Hotels around the globe are competing for customers in a changing world that is demanding green.

So far, The Green Building Council has certified about 35  U.S. hotels “green” while over 950 office buildings already have its seal of approval. All this, however, is about to change as the race to build energy-efficient hotel buildings has begun in earnest.

A recent survey found that almost 20 percent of travelers choose properties because of hotel environmental practices including housekeeping services that only use non-toxic cleaning agents. 

Going green in the hotel industry is not just in vogue – it’s sound business to consume less energy, less water and create less waste. For instance, the Marriott’s only green-certified hotel in College Park, Md, uses 33 percent less electricity than a comparable property, but that means it can charge the same rates as rivals yet earn a far better profit.

Forward thinking decisions by management teams are taking advantage of innovative technologies and significantly reducing greenhouse gases. Moreover, hotel chains are supporting clean renewable energy industries, creating new jobs. 

IN 2008 Accor North America and its Sofitel Hotels signed an agreement with a wind energy supplier Community Energy Inc. to purchase clean, renewable, wind energy for all of its nine locations in the U.S. This laudable decision prevents two million tons of CO2 a year from being emitted or not driving 2.4 million miles. 

Fairmont has been implementing energy-saving measures for years – all front-desk computers in North America are run on wind power bought from a sustainable energy cooperative. Several of its golf courses are irrigated with recycled water and Audubon certified sanctuaries are protecting the environment by maintaining precious wildlife habitat. 

Fairmont has also partnered with the World Wildlife Fund entering its Climate Saver Program to reduce its global footprint on climate change.

In order to be certified green by the U.S. Green Building Council buildings must adhere to the Leadership Energy and Environmental Design Standards. The criteria includes: recycling construction waste, locating near mass transit, planting water-efficient landscaping, installing windows that open and using solar tubes, choosing lower-energy elevators and laundry machines, using Forest Stewardship certified wood and other recycled materials, and covering rooftops with tiles made from recycled tires or planting sedum as green roof cover.

There are currently about 80 applications for U.S. hotel projects including 7,500 hotel rooms with MGM Mirage’s $7.4 billion City Center in Las Vegas.

The leader for being the most innovative and green in the hotel sector belongs to Marriott International with over 3,000 global properties.

Marriott has partnered with Conservation International and is the first major hotel company to calculate its carbon footprint and launch an aggressive worldwide campaign to lessen its impact. 

Each year it uses 3.2 million tons of CO2 or 66 pounds per available room. To offset this they have undertaken a remarkable initiative. Marriott is protecting 1.5 million acres of endangered rainforest (because forests absorb and store CO2) in the Juma Sustainable Development Reserve in partnership with the state of Amazonas in Brazil.

As a part of Marriott’s long standing commitment to the environment they have implemented the following: Linen Reuse Program which encourages guests to reuse towels and linens and saves an average of 11 to 17 percent on hot water and sewer costs at each hotel; Re-lamp Campaign which in 2006 replaced 450,000 light bulbs with CFLs, saving 65 percent on lighting costs and energy usage in guest rooms; and replacing 400,000 showerheads and toilets with low-flow devices, reducing hot water consumption by at least 10 percent.

By 2017, over 40 Marriott’s will be outfitted with solar panels.

Marriott’s buy 47 million pens each year for their guest rooms and in partnership with BIC the pens are now made of 75 percent recycled plastic.

Over six million gallons of water are saved each year because they buy towels made by Standard Textile that are “room ready” and do not require a launder before first-time use.

Marriott buys over one million gallons of paint low in volatile organic compounds, which are safer to use, less polluting and reduces health risks.

Thirty-four of its managed golf courses throughout North America and the Caribbean are becoming certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuaries.

In 2008 the Marriott headquarters in Bethesda, Md became waste-neutral by replacing 2.5 million pieces of plastic and Styrofoam utensils with those made of potato – Spudware – sugar cane and cornstarch that biodegrade within 100 days. 

When you travel make a difference; choose a green hotel, place your towels on the racks, skip maid services for a day or two, turn off lights and the television when you leave your room, and unplug cell phone, laptop and MP3 adapters.

SAVE THE HONEYBEES http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6w-Z7XlnHI

Dr Reese Halter is a public speaker, conservation biologist and founder of the international conservation institute Global Forest Science, His most recent book is The Incomparable Honeybee and the Economics of Pollination http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Incomparable+HoneyBee+reese+halter&x=0&y=0 Contact him through http://DrReese.com

After yesterday’s post, Sea-Fever’s ISP asked us to turn the heat down a bit.

We bet you know someone who already has everything…except a harbor seal. Nice and cuddly like yesterday’s gift and free global shipping too!

If they already have a seal, that’s not a problem. The World Wildlife Fund, not to be confused with the WWE, would be happy to hitch you up with a Sea Turtle, Seahorse, Manatee, Dolphin, Humpback Whale, Beluga Whale, Whale Shark or even a Great White Shark.

Okay, so you don’t get the actual Seal, or thankfully the Great White, but there are lots of different adoption kit options that provide cool educational materials and toys for kids and at the very least you’ll get an adoption certificate suitable for framing that will impress your friends for years. Most importantly, you’ll be supporting a worthwhile cause.

The human nose is miraculous. It is a complex organ of smell. In fact, one percent of human genes are devoted to olfaction; smell was central to our evolution over the past seven million years.

The main role of smell is to protect humans from decaying foods and poisons. Foods that are indigestible tend to smell woody or musky and are made up of large molecules. Edible foods, on the other hand, have low molecular weights, which can be processed by our digestive enzymes.

The primary role of scent is not about sex.

Interestingly, the exact way the nose works; that is, the way we smell is not fully understood. Scientists know that there are receptor neurons continually shooting axons or neutral connecting wires up to the olfactory bulb – the brain’s control centre for smell.

There are at least 1,000 different receptors in the human nose that are able to distinguish between some 10,000 different molecules.

There are 112 known types of atoms. The human nose can detect most scent molecules because they are made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur.

Humans sneeze in order to shed viruses and things trying to get inside us.

When we breathe through our nose, we tend to breathe through only one side of it for a while, then for a while through the other side. The erectile tissue lining our nasal cavity only works one passage at a time. This is called the nasal cycle. 

Smell information from the right side of the nasal passage is sent to the left side of the brain and vice versa. Incidentally, when you breathe from the left nasal passage your verbal skills increase significantly. 

Women have a better sense of smell than men and it lasts longer. As humans age we experience a loss of smell. Epileptics show considerable smell loss. And loss of smell is one of the first symptoms of the onset of Parkinson’s disease.

The loss of the sense of smell is known as anosmic.

An atom is made up of a cloud of electrons frenetically orbiting a hard core of protons and neutrons. All molecules pulse with vibrations. Those vibrations are the result of the electron string holding them together. In essence, molecules act like a musical instrument. Each one emits its own unique set of vibration notes.

Until about 10 years ago, scientists believed that the human nose was able to discern the scent of a molecule based solely from its shape.

In the late 1990s a biophysicist named Dr Luca Turin put forward a theory on the way the human nose functions – it caused quit a buzz in the science community.

Turin used his obsession with perfume to redefine how the human nose functioned. He devised a scale of molecular vibration ranging between 0 and 4,000, or the number of times an electron bounced back and forth as it bonded one atom to another.  Within just a few vibrations a molecule can either smell of shoe leather or rose tea or shrimp shells.

Turin proposed that as the molecules entered the nose, electrons are met by microscopic electrical protein receptors, embedded in nasal flesh, and that the receptor holds the molecule and reads its vibration, not its shape.

Years of experimentation, tens of thousands of smells later and about a decade since the theory was first presented, it’s finally starting to be accepted. 

The scent of Tide laundry detergent, Clorox bleach, Calvin Klein, Channel, L’Oreal and Miyake all come from five huge corporations: International Flavors and Fragrances, Givaudan Roure, Firmenich, Takasago, and Symrise. It is a $25 billion per annum industry.

Armies of organic chemists create between 500 and 2,000 different new molecules at each company per year. About 20 interesting and strong molecules per company are used each year for a host of new products.

To me there is nothing as remarkable as natural scents of wild forests. My favorite pungent scent comes from the peppermint leaves of colossal montane Eucalyptus delegatensis or woollybutts of the Australian Victorian Alps.

SAVE THE HONEYBEES http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6w-Z7XlnHI

Dr Reese Halter is a conservation biologist, public speaker and founder of the international conservation institute Global Forest Science. His most recent book is The Incomparable Honeybee and the Economics of Pollination http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Incomparable+HoneyBee+reese+halter&x=0&y=0 He can be reached through http://DrReese.com

Via http://nylonmag.com/nylonblogs

Mi cartoon favorito ha sido por mucho tiempo ya BOB ESPONJA.. o mejor conocido como Spongebob Squarepants

Y que mejor colaboración que la mente maestra detrás de la casa Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, y mi amado Bob Esponja! it doesn’t get any better than this!

Especialmente porque el Tio Karl lo creó para una subasta a favor de WWF (Worlf Wildlife Fund) en Europa.
Way to go Karl <3

●●Chiar dacă apar tot mai multe date despre efectele încălzirii globale, multe confuze, un lucru e sigur. Dacă nu se vor lua măsuri urgente, atunci pământul se află în faţa unui cataclism iminent. Studiile realizate de diferite echipe de savanţi au acelaşi rezultat, însă datele diferă. Simple supoziţii sau adevăruri? Cine poate şti?

►“Arctic Climate Feedbacks”

Acesta este ultimul raport dat publicităţii de către World Wildlife Fund – WWF – cu privire la încălzirea regiunii arctice. Întocmit de cei mai buni specialişti în climatologie, raportul prezintă legăturile directe între încălzirea globală, respectiv topirea gheţarilor şi modificările la nivel global. Efectele topirii calotei glaciare sunt devastatoare. Vor afecta întreaga planeta, conform studiului. Astfel, se va accentua încălzirea globală, pierderile enorme de gheaţă vor duce la schimbarea circulaţiei atmos-ferice, modificarea vremii din zona polară şi împrejurimi. De asemenea, conform studiului WWF, în Europa şi America de Nord agricultura, pădurile şi rezervele de apă vor fi afectate; un alt efect este acela că gheţarii reţin CO2 şi metanul în cantităţi duble, iar prin procesul de topire acestea vor fi eliberate în atmosferă. Însă, scenariul este mult mai înfricoşător: situaţia nu va mai putea fi ţinută sub control multă vreme, ceea ce înseamnă că odată cu topirea rapidă a zonei glaciare vor apărea noi zone deşertice, altele vor fi inundate prin creşterea nivelului oceanului planetar, animalele şi oamenii vor deveni mai agresivi din cauza foametei. Cercetătorii susţin că ţările din Africa vor fi primele afectate de schimbă-rile climatice, impactul fiind devastator, urmând partea vestică a Americii de Nord, zona Munţilor Anzi, Peninsula Arabia, Orientul Mijlociu, Asia Centrală, dar iadul pe pământ va fi, potrivit previziunilor, din Maroc până în Egipt – unde se află deşertul Sahara. Trebuie menţionat şi faptul că ultima estimare spune că gheţarii din oceanul Artic şi calota glaciară a Groelandei au un volum de 4,4 milioane mc de apă, respectiv 2.9.

► “O nouă eră glaciară”

Chiar dacă majoritatea cercetătorilor susţin teoria încălzirii globale şi a creşterii temperaturii la nivel global, geofizicianul Phil Chapman susţine reversul acestei teorii: temperatura la nivel global a rămas neschimbată, chiar a înregistrat scăderi în ultimii 10 ani. Chapman afirma că, daca anul trecut activitatea petelor solare a atins un minim, în 2008 activitatea petelor solare nu a fost reluata, fapt care sugerează ca Pământul este pe cale sa intre într-o noua era a îngheţului.

► “Schimbarea Climei şi urmărirea gazelor de seră”

În urmă cu câteva luni, savanţii americani, de la cele mai importante 6 institute de cercetare americane, au dat publicităţii studiul intitulat “Schimbarea Climei şi urmărirea gazelor de seră”, prin care critică raportul ONU despre încălzirea globală. Rezultatele cercetărilor au fost cuprinse în 29 de pagini, conţin date şi estimări ştiinţifice, grafice de mare precizie cu privire la evoluţia – foarte probabilă – a condiţiilor de mediu în următorii 100 de ani. Dacă nu se vor lua măsuri în următorii 10 ani, previziunile climatologilor americani sunt mai drastice şi apocaliptice decât orice alt studiu, un cataclism climatic fiind inevitabil. Savanţii mai spun că realitatea despre creşterea nivelului oceanului este alta, decât cea prezentată de ONU, care spunea că va creşte vreo 40 de cm. Nivelul oceanului ar putea creşte cu 3-4 metri până la sfârşitul secolului. Mai mult peste 2 miliarde de oameni vor migra în căutarea apei, conform studiului, mari oraşe vor “deveni nelocuibile, ori pentru că vor fi inundate cu apă sărată, ori pentru că nu vor mai avea apă potabilă”. Efectele, cauzate de „schimbarea dramatică a climei, vor scăpa de sub controlul oamenilor”. Efectele de seră, precum şi alţi factori, pot duce la dispariţia a două treimi din populaţia umană, asta pentru că oamenii îşi pot găsi adăpost cu uşurinţă, astfel încât să mai trăiască cel mult o treime. James Jansen, şeful institutului Goddard şi participant la realizarea studiului, avertizează: “Indiferenţa ar putea duce la dispariţia omenirii”. ■ Bogdan Bărbieru

Renata Nascentes

Enquanto alguns líderes mundiais se encontram em conflito para escolher medidas mais favoráveis ao planeta ou contra o aquecimento global e, assim, firmar acordo com as demais nações na 15ª Conferência Mundial pelo Clima, a rede internacional World Wildlife Fund (WWF) segue firme com a campanha Vote pelo Planeta.

A iniciativa conta com a parceria da Google, que desenvolveu um aplicativo com o mesmo nome da campanha eleitoral que luta contra o aquecimento global.

A nova campanha foi organizada para ser uma eleição em que todos os indivíduos e organizações internacionais possam dar voto em favor de um planeta livre de maiores impactos causados pelas mudanças climáticas.

Além do voto, o sistema virtual oferece espaço para o público alertar os líderes mundiais sobre a importância de se tomar atitudes sensatas em nome do futuro do planeta.

Os internautas brasileiros interessados pela mobilização podem acessar o site da WWF-Brasil e participar da Vote pelo Planeta, após o preenchimento de um pequeno cadastro.

Segundo a WWF- Brasil, os internautas também estão autorizados a divulgar a campanha nas mídias sociais como Twitter, Facebook, Orkut e Blogs.

O objetivo da Vote pelo Planeta, coordenada globalmente pela rede WWF, é apresentar os votos e as mensagens do mundo todo aos chefes de Estado que vão participar da COP 15, a partir do dia sete de dezembro, em Copenhague.

“Se cada um fizer sua parte, nossas vozes se transformarão num só coro a pedir aos líderes mundiais que tomem a decisão certa em Copenhague”, afirma a secretária-geral do WWF-Brasil, Denise Hamú.

“O novo acordo global de clima não é apenas possível. É absolutamente necessário. Convidamos cada brasileiro a dar seu voto pelo planeta”, completa.

Em Copenhague, os líderes vão negociar um novo tratado internacional que deverá substituir o Protocolo de Kyoto, vigente até 2012.

O protocolo foi criado com o intuito de reduzir as emissões de CO2 e outros gases causadores do efeito estufa, mas se tornou ineficiente diante da rejeição do governo Bush ao tratado e da falta de exigências focadas nos países pobres e em desenvolvimento.

Assista abaixo o vídeo da campanha, em espanhol.

Surviving winter in the great outdoors is difficult especially when body temperature is unregulated and subjected to subfreezing temperatures. Insects and amphibians have some remarkable adaptations that enable them to successfully over-winter. 

The dangers of ice formation in insects and amphibians are similar to those of freezing in plants. Ice must be prevented from growing within cells, instead growing in a controlled fashion in spaces between cells.

Insects either allow themselves to freeze or they avoid freezing altogether. Each strategy is not without risks.

Insects that avoid freezing, like the mountain pine bark beetles, actively lower their super-cooling point, and prevent ice formation by lowering their freezing point enabling them to tolerate temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

In order to achieve this level of tolerance they select a dry hibernating site. A waxy outer layer is impermeable to water and it serves as an excellent mechanical barrier against external ice seeding. One organ within bugs that is particularly susceptible to freezing is their gut. So insects empty it, completely, before the onset of hibernation.

In order to super-cool their blood (correctly called hemolymph) they manufacture anti-freeze proteins, alcohols, sugars and even ethylene glycol (the same compound we use in our radiators). The correct mix of anti-freeze compounds blocks ice formation and prevents its growth.

Supper-cooling is a gamble. At any temperature below 32 degrees Fahrenheit the only stable state in which water can exist is solid. Any kind of disturbance for a super-cooled bug results in spontaneous flash freezing – an instant death.

The only way to avoid this risk is to promote early and gradual freezing of fluids between cells more specifically in the cell walls. And it’s a strategy used by a variety of insects, some frogs, garter snakes and hatchlings of the painted turtle.

There are four requirements in order to successfully freeze: ice growth is promoted at temperatures just beneath 32 degrees Fahrenheit; it must be restricted to spaces between cells; the total amount of body ice is limited; and cell membranes must be protected from structural damage.

The ability to create early ice formation is unique and it is undertaken by special ice-attracting proteins in fluids between cells in their walls. These proteins are manufactured in the autumn and disappear in the spring. They essentially reduce energy barriers needed to make ice and promote a lattice (just like a fence) for ice formation.

Here’s the tricky part: If ice grows unchecked (i.e. larger and larger) it will dehydrate the inside of cells. The lethal limit of ice, in a living organism, seems to be about 65 percent of total body weight. In order to control ice, once its formation is induced, freeze-tolerant organisms must also make anti-freeze proteins. Their job is to keep ice masses small.

Some bugs in the far north are so well adapted that they posses the ability to switch yearly between freezing or super-cooling!

How do insects know when to get ready for winter? Just like plants in the Northern Hemisphere insects rely on low, above freezing, air temperatures and reduced daylight hours as their cue to get ready to freeze, or barf and get on the super-cooling rollercoaster.

Land hibernating frogs, with water permeable skin, must withstand freezing. They over-winter beneath a scant cover of leaf litter under snow where they may experience subfreezing temperatures and are not able to control their body temperatures. In one of Mother Nature’s most awesome winter feats spring peepers, chorus frogs, grey tree frogs and wood fogs freeze solid and resemble a hard baseball.

They do this by initiating freezing at  minus 36 degrees Fahrenheit with high amounts of the sugar glucose (rather than alcohols that bugs use). Glucose is extremely important in protecting membranes like skin.

Very suddenly glycogen (stored glucose) in the liver is rapidly converted to glucose (sugar) and dumped quickly into the blood stream. In fact the glucose level increases 200-fold in about eight hours, until the frog becomes severely diabetic.

Not only is this risky but it becomes a race to deliver the sugar to the body tissues while freezing is progressing. A strong heart is mandatory to pump and within one minute of the first ice formation a frog’s heart beat doubles.

Within 20 hours after initial freezing 60 to 65 percent of its body water is frozen. Their heart stops, breathing ceases – the frog teeters on the edge of life. The thin litter layer and a good insulative snow cover are of paramount importance. For no frog has yet been found to survive below minus 19 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once temperatures rise in the spring, within an hour of thawing, the heart resumes beating, six hours later at 41 degrees Fahrenheit the heart rate is back to normal.

To freeze or not to freeze? It’s a question that Mother Nature has at least two exceptional answers for.

See Dr Reese in the Snow Forests of Southern California http://www.amazon.com/snow-mt-san-jacinto-california/dp/B000K985ZS/sr=1-1/qid=1168922875/ref=sr_1_1/002-1043420-2182462?ie=UTF8&s=dvd

Save the Honeybees http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6w-Z7XlnHI

Dr Reese Halter is a public speaker, conservation biologist and founder of the international conservation institute Global Forest Science. His most recent book is The Incomparable Honeybee and the Economics of Pollination http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Incomparable+HoneyBee+reese+halter&x=0&y=0  Contact him through http://DrReese.com

Nineteenth century author, naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club – John Muir called the giant Sequoia “the noblest of a noble race” for many worthy reasons.

These exquisite specimens date back to at least 150 million years ago to the Jurassic Period – a time when the great plant-eating dinosaurs ruled the land and the ocean was stocked with the great ichthyosaurs and the long-necked plesiosaurs. 

Magnificent giant Sequioas once thrived from Alaska to the Midwest, from Europe to the Orient and even in Greenland. 

Big trees, as they are affectionately known, have survived epic geologic upheavals and extreme climate changes. As a matter of fact, on Specimen Ridge in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, there’s a fossilized 26-foot Sequoia stump jutting up amongst 40 million year old volcanic debris. 

About 18 million years ago the remaining giant Sequoia populations mostly occurred in southern Idaho and western Nevada. As the climate cooled and continued to dry-out the giant Sequoia were forced to migrate southwest. They managed to expand their range west into California before the Sierra Nevada range became the formidable backbone of the state. The mountains cut-off any moisture and the eastern population of big trees perished. 

When the early settlers discovered these colossal trees they senselessly felled and abandoned them because they were simply too big and too costly to handle. To give you some idea of their stature it took four men working 22 days to fell one tree.

John Muir convinced newspaperman Colonel George W. Stewart of Visalia, Calif, to protect them.

Today, they are one of the rarest tree species in the U.S. and are scattered in about 75 groves occupying 39,500 acres, ranging in elevation between 5,000 and 7,000 feet above sea level along a 250-mile stretch of the western Sierra Nevada’s.

In order for these gargantuan trees to make a living – especially during the hot dry summers – they require at least 60 inches of precipitation, which mostly occurs from November to April as accumulated snowfall. It’s not uncommon for a 16-foot snowpack to sit on the ground. Incidentally, it’s this accumulated snowfall that provides California, the eighth mightiest economy on the globe, the most intensive agriculture system on Earth, 38 million residents and millions of tourists each year with 90 percent of the state’s water. 

So just how big do these giant trees get? If Tyrannosaurus-Rex sauntered from behind a giant Sequoia even it too would be dwarfed.

These rich-cinnamon barked beauties can easily attain 280 feet in height with 29 feet diameters. One giant Sequoia may contain more wood than an entire old growth eastern hardwood forest can grow in two acres.

Even the name Sequoia is steeped with history. Sequoyah was a brilliant Cherokee Native American who developed a written version of his people’s language. Its present botanical name Sequoiadendron giganteum translates to “the giant Sequoia tree.”

In addition to possessing an astounding trunk at its base this species exhibits very little taper as it grows towards the heavens. For instance, many old trees retain their first branches at 120 feet above the ground – diameters of trunks this high off the ground easily exceed 16 feet. And, Sequoias can live for at least 3,200 years meaning they would witness more than 1.1 million sunrises.

All the ancient trees have been named. General Sherman lives in Sequoia National Park and he’s awesome; the undisputed heavyweight champion of the tree world.

General Sherman is the largest single-stemmed tree on Earth: At 274.9 feet tall; circumference at the ground is 102.9 feet; diameter at the base is 36.4 feet; 110 feet above the ground his diameter is an astonishing 17.4 feet. His first branch occurs 129.9 feet off the ground or the equivalent of a 12-story building and it’s 7.2 feet thick rising another 127.9 feet into the sky. 

His roots occupy 91,500 cubic feet of soil and his trunk hold over 138,000 gallons of soil water. 

General Sherman is about 2,400 years old yet he’s the fastest growing tree on the globe adding the equivalent radial wood of a tree 1.5 feet thick and 62 feet tall each year!

The ecology of giant Sequoias is fascinating. They have evolved with fire, 2.5-feet thick bark, loaded with tannic acid – the same chemical used in fire extinguishers worldwide helps protect mature trees from surface fires. The fire exposes the mineral soil for falling seeds to germinate.

Douglas squirrels can cut up to 10,000 cones in a season, eating the fleshy cone scales and releasing two million seeds. Long-horned beetles also bore into the cones helping to dry them and allowing seed dispersal. 

Remarkably, one giant Sequoia can support over 150 species of insects – a self sustaining community where aphids feed on foliage and in turn green lacewings eat aphids; robber flies consume lacewings; flycatchers dine on robber flies; and hawks feast on flycatchers.

No other of the more than 80,000 kinds of trees on Earth can be repeatedly struck by 100,000,000 volts of electricity – or a bolt of lightning – and live for another millennia or two, except Sequoia.

Eventually, giant Sequoias loose their feet as soil erodes, with gigantic springtime snow-loads in their crowns, high winds and soggy soils they tumble to their demise. 

I encourage everyone – at least once in their lives – to take your family and make the pilgrimage to visit these noble trees.

See Dr Reese in Sequoia National Park http://www.amazon.com/sequoia-national-park-california-reese/dp/B000K98602/sr=1-1/qid=1168923237/ref=sr_1_1/002-1043420-2182462?ie=UTF8&s=dvd

Save the Honeybees http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6w-Z7XlnHI

Dr Reese Halter is a conservation biologist, public speaker and the founder of the international conservation institute Global Forest Science. His most recent book is The Incomparable Honeybee and the Economics of Pollination http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Incomparable+HoneyBee+reese+halter&x=0&y=0 Contact him through http://DrReese.com

Imagine that 15 percent of the world’s energy is just waiting to be harnessed from the constant ebb and flow of the ocean.

Entrepreneurs, engineers, physicists, oceanographers and now eager investors are getting behind some truly innovative technologies that are powering homes, factories, universities and hospitals.

Fathom this: wave technology is reducing greenhouse gases and moving society beyond deleterious and expensive fossil fuels.

Over 50 wave technology companies around the globe are using almost 60 years of experience with deep-sea oil platforms as they hurry to deploy wave farms. There are currently more than a half a dozen wave farms generating electricity in Europe and Australia. And at least another dozen – much larger farms  – will be operational within 24 months.

As any mariner, deep-sea oil driller, rig-worker or boat enthusiast knows – the ocean and its environment are rugged and unforgiving.

Wave farms are being located between one and a half and five kilometers from the shoreline. Utility companies are examining the sea floor, looking for strong wave climates or big consistent waves, packed with power.

British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California have hundreds of such strong wave climates. Already, Pacific Gas & Electric – the largest utility company in the U.S. – has two wave farms in Fort Bragg and Eureka, California set for construction.

By 2010 all utility companies in California must source at least 20 percent of their energy from non-fossil fuel technology, and by 2020 they must increase that stake to 30 percent.

Europe has farms positioned off Portugal and Spain with British and Scottish farms under construction. European Union laws require greenhouse gas reductions by 25 percent, beneath the 1990 levels, by 2020. 

In Europe, a number of governments have provided substantial funding for wave technologies; as a result, Britain will be the first nation to have a large-scale wave farm operational within 12 months.

Canada has the longest coastline on the planet.

So far, Canadian and U.S. Departments for Energy have not spend a dime on ocean wave technologies; yet over a billion dollars has funded nuclear fusion and space-based power with no tangible results.

Wave machines must be resilient enough to survive monster waves and gale force winds at sea. 

Farms are either anchored to the ocean floor with heavy chains or locked in place with huge concrete and steel piles.

Human ingenuity has created at least four marvelous variations of machines outfitted with turbines and pistons all with a common goal of capturing the energy of ocean waves and turning it into clean, green electricity.

A Scottish engineer and avid seaman Dr. Richard Yemm designed the Pelamis attenuator. It resembles red floating missiles – but this 150 meter-long-tube of hollow steel is hinged in three places. 

Unlike all the other wave technologies, seawater never comes into direct contact with its turbines (which spin to create electricity), the attenuator mechanics are housed in a sealed joint. As the attenuator bobs in the sea its hydraulic pistons compress, creating energy.

The Wave Dragon is the brainchild of Dane Erik Friis-Madsen. His inspiration came from observing ocean water as it passed through openings in Pacific atolls – extinct volcanoes just beneath the ocean surface. 

This 100 meter-long floating barge has two outstretched concrete and steel wings, which contains damming reservoirs. The Wave Dragon mimics an underwater volcano, as waves are pushed up and over a ramp into a man-made lagoon or reservoir. Captured water drains out, passing through about 18 openings outfitted with turbines that create electricity.

The yellow Aquabuoy point absorber was created by a Swedish team lead by Gunnar Fredrikson. The point absorber is a four meters-diameter cylinder that occupies a series of pumps that push seawater up the tube and through the turbine mounted at the top. As the seawater retreats the turbine continues to spin.

The Oscillating water column was invented the Australian Tom Denniss, and at first glance it appears like a device from a Dr Seuss book.

Denniss built this wave farm to mimic the Klama Blowhole a 30 meter-tall New South Wales geyser that shoots from an opening in the ceiling of a sea cave. As waves enter his man-made steel blowhole through a narrow opening at its submerged base, air is pushed through a hole outfitted with a turbine, which spins under pressure. As the waves recede out of the blowhole air is sucked back in the hole also causing the turbine to spin.

The race is well underway for each of these designs and many others to generate jobs and clean, green electricity. There are no problems that the fertile human mind cannot overcome.

SAVE THE HONEY BEES http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6w-Z7XlnHI

Dr Reese Halter is a public speaker and founder of the international conservation institute Global Forest Science. His latest book is The Incomparable Honey Bee http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Incomparable+HoneyBee+reese+halter&x=0&y=0 He can be contacted through http://DrReese.com

Our home Earth is an extraordinary planet. The diversity and abundance of life is breathtaking.

About 4.5 billion years ago a planet roughly the size of Mars collided with Earth. Seventy percent of Earth’s crust was thrown into outer-space, eventually coalescing to form the Moon. 

The remaining 30 percent of the original crust and its continental plates were able to move more easily. This played a crucial role in the process of evolution.

In addition, that collision knocked the Earth’s perpendicular axis onto a tilt that is roughly 23 degrees. This created varying day lengths and restricted the freezer-effect of the higher latitudes to the poles. It also enabled wet and dry seasons and lessened the extent of the world’s deserts. The tilt is responsible for the mass seasonal animal migrations. 

Earth’s distance of 93 million miles from the sun appears to be the optimal distance to support life.

Ninety percent of the world’s fresh water takes place from evaporation off the ocean – the majority of that occurs around the equator in warm tropical oceans. The remaining 10 percent comes from lakes, rivers and water released by plants.

The location of mountains has a profound effect on where that ocean moisture falls. 

Tropical rainforests occupy only three percent of Earth’s land mass yet they brim with astounding diversity. Two hundred different species of trees live in a hectare of the Amazon. 

The Amazon River carries almost one-fifth of the world’s flowing freshwater – equal to that of the next 10 biggest rivers combined. It has over 3,300 fish species – more than the entire Atlantic.

The most common pollinators in the Amazon are bees. Orchid bees travel up to 12 miles each day, searching for food, collecting and pollinating. 

Moving north or south of the equator, the zones of subtropical grasslands are bathed in warm sun but the amount of moisture is significantly reduced. There are distinct wet and dry seasons. Grasses – the most widespread land-plant, replace trees. 

Grasslands or savannahs support an amazing high number of large animals. These are some of the most efficient ecosystems on the planet. 

Grasslands range from Africa to the high steppes of the Tibetan plateau to the tall-grass pampas of South America to the prairies of North America to the frozen tundra in the Arctic.

They support 1.5 million wildebeests along East Africa’s Serengeti, 2 million gazelles on Mongolia’s steppes and almost 3 million caribou in North America’s tundra. They feed thousands of predators like lions, hyenas, wolves and eagles. 

Sandwiched between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn lie Earth’s deserts. From outer-space, astronauts can clearly see the dark red colors of Australia’s Great Sandy Desert and the remarkable different patterns of the giant Namib sand dunes.

Deserts cover about 19.3 million square miles – over one third of Earth’s land mass and they are growing.

About halfway between the tropics and poles are the temperate forests of oaks, beeches, maples, birch and aspens. Broad leaves are very efficient at trapping sunlight, but not tolerant of freezing. So these forests are deciduous and display brilliant leaf colors in the fall.

From northern California to Alaska the world’s largest temperate rainforests are conifers. The tallest trees on the face of the Earth are redwoods. Cathedral-like Sitka spruce, western hemlocks, western redcedars and Douglas-firs thrive in lush rainforests with hundreds of millions of salmon, eagles, wolves, black bears and giant grizzlies. 

Valdivian coastal rainforests of Chile and Argentina are home to the second largest temperate rainforests. There the alerce or Patagonia cypress can live for over 3,500 years. Monkey-puzzle trees thrive high in the Chilean Andes virtually unchanged since they evolved a couple hundred million years ago.

The largest contiguous forests are the boreal or taiga – Earth’s emerald crown. One third of all the trees in the world are found here. European aspen is the most widespread tree on the globe and deciduous Siberian larch can withstand minus 65 Fahrenheit.

Earth’s two poles are deep freezers. The Antarctic has an average elevation of 2300 metres with an average winter temperature of minus 65 Fahrenheit. Only lichens and two flowering plants live there. The emperor penguin is the only animal that stays throughout the winter.

The Arctic is a low-lying basin of frozen sea ice, in the winter it is covered by 5 million square miles of ice. It is home to 40 different species of mammals and 90 flowering plants.

Planet Earth is awesome.

Save the Honey Bees http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6w-Z7XlnHI

Dr Reese Halter is a public speaker, conservation biologist and founder of the international conservation institute Global Forest Science. His latest book is The Incomparable Honey Bee http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Incomparable+HoneyBee+reese+halter&x=0&y=0 He can be contacted through http://DrReese.com

Editor:

Global Warming is a scam! Watch the video to understand how evil the plan and the people behind it are. The scam started with a directive from the Club of Rome and the rest is history.

The Finns have produced a half hour documentary that debunks the computer models predicting global warming and the IPCC’s use of climate data gleaned from the land of the reindeer and the Juhannus. Finnish scientists are not happy about their data being abused by the IPCC.
Subtitles in English are provided.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for this kind of penetrating analysis and criticism on American television.

Hat tip: John McMahon

Randall Hoven adds:

Wow! I finally watched the video. Here is what I remember of what our “scientists” will do:

(1) From a set of data, choose only the data points that support their theory, and ignore the rest.
(2) Refuse to release their data to other scientists and researchers.
(3) When new data refute their thesis, completely ignore the data.
(4) Show graphs upside down, without explanation.
(5) Assume a water-vapor feedback effect in computer models that is not only wrong, but also of the wrong SIGN, compared to physical observations.

This is bad, bad, bad. This is Orwellian bad. This is “get out of the house” bad.

American Thinker

Essa campanha foi feita para a World Wildlife Fund. À medida que o papel acaba, o verde da América do Sul também vai embora, simbolizando o impacto ambiental que o uso de simples toalhas de papel é capaz de provocar, além de alertar para outros desperdícios que podem levar às mesmas consequências.

Esse anúncio utiliza o movimento da sombra no cartaz para demonstrar como o aquecimento global levará ao aumento do nível dos oceanos.

A Prolam Y&R, de Santiago, criou um enorme outdoor mostrando refugiados fugindo de uma enchente na Ásia, com dúzias de ar condicionados sobre a superfície do cartaz, que diz a seguinte frase: “O ar que esfria sua casa aquece o mundo”.

O Greenpeace utilizou a canção You Are My Sunshine, de Charles Mitchell e Jimmy Davis, para fazer esse divertido comercial, que diz algo como: “Até que a luz saia da sua bunda, use lâmpadas fluorescentes”.

So, when I came across the WWF report, Mega-Stress for Mega-Cities, featuring climate change consequences for Kolkata, it immediately caught my attention. The report analyzed 11 major Asian cities which are in the “front-line of climate change impacts”. Kolkata is ranked third on the overall vulnerability assessment. Situated at the estuary of Hoogly River on the Bay of Bengal, Kolkata, with more than 15 million people, is one of the most densely populated coastal cities of India. Being a low lying area, the city is extremely susceptible to sea level rise and storm surges which could inundate large stretches of it. It is also at risk of salt water incursion due to sea level rise and ground subsidence. Over-exploitation of ground water in and around Kolkata combined with sea water incursion has rendered subsurface ground water saline. Altered precipitation patterns and intense rainfall are leading to water run-off. Ground water is not enriched since rainwater no longer seeps underground. Alternate spells of drought and floods are predicted to lead to water scarcity and food insecurity. According to the report, the city also has a low adaptive capability to endure the impact of climate change. Sundarbans, the salt resistant mangrove forest and home to the Royal Bengal Tiger acts as a flood barrier protecting the inhabitants of Kolkata from cyclones and storm fronts. However, this UNESCO world heritage site is also under threat from sea level rise, subsidence, erosion, cyclones and human activity.

So, does all this doomsday prediction likely to make Bengali an endangered species. Gosh! No. They are determined to thrive and proliferate. Awareness of vulnerability of the city is percolating into the consciousness of Kolkatans. Recently, school children from Kolkata participated in the international day of climate action organized by “350“, the international campaign to unite the world in finding solutions to climate change crisis(350 stands for 350 parts per million, the safe upper level of atmospheric CO2).

Clinton Links Over-Population to Global Warming

Jurriaan Maessen
Infowars
November 8, 2009

What we are witnessing here is the true mindset and ambition of the globalists and their cronies, namely to reduce the world’s population, the sooner the better. As the elite often admit, the current fixation on CO2 is just a pretext in order to get the job done.

Population Control: The Eugenics Connection

Old Thinker News
June 24, 2008

Has eugenics faded away with time, or has the pseudo science morphed and cloaked itself under new auspices? Were some of the original founders of population control efforts themselves eugenicists? How and when did eugenicists shift from Galton era ideals to Malthusian population control?

Along the cliffs from Niagara Falls to the islands north of Tobermory there exists some of the world’s oldest cliff-dwelling trees. Some of those trees live within 60 miles of 7 million people in southern Ontario.

Hyperion, a redwood, is the tallest tree on Earth at 382 feet and growing. General Sherman, a Sequoia, is 277 feet tall with an astounding base of 103 feet. Not all ancient trees, however, are tall or big. Methuselah, a bristlecone pine, is the world’s oldest known living single-stemmed tree; he’s over 4,600 years old. He’s not tall or big; he’s weather beaten; he’s gnarly and near immortal.

The Niagara Escarpment is 420 miles long and made up of 400 million year old sedimentary rocks. For 130 million years the escarpment was under a Silurian Sea. Those rocks contain a rich mixture of tiny sea-dwelling animals without backbones known as invertebrates.

About 13,000 years ago the dolomitic caprock of the escarpment emerged from under the immense Wisconsinan Ice Sheet. For another 6,000 years it remained submerged under glacial Lake Algonquin. Lake levels fluctuated for thousands of years, but about 3,500 years ago the Niagara Escarpment resembled the landform seen today. 

The rock faces of the Niagara Escarpment are awesome. The maple and beech forests provide exquisite habitat for many critters. The escarpment is also a favourite destination for hikers and rock-climbers.

Until the late 1980s little was known about the eastern white cedars growing along the cliff faces.

University of Guelph botanist Professor Douglas Larson began to explore the trees growing out of shear rock faces and on ledges. What he quickly discovered was that these trees were old.

Eastern white cedars are amazing trees with a wide flexibility enabling them to live in swamps, on acidic thin soils and along cliffs. An average tree can produce in excess of 260,000 seeds in a life-time. And each tree has the ability to clone itself by rooting a branch that touches the ground. This trait protects swamp eastern white cedars when they tip-over. They don’t die easily.

As a matter of fact, Native North Americans steeped bark and needles from eastern white cedar, which provided vitamin C, and saved the French explorer Jacque Cartier and his men from survey in 1535-36. Cartier named this tree arbor vitae or the tree of life.

Native North Americans used eastern white cedars to build canoes and longhouses. The wood is highly rot resistant. They also derived many medicines from these trees. 

In 1989 Dr Larson and his newly formed Cliff Ecology Research group began to actively explore the cliff-dwelling eastern white cedars along escarpment. Led by ecologist and rock-climber Peter Kelly the group used ropes to repel cliff faces. They began to find thousand year old living, weather-beaten and in many cases upside down living eastern white cedars. 

With the assistance of Banff- and Los Angeles-based conservation institute Global Forest Science and others, Larson’s group began the formidable task of mapping the entire 700-kilometre length of cliff dwelling forests. What they discovered was extraordinary.

Along the Bruce Peninsula they found two exceptionally ancient dead trees. One tree had in tact 1,653 rings or years of growth. Some growth rings were worn away from the other tree. Kelly estimated its age to be 1,890 years.

That antiquitous eastern white cedar would easily have outpaced Canada’s oldest known living tree – a 1,693 old yellow cedar from coastal B.C.

Over the next decade Peter Kelly went on to discover the oldest living eastern white cedar on the Niagara Escarpment – he called it the Ancient One with 1,320 rings or years of growth. It was born at the time the first Buddhist temple was built.

He found other ancient upside down, twisted, deformed yet defiant survivors; he gave them names like: Octopus Tree, Water-Fall Tree and Flying Elephant Tree.

These ancient trees show no sign of ageing. They, like the near immortal bristlecones of the eastern central White Mountains of California out-grow the ground beneath them – the sedimentary rocks break down before the trees die. 

Erosion of sedimentary cliff faces and rock-falls along the Niagara Escarpment are what eventually kills the eastern white cedars. Similar to the britlecones, eastern white cedars are able to survive with as little as 10 percent living bark and thrive for centuries while hanging on literally by threads of life.

The key to long tree life is slow, at times almost imperceptible, growth. Our species has much to learn from this long-lived, persistent strategy of making haste slowly. 

The Last Stand – A Journey Through the Ancient Cliff-Face Forest of the Niagara Escarpment

Peter E.  Kelley and Douglas W. Larson

http://www.amazon.ca/Last-Stand-Journey-Cliff-Face-Escarpment/dp/1897045190

SAVE THE BEES http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6w-Z7XlnHI 

Dr Reese Halter is a public speaker, conservation biologist and founder of the international conservation institute Global Forest Science. His latest book is entitled The Incomparable Honey Bee  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Incomparable+HoneyBee+reese+halter&x=0&y=0  He can be contacted through www.DrReese.com

Plants contend with snow and cold winter temperatures with a variety of different strategies. Unlike some animals of the west, they cannot migrate to warmer environs.

Many herbaceous plants do the next best thing to migrating: they shed all of their above ground parts and seek a safe place to spend winter beneath the soil. Aspens, maples, birches, alders and other deciduous trees protect themselves from winter temperatures by dropping their leaves. Native conifers, except for larches, are evergreen and so they have internal functions or physiological adaptations that help them get through the winter months ahead.

The two most common stresses among trees and shrubs of the north country are the ability to withstand low temperatures and drying-up or desiccation.

In order to prepare for winter, leaves of Northern Hemisphere plants begin to recognize the diminishing length of daylight in August. Certain plant hormones are released to slow and then eventually stop all growth. The first frost of the autumn prepares woody plants for the impending onslaught of winter. In addition, plants experience a water stress which further prepares them for the chilly months ahead.

Trees are now able to deal with freezing temperatures and the controlled formation of ice. The exact location of ice within the tree is very important. Most of the cells within trees are non-living, because their role is to conduct water during the growing season and provide mechanical support or stability. There are, however, living cells within the roots, branches, trunk and evergreen needles which are very important for storing food and kick-starting spring growth. It’s these cells where the exact formation of ice is a life or death matter.

The initial formation of ice occurs outside the living plant cell in a small space within the cell wall. All the water that isn’t bonded to other molecules inside the cell is exported to the space in the cell wall. When ice forms in the cell wall it attracts water to its crystals. The living part of the cell is protected by an elastic cell membrane and the remaining cell sap can withstand temperatures as low as minus 67 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 55 degrees Celsius). If, for any reason, the cell membrane becomes ruptured or if too much water is exported into the cell wall the cell sap will become toxic and the cell will die.

Exposed evergreen needles face the greatest water loss problems under bright sunshine and calm winter days. The needles are warmed to above-freezing temperatures and the air is dry, creating atmospheric suction or a call for water from its needles. The tree is faced with a problem: It’s loosing water in its winterized needles and must replace it.

The trunk being darker and warming above freezing like the needles is able to supply minimal amounts of stored water from the cell walls. This becomes a tricky balancing act. On a day such as this, trees prefer even the slightest of breeze, because that cools the leaf surface and prevents any moisture loss and subsequent demand for replacement water.

Heavy snow loads, particularly on the Coastal Pacific Northwest Mountains, can cause entire trees to bend. A 40-foot Pacific silver fir can accumulate a mass of snow and ice nearly 20 inches thick, weighing 6,600 pounds or more than 3 tons.

Exposed areas are subjected to blowing ice which can remove foliage or cause freezing injury and create deep pits eventually wearing away tree bark. Mountain winds, especially during the winter, shape trees and the treeline forests. Some high elevation trees actually resemble a broomstick with windswept branches and trunks with only a mop-head or cluster of foliage at their top.

Browsing activities of mammals create further winter-stress problems for plants.

Yet despite all the harsh winter environmental conditions, our coastal, subalpine, interior and northerly forests of Western North America are hardy and able to live for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years, toughly facing months of winter.

Save the Honeybees http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6w-Z7XlnHI

Dr Reese Halter is a public speaker, conservation biologist and founder of the international conservation institute Global Forest science. His most recent book is The Incomparable Honeybee and the Economics of Pollination http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Incomparable+HoneyBee+reese+halter&x=0&y=0  Contact him through http://DrReese.com

Recently, I had a chance to spend a couple days exploring Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. It’s truly amazing to see how all the different animals use the desert to make a living.

The Sonoran Desert is spread across 106,000 square miles with about 40 percent of it in the U.S. and 60 percent in Mexico. It ranges in elevation from near sea level to over 3,300 feet along the eastern edge of Arizona. In Arizona it receives both winter and summer precipitation with an annual average of about 13 inches.

It is the most biologically diverse of the four big North American deserts. In fact, there are more than 1,000 species of solitary and social bees in the Sonoran Desert – more than anywhere else on the globe.

Being trained as a tree root physiologist I’m always curious about what’s making a living on the ground. Digger bee holes are very evident with a quarter of an inch hooked-top chimneys dotting the earth. The hooked chimneys are believed to thwart the attempts of parasitic hoverflies, who are known to flip eggs into bee holes – their eggs attach themselves to the bee eggs, once hatched they devour bee eggs.

Digger bees are solitary and the female will lay one egg with a packet of honey and pollen in up to 18 cells in one below ground nest consisting of 7 feet of tunnels.

Nearby the digger bee holes, I noticed a circular hole about an inch and a half wide covered with silk; just outside the hole were some loose barbed, dark hairs – indicating a tarantula burrow.

Tarantulas are one of the most recognized residents of the southwest desert. These nocturnal hunters often wait at their entrance holes for beetles and grasshoppers that pass by. Upon entering their hole after a night of hunting they weave silk at the den entrance. The silk has at least two purposes: It keeps the burrow dry by holding humidity and it carries vibrations down to the spider allowing it to know what’s occurring above the ground.

Tarantulas defend themselves from foxes, coyotes, raccoons and skunks by rubbing their legs against the abdomen to loosen their barbed hairs, which are designed to severely irritate the eyes or nasal cavities of predators.

White-nosed coatis, a much larger relative of the mink and closely related to raccoons, are known to grab tarantulas, roll them vigorously on the ground, dislodge their barbed hairs and then feast upon them.

In a sparse clump of grass about a miles away from the tarantula den I spotted a hole in the ground about an inch and a quarter wide, sitting nearby I waited for its occupant to surface. Soon a fierce little predator – a grasshopper mouse appeared. These diminutive yet tough critters hunt lizards, grasshoppers, beetles, scorpions and even other mice.

Grasshopper mice cooperate by raising their young and teaching them to hunt. Young mice learn how to bite the stingers off scorpions before eating them; and how to disable stink beetles – inch-long bugs that defend themselves by performing a headstand and spraying a fetid smell from their posterior.

One of the more eerie desert sounds at night is the high-pitched howl of grasshopper mice. If cornered by a predator this miniature beast will drop a runny, very smell bowel movement in a last ditch attempt to escape – an uncommon trait for a mouse.

One of the most fascinating and easily my favorite animals of the Sonoran Desert are the Couch’s Spadefoot toads. They are the largest native toads in the U.S. measuring a whopping 7 inches in length.

These incredible animals sleep for almost one year in the earth. The vibrations of the first summer thunderstorm awaken them and they burrow their way to the surface where then congregate in temporary rain pools and puddles in desert washes, irrigation canals or ponds.

Because water is so scarce in the desert they breed immediately and females lay eggs within 24 hours. Tadpoles must race to become toadlets before the ephemeral pools dry-up – from egg to toadlet in less than 14 days.

Adult Spadefoot’s are insectivores with termites being their preferred prey. An adult requires just two meals on termites, then with their hard keratinous spade-like pad on their hind legs they bury themselves in the ground. This exceptional desert dweller can live for over 10 years.

Burrowing owls are the only owl or raptor (bird of prey) to den and nest in underground digs. Excellent eyesight helps them spot predators. They prey on rodents, beetles, moths, scorpions, grasshoppers, prairie dog pups, toads, young snakes and other reptiles.

Snakes, badgers and coyotes preyed upon burrowing owls. Mature burrowing owls have developed an intriguing defense mechanism – they imitate the sound of a rattlesnake, which often frightens predators away.

Arizona’s Gila monster is one of the most unusual reptiles in the world and one of only two venomous lizards (the other is the Mexican beaded lizard) known on the globe.

Gila monsters spend 90 percent of their lives in natural crevices under boulders or rocks. 

This beauty of a beast can eat 35 percent of its body weight in one meal and store excess as fat in its tail. You can’t miss its bright black and pink coloring and beaded skin.

These shy animals release their venom by biting down on the victim with needle-sharp teeth hidden by the gums when not in use.

Gila monster venom may very well become the next blockbuster drug; currently it’s being studied by pharmaceuticals for treatment of high blood pressure that afflicts over 73 million Americans.

 Save the Honeybees http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6w-Z7XlnHI

Dr Reese Halter is a public speaker, conservation biologist and founder of the international conservation institute Global Forest Science. His most recent book is The Incomparable Honeybee and the Economics of Pollination http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Incomparable+HoneyBee+reese+halter&x=0&y=0  Contact him through http://DrReese.com

Volunteer your time to an organization you care about.  I volunteer with Puget Sound Susan G. Komen for a Cure  and I know many people who volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, their local theaters or symphony or through their churches.  If you don’t have a specific organization in mind, you can find volunteer opportunities through Volunteer Match.

Volunteer your time to those you know.  Drive an elderly neighbor to the grocery store, collect your neighbors’ mail while they’re out-of-town, join your child’s PTA, surprise your family with a home-cooked meal. 

Give money or other items.  Food banks always have wish lists.  Find out the wish list for your area and donate items on the list and/or put together a food drive at your office or in your neighborhood.  Clean out that closet and give your gently used items to Goodwill or a similar organization.  Charities, who are always struggling, are really struggling in the current recession.  If you have a little to spare, give it to an organization whose work you believe in.  My favorites?  Susan G. Komen, Heifer International, and the World Wildlife Fund.  With Heifer International’s gift catalog, you can donate outright, help fund a project or choose from a variety of animals such as ducks, geese, or water buffalo to give to a family.  If you have young children, nieces, nephews or friends, the World Wildlife Fund has a terrific program where you can “adopt” an endangered animal.  For a minimum donation of $50 you can choose to receive a stuffed animal of the species you’ve chosen to “adopt,” an adoption certificate and species information card, a photo of the animal, and a gift bag.  The stuffed animals are high-quality and super cuddly.  Over the years, I’ve given this gift to my younger sisters, my nephew and my step-daughters.  It’s been a hit every time.  

You can also check out and join Lindsey’s Give and Feel Good Challenge by doing  a little something for someone else once a day, every day until Thanksgiving (although you don’t have to stop there).

No matter what you do, the recipient will appreciate your gesture and you’ll benefit by feeling good and, apparently, prolonging your life

The indigenous Douglas and pine tree squirrels are incredible and an integral part of the web of life within coastal and interior forests of British Columbia.

Douglas squirrels are only found on the south-coast whereas pine squirrels live throughout the rest of the province. They are easily recognizable compared to the introduced eastern gray squirrels or black fox squirrels. Native British Columbia squirrels have deep reddish or chestnut coloration with white-eye rings. They are considerably smaller in size than the introduced squirrels and so the indigenous squirrels have lost some of their habitat.

Tree squirrels, as their name implies, spend a good deal of time in forest treetops. They have powerful limbs, elongated digits and sharp recurved claws. They also have flexible ankles with hind-feet that are able to rotate 180 degrees enabling them to scamper down trees head first. Ever growing front teeth, molars and powerful jaws are critical assets since their main food source is the seeds inside conifer cones.

The most distinguishing feature of a tree squirrel is its tail, which accounts for about 40 per cent of body length. Not only does the tail aid in balance when performing spectacular acrobatics, but it also assists in regulating heat loss or gain (thermoregulation). Bundles of blood vessels at the base of the tail help retain heat in the body core or dissipate it more readily.  In addition, the tail is used for communicating; its orientation and movement convey information to other squirrels and predators. It also acts as the perfect parasol protecting against sun or rain.

Male and female tree squirrels are indistinguishable from a distance. They are the same size and their thick fur is light colored on the underside and relatively dark on the upper side. The dark color provides excellent camouflage from predators above while their pale underside enables them to blend against the light colored sky.

Tree squirrels are daytime (or diurnal) creatures with magnificent eyes that are able to differentiate certain colors like reds and greens. Their black whiskers are important tactile sensory organs and their superior intelligence is ascribed to their relatively large brain.

They rely heavily, but not exclusively, on tree seed as food.  In certain years, conifers produce an abundance of cones, tree scientists call this a mast crop. Unfortunately for tree squirrels, mast crops do not occur every year, hence it’s either feast or famine and population numbers fluctuate wildly according to availability of food. This presents an energy problem for an active critter whose heart beats between 150 and 450 beats per minute and does not hibernate during the winter.

So how do tree squirrels survive winter? They are prodigious workers and hoarders of food. They harvest whole conifer cones and store them in caches (called middens) that are underground, in hollow stumps or hollowed fallen logs. They must keep the cones moist to prevent them from drying out and shedding seeds. The squirrels have even been known to store cones in streams or springs where seed remains fresh for a year or more.

After awakening from hibernation both black and grizzly bears can often be seen raiding middens in search of any remaining protein-rich tree seeds.

Not all the seeds in caches are eaten. Some germinate and eventually become mature trees.

During the spring and summer, tree squirrels will eat a variety of foods from truffles to tree bark, tree buds, sap, insects, eggs and even mice.  Goshawks, owls, martens, fishers and bobcats prey on tree squirrels.

Perhaps most significant, the presence of native tree squirrels is a barometer of a forested ecosystem’s health, especially after a disturbance such as fire, insects or logging.

Save the Honeybees http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6w-Z7XlnHI

Dr Reese Halter is a public speaker, conservation biologist and founder of the international conservation institute Global Forest Science. His most recent book is The Incomparable Honeybee and the Economics of Pollination http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Incomparable+HoneyBee+reese+halter&x=0&y=0 Contact him through http://DrReese.com

Color in the Pacific Northwest forests plays an important role in determining partnerships between plants, animals and insects. As it turns out, plants are masters at manipulating animals and insects, and they do this with their colors.

The predominant color in the forest is green from the pigment chlorophyll, which literally means green leaf. It’s such a dominant color that it masks the beautiful autumn colors of orange and yellow. They belong to a group of pigments called caratenoids, which are loaded with vitamin A. A carrot is an excellent example of this.

In the autumn when deciduous trees begin to draw back some of the nutrients stored in their leaves, chlorophyll breaks down and what is left behind are the golds of birch and oranges of poplar leaves.

The other spectacular fall color are those of the reds, coming from the third group of pigments called anthocyanins. Cool bright weather conditions cause awesome shades of red, most notably on eastern maples. In southern British Columbia and northern Washington where the autumn tends to be a little milder and cloudier, the foliage is a much duller red. However, the drier the autumn the more resplendent the red will be.

It’s the combination of reds, yellows and oranges that also make up the colors of the flowers in Pacific Northwest plants.

Flowers are beautifully colored to attract mainly insects as pollinators, as well as hummingbirds.

The flowers of Douglas-fir, alder and oak, for instance, are small and not colorful, and they rely upon wind rather than insects as their pollinators.

The colors of berries that are red or black attract some birds to act as seed dispersers. The red berries of the arbutus tree and the black berries of salmonberry are a crucial food source for migrating birds that disperse the seeds, far and wide.

Bright colors draw attention to potential seed dispersers, allow the fruit to be noticed against the green leaves and indicate ripeness of fruit.

Hummingbirds are strongly attracted to red. Bees prefer blue and yellow flowers, They can differentiate shades of white because they can detect UV radiation, which humans cannot (except when we get a sunburn).

Butterflies are attracted to bright blossoms where moths and wasps prefer duller colors. Bats, flies and beetles are not known to have preferential flower colors, rather they rely on other signals like scent to guide them to their hosts.

Color is of paramount importance for pollinating and seed dispersal. And Pacific Northwest plants are able to influence the behavior and movement of animals on which they depend. The exquisite interplay between plants and animals is crucial in the overall health and vitality of our complex forested ecosystems.

Save the HoneyBees http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6w-Z7XlnHI

Dr Reese Halter is a public speaker, conservation biologist and founder of the international conservation institute Global Forest Science. His most recent book is The Incomparable Honeybee and the Economics of Pollination http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Incomparable+HoneyBee+reese+halter&x=0&y=0 Contact him through http://DrReese.com

The first milk or colostrum produced by a mammal for its offspring is crucial for its survival. Moreover, cow or bovine colostrum offers a potent remedy to millions afflicted with diseases and cancers.

Mammals evolved to breastfeed their young. Breastfeeding for humans is natural and critical to ensure essential nutrients, antibodies and immune system enhancers necessary for a healthy life.

Children who are breastfed have higher IQs and less neurological dysfunctions compared to children who are not breast-fed. 

Infants who are breastfed are one-fifth to one-third less likely to die of sudden infant death syndrome.

And the more breast milk an infant receives during the first six months of their life, the less likely they will suffer from the two most common and troublesome childhood disorders: diarrhea and/or ear infections.

Mother’s who breastfeed have significantly lower rates of developing breast-, ovarian-, and endometrial-cancers and osteoporosis.

During the first 24 to 36 hours of a child’s life colostrum triggers at least 50 developmental processes including strengthening immune factors, which are substances that help the body fight-off the invasion of bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa and other disease causing organisms’.

Colostrum also stimulates growth factors, which are compounds that promote healing by building, maintaining and repairing bone, muscle, nerves and cartilage. It also stimulates fat metabolism, regulates protein metabolism during fasting, maintains balanced blood sugar levels, controls brain chemicals responsible for moods and promotes healing. Growth factors are also important in the anti-aging process including reducing wrinkles and keeping skin younger-looking.

Colostrum, a thick, yellow substance is produced at the end of the female’s pregnancy and is passed by her mammary glands during the first 24 to 48 hours after giving birth. Humans produce small amounts of colostrum; a cow, on the other hand, produces about 34 litres during the first 36 hours after birthing.

Humans can safely consume bovine colostrum. The molecular structure of both the immune and growth factors in bovine colostrum is very similar to human colostrum.

In fact, for thousands of years Ayurvedic physicians in India have prescribed bovine colostrum for both physical and spiritual healing.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta about 50 per cent of the antibiotics prescribed in the U.S. for outpatients are unnecessary. As a result there are a growing number of drug-resistant bacteria that pharmaceutical drugs cannot treat.

Adults, children and infants can all benefit from bovine colostrum. It significantly enhances the human immune system therefore reducing the need for incorrectly prescribed antibiotics.

Colostrum contains powerful anti-oxidants that protect the human body from damage against free radicals. Free radicals are highly charged and unbalanced molecules that pair-up with other harmful molecules, damage DNA, create more free radicals and promote cancers, aging, heart disease and more than 60 other medical conditions.

Colostrum stimulates antibodies produced by the body in the intestinal tract at a site called Peyer’s patches and these prevent diseases on the mucosal membranes and in the circulatory system. In addition, colostrum promotes antibodies in the lungs.

Colostrum offers hope and relief for people suffering from autoimmune diseases like: alopecia areata, chronic fatigue syndrome, Crohn’s disease, diabetes, fibromyalgia, hives, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, polymyalgia, rheumatica, Raynaud’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, Sjogren’s syndrome, ulcerative colitis and vasculitis.

Bovine colostrum has 10 to 20 times more immunoglobulin or antibodies compared to human colostrum. Human infants receive about half of their immunity from their mother through the placenta. Calves receive all of their initial immunity from colostrum, which explains why bovine colostrum is rich with immune factors.

Colostrum is also very high in lactoferrin an antiviral, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory protein, which defends the human body against candidiasis or yeast infections, cancers, herpes and other infections.

Colostrum contains cytokines which are chemicals involved in celluar communication, antiviral and anti-tumor activity. Cytokines are made up of substances called interleukins, which are extremely effective as an anti-inflammatory used to treat arthritis, other inflammatory disorders and some forms of cancers.

Colostrum also helps HIV/AIDS and cancer patients combat chronic diarrhea by healing their intestinal mucosa.

High-grade colostrum from free-range, non-pesticide, organic USDA (www.harvesthomeorganics.com) or New Zealand certified sources contains very small amounts of lactose, enabling lactose intolerant people the option of using this treatment.

Colostrum and wild oregano from Greece are two excellent examples of potent medicines used thousands of years ago. How many other ancient medicines are there awaiting rediscovery?

 Save the Honeybees http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6w-Z7XlnHI

Dr Reese Halter is a public speaker, conservation biologist and founder of the international conservation institute Global Forest Science.  His most recent book is The Incomparable Honey Bee and the Economics of Pollination http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Incomparable+HoneyBee+reese+halter&x=0&y=0  He can be reached through http://DrReese.com

The mighty oak is truly a remarkable tree. Oaks have sustained humans for more than six thousand years. Oaks have often been referred to as: generous, hospitable, scholarly, surveyors and long-lived.

From Vancouver to Caracas, from Miami to Dublin, from Lisbon to Jakarta and from Seoul to Tokyo there are about 425 species of oaks. Their lineage dates back some 65 million years. They are genetically rich and an incredibly flexible genus surviving geologic upheavals and many climate changes.

Oaks can tolerate fire, the onslaught of repeated insect infestations and prolonged periods of drought. And some oaks can live well past one thousand years. Within the life of an average oak tree it will grow over three million acorns – its seeds. A mature tree will support over 500 million living root tips.

Some oaks are deciduous while others are evergreen. They rely upon wind not insects or birds to spread their pollen – an ancient characteristic more common to the conifers rather than the angiosperms.

Oaks and jays have evolved together. These birds depend upon acorns as a food source. They cache them throughout the forest. Oaks depend upon jays to disseminate their seeds. Those acorns that aren’t eaten eventually become trees.

A mature oak tree can grow 121 feet (37 meters) tall supporting a crown 121 feet (37 meters) wide and provide habitat for over five thousand different species of plants, animals, insects, fungus and bacteria. Including 40 species of wasps – cynipines – that create ping-pong ball-sized growths or galls on oak branches. These wasps have been associated with oaks for the past 30 million years.

Six thousand years ago foresters discovered that when an oak is felled its root system responds by shooting up four or sometimes six new trees from the base of the cut stump. This form of natural regeneration is called coppice. Every five to 25 years it yields a new crop of trees.

The founding forestry textbook “Sylva” was written by John Evelyn in 1664 and it focused on oak trees. Essentially, foresters were trained to be in tune with the health and shape of trees just as a physician is to that of the human body.

For thousands of years people and cultures have depended upon oaks and its acorns as their staple food source. In Tunisia oak means meal-bearing tree. From Iraq to Korea to the Native Americans of California they all collected acorns, soaked them, mashed them and made cakes or soups. One mature white oak tree can throw between 302 to 500 pounds (137 to 227 kilograms) of acorns per year. Records from the early twentieth century show that Iraqis consumed more than 30 tons (27 tonnes) of this cake each year. 

Human beings learned from the woods around them. Oak forests made: roadways, frames, doors, palisades, barrels, coffins, henges, boats, tanning and ink.

Fire made human civilization possible. Charcoal – lumps of almost pure carbon – was the fuel that ended the Stone Age enabling the smelting of bronze found in iron. Charcoal is smokeless, it burns more efficiently and it burns hotter. It took, however, 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) of oak to make 1 pound (0.45 kilograms) of charcoal; an eight to one ratio. 

The role of oak was pivotal in boat building. The Vikings and their legendary long-ships were the finest, sleekest crafts ever created. Whether sailing of rowing these boats carrying 40 tons (36 tonnes) were able to arrive on foreign shores unheralded.

Later, Western European countries built huge oak boats weighing the equivalent of a 40-roomed wooden mansion. They could carry 397 tons (360 tonnes) of cargo. Those boats required wood from at least 62 acres (25 hectares) of mature oak forests. 

The greatest work of art from the European Middle Ages was the 600 tons of oak that framed the roof of Westminster Hall. Architects, engineers and scholars marvel at Hugh Herland’s use of joints, scarfs and mortise-and-tenon joints in the post, beams and arches created for King Richard II in 1397 AD. 

Ink derived from oak galls was used by Leonardo da Vinci in his notebooks, by Bach in his scores and by van Gogh in his drawings.

Today oak is used by mankind for furniture, flooring, timber frames, basketry; and the nose of every space shuttle is coated with cork, from the bark of the cork-oak tree, because it provides unparalleled heat resistant protection for the shuttle’s re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere.

The compliment “you have a heart of an oak” is a splendid tribute to this exquisite genus of trees.

See Dr Reese on the Santa Rosa Plateau, Southern California http://www.amazon.com/santa-rosa-plateau-california/dp/B000K985YE/sr=1-1/qid=1168923341/ref=sr_1_1/002-1043420-2182462?ie=UTF8&s=dvd

Dr Reese Halter is a public speaker, conservation biologist and founder of Global Forest Science. His most recent book is The Incomparable Honeybee and the Economics of Pollination http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Incomparable+HoneyBee+reese+halter&x=0&y=0  Contact him through http://DrReese.com

Story ran in the Santa Monica Daily Post Novemebr 3, 2009 http://www.smdp.com/Articles-c-2009-11-02-64287.113116_The_heart_of_the_oak.html

Help protect animals in need of food, shelter of other help. Just click on the widget at the right and follow the on-screen instructions. It is 100% free! A 3rd party company then will donate money to the WWF. The money will go to reducing the impact of greenhouse gasses and other harmful chemicals on the atmosphere. So please help by doing that.

Hotels, tourist attractions, 1,000 cities and a billion people will turn off the lights in March for Earth Hour 2009, a global environmental event organized by the World Wildlife Fund. On Saturday March 28 at 8:30 p.m., lights around the globe will go off for one hour  – Earth Hour – to draw attention to the world’s most pressing environmental issue: climate change. The Eiffel Tower will go dark, as will the Christ statue in Rio de Janeiro, Sydney’s Opera House, Table Mountain in Cape Town, the CN Tower in Toronto and Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Casino. Visit the website to learn how you can become involved.

The forests’ of the West have remarkable, yet individual, scents. Different parts of different plants emit different smells.

If a flower produces an odor, it’s usually to attract pollinators. Fragrant flowers attract bees and butterflies. Rancid flowers, which mimic the smell of carrion and feces, depend on flies and beetles to cross-pollinate. Pacific northwest skunk cabbage is a good example of a fetid smelling flower.

Some odors, on the other hand, may be protective and part of the mechanisms that plants use to discourage herbivory. And some plants produce toxic chemicals but do not produce odors – animals learn quickly to avoid these plants.

Most of the odiferous plant compounds found in flowers are so-called essential oils. They are made up of complex compounds and once released into the air they quickly evaporate.

There are about 20 different chemical groupings which make up essential oils. Those of spruce, pine and firs belong to the terpenes. The paint remover turpentine comes from terpenes. The oranges and yellows of flowers, fruits and leaves also belong to terpenes. As does latex or natural rubber, which comes from the South American rubber tree.

Certain plant parts produce scents which tree scientists do not fully understand. For example, on a hot summer afternoon, ponderosa pine bark has a mellifluous butterscotch smell. The exact reason is not known. 

Balsam poplar and black cottonwood produce a sweat honey-like smell that comes from their buds. As buds break and leaves unfurl, they are coated with a potent natural insecticide. It is no wonder that the bees collect this sticky bud substance and use it as a sealant on their hives to prevent ants from intruding. Nor should it be surprising that the poplar buds contain efficacious antiseptic properties that are excellent in fighting throat infections.

Plant fragrances and essential oils have, in fact, been exploited by humans since the time of the Egyptians. They used concoctions of tree tars, cinnamon, wood chips and cloves, among other things, to wrap and preserve dead bodies.

The Egyptians also pioneered perfume and its development more than five millennia ago. Italy and France incorporated some of this essential plant technology thousands of years later and today continued the lucrative plant based tradition of making perfume.

The most costly of pure essential plant oils is the attar of roses, produced in the Valley of Roses near Sophia, Bulgaria. Not only is it highly soothing for the central nervous system but it is an effective natural antidepressant. 

Eucalyptus essential oil has medicinal properties and is known to ward off air-borne viruses. When I travel, which I do a lot, I always place a couple drops on my hands, rub them together, and take two or three deep breathes of this strong-smelling natural tonic.

Essential oils are used in many household products from solvents, detergents, insecticides, furniture polishes, paints, paper and inkjets to pet foods.

The forests’ of the West contain an unlimited supply of goods for which scientists are just beginning to discover many different uses. When next in the forest, take a deep breath and try and decipher the array of different fragrances that you encounter.

Dr Reese Halter is a public speaker, conservation biologist and founder of the international conservation institute Global Forest Science. His most recent book is The Incomparable Honeybee and the Economics of Pollination http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Incomparable+HoneyBee+reese+halter&x=0&y=0 Contact him through http://DrReese.com

See Dr Reese in Desert Wildflowers

http://www.amazon.com/desert-wildflowers-dr-reese/dp/B000K9863O/sr=1-2/qid=1168922730/ref=sr_1_2/002-1043420-2182462?ie=UTF8&s=dvd