Gardening in Central New York (northeast)

There are many more - I'm not familiar with resources for western states. Print books are your biggest friend. Happy to provide a list of those.

Lastly, you can help scientists monitor species using citizen science. Contribute to iNaturalist, eBird, Bumblebee Watch, or any number of more geographically or taxonomically targeted programs (for instance, our state has a butterfly census carried out by citizen volunteers).

In short? Get curious, get educated, get involved. Notice your local nature, find out how it's threatened, and find out who's working to protect it that you can help with. The health of the planet, including our resilience to climate change, is determined by small local efforts to maintain and restore habitat. That is how we survive this. When government funding won't come, when we're beat back at every turn trying to get policy changed, it comes down to each individual person creating a safe refuge for nature.

Thanks for reading this far. Please feel free to add your own credible resources and organizations.

[notgreengardens]

[fictionalaffection]

the intimacy of being understood.

[raylangivins]

i am Locked In.

[omurizer-draws-things]

[thedeadpoets-blog]

late night studying in october 🍂☕️🎃📚

[charmwasjess]

Maybe unpopular opinion, but I actually do like the way the whole “oh yeah, sometimes Jedi fuck” stuff is presented in recent books, because of course, the emphasis on it being a personal, individual choice, but also the implication that many Jedi do not fuck. Not because sex is forbidden or shame-based in the culture, but because within the Order, people more often choose not to, to the point that the footnote mention of “oh, but some do” needs to exist in current canon. 

It’s a society of communal living. Everyone pitches in on everything from childrearing to food growing to medicine, regardless of interpersonal relationships. Titles like father or wife that tie reproductive/family cycles to lifetime connections or property don’t exist. I love the idea of many Jedi choosing celibacy happily, and the Temple being a great place to live a lifestyle where your connection to others are expressly not dictated by a romantic or sexual relationship. And the inherent, platonic intimacy of a psychically-connected community. I really love thinking about it.

[halflifesk666]

My type: someone who doesn’t run away and is able to show their true feelings

[sugurusladyknightt]

➺ suguru x gn!reader

if you set a timer to nap suguru will absolutely sabotage you.

let me set the scene. you're getting comfortable laying on his chest his arms secured around you and your eyes closing with a content hum and then suddenly your like 'oh hold on' and grab your phone to set a timer then promptly explain that you have something to do so you don't wanna oversleep during your nap and end up losing time.

but you're so tired, he knows a short nap won't be enough rest though, he says nothing. you get comfortable on his chest again, your cheeks smooshed against his skin and doze off shortly after thanks to the soothing hand at your back and head and the warmth of his skin. when you're asleep this man will fully just grab your phone and cancel the timer, that way, you get all the rest your body needs undisturbed and wake up when your ready.

if it's assignments or notes or anything really that he can do for you, then he will do it for you. taking neat concise notes for you, or finishing up your research paper. no this is not a violation of academic integrity because you are his baby. you are his person and he is yours so to anyone else you may as well be the same person, and anyway he isn't plagiarizing or cheating. suguru does a really good job actually.

when you wake up later, dry eyes slowly blinking away the sleep and readjusting to the light. the skin of your cheek turned pink from how long it's been resting against him softly greeting him in a small raspy voice. when you wake up enough to realize the timer hadn't gone off and reach over to your phone to check the time, the sleep leaves you so fast. you're frenzied, panicked, confused. as if you've been splashed with cold water. suddenly awake and upset about all the time you had wasted what about the timer? how are you supposed to finish everything now?? only for you to find everything done and neatly organized for you to look over, anything with a tight deadline? already sent in.

oh. well.. now that you have nothing that urgently needs your attention (besides him) you can lay back down on his chest and continue where you left off 🙂‍↕️

[somerabbitholes]

hello, i am turning into two cups of coconut water a day person

[sergeant-angels-trashcan]

idk i just. i gotta say there is something so powerful about having two alpha male coded characters discussing their emotions on a rooftop while grappling with overt suicidality and having the most alpha of the two not only providing emotional support and words of affirmation but actively endorsing therapy. admitting that he goes and it helps. do you understand how insane that is. they really wrote jack abbot to be in the middle of a venn diagram of suicidal demographics and said we're not going to leave him there, we're going to make him be the one who is advocating for the mental health care of healthcare workers. Do you get this. he's a white male veteran between like 18-50 who undoubtedly has access to a firearm. he's disabled, he works in emergency medicine as an attending and we have no idea what kind of support system he has outside of work. like. that is a man i would be actively worried about in my workplace. that is a man who knows how to kill himself and make it stick. and he's talking about his therapist out in the open. the amount of stigma and internalized masculine ideals and military masculinity he has worked through. do you. do you understand. do you understand what an incredible character jack abbot is. i'm tearing up. robby is terrified someone will find out he has ptsd and panic attacks and jack is telling him it's okay. implying he has them too. it's okay because you came out and went right back in it. you were who we needed you to be, and it wasn't fair and it's okay to not be okay. it's okay to need help. jack. jack abbot said those things.

jack abbot you have my entire heart

[jubshead]

I was rewatching the second episode of AAA and Lilia side eyeing Agatha bc she’s way to close to her personal space is hilarious

[puffycinnabunny]

Electric field or smt

[goodoldfashionedloverboylance]

I feel like we don't talk enough about the fact that Lance was top of his class as a cargo pilot. like everyone is so quick to demean Lance's intelligence because he's surrounded by the dictionary definition of geniuses in their own fields, but his line "fighter pilot, thanks to you washing out" to Keith means he was TOP RANK NUMBER ONE as a cargo pilot.

Lance is consistently infantilized and bullied for being a jack of all trades. his focus is spread, and even so he excels at what he sets his mind to. He, with little to no real gun or hand-to-hand combat training, becomes the team's designated sharpshooter. he also unlocks an altean broadsword , the only paladin to unlock multiple classes of weapons.

But he is the brunt of so many jokes because he's an empathetic, selfless, charismatic guy and a good friend BEFORE he's a genius. And honestly, i do believe whole heartedly that he is a genius, his focus is just so spread that he isn't a prodigy like his team members.

I love you Lance McClain.

[bluerosefox]

Kidnapped Persephone Style

Me: *tossing prompt idea up and down in the air before chucking it into the Void we call the internet*

Jason is dating Ghost Prince (not yet King) Danny and goes on a really awesome and romantic date on his day off. He forgot to tell the fam though. So when Red Robin comes to give Jason an update on some entil, he watches in muted horror as Jason is 'kidnapped' by a glowing entity in black armor and a nightmare looking horse (Danny is a bit busy doing paperwork, so he had his Fright Knight pick Jason up) off of a Gotham rooftop and into a green portal, while the knight had proclaimed Jason as their future Kings 'intended'..

No one on coms is ready for Tim to yell out

"I THINK JASON JUST GOT KIDNAPPED PERSEPHONE STYLE!!"