{"id":303960,"date":"2024-02-23T19:43:27","date_gmt":"2024-02-23T18:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=303960"},"modified":"2024-02-23T19:43:29","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T18:43:29","slug":"specious-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=303960","title":{"rendered":"Specious Species"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note by Kip Hansen \u2014 22 February 2024 \u2014 1600 words\/8 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are constantly bombarded by news about \u201cspecies\u201d \u2013 Endangered Species, Threatened Species, Vanishing Species, Loss of Species such as \u201cResearchers estimate that the current rate of species loss varies between 100 and 10,000 times the background extinction rate<\/strong><\/em>\u201d [ source:  Britannica Feb 15, 2024<\/a> ].   Let me clarify that:  Britannica says that the Earth is losing species<\/strong> at a rate of 100 to 50,000 species per year<\/em><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can such an impossibly wide range even be considered an \u201cestimate\u201d?  Easy!  There is no agreed upon scientific definition of what a species<\/em> is \u2013 so there can be no count either of existing species nor of species loss or extinction, in the present or in the past. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are \u2018equally good\u2019 estimates of the number of existing species:  8.7 million<\/strong>.  \u201cThat is a new, estimated total number of species on Earth\u2014the most precise calculation ever offered\u2014with 6.5 million species found on land and 2.2 million dwelling in the ocean depths.\u201d [ source<\/a> ] <\/p>\n\n\n\n

or<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs of 2021, we have identified and described<\/strong>approximately 2.13 million species.\u201c<\/strong> \u201cEstimates suggest that around 20% of described species may be undiscovered synonyms [the same species under a different name]. Adjusting for this, the actual number of described species might be closer to 1.7 million<\/strong>.\u201d  Taking into account estimates of undiscovered or undescribed species: \u201cThe true number of species remains elusive.  Estimates vary widely:  5 to 10 million eukaryotes (excluding viruses and bacteria).   Numbers exceeding 100 million or as low as 3 million.\u201d    [ source<\/a> ]  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, here\u2019s the summary of exert knowledge:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Number of Species<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

8.7 million<\/strong> or maybe 2.13 million<\/strong> or maybe 1.7 million <\/strong>or maybe 100 million<\/strong> or maybe 3 million.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of which we are reportedly losing<\/strong> between 100 to 50,000 per year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carl Zimmer<\/a>, science writer for the New York Times<\/em>, gives another view of the species issue in a recent piece \u201cWhat Is a Species, Anyway? \u2014 Some of the best known species on Earth may not be what they seem<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He touches on the number-of-species issue giving:  \u201cSo far, researchers have named about 2.3 million species, but there are millions \u2014 perhaps even billions \u2014 left to be discovered.\u201d  So, to the above summary we might have to add \u201cor maybe billions<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zimmer goes on to explain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs if this quest isn\u2019t hard enough, biologists cannot agree on what a species is. A 2021 survey found that <\/em>practicing biologists used 16 different approaches to categorizing species. Any two of the scientists picked at random were overwhelmingly likely to use different ones.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone uses the term, but no one knows what it is,\u201d said Michal Grabowski, a biologist at the University of Lodz in Poland.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debate over species is more than an academic pastime. In the current extinction crisis, scientists urgently need to take stock of the world\u2019s biological diversity.\u201d <\/em>[ NY Times as above ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Note:\u00a0 I have touched on the species problem several times here at WUWT: for instance \u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe Gray, Gray World of Wolves\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0and\u00a0 \u201cDarwin \u2014 We\u2019ve Got a Problem<\/a>\u201d ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Zimmer is not kidding about the 16 major categories of opinions that biologists hold about the definition of what constitutes a species.  In Current Biology<\/em>, Sean Stankowski and Mark Ravinet, wrote \u201cQuantifying the use of species concepts<\/a>\u201d in which they describe the \u201cspecies problem\u201d this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDozens of species concepts are currently recognized, but we lack a concrete understanding of how much researchers actually disagree and the factors that cause them to think differently. To address this, we used a survey to quantify the species problem for the first time. The results indicate that the disagreement is extensive: <\/em>two randomly chosen respondents will most likely disagree on the nature of species<\/em>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is their chart (see\u00a0the .pdf file<\/a>\u00a0for a better look):<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Why do we even think about \u201cwhat is a species?\u201d  As we started out, the world is agog about species, loss of, discovery of, rediscovery of and extinction of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governments, national and international, have been passing laws and signing treaties dealing with the protection of species deemed threatened by or endangered by extinction.  These treaties and laws require governments to protect and save these species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can we determine what to save if we don\u2019t even know what we are talking about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the United States, we have the famous (or infamous, opinions vary) Endangered Species Act<\/a> (ESA).  It is available, in all its glory, in a .pdf file available here<\/a>.   Hey, there\u2019s a law <\/em><\/strong>and any lawyer (even a poor one) will tell you that laws are required to have clear-cut definitions of terms used in that law \u2013 least they be deemed \u201cambiguous<\/a>\u201d and in danger of being invalidated by the courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, surely, the ESA defines species, right?  Let\u2019s see\u2026. Section 3. Definitions<\/a>  <\/strong>\u2014 that should have it.  Here are the pertinent points of Section 3:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(16) The term \u201cspecies\u201d includes any subspecies of fish or wildlife or plants, and any distinct population segment of any species of vertebrate fish or wildlife which interbreeds when mature.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(6) The term \u201cendangered species\u201d means any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range other than a species of the Class Insecta determined by the Secretary to constitute a pest whose protection under the provisions of this Act would present an overwhelming and overriding risk to man.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(20) The term \u201cthreatened species\u201d means any species which is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wait a minute!  Surely there is a definition of \u201cspecies\u201d other than the fact that it is meant include \u201cany subspecies of fish or wildlife or plants, and any distinct population segment of any species of vertebrate fish or wildlife which interbreeds when mature.\u201d   We get a fine definition of \u201ca subspecies or a distinct population\u201d but not the primary definition of a species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does it matter?  Don\u2019t all those taxonomists and biologists agree, at least generally, that a species is a population \u201cwhich interbreeds when mature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nope again, that is just the high-school version<\/em> (ask any A-non-I chat<\/a>) of what it a species is.  And, in the eyes of biologists, it only includes two of the 16 major divisions of species concepts according to Stankowski and  Ravinet :<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biological Species Concept I (BSCI) <\/strong>(Mayr 1942, 1995) Species are a group of interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biological Species Concept II (BSCII) <\/strong>(Coyne & Orr 2004) Species are groups of interbreeding natural populations that are substantially but not necessarily completely reproductively isolated from other such groups<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note that it does not include<\/em> the basic Darwinian definition, which is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darwinian Species Concept (DSC) <\/strong>(Jolly 2014) A species is an evolutionary lineage, or lineage segment, that is phenotypically distinguishable from all other such units and is usefully distinguished in scientific discourse.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are 13 others, found  in Stankowski\u2019s Supplemental Materials<\/a>,  for those wishing to disappear down the species rabbit hole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I suggest reading Carl Zimmer\u2019s piece in the NY Times<\/em><\/a> (this link should be good even if you don\u2019t subscribe to the Times) to see what all the fuss is about.  The Mass Extinction types are worried about what will happen if they spend their time trying to figure out what a species really is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThomas Wells, a botanist at the University of Oxford, is concerned that debates about the nature of species are slowing down the work of discovering new ones. Taxonomy is traditionally a slow process, especially for plants. It can take decades<\/a> for a new species of plant to be formally named in a scientific publication after it is first discovered. That sluggish pace is unacceptable, he said, when three out of four undescribed species of plants are already threatened with extinction<\/a><\/strong>.\u201d<\/em>  [ from NY Times \u2013 Zimmer ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Wells can know, absent a solid working definition of \u201cspecies\u201d how many of the millions, or perhaps billions, of not-yet discovered and not-yet described \u201csomethings we might decide to call species\u201d are \u201calready threatened with extinction\u201d is a mystery to me.   I might even call that opinion unscientific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accounts of the  misuse of the U.S.\u2019s ESA are widely known \u2013 like protecting the Red Wolf which is a hybrid of the Gray Wolf and Coyote<\/a> as a \u201cspecies\u201d by breeding captured animals that appeared to be Red Wolves to supplement the existing but shrinking population, rejecting those with too much wolf or too much coyote genes.  This has been going on for 50 years.   More importantly, the ESA is widely used by radical environmental groups to block development projects (like pipelines) to which they object for other unrelated reasons (see the Prebles Meadow Jumping Mouse<\/a>).  Readers can supply local examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bottom Lines:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.  The \u201cSpecies Problem\u201d is still going strong and is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.  That means that there will be those who take advantage of the ambiguity of species definitions to use the Endangered Species Act \u2013 ESA \u2013  (in the U.S.) and its international counterparts to forward other agendas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.  The U.S. ESA is intentionally so broad that it could be conceivably be stretched to demanding protection of anthropogenically created sub-populations of rare animals and plants.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.  We need pragmatic reform of the U.S. ESA and re-evaluation of international treaties concerning endangered animals and plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # # # #<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author\u2019s Comment:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have had good coverage here at WUWT<\/a> of the species problem and the so-called 6th<\/sup> Mass Extinction event from several authors including the Willis and Jim Steele.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Susan Crockford covered the Polar Bear portion of the Zimmer\/NY Times article at \u201cNY Times pushes an implausible story of polar bear evolution and what makes a species<\/a>\u201d which has just been re-posted here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Endangered Species Act is a well-meaning but poorly written and perversely implemented piece of legislation and is desperate for reform.   It lacks any boundaries for biological significance and pragmatic application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specious<\/em> means:   \u201csuperficially plausible, but actually wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are constantly bombarded by news about \u201cspecies\u201d \u2013 Endangered Species, Threatened Species, Vanishing Species, Loss of Species such as \u201cResearchers estimate that the current rate of species loss varies\u00a0between 100 and 10,000 times the background extinction rate\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":303965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"We are constantly bombarded by news about \u201cspecies\u201d \u2013 Endangered Species, Threatened Species, Vanishing Species, Loss of Species such as \u201cResearchers estimate that the current rate of species loss varies\u00a0between 100 and 10,000 times the background extinct","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691827124,691822681,691827123,691827122],"class_list":{"0":"post-303960","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-16-major-categories","9":"tag-endangered-species-act-esa","10":"tag-losing-species","11":"tag-species","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/08wl4msfqjyjy.jpg?fit=3051%2C2161&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1h4A","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":209076,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=209076","url_meta":{"origin":303960,"position":0},"title":"A \u2018Sixth Mass Extinction\u2019 Coming Up? 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The authors write: Your\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0massextinction-1.webp?fit=1024%2C513&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0massextinction-1.webp?fit=1024%2C513&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0massextinction-1.webp?fit=1024%2C513&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0massextinction-1.webp?fit=1024%2C513&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":416044,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=416044","url_meta":{"origin":303960,"position":1},"title":"Remember when they told you climate change was causing a \u2018mass extinction\u2019? 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BTW, Willis\u00a0was right.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0AQNDJTOEkiuOGrMs73KdjsZ7B3AY92HHsQaWcdPg266YWK1RX3KiM-udN0qfZwmwVw761t2sQ73GAJ35PktKrZtxcM25ldtXeIvRQOGdX7GMYm6qshCnBEMVhZ3aArxd-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C916&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0AQNDJTOEkiuOGrMs73KdjsZ7B3AY92HHsQaWcdPg266YWK1RX3KiM-udN0qfZwmwVw761t2sQ73GAJ35PktKrZtxcM25ldtXeIvRQOGdX7GMYm6qshCnBEMVhZ3aArxd-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C916&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0AQNDJTOEkiuOGrMs73KdjsZ7B3AY92HHsQaWcdPg266YWK1RX3KiM-udN0qfZwmwVw761t2sQ73GAJ35PktKrZtxcM25ldtXeIvRQOGdX7GMYm6qshCnBEMVhZ3aArxd-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C916&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0AQNDJTOEkiuOGrMs73KdjsZ7B3AY92HHsQaWcdPg266YWK1RX3KiM-udN0qfZwmwVw761t2sQ73GAJ35PktKrZtxcM25ldtXeIvRQOGdX7GMYm6qshCnBEMVhZ3aArxd-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C916&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0AQNDJTOEkiuOGrMs73KdjsZ7B3AY92HHsQaWcdPg266YWK1RX3KiM-udN0qfZwmwVw761t2sQ73GAJ35PktKrZtxcM25ldtXeIvRQOGdX7GMYm6qshCnBEMVhZ3aArxd-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C916&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":361081,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=361081","url_meta":{"origin":303960,"position":2},"title":"The US needs to stop using climate model predictions in ESA species\u00a0assessments","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/01\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"There are a lot of things wrong with the\u00a0Endangered Species Act\u00a0(ESA) \u2013 including that constitutionally, the power to regulate fish and wildlife lies with the states, not the federal government \u2013 but a worrying trend has developed where outputs of predictive climate change models (based on an assumption that human-caused\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Arctic species\"","block_context":{"text":"Arctic species","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=arctic-species"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0esactimage.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0esactimage.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0esactimage.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0esactimage.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0esactimage.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":360750,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=360750","url_meta":{"origin":303960,"position":3},"title":"The biodiversity \u201cCRISIS\u201d \u2013 What Canadians Need to Know","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/01\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Bill C-73, the Nature Accountability Bill, an Act respecting transparency and accountability in relation to certain commitments Canada has made under the Convention on Biological Diversity, was introduced into Parliament on November 22, 2021, but has not proceeded to Second Reading or Committee stage. Consequently, there has been almost no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"biological diversity\"","block_context":{"text":"biological diversity","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=biological-diversity"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-06-170018.png?fit=1078%2C913&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-06-170018.png?fit=1078%2C913&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-06-170018.png?fit=1078%2C913&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-06-170018.png?fit=1078%2C913&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Screenshot-2025-01-06-170018.png?fit=1078%2C913&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":301903,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=301903","url_meta":{"origin":303960,"position":4},"title":"Wind and Solar Slaughtering India\u2019s Iconic Bird","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"15\/02\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"By commissioning expensive and inefficient wind and solar electric generating facilities, India may have dug the grave of its own efforts to save the critically endangered great Indian bustard. Erected to avert a faux climate crisis, the so-called renewable machines and their attendant transmission lines are helping to drive one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate Alarmists\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate Alarmists","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-alarmists"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0Indian-bustard-grasslands-state-Rajasthan.webp?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0Indian-bustard-grasslands-state-Rajasthan.webp?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0Indian-bustard-grasslands-state-Rajasthan.webp?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0Indian-bustard-grasslands-state-Rajasthan.webp?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/0Indian-bustard-grasslands-state-Rajasthan.webp?fit=1200%2C836&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":317627,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=317627","url_meta":{"origin":303960,"position":5},"title":"Biden Administration tightens endangered species regs","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"14\/04\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Landowners harboring threatened or endangered species on their property will soon be facing stricter scrutiny and the possibility of tougher land-use restrictions under new Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulations released by the Biden administration April 5.","rel":"","context":"In \"Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)\"","block_context":{"text":"Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=biden-environmental-protection-agency-epa"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2ecf0ce2f-c452-453d-bccf-221bba20d74c.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2ecf0ce2f-c452-453d-bccf-221bba20d74c.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2ecf0ce2f-c452-453d-bccf-221bba20d74c.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2ecf0ce2f-c452-453d-bccf-221bba20d74c.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2ecf0ce2f-c452-453d-bccf-221bba20d74c.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=303960"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":303966,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303960\/revisions\/303966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/303965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=303960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=303960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=303960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}