Showing posts with label NATURE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NATURE. Show all posts
25/03/2021
What about the mushrooms we don’t notice? And how many of them are endangered?
For almost a decade, one lone mushroom was classified as an endangered species, and scientists say more could be in trouble.
When Italian botanist Giuseppe Inzenga first tasted the white ferula mushroom in 1863, he described it as one of the tastiest he had ever had.
Found primarily in Sicily’s Madonie mountain range growing in limestone and at elevations of over 1,000 feet, the prized mushroom is sold for around 50 euros for two pounds.
“This mushroom is really delicious. You can eat it raw and also cooked,” says Giuseppe Venturella, a mycologist at the University of Palermo in Sicily. He compares it to a porcini, notes that it’s rich in B vitamins, and says the best way to experience the taste is eating it raw, with a little olive oil and parmesan cheese.
Picking the mushroom is off limits in protected areas inside the Madonie National Park region, but foragers can pluck mature mushrooms, indicated by a cap with sides growing longer than three centimeters, in surrounding regions. Unlike most mushroom species, the white ferula fruits in spring, with its season lasting from April to late May.
The white ferula was the first mushroom to be recognized for the impact humans were having on its survival, and from 2006 to 2015 it was the only one of its kind to be globally recognized as endangered.
“It was so beloved by people in [Sicily] that when the numbers began to decline, it was part of popular conversation,” says Nicholas Money, a mycologist at Miami University in Ohio.
But what about the mushrooms we don’t notice? And how many of them are endangered?
“We think the true biodiversity of fungi is somewhere between one million and six million species,” says Anne Pringle, a University of Wisconsin-Madison mycologist—as fungus experts are called—and a National Geographic explorer. Yet despite their global prevalence, fungi have historically been left out of conservation initiatives.
So how do we conserve organisms we can’t see and don’t understand? And why should we try?
“Life on the planet wouldn’t exist without fungi as we know it,” says Greg Mueller, a mushroom conservation expert and the chief scientist at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Conserving them, Money says, “is an urgent concern because of their relationship with forests and trees. You can’t have the trees without the fungi…. We cannot survive without them. In terms of the health of the planet, they’re incredibly important.”
25/02/2021
Our Environment Is Collapsing Just As Severely As Our Society
I read somewhere that to really understand something is to be liberated from it. Yet, how can we liberate ourselves from our vain attempt at global progress which has, in all intents and purposes, destroyed the very place in which we live? Our world is collapsing, an implosion on a scale unimaginable just a few years ago.
As a species, we have accomplished incredible achievements in medicine, science, physics, technology and art. Men have walked on the moon and our scientists have sent spaceships to every planet in our Solar System. We seem to be capable of doing anything we want but two problems have dogged us for thousands of years: accomplishing peace and eradicating poverty.
After a history stretching back 6,000 years we have had true “eureka” moments of invention and creativity, promising a quantum leap in our development as a species, however, our environment is collapsing as is our society. Our resources are dwindling at an alarming rate. Animals, plants, fossil fuels, minerals, water, air and soil are all diminishing at an unsustainable speed while our population is increasing at a similar rate our ability to produce food is decreasing. We have a situation where nearly 8 billion people are trapped on a dying planet. Millions around the world are losing their jobs due to a pandemic and more than 50% of people who do keep their jobs in the near future, truck drivers, taxi drivers, delivery people, factory workers, receptionists, telephone help-line workers and many others will lose their jobs to artificial intelligence, (AI).
Billions of animals have been lost this year due to wildfires, drought, heat, cold, floods, disease, neglect, over-farming and natural disasters. Many billions of birds are dying around the world. Billions of fish have been overfarmed and are not being replenished which is causing a knock-on effect in our oceans causing other fish and mammals and sea birds to die of starvation.
Crops are failing on a Biblical scale around the world for the same reasons mentioned above plus, soil erosion. Farms are going bust due to Covid-19. To make matters worse, we are beginning to see huge populated areas of the world which are becoming impossible to live in, areas which for years have been heavily populated and teeming with life and vegetation. But now, for certain parts of the year at the very least, have become "unlivable," due mainly to extreme weather events such as wildfires, droughts, flooding hurricanes etc and it’s getting worse.
The population of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, insects, bees and butterflies have seen an incredible decline of almost 70% since 1970. Just stop here and wonder! Can you imagine if 70% of humans had died since 1970 with the rate increasing? Well that is about to happen to mankind and we can’t stop it and it will happen much quicker than 50 years too. Why? Because it is too late to stop the decline, we have left it too long. Hard to get your head around it, isn't it?
The Coronavirus has hit the world hard, yet, somehow, it hit the West even harder. The virus has laid the seed for a new pandemic, one which has already taken root and is quickly spreading its tentacles around the world. This new pandemic did not start in China, this pandemic started in the West, in America of all places. The new pandemic is called civil disorder and we are seeing this new pandemic spread faster than Covid-19 because people have had enough, a deep division has developed, democracy is crumbling, the left hate the right and the right hate the left, the West is on the verge of collapse.
An old friend of mine said recently, "leaders and politicians cannot fix a spiritual problem with politics.” Indeed, dark forces appear to be at work, infecting leaders and people alike, hate, anger and confusion are on an unprecedented level and rising. Violence and hatred are spewing forth from people who have been dumbed down for years, a wave of silent pent-up anger boiling up inside people and Covid-19 has brought this terrible darkness to the surface and all the time, our environment collapses just as quickly as our society. As Stephen King once wrote, “it is a done bun, can’t be undone.”
Poverty and food insecurity will hit next, millions of jobs will have gone and the hard-working people of our society, the honest people, will soon find themselves homeless and out on the streets, a “useless society.” They are the victims of Western democracy and plutocracy. Incredibly, 1% of the world's population owns more than half of the money in the world. Governments and politicians are busy lining their own pockets, banks are grossly fraudulent. Yet our banking system, fat and bloated from an 8.5 trillion-dollar bailout in 2008, paid by the very people who now need their help are sharpening their knives ready to carve up more prophets when thousands, maybe millions of people are evicted from properties which have fallen behind in payments. I read somewhere, the banks want to introduce a tax for the privilege of people working from home? Tech giants have become more powerful than governments, some of these tech leaders have a Messiah complex and are driven to changing the world with dark and dangerous ideas. If Democracy is killing the poor, well, State socialism is protecting the rich. While there should be enough for everyone, the rich are being fattened up by the undernourished. For the few, plundering the poor has become a way of life.
George Orwell once wrote:
"The further a society drifts from the truth the more it will hate those who speak it." This is what is happening here in the West. The rich and the poor have become different species. "We the people," are being plundered while the ruling elite has become the plunderers.
This inequality is best seen in a divided United States of America. Billionaires and millionaires populate cities while poor, uneducated people roam the streets in abject poverty, homeless and often shoeless, their only interest in life is to find their next high or their next drink. An obesity pandemic has hit the poverty-ridden lower class, blissfully unaware or even unable to change a lifestyle which is an early death certificate for many.
Tent cities are popping up all over the US. Many hard-working people are now living in a tent or their automobile because property and housing are now only affordable to the rich and the middle-classes.
In the beginning, it was hard for us Europeans to understand what was happening to the United States of America in 2020, however, the same problems have arrived here in our own European society. American appears to be on the verge of collapse, Europe is not too far behind. The endless videos of unrest in America's cities have become very disturbing to see, however, recent trouble in European cities tells us the problem is ingrained over here too. Tolerance appears to have become a thing of the past, almost overnight, gone forever and replaced by hate along with anger and rage.
The number of Americans who say they can’t afford enough food for themselves or their children, never mind health insurance is growing and it is likely to increase as fast as the pandemic as some government benefits expire. Advocates and experts warn that an unprecedented crush of evictions is coming, threatening millions of Americans with homelessness as the pandemic continues to spread, how far behind is Europe, time will tell.
As a species, we have accomplished incredible achievements in medicine, science, physics, technology and art. Men have walked on the moon and our scientists have sent spaceships to every planet in our Solar System. We seem to be capable of doing anything we want but two problems have dogged us for thousands of years: accomplishing peace and eradicating poverty.
After a history stretching back 6,000 years we have had true “eureka” moments of invention and creativity, promising a quantum leap in our development as a species, however, our environment is collapsing as is our society. Our resources are dwindling at an alarming rate. Animals, plants, fossil fuels, minerals, water, air and soil are all diminishing at an unsustainable speed while our population is increasing at a similar rate our ability to produce food is decreasing. We have a situation where nearly 8 billion people are trapped on a dying planet. Millions around the world are losing their jobs due to a pandemic and more than 50% of people who do keep their jobs in the near future, truck drivers, taxi drivers, delivery people, factory workers, receptionists, telephone help-line workers and many others will lose their jobs to artificial intelligence, (AI).
Billions of animals have been lost this year due to wildfires, drought, heat, cold, floods, disease, neglect, over-farming and natural disasters. Many billions of birds are dying around the world. Billions of fish have been overfarmed and are not being replenished which is causing a knock-on effect in our oceans causing other fish and mammals and sea birds to die of starvation.
Crops are failing on a Biblical scale around the world for the same reasons mentioned above plus, soil erosion. Farms are going bust due to Covid-19. To make matters worse, we are beginning to see huge populated areas of the world which are becoming impossible to live in, areas which for years have been heavily populated and teeming with life and vegetation. But now, for certain parts of the year at the very least, have become "unlivable," due mainly to extreme weather events such as wildfires, droughts, flooding hurricanes etc and it’s getting worse.
The population of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, insects, bees and butterflies have seen an incredible decline of almost 70% since 1970. Just stop here and wonder! Can you imagine if 70% of humans had died since 1970 with the rate increasing? Well that is about to happen to mankind and we can’t stop it and it will happen much quicker than 50 years too. Why? Because it is too late to stop the decline, we have left it too long. Hard to get your head around it, isn't it?
The Coronavirus has hit the world hard, yet, somehow, it hit the West even harder. The virus has laid the seed for a new pandemic, one which has already taken root and is quickly spreading its tentacles around the world. This new pandemic did not start in China, this pandemic started in the West, in America of all places. The new pandemic is called civil disorder and we are seeing this new pandemic spread faster than Covid-19 because people have had enough, a deep division has developed, democracy is crumbling, the left hate the right and the right hate the left, the West is on the verge of collapse.
An old friend of mine said recently, "leaders and politicians cannot fix a spiritual problem with politics.” Indeed, dark forces appear to be at work, infecting leaders and people alike, hate, anger and confusion are on an unprecedented level and rising. Violence and hatred are spewing forth from people who have been dumbed down for years, a wave of silent pent-up anger boiling up inside people and Covid-19 has brought this terrible darkness to the surface and all the time, our environment collapses just as quickly as our society. As Stephen King once wrote, “it is a done bun, can’t be undone.”
Poverty and food insecurity will hit next, millions of jobs will have gone and the hard-working people of our society, the honest people, will soon find themselves homeless and out on the streets, a “useless society.” They are the victims of Western democracy and plutocracy. Incredibly, 1% of the world's population owns more than half of the money in the world. Governments and politicians are busy lining their own pockets, banks are grossly fraudulent. Yet our banking system, fat and bloated from an 8.5 trillion-dollar bailout in 2008, paid by the very people who now need their help are sharpening their knives ready to carve up more prophets when thousands, maybe millions of people are evicted from properties which have fallen behind in payments. I read somewhere, the banks want to introduce a tax for the privilege of people working from home? Tech giants have become more powerful than governments, some of these tech leaders have a Messiah complex and are driven to changing the world with dark and dangerous ideas. If Democracy is killing the poor, well, State socialism is protecting the rich. While there should be enough for everyone, the rich are being fattened up by the undernourished. For the few, plundering the poor has become a way of life.
George Orwell once wrote:
"The further a society drifts from the truth the more it will hate those who speak it." This is what is happening here in the West. The rich and the poor have become different species. "We the people," are being plundered while the ruling elite has become the plunderers.
This inequality is best seen in a divided United States of America. Billionaires and millionaires populate cities while poor, uneducated people roam the streets in abject poverty, homeless and often shoeless, their only interest in life is to find their next high or their next drink. An obesity pandemic has hit the poverty-ridden lower class, blissfully unaware or even unable to change a lifestyle which is an early death certificate for many.
Tent cities are popping up all over the US. Many hard-working people are now living in a tent or their automobile because property and housing are now only affordable to the rich and the middle-classes.
In the beginning, it was hard for us Europeans to understand what was happening to the United States of America in 2020, however, the same problems have arrived here in our own European society. American appears to be on the verge of collapse, Europe is not too far behind. The endless videos of unrest in America's cities have become very disturbing to see, however, recent trouble in European cities tells us the problem is ingrained over here too. Tolerance appears to have become a thing of the past, almost overnight, gone forever and replaced by hate along with anger and rage.
The number of Americans who say they can’t afford enough food for themselves or their children, never mind health insurance is growing and it is likely to increase as fast as the pandemic as some government benefits expire. Advocates and experts warn that an unprecedented crush of evictions is coming, threatening millions of Americans with homelessness as the pandemic continues to spread, how far behind is Europe, time will tell.
16/10/2020
40% of world’s plant species at risk of extinction
Two in five of the world’s plant species are at risk of extinction as a result of the destruction of the natural world, according to an international report.
Plants and fungi underpin life on Earth, but the scientists said they were now in a race against time to find and identify species before they were lost.
These unknown species, and many already recorded, were an untapped “treasure chest” of food, medicines and biofuels that could tackle many of humanity’s greatest challenges, they said, potentially including treatments for coronavirus and other pandemic microbes.
More than 4,000 species of plants and fungi were discovered in 2019. These included six species of Allium in Europe and China, the same group as onions and garlic, 10 relatives of spinach in California and two wild relatives of cassava, which could help future-proof the staple crop eaten by 800 million people against the climate crisis.
New medical plants included a sea holly species in Texas, whose relatives can treat inflammation, a species of antimalarial Artemisa in Tibet and three varieties of evening primrose.
Plants and fungi underpin life on Earth, but the scientists said they were now in a race against time to find and identify species before they were lost.
These unknown species, and many already recorded, were an untapped “treasure chest” of food, medicines and biofuels that could tackle many of humanity’s greatest challenges, they said, potentially including treatments for coronavirus and other pandemic microbes.
More than 4,000 species of plants and fungi were discovered in 2019. These included six species of Allium in Europe and China, the same group as onions and garlic, 10 relatives of spinach in California and two wild relatives of cassava, which could help future-proof the staple crop eaten by 800 million people against the climate crisis.
New medical plants included a sea holly species in Texas, whose relatives can treat inflammation, a species of antimalarial Artemisa in Tibet and three varieties of evening primrose.
31/07/2020
Many freshwater fish species have declined by 76 percent in less than 50 years
Many freshwater fish species have declined by 76 percent in less than 50 years -- Earth Changes
Migratory freshwater fish are among the most threatened animals on the planet, a new report by a coalition of environmental organisations shows.
The global assessment, described as the first of its kind, found that populations of migratory freshwater fish have declined by 76 percent between 1970 and 2016—a higher rate of decline than both marine and terrestrial migratory species.
"We think migratory freshwater fish might be in even greater peril" than the dramatic drop the report indicates, says the report's lead author, Stefanie Deinet of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). "Adding currently missing information from tropical regions where threats of habitat loss and degradation, overexploitation, and climate change have been increasing, will surely bend the curve of loss downwards."
Migratory freshwater fish are among the most threatened animals on the planet, a new report by a coalition of environmental organisations shows.
The global assessment, described as the first of its kind, found that populations of migratory freshwater fish have declined by 76 percent between 1970 and 2016—a higher rate of decline than both marine and terrestrial migratory species.
"We think migratory freshwater fish might be in even greater peril" than the dramatic drop the report indicates, says the report's lead author, Stefanie Deinet of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). "Adding currently missing information from tropical regions where threats of habitat loss and degradation, overexploitation, and climate change have been increasing, will surely bend the curve of loss downwards."
29/07/2020
Nature conservation is "New Colonialism"
Nature conservation is "New Colonialism" - Africa "A place for white elitists to enjoy"
The ugly face of environmentalism exposed...
"Nature conservation is the new colonialism," Kenyan ecologist Mordecai Ogada told German magazine GEO.
A Kenyan biologist thinks white Europeans and Americans are using "nature conservation" for "self promotion" and have created nothing but failure in Africa.
He accuses NGOs and nature conservation organizations of creating a "permanent crisis" to justify their work and transform Africa into a place for white people to enjoy.
Dr. Ogada, who is author of The Big Conservation Lie, called nature conservation in the GEO interview "elitist, violent and often racist" and that it is a "right-wing agenda enforced with money from the left".
Instrument of power over Africa
He also refers to nature conservation scientists as "prostitutes" and NGOs as "pirates".
"Environmental protection in Africa is above all a mendacious instrument of power for him," commented GEO.
In his book, Ogada, who has worked as a biologist for NGOs for more than 18 years, compared nature conservation in Africa to apartheid because "projects are run by whites" who make all the decisions and use black researchers as window dressing, adding: "you suddenly realize that decisions are forced on you by people who are less qualified and often white."
Rules of colonial times
Dr. Ogada told GEO: "Nature conservation in Africa still follows the rules of colonial times: keep black people away from nature so that white people can enjoy it."
"White saviors" and nature conservation above all
In Kenya, because of the religious nature conservation fervor by elitists, no crime is as grave as poaching and it is the only one that leads to an immediate death penalty."
"In Kenya, we arrest robbers, kidnappers, murderers and bring them to justice. But we shoot poachers. Sometimes it happens to someone who is just walking through a protected area," he told GEO. "Nature conservation organizations spend millions to bring their romantic message to the people: the story of white saviors who save the wildlife in Africa - from the Africans."
Six gorillas more important than hundreds of Africans
Ogada also illustrates how western values are gravely out of whack, using the example of six poached gorillas at Virunga that made western headlines but not widescale killing and raping of women and children: "But the worst thing about it was that at the same time Virunga was considered one of the world's worst rape scenes. Hundreds of women were raped every day, children were killed. And none of it made the news. Just the six dead gorillas. And that is so fundamentally wrong."
NGOs in it for money, power..."no angels"
The ugly face of environmentalism exposed...
"Nature conservation is the new colonialism," Kenyan ecologist Mordecai Ogada told German magazine GEO.
A Kenyan biologist thinks white Europeans and Americans are using "nature conservation" for "self promotion" and have created nothing but failure in Africa.
He accuses NGOs and nature conservation organizations of creating a "permanent crisis" to justify their work and transform Africa into a place for white people to enjoy.
Dr. Ogada, who is author of The Big Conservation Lie, called nature conservation in the GEO interview "elitist, violent and often racist" and that it is a "right-wing agenda enforced with money from the left".
Instrument of power over Africa
He also refers to nature conservation scientists as "prostitutes" and NGOs as "pirates".
"Environmental protection in Africa is above all a mendacious instrument of power for him," commented GEO.
In his book, Ogada, who has worked as a biologist for NGOs for more than 18 years, compared nature conservation in Africa to apartheid because "projects are run by whites" who make all the decisions and use black researchers as window dressing, adding: "you suddenly realize that decisions are forced on you by people who are less qualified and often white."
Rules of colonial times
Dr. Ogada told GEO: "Nature conservation in Africa still follows the rules of colonial times: keep black people away from nature so that white people can enjoy it."
"White saviors" and nature conservation above all
In Kenya, because of the religious nature conservation fervor by elitists, no crime is as grave as poaching and it is the only one that leads to an immediate death penalty."
"In Kenya, we arrest robbers, kidnappers, murderers and bring them to justice. But we shoot poachers. Sometimes it happens to someone who is just walking through a protected area," he told GEO. "Nature conservation organizations spend millions to bring their romantic message to the people: the story of white saviors who save the wildlife in Africa - from the Africans."
Six gorillas more important than hundreds of Africans
Ogada also illustrates how western values are gravely out of whack, using the example of six poached gorillas at Virunga that made western headlines but not widescale killing and raping of women and children: "But the worst thing about it was that at the same time Virunga was considered one of the world's worst rape scenes. Hundreds of women were raped every day, children were killed. And none of it made the news. Just the six dead gorillas. And that is so fundamentally wrong."
NGOs in it for money, power..."no angels"
Ogada also doubts that the millions of dollars protect animals at all: "No. That money makes some people very rich. These organizations pay high salaries. They buy guns, ammunition, helicopters. They build up a kind of parallel government, including security agencies."
Dr. Ogada claims big nature conservation organisations create crisis to justify their work. "Nature conservation is the only area where we reward failure. They have done nothing or the wrong thing for 40 years." He tells GEO: "Nature conservation is a business. And environmentalists are no angels."
Goodall, Fossey: In it for "self-promotion"
Dr. Ogada claims big nature conservation organisations create crisis to justify their work. "Nature conservation is the only area where we reward failure. They have done nothing or the wrong thing for 40 years." He tells GEO: "Nature conservation is a business. And environmentalists are no angels."
Goodall, Fossey: In it for "self-promotion"
02/07/2020
Mushrooms are healing the earth, starting with Colorado’s forests
https://theknow.denverpost.com/2020/06/11/fungal-degredation-colorado/240382/
Through it all, one fact remains clear to Ravage, Wilson and other fungi fans: Mushrooms are one of our biggest allies if we hope to have any chance of healing the earth.
“We all know that woody debris can be decomposed by lots of different organisms,” Wilson said, “but there are no organisms on the planet that do it with the level of effectiveness and efficiency of fungi.”
Through it all, one fact remains clear to Ravage, Wilson and other fungi fans: Mushrooms are one of our biggest allies if we hope to have any chance of healing the earth.
“We all know that woody debris can be decomposed by lots of different organisms,” Wilson said, “but there are no organisms on the planet that do it with the level of effectiveness and efficiency of fungi.”
How one teaspoon of Amazon soil teems with fungal life
A teaspoon of soil from the Amazon contains as many as 1,800 microscopic life forms, of which 400 are fungi.
Largely invisible and hidden underground, the "dark matter" of life on Earth has "amazing properties", which we're just starting to explore, say scientists.
The vast majority of the estimated 3.8 million fungi in the world have yet to be formally classified.
Yet, fungi are surprisingly abundant in soil from Brazil's Amazon rainforest.
To help protect the Amazon rainforest, which is being lost at an ever-faster rate, it is essential to understand the role of fungi, said a team of researchers led by Prof Alexandre Antonelli, director of science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
"Take a teaspoon of soil and you will find hundreds or thousands of species," he said. "Fungi are the next frontier of biodiversity science."
Largely invisible and hidden underground, the "dark matter" of life on Earth has "amazing properties", which we're just starting to explore, say scientists.
The vast majority of the estimated 3.8 million fungi in the world have yet to be formally classified.
Yet, fungi are surprisingly abundant in soil from Brazil's Amazon rainforest.
To help protect the Amazon rainforest, which is being lost at an ever-faster rate, it is essential to understand the role of fungi, said a team of researchers led by Prof Alexandre Antonelli, director of science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
"Take a teaspoon of soil and you will find hundreds or thousands of species," he said. "Fungi are the next frontier of biodiversity science."
03/06/2020
Study suggests hundreds of land species near extinction
Study suggests hundreds of land species near extinction
"The ongoing sixth mass extinction may be the most serious environmental threat to the persistence of civilisation, because it is irreversible.
Thousands of populations of critically endangered vertebrate animal species have been lost in a century, indicating that the sixth mass extinction is human caused and accelerating. The acceleration of the extinction crisis is certain because of the still fast growth in human numbers and consumption rates.
In addition, species are links in ecosystems, and, as they fall out, the species they interact with are likely to go also. In the regions where disappearing species are concentrated, regional biodiversity collapses are likely occurring. Our results re-emphasise the extreme urgency of taking massive global actions to save humanity's crucial life-support systems."
"The ongoing sixth mass extinction may be the most serious environmental threat to the persistence of civilisation, because it is irreversible.
Thousands of populations of critically endangered vertebrate animal species have been lost in a century, indicating that the sixth mass extinction is human caused and accelerating. The acceleration of the extinction crisis is certain because of the still fast growth in human numbers and consumption rates.
In addition, species are links in ecosystems, and, as they fall out, the species they interact with are likely to go also. In the regions where disappearing species are concentrated, regional biodiversity collapses are likely occurring. Our results re-emphasise the extreme urgency of taking massive global actions to save humanity's crucial life-support systems."
24/05/2020
Bumblebees bite plants to make them flower early
Bumblebees bite plants to make them flower early -- Science:
Bumblebees aren't merely bumbling around our gardens. They're actively assessing the plants, determining which flowers have the most nectar and pollen, and leaving behind scent marks that tell them which blooms they've already visited.
Bumblebees aren't merely bumbling around our gardens. They're actively assessing the plants, determining which flowers have the most nectar and pollen, and leaving behind scent marks that tell them which blooms they've already visited.
Now, a new study reveals that bumblebees force plants to flower by making tiny incisions in their leaves — a discovery that has stunned bee scientists.
19/11/2019
01/10/2019
Find your calm - Facing Extinction
Facing Extinction by Catherine Ingram
Because the subject is so tragic and because it can scare or anger people, this is not an essay I ever wanted to write; it is one I would have wanted to read along the way. But the words on these pages are meant only for those who are ready for them. I offer no hope or solutions for our continuation, only companionship and empathy to you, the reader, who either knows or suspects that there is no hope or solution to be found. What we now need to find is courage.
Facing Extinction
Find your calm. In addition to wisely directing your attention, include also whatever daily activities induce greater calm in your life–walking in nature, a slow meal with loved ones or on your own, reading or listening to music, dancing, swimming–whatever your thing is, give priority to it every day. Your relaxation and calm is not an indulgence but rather a tune up for your mental and physical wellbeing, which leads to a more awake and responsive intelligence. My podcast channel called “In the Deep with Catherine Ingram” (taken directly from the public sessions I lead) regularly encourages ways to foster courage, acceptance, and calm.
Release dark visions of the future, and pace your intake of climate news. Although frightening pictures about what is to come in the future may arise in your imagination, it is best not to entertain them. It is also helpful to pace yourself in reading or watching news of climate chaos. There is a tendency, once climate catastrophe grabs the attention, to keep staring at fresh news of it as though transfixed by a plane crash in real time. Resist being constantly immersed in the increasing data of the chaos. Have a fast from the news as needed, and rest your weary mind. One of my friends periodically unplugs and walks in mountains; another unplugs and works for hours in his garden. They are both keenly aware of unfolding climate realities, with the inevitable sadness that comes with that awareness. Yet both have learned to manage and enjoy the precious time that is left, living by a Navaho ethos: “May you walk in beauty.”
Be of service. Know that whatever is to be in the future, it will feel good to be of service in whatever ways your gifts can be used and on any scale that feels right and true, whether in your personal life of family and friends or in a larger community. There is no need to keep accounts of whether your actions will someday pay off. Being of service feels good for its own sake and gives your life meaning, a sense that you are being well used, like good compost in the field of life.
Be grateful. Longevity was never a guarantee for anyone at any time of history. Whatever time is left to us, we are the lucky ones. We got to experience life, despite the overwhelming odds of that not being the case, as biologist Richard Dawkins often points out. When we think of all the times our ancestors had to thread the needle of survival and live long enough to procreate, every single lifetime, it puts into perspective how precious is this experience we are having. Gratitude for life itself becomes the appropriate response. Direct your awareness many times throughout the day to all the little things for which you are grateful. It is an open secret for inducing a calmer mind.
Give up the fight with evolution. It wins. The story about a human misstep in history, the imaginary point at which we could have taken a different route, is a pointless mental exercise. Our evolution is based on quintillions of earth motions, incremental biological adaptations, survival necessities, and human desires. We are right where we were headed all along.
Despite our having caused so much destruction, it is important to also consider the wide spectrum of possibilities that make up a human life. Yes, on one end of that spectrum is greed, cruelty, and ignorance; on the other end is kindness, compassion, and wisdom. We are imbued with great creativity, brilliant communication, and extraordinary appreciation of and talent for music and other forms of art. We cry in tenderness when we are touched by love, beauty, or loss. We cry in empathy for others’ pain. Some of us even sacrifice our lives for strangers. There is no other known creature whose spectrum of consciousness is as wide and varied as our own.
You likely know well the spectrum of human consciousness within yourself. Perhaps you have had many moments when greed or hatred overtook your mind. But it is likely you have also had many moments when you knew that love was all that ever really mattered. And in your final breaths it is likely to be all that is left of you, a cosmic story whispered only once.
As Leonard said, “It is in love that we are made; in love we disappear."
Because the subject is so tragic and because it can scare or anger people, this is not an essay I ever wanted to write; it is one I would have wanted to read along the way. But the words on these pages are meant only for those who are ready for them. I offer no hope or solutions for our continuation, only companionship and empathy to you, the reader, who either knows or suspects that there is no hope or solution to be found. What we now need to find is courage.
Facing Extinction
Find your calm. In addition to wisely directing your attention, include also whatever daily activities induce greater calm in your life–walking in nature, a slow meal with loved ones or on your own, reading or listening to music, dancing, swimming–whatever your thing is, give priority to it every day. Your relaxation and calm is not an indulgence but rather a tune up for your mental and physical wellbeing, which leads to a more awake and responsive intelligence. My podcast channel called “In the Deep with Catherine Ingram” (taken directly from the public sessions I lead) regularly encourages ways to foster courage, acceptance, and calm.
Release dark visions of the future, and pace your intake of climate news. Although frightening pictures about what is to come in the future may arise in your imagination, it is best not to entertain them. It is also helpful to pace yourself in reading or watching news of climate chaos. There is a tendency, once climate catastrophe grabs the attention, to keep staring at fresh news of it as though transfixed by a plane crash in real time. Resist being constantly immersed in the increasing data of the chaos. Have a fast from the news as needed, and rest your weary mind. One of my friends periodically unplugs and walks in mountains; another unplugs and works for hours in his garden. They are both keenly aware of unfolding climate realities, with the inevitable sadness that comes with that awareness. Yet both have learned to manage and enjoy the precious time that is left, living by a Navaho ethos: “May you walk in beauty.”
Be of service. Know that whatever is to be in the future, it will feel good to be of service in whatever ways your gifts can be used and on any scale that feels right and true, whether in your personal life of family and friends or in a larger community. There is no need to keep accounts of whether your actions will someday pay off. Being of service feels good for its own sake and gives your life meaning, a sense that you are being well used, like good compost in the field of life.
Be grateful. Longevity was never a guarantee for anyone at any time of history. Whatever time is left to us, we are the lucky ones. We got to experience life, despite the overwhelming odds of that not being the case, as biologist Richard Dawkins often points out. When we think of all the times our ancestors had to thread the needle of survival and live long enough to procreate, every single lifetime, it puts into perspective how precious is this experience we are having. Gratitude for life itself becomes the appropriate response. Direct your awareness many times throughout the day to all the little things for which you are grateful. It is an open secret for inducing a calmer mind.
Give up the fight with evolution. It wins. The story about a human misstep in history, the imaginary point at which we could have taken a different route, is a pointless mental exercise. Our evolution is based on quintillions of earth motions, incremental biological adaptations, survival necessities, and human desires. We are right where we were headed all along.
Despite our having caused so much destruction, it is important to also consider the wide spectrum of possibilities that make up a human life. Yes, on one end of that spectrum is greed, cruelty, and ignorance; on the other end is kindness, compassion, and wisdom. We are imbued with great creativity, brilliant communication, and extraordinary appreciation of and talent for music and other forms of art. We cry in tenderness when we are touched by love, beauty, or loss. We cry in empathy for others’ pain. Some of us even sacrifice our lives for strangers. There is no other known creature whose spectrum of consciousness is as wide and varied as our own.
You likely know well the spectrum of human consciousness within yourself. Perhaps you have had many moments when greed or hatred overtook your mind. But it is likely you have also had many moments when you knew that love was all that ever really mattered. And in your final breaths it is likely to be all that is left of you, a cosmic story whispered only once.
As Leonard said, “It is in love that we are made; in love we disappear."
22/08/2019
08/08/2019
23/07/2019
Lion population has declined by 50% in 25 years - only 25,000 left in Africa
Lion population has declined by 50% in 25 years - only 25,000 left in Africa -- Earth Changes
There are half as many African lions than there were 25 years ago. Conservation programs aim to protect the disappearing species by promoting human-lion cohabitation across the African savanna.
For every lion in the wild, there are 14 African elephants, and there are 15 Western lowland gorillas. There are more rhinos than lions, too.
The iconic species has disappeared from 94 percent of its historic range, which once included almost the entire African continent but is now limited to less than 1.71 million square kilometres. With fewer than an estimated 25,000 in Africa, lions are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which determines the conservation status of species.
There are half as many African lions than there were 25 years ago. Conservation programs aim to protect the disappearing species by promoting human-lion cohabitation across the African savanna.
For every lion in the wild, there are 14 African elephants, and there are 15 Western lowland gorillas. There are more rhinos than lions, too.
The iconic species has disappeared from 94 percent of its historic range, which once included almost the entire African continent but is now limited to less than 1.71 million square kilometres. With fewer than an estimated 25,000 in Africa, lions are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which determines the conservation status of species.
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