The Woolley Mammoth has been extinct for thousands of years, but scientists are trying to bring it back or at least a hybrid version of it back. These scientists would splice the genes of the extinct woolly mammoth with the genes of an Asian elephant to create a hybrid Woolley mammoth (Pruitt 2019). They use preserved DNA from mammoths that were in arctic ice and it was kept efficient by the cold ice. This idea is similar to what we have seen recently in the news with genetic altering in babies. The scientists argue that bringing the Woolley mammoths back would aid in the climate change crisis because they would help free carbon dioxide clumps in the artic. They would be able to “scape the environment” and large animals can “scrape away thick insulating layers of winter snow, extreme winter cold does not penetrate the soil” then there will be less carbon released (Woolly Mammoth Revival). I do not think there would be much danger to humans since they are primarily herbivores and would be living in the artic, most likely the same risk as elephants. Bringing these animals back to their native lands could potentially mess up the food chain and systems there because the animals are not adjusted to having them in their environments. The environment scaping could positively impact the land, but they will also be taking resources from other herbivores in the ecosystem. It is undeniable that they would aid in the prevention of climate change and global warming. Since the tundra’s and grasslands contain carbon more efficiently than other ecosystems, the grazing in this climate would be a powerful tool to stop global warming (Woolly Mammoth Revival). But I think global warming would also slow more efficiently if people followed protocol and rules were enforced to help protect the planet.
Pruitt, S. (2019, January 22). Are Scientists on the Verge of Resurrecting the Woolly Mammoth? Retrieved from https://www.history.com/news/wooly-mammoth-resurrection-cloning-genesis
WOOLLY MAMMOTH REVIVAL. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://reviverestore.org/projects/woolly-mammoth/