This week Megan takes us on an emotional journey with some Science News shared by Jen's mom, Julie, about the rare white Giraffes in Kenya. Then Jen goes full Science Teacher with a lesson about all kinds of Pigs followed by some gruesome, tragic stories- be warned! 

Organization to Support: Conservation International at https://www.conservation.org/

To prevent irreversible harm to Earth’s life-support systems, humanity must emit less climate-warming greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, while also removing excess carbon from the atmosphere. This will require an urgent and large-scale transition to clean and renewable sources of energy. But even if the world stopped using fossil fuels completely, we would fail to avert a worst-case scenario if we did not also reverse the destruction of ecosystems such as forests that absorb and store carbon.

In other words: No matter what, if we don’t protect and restore nature, we will fail to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_of_the_World%27s_Worst_Invasive_Alien_Species

https://www.livescience.com/50623-pigs-facts.html

https://www.mdwfp.com/wildlife-hunting/wild-hog-program/about-wild-hogs/history-of-introduction/#:~:text=Hernando%20De%20Soto%2C%20a%20Spanish,the%20mainland%20of%20North%20America.&text=Many%20of%20these%20pigs%20either,living%20swine%20throughout%20the%20Southeast.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/19/worlds-feral-pigs-produce-as-much-co2-as-11m-cars-each-year-study-finds

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Feral_pig

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-20/feral-pigs-and-carbon-emissions/100299774

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/573994/pig-facts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_pig_farming

https://factsanddetails.com/asian/Northern_Asian_and_European_Animals/sub2_8b/entry-4910.html

https://theconversation.com/were-creating-humanized-pigs-in-our-ultraclean-lab-to-study-human-illnesses-and-treatments-156343

https://www.science.org.au/curious/people-medicine/similarities-between-humans-and-pigs#:~:text=A%20pig%20weighing%20around%2060,as%20a%20translational%20research%20model.

https://www.livescience.com/mammals-can-breathe-through-anus-intestine-ventilation.html

https://everythinggp.com/2020/08/05/can-pigs-make-a-body-disappear-almost/

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/hungry-hogs-eat-oregon-farmer-article-1.1172448

https://e360.yale.edu/digest/new-study-shows-which-places-must-be-protected-to-stave-off-catastrophic-climate-change