Recent news have reported that a Russian town had to declare a state of emergency as large numbers of polar bears invaded the town in search of food. As ice melts and it becomes harder for bears to find food, human-bear conflict is becoming more and more frequent. here’s the story of such conflicts on Greenland.
Living with polar bears
Dine steps outside the incineration plant early in the morning to smoke a cigarette. Flicking on his lighter, he finds himself looking into the eyes of a polar bear standing by his ATV four meters away. The bear moves straight towards him. Dine races for the corner of the building, and fortunately, the bear chooses to move in another direction.
Mikkel, who works at the weather station, goes to launch a weather balloon at 22:00. As he walks towards the building, he hears the ice crunch behind him. He turns around and sees a polar bear three meters away. He runs inside, and the polar bear takes off down the slope at the dump and swims towards Storesten.
The hard work of the polar bear patrol
Throughout the Arctic, conflicts between polar bears and humans have risen as summer sea ice shrinks due to climate change. In some areas, bears are now forced to stay on land for longer periods than before. In their search for food, they are often attracted to nearby villages.
In Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland, the problem is particularly severe as a deluge of bears created life-threatening situations for both bears and the villagers.
In 2007, nine polar bear conflicts were registered in all of Greenland. By 2017, there were 21 conflicts between August and December in Ittoqqortoormiit alone. In almost all of the 21 cases, the local polar bear patrol was called to ensure that the bears were scared away from the community and kept under observation.
WWF provided support for the community to establish a polar bear patrol in 2015 to protect the town’s 450 residents from dangerous encounters on their way to school or work, and to reduce the number of bears killed in self-defense. During peak polar bear season in autumn, the patrol is particularly active just before school opens each morning.
“The community members tell us that the patrol gives them greater peace of mind, and we prevent a lot of polar bears from being shot in self-defense”, says Bo Øksnebjerg, Secretary-General of WWF-Denmark. “So on the one hand, we’re glad that the polar bear patrol is working so well. On the other hand, we regret that the patrol is so busy. Everything indicates that the problem of hungry polar bears in communities will continue to grow as the sea ice shrinks.”
WWF supports similar polar bear patrol projects in Alaska and Russia. These community projects aim to prevent unintended and potentially fatal encounters between polar bears and people, keeping both towns and bears safe. Deterrence tools such as noisemakers as well as better lighting near public places, bear-proof food storage containers, and warning plans for when bears enter communities are further effective means of protection.
The village of Wales, Alaska—the westernmost town in mainland North America— started a polar bear patrol in 2016. Now, they are embarking on an expedition to six other villages in the region to tell their story, listen to the concerns of other villages, and see if a polar bear conflict avoidance/deterrence program might be a good fit for them. WWF has committed to helping two additional Alaskan villages initiate polar bear patrol programs in 2019.
Another way to learn Irish is to read articles and pick up vocab that way. One thing to keep in mind for exams tho is that the way a native speaker might write is different from what an examiner might want see. Irish in particular is very loanword friendly.
Tuairisc - a news site of sorts. There tends to be a lot of articles about Irish and its status by default of who is doing the writing.
Nós - this is a bit more of a fun site. A site for articles but the subject matter is a bit more frivolous than tuairisc. This is the place to go if you want the forbidden vocab of Irish
RTÉ - The national broadcaster has a Gaeilge section on their website where you can find news articles through Irish.
Various Blogs - Indigenous Tweets has a section on their blog dedicated solely to blogs that write as Gaeilge. http://indigenoustweets.com/blogs/ga/
“… “I’m taking action because I feel desperate,” said U.S. climate scientist Peter Kalmus, who along with several others locked himself to the front door of a JPMorgan Chase building in Los Angeles. A recent report found that the financial giant is the biggest private funder of oil and gas initiatives in the world.
“It’s the 11th hour in terms of Earth breakdown, and I feel terrified for my kids, and terrified for humanity,” Kalmus continued. “World leaders are still expanding the fossil fuel industry as fast as they can, but this is insane. The science clearly indicates that everything we hold dear is at risk, including even civilization itself and the wonderful, beautiful, cosmically precious life on this planet. I actually don’t get how any scientist who understands this could possibly stay on the sidelines at this point.” …”
Corporate media will not cover the climate crisis.
Little reminders for the struggling self By Ariadne Arambulo | 2 min. read
Hi, friends! I know most of us are going back to school this week *cries*, and we might need that extra push to get through this, so here are a few things we could keep in mind:
Forgive yourself Failed a couple of tests? Watched a whole season of your favorite TV show over the weekend instead of getting started on your research paper? (yes) Found your grades drifting into uncharted waters? No matter what happened last semester, forgive yourself. Make it your armor and remember that you have a clean slate in front of you. You get to start over. Take that chance and do things right this time.
Set realistic goals And every time you accomplish them, treat yo self . Go ahead. You deserve it.
Show up I know it’s inevitable to have those “meh” days when you’re physically present but mentally absent in class. Drink coffee, go on a short walk, or listen to your favorite music before coming to class to boost your energy. It also feels good to learn something new every day, so make the effort to get even just a little something out of those long class hours. It’s worth it.
Work hard Do things that are meaningful to you and remind yourself of your dreams and aspirations. You got this!
Take care of yourself During finals week last semester, my mantra was “pain is temporary, GPA is forever”. This pushed me to go through three full days without sleep, studying endlessly and not giving my mind and body the rest they deserved. It took me a fever, colds, a sore throat and recurring anxiety attacks to realize that that was pretty much their many ways of saying, “Giiirl you take care of your grades more than yourself.” Shake off those bad habits and make sure you invest time in yourself. Don’t wait for your body to send you spiraling into a dark abyss before you take action!
The company, hired to improve worker health and lower medical costs, could pass the data to “third party vendors acting on our behalf,” according to an authorization form. The information might be posted in areas “that are reviewable to the public.” It might also be “subject to re-disclosure” and “no longer protected by privacy law."Employees could refuse to give permission or opt not to take the screen, called a health risk assessment – but only if they paid an extra $300 a year for medical coverage.
…asking hard, fundamental questions. “We can use technology to do this, but should we? Is it giving us the same results as something non-technological?” Angela asked. “We need to see the big picture. How do we take advantage of these tools while keeping information private and being aware of what we might be giving away?”
School librarians are uniquely positioned to navigate this middle ground and advocate for privacy, both within the school library itself and in larger school- or district-wide conversations about technology. Often, school librarians are the only staff members trained as educators, privacy specialists, and technologists, bringing not only the skills but a professional mandate to lead their communities in digital privacy and intellectual freedom. On top of that, librarians have trusted relationships across the student privacy stakeholder chain, from working directly with students to training teachers to negotiating with technology vendors.
We don’t have much to say as we believe the story will speak for itself. However, we do have developments. The first one being the article “Becoming Louis XIV: The Literary Evolution of Louis XIV”here.
What is this yearning of which St John speaks? It is a constant drawing toward the Source of life; an inward call to dialogue with our Creator; an uncreated energy that pulls our whole being toward the Origin, Cause, and Goal of everything. God is the good and beauty of every creature, the very being of everything that exists, the life of any living being, the reason of any rational living being, and the wisdom of any intelligent living being. During prayer, the living energy infused like a spark in the innermost depth of our heart, the core of our being, the holy of holies within us, is connected to its Source, to God in His Uncreated Energies.
