Advocacy
10 Strangest Defense Mechanisms In Nature
10 Strangest Defense Mechanisms In Nature We are all familiar with the biological concept of "fight or flight," according to which an animal would either turn its back on an aggressor or flee from one. Nature responds to these dangers in some fascinating ways. The top 10 animals (plus one extra) with the most unusual defenses are listed below.
By Paul Smith3 years ago in Earth
The Masked Naturalist
Hello! During the early days of the pandemic, I had the idea of doing a project called "The Masked Naturalist". For a little background, I have worked as naturalist and environmental educator for the past five years, working primarily in Minnesota, but also spending a lot of time on the West Coast as well as the desert Southwest. I was laid off for the first six months of 2020, which meant a lot of down time, and a lot of time to go out and explore in nature. During this time I had the idea of starting a blog, a website, or something to document cool nature things I have found, noticed, or seen as I have more of an experts eye, spotting things that others may not notice when walking through the woods. I decided this would be a good idea because I often feel like outdoor education and environmental education are sometimes considered a luxury and I think all people have interest in nature, and especially in light of fake news, climate crises world wide, and many of us left wondering what will become of our wild spaces, I would start putting out cool information. I want to do this because I would like to help cultivate peoples love of nature, and to see the extremely cool side of the mundane, the things we take for granted, the things you might walk past and not notice if you were hiking through your neighborhood woods.
By Michael Harrison3 years ago in Earth
The Dead and Homeless: Engines of Profit
To a certain subset of our population, the fact that nearly 90,000 rent-stabilized apartments in New York City are deliberately being left vacant while the number of people sleeping in the street balloons is not a glitch. It’s a feature. It’s the point.
By Remington Write3 years ago in Earth
While Climate Summit COP27 Will Under-Deliver, The Market Shifts Towards Sustainability Will Accelerate
Background November 2022 was named the month of sustainability given that the COP27 Climate Summit is taking place during this time. These high-level meetings, however, will not produce any breakthrough given the global recession, high inflation, and geopolitical tensions due to Russia’s war in Ukraine. There will continue to be momentum towards the 2050 decarbonization targets, but we will fall short of concrete implementation of the climate commitments to keep the temperature increase to 1.5 C.
By Andrea Zanon3 years ago in Earth
A SHARK'S TALE
Right after the Rio de Janeiro Carnival of 2022, two humpback whales went cruising down the Antarctic Circumpolar Current towards the Pacific Ocean. While on their way to Australia - from Brazil - when arriving at the South Pacific Gyre, one humpback whale, by the name of Mordor asked the other humpback whale, “Ooooooh oooooh oooooh?” The other humpback whale, named Morgoth replied, “Eeeeee eeeee eeeee!”
By Princess Rev. Nnedi Iwuchukwu, M.Msc., LMT, LMI, MMP, Yogi 3 years ago in Earth
Caged
Infinity can usually be as big as you can make it. How far can your imagination extend the world around you is the real limit of the world. For a goldfish in a fishbowl, there are two possible worlds, it can be limited by the glass, or its mind can make it as big as it wants. Bigger even than whatever reality its senses can perceive.
By Victor Chavarria3 years ago in Earth
Today’s Tribute to the Rain
Rain, rain, come my way, do not wait another day. It’s been a very dry summer and fall until now. Finally, the rain has started to fall in the last few days, and I am very grateful for all the plants, that now finally they receive the water they needed to thrive.
By Gabriella Korosi3 years ago in Earth
Is It Only A Matter Of Time Until We're On A Dry Desolate Rock
2023 is promising to be no better than 2022. How will we know? It will require us to become more aware, not letting ourselves become so bogged down we miss what’s occurring in front of us, and we will need to play a part at times. That last one is going to be the hardest. That’s because a lot of our species struggle with change.
By Jason Ray Morton 3 years ago in Earth
Human Population and Conservation
If one thinks about what broad themes unite conservationists of all stripes a few main ideas emerge. Preserve biodiversity, maintain and expand wild habitat, decrease pollution and waste. Ultimately most of these boil down to a fairly simple formula. The more we can reduce man’s footprint on the planet the better it will be for every other living thing. The easiest and most straightforward method to achieve this end would be to significantly reduce the human population of the planet. I think most people understand this at some base level and I believe it explains a lot of the negative attitudes many people instinctually express when asked their feelings on the matter. Essentially the conservationist is asking us to admit that we are the problem, we are a net negative for the health of the planet, all living things would be better off if we ceased to exist. I know that few environmentalist/conservationists would put it exactly this way though many probably believe it. In point of fact until very recently I did too.
By Everyday Junglist3 years ago in Earth
