Flipi The American Bullfrog

Well hi there! It’s Naomi. Happy World Environment Day! Rowan @ Ocean Heroes did a WONDERFUL post on World Environmental Day, which included some things to watch or do. Check it out here. 😛

Anywho, today we’re going to be starting to learn a bit about peatlands through a short story! Enjoy!

The Story

Well hello there! I’m Flipi, and I live in the place you humans call ‘Dixon Waterfowl Refuge’. Right now, I have an AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING life!! But it wasn’t always this way, and I’ve heard the story.

A while ago, you humans came into our home and started TAKING OUT ALL THE WATER!!! What was our home supposed to BE without water? I don’t know. But, anyway, for one reason or another you humans took all the water out of our home! All of it! And then you started driving these biig bad THINGS across the home, and we had to leave!! AHHH!!! No!!

But after that, you humans… you realized what you did was wrong! I’ve been told that humans rarely understand what they’re doing wrong, and how much amazingness it was that you did!

You humans realized that we needed a place to live! And humans ALSO realized that our home could somehow save the world from dying! And you realized that if our home has water, your home doesn’t have to! Wow, right?!

You humans, you destroyed our home. But you fixed it! You need to keep doing this kinda thing! I have friends who used to live in other places, and need their homes back to! Pleease help us. Thank you human!!

A little note

I know that the story of Flipi doesn’t have too much to do with climate change, but I thought showing you the things we’re doing to our wetlands would be helpful to begin talking about peatlands. 🙂 I would like to do a big shout out to The Valley Animal Protectors, who help all animals!

Also, I’ll probably be doing a post explaining HOW people are restoring peatlands, so keep an eye out for that coming soon! 😉

How you can help frogs like Flipi

1. EDUCATE yourself on peatlands, and SHARE the word about them by sharing this post or writing to friends.
2. DON’T buy peat-based products!
3. SUPPORT The Wetlands Initiative, by donating there! You can do that here.
4. VOLUNTEER with The Wetlands initiative. You can learn more about that here.

Sources

“American Bullfrog (Lithobates Catesbeianus).” INaturalist, 3 Aug. 2018, http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/15412056. Accessed 5 June 2021.

“Dixon Waterfowl Refuge at Hennepin & Hopper Lakes.” The Wetlands Initiative, http://www.wetlands-initiative.org/dixon-waterfowl-refuge-hh. Accessed 5 June 2021.

“Peatlands – Climate Regulation and Biodiversity.” Www.youtube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcxZ9gvNfSU.

Well I believe that’s it! Did you enjoy that story? Have you heard of stories like that? Thanks for reading!

Lacy The Sockeye Salmon

Hello environmentalists! Naomi speaking. And yes… it’s a short story! I haven’t done these in forever, have you missed them? I hope you weren’t glad they left, because they. are. back!!!! Hopefully. As long as we remember to post them… 😉

Anywho! Let us begin the story! Lacy The Sockeye Salmon!

The Story Of Lacy!

What. Is. Going. ON?? I like… can’t… just can’t… what? WHY IS THE WATER SO WARM???! I can hardly breathe!

Oh sorry, that was confusing I’m sure. Let me introduce myself and tell you about what’s happening. I’m Lacy, and I’m a sockeye salmon. I’m coming to the end of my life, and must get back to the stream where I was born! I must have more children! But… there’s this AREA I’m in. No one’s told me about it.

“What’s going ON?” I ask the salmon swimming beside me, “where are we? Why is the water so WARM? Why is it so BLAND? Why can’t I BREATHE?”

“I don’t know… but somebody said they had heard the humans talking about this thing called ‘The Blob‘ which is caused by climate change… it’s warm and weird and confusing…. and it’s REALLY GIGANTIC… and that’s not helpful but I think we’re in it!”

Well. That doesn’t really help anything… except it makes me SOOOO worried. It’s big?! How do we get OUT of this?! I look around, starting to panic. Before we got stuck in this warm water, we were almost back to the stream! And I can feel that I’m going to need to lay my eggs soon. We don’t have TIME for this. We NEED TO GET BACK. And I can feel myself losing oxygen, not being able to breathe well.

I look around at the rest of my bind, and see that they’re confused as well. No one knows what’s happening!!

We swim and swim for many rises and sets of the sun, just hoping that the water will become normal water once again. Members of our bind drop dead from the lack of oxygen, and I can feel that I may as well. But then, many sun-cycles after we’re supposed to get to the stream:

Cold water. Cold cold water. Ahhh. I LOVE it soooo much. I can BREATHE RIGHT again. I can feel this water again. The water isn’t as cold as I would like it, but it’s omg so great and lovely and yeeees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I swim faster, feeling the normal water again fill my gills. I am saved!

Author’s Notes (Please Read!)

• Lacy was VERY lucky. It’s a little bit unrealistic for her to have survived ‘the blob’, but that she did! Most fish that aren’t so lucky, and never make it back to there streams.
• Lacy IS an animal who lives in the water, so I would like to shout out OCEAN HEROES and THE VALLEY ANIMAL PROTECTORS, 2 amazing organizations that work with those two subject matters!
• ‘The Blob’ is REALLY CRAZY! While it’s not there right now, it keeps coming back. It was a roughly 1,000-mile-wide patch in the ocean of water that is way-warmer-than-it-should be. Later on, it separated into 3 masses, one of which Lacy probably swam through a bit of.

How To Help Fish Like Lacy

• REDUCE your carbon impact. Anything you do to help stop climate change will in turn help prevent another ‘blob’.
• DONATE to WWF, or another organization helping salmon.
• JOIN The Valley Animal Protectors/Ocean Heroes/The Society To Stop Climate Change
• SHARE about the blob! Few people know about it
• LEARN more about the blob and the creatures affected by it

Glossary

‘The Blob’- large patch of warm water in the ocean due to climate change
Bind- A group of salmon

Sources

“9 Animals That Are Feeling the Impacts of Climate Change.” U.S. Department of the Interior, 18 Dec. 2018, http://www.doi.gov/blog/9-animals-are-feeling-impacts-climate-change.

“The Blob (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, http://www.nps.gov/articles/theblob.htm.

“The Salmon Life Cycle.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, http://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/the-salmon-life-cycle.htm.

“Sockeye Salmon and Climate Change.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, http://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/sockeye-salmon-and-climate-change.

Elna The Cat (Statue)

Hi everybody! It’s Naomi, back with another short story! There’s a Short Story Contest going on right now, but this is just my story!! So anywho, let’s get into the story!!

Hi there, young ones. I’m Elna, and I’m a cat (statue). I live in a park. For about the first 235 years of my life, I was completely fine. But then came the rain. It had always RAINED, but this rain HURT.

I could feel my carefully, artistically carved features eroding away. I could feel my eyebrows eroding away first, and then came the features of my face that were deeper engraved.

With each rain, my features eroded more and more and more. OH DEAR this hurts.

This has happened to me over several centuries, and it’s still happening. Next will be my eyes, and ears, and so on, until I become simply a BLOB OF SANDSTONE.

But I’m not a blob of sandstone YET!!

Here’s how you can help me to stay a statue:

Acid rain is caused by air pollution. This air pollution could be air pollution from natural things, like volcanoes, but is also because of factories and power plants. Therefore, if you save energy, you’ll also be saving ME from acid rain!!

Sources:

Strathclyde, University of, and Ithaca College. “Can Acid Rain Kill You?” Treehugger, http://www.treehugger.com/acid-rain-overview-and-prevention-3878348.

Whetzel, Joan. “How Does Acid Rain Affect Buildings & Statues?” Sciencing, 2018, sciencing.com/acid-rain-affect-buildings-statues-22062.html.

I hope that you liked this story!!

Pomodora The Flower

Hyesle! This is Naomi. I’m doing another short story post!! There is a short story contest going on, but this is just another of mine!! 🙂 Let’s get started.

I reach my roots deeper and deeper, trying to find more water. WHY IS THERE NOT ENOUGH WATER? It used to be enough, the water that I have, but now… It’s so HOT. I need more water, more water, more water.

Oh hi! I’m Pomodora. I grow each year, and then go back to seed. It’s super fun! I’ve heard people talking about pheonixes, and I like to think about myself as one. I live anew each year! Except, unlike a pheonix, I do NOT do well in hot conditions. If I burst into flames, I’m DEAD. OK, I don’t think I’ll burst into flames. But it’s ENTIRELY possible that I won’t find water. And if I don’t find water… I die.

I finally find the water I’ve been looking for, and I thirstily bring it up from my roots. I feel like I’m bigger this year, though I don’t know why. I look around me. The ground is cracked (did we do that? The other flowers and I, I mean). That’s…. well that’s ALARMING. That is very alarming.

“Hey!” I call to Lilo, my friend, “Do you feel thirsty?”

“YES. I am SO THIRSTY. It’s this HEAT.” He replies.

“Huh. This is weird.” I wish things would go back to normal, hope we can do something about, hope that soon this terrible heat will be gone.

Thank you for reading this! I would like to point out a few things before we go on to the part of HOW TO HELP. First of all, the fact that flowers are thirsty actually might harm OUR water supply (Water goes to Ocean Heroes, By Rowan). Plants will affect you if they cannot flourish by impacting your food supply as well.

How To Help:

This how to help section was a challenge for me, so here’s what I’m going to say: To help plants like Pomodora, we all need to reduce our carbon footprint. Pomodora is suffering from the general effects of climate change.

Aria The Koala

Hello friends! Naomi here with another short story post!! This is about Aria The Koala.

Hello! I’m Aria, a 10- month- old koala. But before we talk about me, let’s talk about us koalas and our home.

We live in the Eucalyptus forests of Australia, and we had a good life eating eucalyptus leaves. We stay in our mom’s pouches for the first 8 or 9 months of our lives, and there we eat from our mom.

I just got let out of my mother’s pouch last month, and I was so excited! But we’ve been facing some problems. Our food, eucalyptus leaves, has started degrading. It’s so horrible! I wish there was something that could make it better….

But anyways, onto the BIGGEST problem and my story. Yesterday, which was a completely normal day, I saw this brightness. Huh I thought, That’s weird. Was the light getting… closer? I heard screams from the brightness. WHAT? As it got closer, I saw what it was: FIRE! I was SOOOOOOO scared, my heart beating in my chest.

I’m gonna die I’m gonna die Oh no I don’t want to die don’t make me die oh shoot I’m gonna die…. The fire came closer. I felt something hot on my paw. OUCH! I look down to see black scorch marks on my paw. EEK! And then I see a human coming in a vehicle. I’m taken away.

There, when I get to the human’s base, I’m cared for. But my paw hurts SOOOOOO much and this place is a little bit scary… and what about my home?! And MOM???!!!! I wish this had never happened. But hey, humans can do things to help us!!

How you can help Koalas like Aria and her home:

• PLANT A TREE! One tree planted has trees you can pay to get planted in Australia! This will help the forest and wildlife!
• Be careful of where your tree-products come from. Make sure they are sustainably sourced!!
• Reduce your carbon footprint! A lot of the reason that their are wildfires in Australia is due to Climate Change, which is why I have put this story on our blog!
• Spread the word! If you have Social Media, share posts from koala organizations with your friends!

Note:
Are you really passionate about saving animals? Do you want to do EVEN MORE for the koalas? You can join The Valley Animal Protectors, who help animals!

Thanks for reading!
Please like this post if you liked it, and tell me if you have any ideas for stories! Thanks again!

-Naomi

Árvore The Brazilian Nut Tree

Hello everyone! I’m writing in purple so you can distinguish this message from the rest of the post. 🙂 I’m trying out a new post style: Short stories. These short stories will be about life of an organism (a plant or animal) who has encountered either climate change, logging, or something else like that, and then how you can help them with their problem! Please comment on this post after reading this and tell me if you like this style, or if you prefer the normal post style!! Thanks!

-Naomi

Hi! I’m  Árvore, and I’m a 102-year-old Brazilian Nut Tree! I live in the Amazon Rainforest, and I have a really sad story. But before we dive in, let me tell you about my species!

We live in the Amazon Rainforest, and we reach heights of over 160 feet! We have fruit that has a shell SO hard that only one animal you humans know of can crack it open, and that is the agouti!

My home, the Amazon Rainforest, is often called the lungs of the earth… here, we supply lots of oxygen to the rest of the earth (though not the 20% you humans seem to think we do… however, The Amazon Rainforest is super important!).

OK, on to my story.

One day, on a day just like any day, I heard a rumbling. What was it? I was SO confused. Not scared, of course, because what would hurt us?

But soon I would be scared. As the cause of the rumbling came into sight, I saw humans, and a truck, and a giant blade. The humans came out of the truck with the blade and started cutting down my friends and family!!!!! Thump, thump. They screamed as they fell. NO! I thought. NO! This can’t be happening!

But it was. Over several days, the humans cut down almost all of my friends and family. I was left at the edge of an empty field, where, eventually, COWS started grazing. I lost my FAMILY for COWS and HUMANS!

It was really very sad. But I’ve heard that humans can help stop my story from being repeated!

How you can help Árvore and other trees like him:

• If you are using wood, avoid tropical hardwoods like Mahogany and Ipê. Avoid them unless they have been certified by The Forest Stewardship Council.
• Don’t eat as much meat, or refrain from it entirely. As in Árvore’s story, land is often cleared of trees for cattle grazing, and other animals
• Eat less palm oil. Palm oil is found in chocolate, lipstick, pizza dough, instant noodles, and much more! People cut down native trees to plant trees that produce palm oil.

Thank you so much for reading! Remember, please comment and tell me if you like this blog post style or not!! 🙂

SOURCES:

SOURCES:

“Species Profile: Brazil Nut Tree.” Rainforest Alliance, 14 Nov. 2012, www.rainforest-alliance.org/species/brazil-nut-tree.

Ash. “Amazon Rainforest Trees | Photos & Info.” Thinkjungle.com, 20 May 2013, thinkjungle.com/amazon-rainforest-trees/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2021.

“Global NGOs: Dirty Dozen Companies Driving Deforestation Must Act Now to Stop the Burning of the World’s Forests.” Amazon Watch, 2019, amazonwatch.org/news/2019/0830-dirty-dozen-companies-driving-deforestation-must-act-now-to-stop-the-burning.

EarthTalk. “How to Help Prevent Cutting down the Amazon.” Scientific American, 30 Mar. 2015, www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-help-prevent-cutting-down-the-amazon/.

WWF. “Which Everyday Products Contain Palm Oil? | Pages | WWF.” World Wildlife Fund, 2019, www.worldwildlife.org/pages/which-everyday-products-contain-palm-oil.