Today’s beaver news is brought to you by “SOMETHING WONDERFUL” and “SOMETHING STUPID”. Which helping would you like first? My Catholic upbringing always directs me to get the bad thing out of the way first, so let’s talk about beavers and carbon, shall we?

This is from yesterday’s phys.org, but it’s not the kind of report that gets a special beaver graphic.

Beavers have an impact on the climate

“An increase in the number of beavers has an impact on the climate since a rising water level affects the interaction between beaver ponds, water and air, as well as the carbon balance of the zone of ground closest to water,” says Petri Nummi, University Lecturer at the University of Helsinki.

Growing beaver populations have created a large number of new habitats along rivers and ponds. Beaver dams raise the water level, enabling the dissolution of the organic carbon from the soil. From beaver ponds, carbon is released to the atmosphere. Part of the carbon settles down on the bottom, ending up used by plants or transported downstream in the water.

Oh so THAT’s the problem is it! All those damn beavers releasing all that carbon by saving water for us to drink and water our crops. Forget the fossil fuel industry, lets stop all the beavers!This is my favorite paragraph. It is so rich with knowledge and precision.
urrent estimates indicate that beaver ponds range from carbon sinks to sources of carbon. Beaver ponds and meadows can fix as much as 470,000 tons of carbon per year or, alternatively, release 820,000 tons of carbon annually. Their overlapping functions as carbon sinks and sources make landscapes moulded by beavers complex.
Okay, either beaver ponds are REALLY REALLY GOOD or their REALLY REALLY BAD, and our scientists in Helsinki are hard at work flipping coins to find out which,

Alright we’ve eaten our spinach, now lets settle in for our dessert, shall we? This wonderful work is from our friends at the Miistakis Institute and Cows and Fish. It will be a great resource for handing out to agencies or officials who don’t know (or need to reminded of) their fish facts. Give this a second to load and don’t forget to check the second page because its worth it.