International Day of Climate Action, plus Freshwater Dolphin Day, and International Gibbon Day!
International Day of Climate Action, Freshwater Dolphin Day, International Gibbon Day!
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CLIMATE ACTION!
Happy International Day of Climate Action! The goals of International Day of Climate Action include – Informing Everyone About Climate Change. As we know, climate change is one of the biggest problems we are facing today. It is imperative that we learn about how it is going to impact Earth in the years to come, and what changes we can make in order to preserve it.
International Day of Climate Action is not to be confused with Global Day of Climate Action (September 25th) or Youth Climate Action Day (October 22). IDCA was created to changing peoples’ thinking: The main purpose of the International Day of Climate Action is to encourage people to think about what this world means to them and how they can show their appreciation. Helping the environment by changing the destructive habits of using more than required resources is one of the mindsets that this day tries to encourage.
Additionally, getting people to take action: A big part of why we celebrate International Day of Climate Action is to encourage individuals in our community to do their part to preserve our world. One big step is to start by choosing products that are reusable instead of disposables, or recycle paper, plastic, etc., after using them. This can go a long way when it comes to decreasing the rate of climate change or global warming.
So what do governments need to do? What the governments need to do now is to take action on these agreements and start working to achieve the goals mentioned in the Paris Accord. The agreement’s main goal is to keep the temperature below 2 Degrees Celsius or ideally 1.5 Degree Celsius. What can big corporations can do? They have a wide audience and can organize different knowledge-based virtual seminars on awareness of climate change and inform the people what they can do to stop climate breakdown.
DEEPER DIVE: 350.ORG, International Day of Climate Action, Youth Climate Action Day, Wikipedia
IT’S ALSO FRESHWATER DOLPHIN DAY!
October 24th is also Freshwater Dolphin Day! The freshwater dolphin has a boatload of other names, including the Amazon river dolphin, the pink river dolphin or the boto. It lives only in freshwater and is found throughout much of the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela.
There are also river dolphins found in the lower parts of the Indus River in Pakistan and in the Beas River in India. Sadly, Estimates are there are fewer than 200 river dolphins in the rivers of the Indian subcontinent. Why does the demise of the South American and Indian river dolphins matter to us? Dolphins are important indicators for the health of the rivers they live in. Where freshwater dolphin populations are thriving, it is likely that the overall river systems will be flourishing too – as well as all of the communities, companies and countless other species that depend on them.
The reason there are only six surviving species of river dolphins left in the world today and, the reason they are all endangered or critically endangered is because of pollution, dams, shipping and bycatch. Bycatch are fish and animals fishermen catch and discard bc they don’t want, can’t sell, or aren’t allowed to keep. Bycatch can be fi.sh, but also include animals such as seabirds, whales, sea turtles, and dolphins.
Fortunately, The World Wildlife Fund created the River Dolphin Initiative. Its goal? Stop the decline of river dolphin populations in Asia and South America, and restore and double some populations by 2030. WWF will achieve this by tackling the three major systemic threats to river dolphins – unsustainable fisheries, hydropower and infrastructure, and pollution.
DEEPER DIVE: River Dolphins, Bycatch, India’s River Dolphins, WWF
INTERNATIONAL GIBBON DAY, TOO!
It’s also International Gibbon Day, which exists to celebrate the acrobatic, long-armed primates native to the dwindling rainforests of Southern Asia and to educate us about the ‘forest singer’. They don’t actually sing, though. All gibbon species are highly territorial, proclaiming their territory boundaries with exceptionally loud vocal displays. These vocalizations are often described as ‘song’, and are mostly heard early in the morning as pairs sing coordinated duets. Gibbons are also famous for the swift and graceful way they swing through the trees by their long arms.
There is a total of 20 different species of gibbons, also called small apes (not monkeys). They’re part of the ape family and are classified as lesser apes because they are smaller than the great apes. All gibbons are in danger of extinction due to habitat loss. Why are gibbons important? Gibbons play an important role in seed dispersal, which contributes to maintaining the health of the forests they call home and benefit the communities that also use forest resources. BTW, want 4 ways to celebrate International Gibbon Day?
- Create your own gibbon suit.
- Print out your own gibbon mask, choice of white-handed (Hylobates lar) or white-cheeked (Nomascus leucogenys) gibbons.
- Print and color in your own gibbon coloring page.
- And bonus fourth from IPPL: download or listen to “The Funky Gibbon” 2010 remix of the 1970s classic. This one features authentic gibbon calls. When you access this fun pop hit on Amazon, iTunes, or Spotify, a donation is made to IPPL to help us care for gibbons all year long.