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  • Hey there and welcome to Life Noggin!

  • So, the Internet has been around for a while now and it's undeniably a great tool. It

  • gives us easy access to information, allows for global communication, but most importantly...it's

  • given us an endless amount of cat pictures to scroll through on Google. I mean, just

  • look at those little faces!

  • Anyway, all jokes aside, cats are pretty important animals. Even though they may seem to be pretty

  • lazy, they actually have a major effect on your lives. To show how, let's consider

  • this: “What would happen if every cat on the Earth suddenly died?”

  • Well, let's start with the most obvious consequence. Cats are predators, as you may

  • know if you've ever received a “giftat your doorstep. In fact, each year, up to

  • 20 billion small mammals are killed by cats, including rodents and rabbits. So, if there

  • were no more cats, these small mammal populations would quickly rise.

  • But how does that affect humans? Well, let's take a look at Macquarie Island. In 2000,

  • cats were completely eradicated. After, the rabbit population drastically increased, devastating

  • much of the vegetation. Not only did the rabbits change the island's landscape, but it also

  • cost over $24 million dollars to remedy...which humans will have to pay for. Pretty cat-astrophic,

  • am I right?!

  • And then we have the rats. On some islands, cats were eradicated to protect the seabird

  • population. But, with the resulting increase in rat population, the seabirds were still

  • under attack. So, even though the cats were gone, the rats took over their job.

  • But what about your household pets? Well, one study shows that, over a ten-year period,

  • cat owners were 30% less likely to die from a heart attack compared to non-cat owners.

  • The same is probably true of dogs, but the study didn't have enough data to say anything

  • conclusively. Regardless, having a cat can help relieve stress and anxiety, so without

  • them, your risk for a heart attack may be higher.

  • So, basically what I'm saying is that cats are awesome. Without them, both our personal

  • lives, and the ecosystem may be very different.

  • What animal do you think would have the biggest affect on Earth if it were suddenly gone?

  • Leave me a comment and tweet me any pictures of your cat. I can always go for more cat

  • photos.

  • Make sure you come back every Monday for a brand new video. As always, I'm Blocko and

  • this has been Life Noggin. Don't forget to keep on thinking!

Hey there and welcome to Life Noggin!

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