Some world records provide a reason to celebrate. Not this one.
It is estimated that in the late eighteenth century, carbon
dioxide levels in the air would have been about 280 ppm (parts
per million). Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory has been measuring
atmospheric carbon dioxide levels since 1958. The carbon dioxide
reading from Mauna Loa that year was around 315 ppm. Last week,
for the first time in millions of years, the carbon dioxide
measurement at the observatory exceeded 400 ppm. In both
domestic settings and in the wild, instances in which animals
take care of other species of animals have been noted with
surprising frequency. What motivates animal-animal “adoptions?”
Author Jenny Holland’s 2011 book, Unlikely Friendships, and a
forthcoming sequel, Unlikely Loves, consider some of the
possible explanations. Instinct might play a role, since the
instinct to care for one’s own offspring is hardwired in mammals
and necessary to perpetuate the parent’s genes. The parental
instinct might be projected onto ani