Mammoth Ivory

Now who said global warming was all bad? Here’s one scenario where folks are benefiting from the thaw.

From the NY Times: Ivory for the Taking, From Beasts Well Beyond Caring

The ivory in this part of the world [Siberia] comes from the remains of extinct woolly mammoths, as their remains emerge from the tundra where they have been frozen for thousands of years. It is a traditional Russian business that had all but gone extinct itself during the Soviet period, but is flourishing now.

Ivory carving, a form of scrimshaw work, has increased recently in Siberia as more material has become available to the artist.

Mr. Seliverstov recently paid $500 for about 16 pounds of mammoth ivory from a family that had stashed it in a barn for years before realizing its value.

The trade, given a lift recently by global warming, which has melted away the tundra and exposed more frozen remains, is not only legal but actually endorsed by conservationists. They note somewhat grudgingly that while the survival of elephants may be in question, it is already too late for mammoths.

Seems like a win-win-win situation for the people doing the collection of the ivory, the artists involved in producing the carving and the elephants who continue to thrive in Africa and Asia.

The business of ice age ivory, a mainstay in Siberia since the 17th century, was further helped by the international ban imposed on the elephant ivory trade in 1989. Russian exports of mammoth ivory — the only type of ivory legally imported into the United States — reached 40 tons last year, up from just 2 tons in 1989…

(h/t to the Jungle Trader who continues to highlight amazing stories.)

Every group, person, organization that is part of the "the sky is falling" doom and gloom front over looks the positives that might occur in the case of the earth warming. While this story is certainly not a major one within the realm of that scenario, it highlights just one small positive among many that the models and prognosticators conveniently overlook.