Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, has made it known to the nation that she would like to see to the destruction of wolves in her state by placing a bounty on their heads of $150.  Is this not an archaic and barbaric practice, the likes of which have not been seen in nearly 100 years?  Of course, the bounty was rapidly thrown out by a state court.  However, Alaska’s aerial gunning practices continue.  Not only is this practice affecting Alaska, but wolves in other states such as Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana are also threatened.

In 1972, Congress passed the federal Airborne Hunting Act (AHA) to ban hunters from using airplanes to hunt wolves or other wildlife.  This Act came about when a brutal scene was put on display depicting a wolf hunt, which began a national public outcry.  Alaska, however, has found a loophole in the Act, and has made wide use of it.  They feigned it as “wildlife management,” allowing hunters to take to the air time and again to engage in the ruthless slaughter of wolves and black and brown bears.  Alaska’s voters have twice attempted to stop aerial hunting, but the Alaska Legislature has overturned their efforts each time.  Aerial hunting is prohibited by Federal law, according to the AHA, but Alaska still continues to practice it for the purpose of falsely increasing particular game populations to bring in hunters from all regions of the nation.  The targeted region covers 60,000 square miles of wolf population, plus 12,000 square miles of bear population.

Congress did not intend to have aerial hunting state-sanctioned to indulge game hunters with larger game populations, and 671 wolves have been slaughtered since 2003 due to Alaska’s program.  If one were to take a look at the legislative history, he or she would find that Congress was attempting to halt this mode of practice on wildlife by introducing the AHA.

Aerial hunting is against the ethics of most hunters.  Fair chase is a cornerstone concept amongst hunters, and hunting from the air is not believed to be fair-chase hunting.  Aerial hunting gives an unfair advantage over the prey because it is not considered sportsmanlike; therefore, hunters who consider themselves ethical do not use it.

Scientific data falls short because the state does not adequately monitor declining predator populations.  The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) has voiced their concern regarding aerial hunting in Alaska, declaring the practice to be unsound and potentially damaging to the ecosystem.  The ASM is one of the oldest and largest societies devoted to the study of mammals.  If the predator population is destroyed, although the program is meant to boost the prey population, the prey populations will grow too large in number and become susceptible to disease and lack of food, and also weather changes, creating a dramatic decline in these prey populations.  Regardless of this fact, the state’s Board of Game continues to call for aerial hunting to eradicate wolves from vast regions of the Alaskan wilderness.

Other states are taking Alaska’s cue and have declared plans to begin aerial hunting in order to get rid of wolves if the wolves are removed from the endangered species list; a very likely possibility.  Some are even calling for aggressive techniques—aerial hunting, as well as hazing—which is in violation of the AHA.  Idaho’s governor intends to destroy over 80 percent of the wolves in his state, which has already started to plan their efforts in wolf-eradication.

The only thing that can stop aerial hunting now is federal legislation, clarifying Congress’ purpose for the AHA.  The Protect America’s Wildlife (PAW) Act is being proposed to Congress at this time.  If this Act does not pass, Alaska’s legislature will persist in ignoring the objective of the AHA.  This Act would seal the loophole in the AHA that legislation continues to exploit, and stop other states from exploiting it as well.

For the latest updates, visit

Defenders of Wildlife

UPDATE: Of course, wolves have been delisted since I wrote this one.

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Global Warming

Global warming has been increasing over the last century and is likely to continue.  This increase in temperature consists of the Earth’s near-surface air, as well as its oceans.  Some of the causes for global warming include greenhouse gases, which is a higher than normal amount of certain types of gases in the atmosphere.  Natural occurrences in the atmosphere also help to increase the temperature, such as volcanic eruptions and solar variation.

The term “global warming” is specific to human-induced climate changes.  The recent warming trends has scientific consensus that human activity, since the industrial era, has caused most of the changes we see due to atmospheric greenhouse gases.  Solar activity is also a possibility for this increase in our weather.  The “greenhouse effect” occurs when infrared radiation emission and absorption by atmospheric gases warms the Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere.  Water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and ozone are the Earth’s chief greenhouse gases, each contributing a small amount to the atmosphere, with exception to water vapor, which causes about 36% to 70% of the gases, excluding clouds.  The problem lies within the increase that human activity has provided to the atmosphere since the industrial revolution.

The concentration of these greenhouse gases has lead to radiative forcing, or a disturbance in the troposphere and tropopause caused by the increased levels of gases.  Nitrous oxide contributes as well, increasing due to agriculture, and though it contributes a fraction amount to the greenhouse effect, the larger picture is that it helps accelerate these concentrations.  The levels of these gases have been determined to be higher during the last century than over the last 650,000 years, with reliable samples taken from ice cores.  The last time carbon dioxide levels were as high as they are now was 20 million years ago, possibly due to the planet’s constant volcanic eruptions.

Fossil fuels have affected the carbon dioxide levels over the last 20 years, approximately three-quarters of carbon dioxide increase, and deforestation has altered land uses.  Plants help to remove carbon dioxide from our atmosphere.  As long as we continue to burn fossil fuels and destroy our forests, carbon dioxide will increase.  The availability of fossil fuels will determine the limit on these increases, but our reserves are adequate to reach an alarming level of emissions well into the 22^nd century.

Feedback processes play a large role in our greenhouse gases, as water evaporates.  When more carbon dioxide is added to the atmosphere, more water will evaporate, and since water vapor is a greenhouse gas, it causes the atmosphere to warm and more water evaporates.  This process will continue until another process stops this feedback loop.  The reversal of this effect is a slow one since carbon dioxide has a lengthy standard atmospheric lifetime.  Clouds also exert a warming effect because they return infrared radiation to the surface when viewed from below.  When viewed from above, the radiation is directed into space, offering a cooling effect.  The cloud feedback comes only second to the feedback of water vapor, but it remains a positive one.  Ice-albedo feedback is also important.  It is when the temperature increases enough to melt the ice at the poles at an alarming rate.  When this happens, land or water replaces the ice.  Both of these are much less reflective and soak up more solar radiation.  This will cause increased warming, more melting, and continues the cycle.  Thawing of the permafrost could also contribute to global warming.

It is also under speculation that solar variation may have contributed to the increase in the global surface temperature due to solar forcing.  Solar output, however, amplified by cloud seeding through galactic cosmic rays, may also add to the latest warming.  The sun’s magnetic activity which averts cosmic rays, could sway the creation of cloud condensation nuclei and therefore affect the climate.

Global warming can have dramatic affects on human, animal, and plant life.  There is the possibility of extinction of some species of animals and plants due to the increasing warming trends in specific areas of the globe.  Even if we were to stop using fossil fuels now, the effects these have caused since the industrial revolution are irreversible at this time.  Though, try as they may, humans continue to struggle in this fight to protect the environment.  Perhaps, if we are strong enough, we can eventually make some sort of impact that will help future generations to live productively on our planet, Earth.