The American Pika is a animal that is often pointed to as an indication of the harmful impacts of global warming. Much like the image of the polar bear clinging to an ice flow as if it were life preserver, the Pika has some very powerful images and messages that can be conveyed. Granted the Pika doesn’t have that iconic picture to pique interest, but Pikas have a a few attention-grabbing cards up their furry sleeve. Pikas are cute, not pests, industrious workers, consummate food archivists, and are essentially walking the plank to extinction.
The problem facing the American Pika is much like in a movie when a bad guy chases the protagonist to an inescapable cliff, but the Pika’s bad guy is climate warming and the cliff is the smaller and smaller available area at the peak of a mountain. The Pika has nowhere else to go once it reaches the top of the mountain.
This movement of the habitat available and appropriate for the Pika is called a range shift. The range shift and the temperature requirements for the Pika are putting their long term survival in a precarious position.
The blog looks great. I like your style of writing; it is educated but still easy to understand. I like the layout and all of the pictures and videos. You are definitely off to a great start.
ReplyDeleteGreat job Tim! This webiste is very well compartmentalized, and seems to show the plight of the pika very well. I would consider adding a little more quantitative data if it is available, but other than that I really like what you did.
ReplyDeleteOne of the better blogs I've reviewed so far! Again, kudos on the entertaining prose. The layout is effective. My suggestion would be to really nail down the biggest threat to Pikas. What about climate change? Temperature? Habitat? Inability to disperse? This would help inform what future actions should be taken to mitigate these threats. Maybe go in-depth into one of your sources, treat it as a case-study, and give your audience something really concrete to wrap their head around. Otherwise, great job! Hope you get a good grade!
ReplyDeleteI love the sense of humor in your writing. It's witty without detracting from the information. Wonderful and engaging introduction.
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