I wonder how long AP “news” writers Jennifer McDermott and Brittany Peterson worked to find a link that involved the Olympics?
Beloved Olympic mascots are color-changing critters that are vulnerable to climate change
The pair of animals chosen as mascots of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are stoats — weasel-like creatures that are at risk because of climate change. One of them is brown and the other is white, because in cold climates, the tiny animals’ fur changes from brown to white for winter, to blend in with the landscape.
However, stoats are increasingly turning white before there is any snow on the ground, leaving them vulnerable to predators — their snow-white coats amid dirt and rocks is like a target on their backs for sharp-eyed raptors.
Olympic organizers haven’t talked about that, at least not so far.
They say the mascots are meant to welcome people and communicate that these Games are infused with Italian spirit.
In other words, they aren’t interested in discussing cult business
Marco Granata, a doctoral student who researches stoats at the University of Turin in Italy, thinks the organizers are missing out on an opportunity to educate people a bit more and help this animal.
“It’s ironic because everyone now is talking about stoats, looking for stoats, but no one knows about real stoats, mostly because the Olympic committee didn’t inform the population about it,” he told The Associated Press.
No one cares, leave us the F alone. Can we just have sports?
Now, let’s talk Science. What happened with the stoats over the last 8,000 years when the climate flipped from a cool to a warm period? Did they start changing to white coats early, and eventually adapt? Do we have those comparisons to previous warm and cool periods? Because without those comparisons what the cult is saying now is meaningless.
