Watch out! It's the "man-eater" Great white shark! / Credit: Jurek Biegus via Flickr

It’s Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, which means more terrifying depictions of the “man-eating” beast that the public fears to no end. But all true conservationists, like January Jones, know that in reality, sharks should be afraid of us. As many as 73 million are killed each year, many simply for their fins to make shark fin soup.

The azure Spix's Macaw, now extinct in the wild, most likely due to the illegal pet trade / Credit: Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots

Did you know that President William McKinley had a parrot named “Washington Post?” The parrot trend has certainly persisted through time—there are more than 40 million kept as pets in the U.S. alone. While it makes sense that these intelligent and bejeweled animals would make excellent pets, it’s anything but sensible when the illegal animal trade threatens biodiversity and accelerates extinction.

 
What problems do your city face? Credit: NRDC

Do you dwell in a city? If so, do the words ‘rising sea levels,’ ‘storm surges,’ ‘drought,’ and ‘erosion,’ make you nervous? Well apparently they concern the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In a report released earlier today, researchers from the NRDC identified the water-related issues that twelve cities around the U.S. face, including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Did yours make the cut?

If this elephant has tuberculosis, this circus performer better be careful / by Marie's Shots via Flickr
How can anyone who’s seen an elephant at a circus, zoo, or on the African savannah deny the allure of these gentle giants? They’re majestic, compassionate, can pass tuberculosis to humans . . . wait a minute. What? Maybe these beasts aren’t so benign after all.

A catbird caught in a mist net / photo by byard via Flickr
It’s a beautiful day and you’re a bird flying through the forest, chirping away, when suddenly—BAM! You smack headfirst into a massive net. The more you struggle, the more entangled your bony little feet and vainly struggling wings become. Congratulations, you’ve just landed in a scientist’s mist net.

Route 76 by redfalo via Flickr
If you’ve ever biked on a highway, the sound of an approaching truck can be absolutely terrifying. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a separate bike path? For bikers in Maine, New Hampshire, Alaska, and Michigan, that wish may soon be a reality. For the first time in 30 years, the Association of American State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) approved plans to add six new bike routes to—tripling the number of paths in its U.S. Bike Routes System (USBRS).