Article: 'Stunning' report finds that one-third of Earth's protected areas are being destroyed by people

Giraffes run near a drilling rig.

Turns out a large chunk of what should be the world's most protected areas are anything but. A new study reports that human activities — such as city sprawl, road construction and farming — are wreaking havoc on some 2.3 million square miles of protected land worldwide, an area about twice the size of Alaska. Forests, parks and conservation areas around the globe are all seeing human impacts, with protected areas in Asia, Europe and Africa — places with massive human populations — seeing some of the worst effects, according to the new research.

- USA Today

(not so) funny stuff

600-mile-long reef discovered at the mouth of the amazon

Oceanographer Patricia Yager has been studying the Amazon River plume—where nearly one-fifth of the world’s river water discharge gushes into the Atlantic Ocean—for the past 15 years. But even with her level of expertise, she was shocked by the discovery of a 600-mile-long reef below the murky waters off Brazil’s northern coastline, stretching from the French Guiana border to Brazil’s Maranhão state. More than 73 species of fish, spiny lobsters, sea stars, 60 species of sponges, and even invertebrate species not yet identified were discovered living along the reef, according to a study published Friday in the journal Science Advances. “‘Astounded’ is really the word,” said Yager, an associate professor of marine sciences at the University of Georgia and coauthor of the study. “It’s so muddy there, you just assume that it all ends up resting on the sea floor. There’s no way coral could survive down there, but it’s there.”

- Yahoo News

Wow! Life is nothing if not tenacious. This gives me hope for our much abused and injured planet.

video: leonardo dicaprio's bold earth day speech to united nations

BAM! I like this guy better and better all the time. Universe, I would love to have a bromance with Mr. Leonardo.

save the arctic

The ocean covers two thirds of the planet, produces almost half of all the oxygen we breathe and sequesters more than a quarter of the CO2 we emit into the atmosphere. It is, in essence, the kidneys of our planet, keeping systems healthy, giving life -- and there is no way to put it on dialysis.

- Read Richard Branson's editorial

>> Sign the Save the Arctic pledge

time to do something

"We Brake 4 Climate" from What We Know on Vimeo.

"The evidence is overwhelming: levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are rising," the report says. "Temperatures are going up. Springs are arriving earlier. Ice sheets are melting. Sea level is rising. The patterns of rainfall and drought are changing. Heat waves are getting worse as is extreme precipitation. The oceans are acidifying."

The planet has warmed by about 1.4 degrees since the late 1800s as carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases have built up in the atmosphere from human activity. If emissions keep climbing, temperatures could rise another four to eight degrees over the century, the report says, pushing the climate beyond the range experienced in millions of years and increasing the odds of irreversible damage.

- Los Angeles Times 

oily evian

Think about this. Every plastic bottle we consume our water, fruit drinks, or sodas from is manufactured using an amount of petroleum equivalent to one third the volume of the container. I learned this little "CNN Factoid" today. Suddenly makes your Evian® taste oily, doesn't it?

it's snowing in roatan!

Not really, but we're slowly covering the roofs of all buildings on Paya Bay's property with a special roof sealant/reflectant purported by its manufacturers to reflect 98% of the sun's heat energy. This rather expensive but eco-positive project should significantly reduce the energy needed to cool our buildings, along with our energy bills and their associated carbon footprint.

flying over earth

Watch in fullscreen mode. This little five-minute video makes all the billions spent on the International Space Station worth it for me. Fantastic stuff!