The Pope and the Baobab
Google Image Recent news reports confirm that the iconic baobab, the famous African tree that can live thousands of years, reach nearly 100 feet high and grow trunks that are 32 feet in diameter, is endangered. “That’s too bad,” you might say, “but I have too many real problems to deal with. I can’t worry about a species of tree I’ve never seen or, to be honest, care much about.” Understandable maybe. But add the baobab to coral, glaciers, polar bears, the Dead Sea, the Everglades, emperor penguins, the Bengal and Indochinese tigers, the black rhino, the Amur leopard, the Eastern and Western Lowland and Mountain gorillas, the orangutan and chimpanzee, the African wild dog, the Bluefin tuna, and many other natural wonders to the long list of the endangered and you may be more interested. What's It Good For? But maybe you’re interested only in so far as endangered things and species “affect humans.” Well, let’s go back to the baobab. According to the periodical, Scient...