{"id":14907,"date":"2012-09-19T07:41:09","date_gmt":"2012-09-19T13:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=14907"},"modified":"2012-09-19T07:41:09","modified_gmt":"2012-09-19T13:41:09","slug":"cleveland-bears-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cleveland… Bears?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"black<\/a><\/p>\n

You read that right. This month, a young black bear was found in a tree outside an apartment building<\/a>. Bear populations have been expanding in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, meaning some male bears need to wander farther \u2013 say, into the lawns of Cleveland\u2019s suburbs \u2013 to stake a claim on territory.<\/p>\n

While it makes for interesting headlines on the small scale, the competing interests of humans and animals on the global scale could spell doom for wild creatures. Animals truly are one of the biggest losers as global human population shoots past 7 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In many parts of the world, biological diversity<\/a> is being threatened by the expansion of humans into new territory. Population growth has increased the amount of water and land needed to meet our food and energy needs. When land is cleared of trees and crops are planted, roads build and buildings erected, wildlife habitat is destroyed, and animals get crowded out. As climates change, countless plant and animal species may lose their homes in fragile ecosystems.<\/p>\n

As researchers Jeffrey K. McKee, Paul W. Sciulli, C. David Fooce and Thomas A. Waite of The Ohio State University wrote in a 2003 analysis<\/a>: \u201cAbating human population growth is a necessary, if not sufficient, step in the epic attempt to conserve biodiversity on the global scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

We added another billion people to the planet in just the past dozen years. We\u2019re witnessing the sixth great extinction in the history of our planet. The last one occurred about 65 million years ago when a great meteorite may have crashed into the Earth, dooming the dinosaurs. Today, we are the meteorite.<\/p>\n

So how do we help slow down population growth? We make sure women the world over have the ability to plan their families<\/a>. When women have access to contraception, they invariably choose to have smaller families. Smaller families have a smaller impact on the environment \u2013 and on the animals with which we share the Earth.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the tide may be turning away from greater contraceptive access. Here at home, the House this year has taken numerous votes in favor of cutting off family planning resources for women both here and abroad. And it\u2019s entirely possible that we\u2019ll see the reinstatement of the \u201cGlobal Gag Rule\u201d \u2013 which hampers reproductive health providers and hurts the world\u2019s most vulnerable populations.<\/p>\n

Remove family planning investments, and good luck keeping humans and our resources in balance.<\/p>\n

So while you\u2019re considering the impact of bears in Cleveland, keep in mind that in many places around the globe, we people are the ones making the most lasting impact. Ensuring that we\u2019re leaving enough resources for bears and other living creatures isn\u2019t just right \u2013 it\u2019s our human responsibility.<\/p>\n

John Seager is President of Population Connection<\/a>, the nation\u2019s largest grassroots population organization. He can be reached at john@popconnect.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Image credit:<\/strong> jjjj56cp<\/a> via photo pin<\/a> cc<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This month, a young black bear was found in a tree outside an apartment building in Cleveland. While it makes for interesting headlines on the small scale, the competing interests of humans and animals on the global scale could spell doom for wild creatures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":14908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,13],"tags":[3418,349,6039,8,2441,6040,888],"yoast_head":"\nBears in the City: Human Population and Biodiversity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bears in city settings... even in major metropolitan areas like Cleveland? As human population encroaches on more wild space, we'll see more urban wildlife.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bears in the City: Human Population and Biodiversity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bears in city settings... even in major metropolitan areas like Cleveland? As human population encroaches on more wild space, we'll see more urban wildlife.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sustainablog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-19T13:41:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/bear-on-a-deck.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"374\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Author\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Author\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Guest Author\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/295040e3a0f0edbacb25f149ecdda102\"},\"headline\":\"The Cleveland… Bears?\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-19T13:41:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-09-19T13:41:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/\"},\"wordCount\":488,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"bears\",\"biodiversity\",\"black bear\",\"cleveland\",\"family planning\",\"global gag rule\",\"population\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science\",\"Sustainability\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/\",\"name\":\"Bears in the City: Human Population and Biodiversity\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-19T13:41:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-09-19T13:41:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"Bears in city settings... even in major metropolitan areas like Cleveland? As human population encroaches on more wild space, we'll see more urban wildlife.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Cleveland… Bears?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/\",\"name\":\"Sustainablog\",\"description\":\"Since 2003, Sustainablog has been one of the pioneers of sustainability news online.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sustainablog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":142,\"caption\":\"Sustainablog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/295040e3a0f0edbacb25f149ecdda102\",\"name\":\"Guest Author\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cbf22ef60cba3080be1353f11cc00d9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cbf22ef60cba3080be1353f11cc00d9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Author\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/author\/guestauthor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bears in the City: Human Population and Biodiversity","description":"Bears in city settings... even in major metropolitan areas like Cleveland? As human population encroaches on more wild space, we'll see more urban wildlife.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bears in the City: Human Population and Biodiversity","og_description":"Bears in city settings... even in major metropolitan areas like Cleveland? As human population encroaches on more wild space, we'll see more urban wildlife.","og_url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/","og_site_name":"Sustainablog","article_published_time":"2012-09-19T13:41:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":374,"url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/bear-on-a-deck.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Guest Author","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Author","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/"},"author":{"name":"Guest Author","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/295040e3a0f0edbacb25f149ecdda102"},"headline":"The Cleveland… Bears?","datePublished":"2012-09-19T13:41:09+00:00","dateModified":"2012-09-19T13:41:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/"},"wordCount":488,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization"},"keywords":["bears","biodiversity","black bear","cleveland","family planning","global gag rule","population"],"articleSection":["Science","Sustainability"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/","name":"Bears in the City: Human Population and Biodiversity","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-09-19T13:41:09+00:00","dateModified":"2012-09-19T13:41:09+00:00","description":"Bears in city settings... even in major metropolitan areas like Cleveland? As human population encroaches on more wild space, we'll see more urban wildlife.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/cleveland-bears-city\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Cleveland… Bears?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/","name":"Sustainablog","description":"Since 2003, Sustainablog has been one of the pioneers of sustainability news online.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization","name":"Sustainablog","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg","width":200,"height":142,"caption":"Sustainablog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/295040e3a0f0edbacb25f149ecdda102","name":"Guest Author","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cbf22ef60cba3080be1353f11cc00d9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cbf22ef60cba3080be1353f11cc00d9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest Author"},"url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/author\/guestauthor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14907"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}