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Ecology 1 Min Film (2007)
In 2007,at college we were set a brief to produce a 1 minute film on the theme of ecology. I Directed this little piece which I'd thought I would share with you. There are about 20 productions produced last year but none are online as of yet, I'd like to see them shown as there are some great films that were produced and have not been seen. Please leaves a comment or video response if you would like to see them. This video features royalty free music which we were told was free to use. I can't remember the whole crew that were involved but below are a few of what I remember:
Directed by Alan Taylor
Nazir Ali - ?
Bevan Tait - ? In 2007,at college we were set a brief to produce a 1 minute film on the theme of ecology. I Directed this little piece which I'd... more -
Don’t you Want your Kids to be Konservative?
You're never too young (or old) to learn about conservation.
From the front page of http://www.ecofabulous.com:
Have you kicked plastics to the curb yet?
Like our team, you have probably eliminated plastic food storage containers in favor of glass, because glass doesn’t leach chemicals into food. But most schools don’t allow kids to bring fragile containers, so what should an eco-mom do?
Our friends a FranklyGreen.com have sent an amazing solution our way: a reusable, waste-free lunch kit from Kids Konserve, which features a stainless steel beverage bottle and two stainless steel food containers. Brilliant!
Check out the Kids Konserve website to learn more:
http://store.kidskonserve.com/ You're never too young (or old) to learn about conservation. From the front page of http://www.ecofabulous.com: ... more -
Brazilian government faces criminal charges over Amazon deforestation
The Brazilian government faces criminal charges after a report found that the Amazon rainforest is being deforested three times faster than last year as rising food prices encourages more illegal logging.
A study by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research found that destruction of the Amazon had increased 228% in August compared with the same month a year ago.
Carlos Minc, the Brazilian environment minister, said the upcoming national elections were partly to blame, with mayors in the Amazon region ignoring illegal loggers in the hope of gaining votes locally.
Environmental campaigners blamed the global spike in food prices for pushing soy farmers and cattle ranchers to clear more land for crops and grazing.
"The tendency of deforestation rising is deeply related to the fact that food prices are going up," said Paulo Adario, who coordinates Greenpeace's Amazon campaign. "When you have elections, the appetite of authorities to enforce laws is reduced. But the federal government has to step in and do its job." The Brazilian government faces criminal charges after a report found that the Amazon rainforest is being deforested three times faster... more -
Pedal power: The amazing bicycle powered by the sun
A solar-powered bicycle has been invented, which could soon take the strain off a commuter's legs and the environment.
The bright yellow 'Cycle Sol' operates like a normal pedal cycle but has a canopy lined with solar cells overhead. When the user pedals in the sunshine the rays charge up a battery which powers a small electric motor hidden in the back wheel.
This then propels the bike forward at speeds of up to 15mph. It also lowers the resistance in peddling to make it easier for the rider to cycle up hills.
The bike was invented by designer Miroslav Miljevic. 'I designed the bike as an eco-friendly piece of technology to help commuters.' he said.
Mr Miljevic, who is based at Z & Co Design in London, says that the motor can be fully charged while the recumbent bike is chained up outside on a sunny day. And when the sun isn't shining the bike can be charged up by plugging it into the electricity mains.
The Cycle Sol is in the concept stage at the moment but Mr Miljevic hopes to mass produce it once he has found a manufacturer.
'It is just like an electric bike but the motor runs on a battery that is powered by solar energy. A solar-powered bicycle has been invented, which could soon take the strain off a commuter's legs and the environment. ... more -
Tassa sulla produzione e vendita e trasporto di bottiglie di acqua minerale
Una proposta interessante per ridurre le emissioni inquinanti e la massa di rifiuti è stata fatta sul sito ilgiocodellapolitica.it.
Per contenere i danni provocati in Italia dalla produzione, trasporto, smaltimento giornaliero delle migliaia di bottiglie di acqua, naturale o gassata, che gli italiani amano tanto e che tutti gli studi in campo ambientale considerano un danno per la salute (per l'inquinamento che provoca la produzione, trasporto, smaltimento delle stesse), si propone di inserire una tassa sulla commercializzazione (imbottigliamento + trasporto + vendita al dettaglio) dell'acqua minerale di Euro 0,50 complessivi per litro di acqua.
Il ricavato verrà utilizzato per finanziare gli interventi sul sistema delle acque in Italia (acquedotti, ecc) dove la rete è più vecchia e bisognosa di manutenzione (nel sud ad esempio di stima che più del 40% di acqua trasprotata dagli acquedotti si perde durante il trasporto) e per migliroare la qualità delle acque degli acquedotti (filtri, depurazione, ecc.).
Gli effetti positivi della legge, oltre ai diretti introiti per l'autofinanziamento degli interventi sul sistema delle acque, sarebbero in campo ambientale: meno bottiglie vendute= meno plastica prodotta e da smaltire, meno rifiuti da trasportare usando benzina per trasportarli e meno benzina da consumare per trasportare le acque in giro per le autostrade italiane).
Una proposta in linea con con gli obiettivi fissati dal Consiglio europeo, che ha messo a punto una serie di proposte legislative per la riduzione dei gas-serra e l'aumento delle energie rinnovabili.
Il dibattito è aperto su www.ilgiocodellapolitica.it Una proposta interessante per ridurre le emissioni inquinanti e la massa di rifiuti è stata fatta sul sito ilgiocodellapolitica.it. ... more -
Redwood Tree Sitters Descend after Agreement to protect Oldest Trees
New owners convince activists ancient groves will remain untouched
Evelyn Nieves | The Associated Press
9/23/2008 -
SCOTIA, Calif. — After more than 20 years of protests, the last two people living in the giant redwoods of Northern California were climbing down for good, convinced by the new owners of the forest that the ancient trees would be spared from the saw.
Still, the tree sitters looked rather lost.
Having lived nearly 200 feet off the ground for 11 months, Nadia Berg — who calls herself Cedar — seemed unsure of her footing on the lush forest floor of Humboldt County's Nanning Creek grove. Cedar had made herself at home in a tree dubbed Grandma, a massive double redwood joined at the base, and had grown accustomed to the whistles and whispers and ways of the woods.
"Being here, for me, hasn't been a sacrifice," said the 22-year-old Alberta, Canada, native, still in her harness after rappelling down Grandma last week for the final time. "I feel so honored that I could be here for the trees."
Berg's neighbor, Billy Stoetzer, a 22-year-old activist from the Missouri Ozarks, came down last week, too, after living for nearly a year in a hammocklike shelter in the branches of Spooner, a 300-foot mammoth at least 1,500 years old.
With that, the great timber wars of the North Coast came to an end.
It was a long, twilight struggle that redefined environmental activism and introduced the American public to a new type of civil disobedience — tree-sitting.
So quietly did the truce happen that almost no one involved can believe it. But the drawn-out, sometimes violent, battles between Pacific Lumber Co., the largest private owner of old-growth redwoods, and environmental activists who flocked here to save the trees, are history. Pacific Lumber has new owners, a new name — Humboldt Redwood Co. — and a new pledge to protect old trees, some of which were around before Jesus was born.
The end began a few weeks ago, when Michael Jani, the president and chief forester of the new Humboldt Redwood Co., hiked into the woods to meet the tree-sitters. "I went out, looked at the trees, looked at the stand of trees that were around them, and I explained to them that under our policy, we would not be cutting those trees," said Jani, a 35-year veteran of logging companies.
Protecting old-growth trees was part of the plan that Humboldt Redwood, largely owned by Don and Doris Fisher of The Gap Inc., submitted to acquire Pacific Lumber in bankruptcy court. Among other things, Humboldt Redwood promised to spare any redwood born prior to 1800 with a diameter of at least 4 feet. It also pledged to avoid clear-cutting, or cutting down trees in vast swaths, a practice that the timber giant aggressively practiced under its previous owner, Maxxam Inc.
Environmentalists are cautiously optimistic the company will do as it promises. So for weeks, the tree-sitters at the Nanning Creek and Fern Gully groves have been clearing out their encampments, removing their platforms and figuring out what to do with the rest of their lives.
"At this point, I'd like to focus on growing a garden," said an activist who goes by the nom de guerre Rudi Bega, as in rutabaga. The 28-year-old Idahoan is an 11-year veteran of the timber wars who helped recruit, train and organize tree-sitters.
Read rest of article at link above -
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From TouchArt and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com in Santa Fe, New Mexico. New owners convince activists ancient groves will remain untouched Evelyn Nieves | The Associated Press 9/23/2008 - ... more -
Earth is now in debt (ecologically)
Rising consumption of natural resources means that humans began "eating the planet" on 9 October, a recent study suggests.
This is the day of the year when people's demands exceeded the Earth's ability to supply resources and absorb the demands placed upon it.
"By living so far beyond our environmental means and running up ecological debts means we make two mistakes," said Andrew Simms, Nef's policy director.
"First, we deny millions globally who already lack access to sufficient land, food and clean water the chance to meet their needs. Secondly, we put the planet's life support mechanisms in peril," he added.
Is greed driving us to destruction? How can we begin to solve these issues without resorting to sensationalist comments? The general public need to start focusing on doing their bit. As Tesco says 'Every Little Helps' Rising consumption of natural resources means that humans began "eating the planet" on 9 October, a recent study suggests. ... more -
100s of new creatures found on Australian reefs
SYDNEY, Australia - Marine scientists have discovered hundreds of new animal species on reefs in Australian waters, including brilliant soft corals and tiny crustaceans, according to findings released Thursday.
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The creatures were found during expeditions run by the Australian chapter of CReefs, a global census of coral reefs that is one of several projects of the Census of Marine Life, an international effort to catalog all life in the oceans.
"People have been working at these places for a long time and still there are literally hundreds and hundreds of new species that no one has ever collected or described," said Julian Caley, a scientist from the Australian Institute of Marine Science who is helping to lead the research.
"So in that sense, it's very significant in that if we don't understand what biodiversity is out there, we don't have much of a chance of protecting it," he said.
Scientists at several Australian museums have begun the complex process of working with the samples for genetic barcoding and taxonomy, the formal system of naming living things. That work is expected to take years, Caley said.
Among the creatures researchers found were about 130 soft corals — also known as octocorals, for the eight tentacles that fringe each polyp — that have never been described in scientific literature, and scores of similarly undescribed crustaceans, including tiny shrimp-like animals with claws longer than their bodies.
The 10-year census, scheduled for final publication in 2010, is supported by governments, divisions of the United Nations and private conservation organizations.
The Australian researchers conducted three expeditions, one each in the waters off the Great Barrier Reef's Lizard and Heron islands, and one in the Ningaloo Reef, on Australia's northwest coast. Thousands of samples were collected during the three-week research trips, which took place between April and September.
Researchers plan to explore the three sites annually for the next six years to learn more about soft corals, which are poorly understood, despite making up a large part of the Great Barrier Reef. Scientists are also looking to catalog how many animal species live on Australia's coral reefs, how many are unique to the reefs and how they respond to human disturbance.
Researchers also pegged 36 plastic house-like structures to the ocean floor in various locations around the three sites. Animals are likely to be attracted to the structures and make them their home. Researchers will go back and study the life inside each house over the next few years. The structures will also be placed in reefs in other parts of the world, providing a standardized method for studying marine life internationally, Caley said.
The project marks the first time any group has made a concerted effort to understand the biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef, said Ron Johnstone, a marine science professor at the University of Queensland who is familiar with the research.
The scientists' findings could have direct benefits for humans, Johnstone said. Marine life is used in medicines, and the creatures could also provide clues as to how they cope with climate change and pollution — issues people wrangle with as well.
"Some people say, 'Going out and collecting samples — of what value is that?'" he said. "It's a bit like saying we don't know what we have in the shop so we don't know what we can use to survive, and at the same time we don't know what bits of the machine fit together to make it work." SYDNEY, Australia - Marine scientists have discovered hundreds of new animal species on reefs in Australian waters, including brillian... more -
Plant, NO help in Global warming!
Plants are unlikely to soak up more carbon dioxide from the air as the planet warms, research suggests.
US scientists found that grassland took up less CO2 than usual for two years following temperatures that are now unusually hot, but may become common.
The conclusion parallels a real-world finding from Europe's 2003 heatwave, when the continent's plant life became a net producer, not absorber, of CO2.
The latest study is published in the scientific journal Nature.
Researchers extracted four intact segments of grassland, about 3 sq m in area and weighing about 12 tonnes each, from the prairies of Oklahoma, and placed them in special chambers at the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno, Nevada.
Conditions in the chambers, such as temperature, moisture and sunlight, could be precisely
controlled.
Drying out
Two of the four chambers were given a set of conditions mimicking what actually happens, on average, on the wild prairies. Temperatures rose and fell with days and nights and seasons, and "rainfall" was injected in a realistic pattern.
The other two chambers received the same prescription with the exception that for a whole year, temperatures were always 4C higher.
The warmer plots saw a shortfall in carbon dioxide uptake of about 30% during the warm year and the one following.
DRI's Jay Arnone, who led the study, said two different mechanisms appeared to be responsible.
"So in the warm year, the temperature goes up and causes more evapotranspiration from the plants," he told BBC News.
"But plants have evolved to 'know' that when it gets dry they should curb their water loss, so they reduce the apertures of their stomata (pores) to conserve water, and that constrains the amount of CO2 they can take up (by photosynthesis)."
This response has been understood for some time. But what happened in the following year, when temperatures returned to "normal", was not so familiar.
Even during the warm year with its meagre amount of photosynthesis, plants had put carbon in the soil.
So during the normal year following, soil microbes had extra carbon to process, which they did, emitting more carbon dioxide into the air. Plants are unlikely to soak up more carbon dioxide from the air as the planet warms, research suggests. ... more -
PALIN COLD BLOODED KILLER | Free Speech TV Community: Participatory Media
For the last eight years our environmental issues have been ignored. This video is further proof that electing the Republicans again will surely bring us more of the same. If you are as appalled and disgusted by seeing this as I was let Washington know. For the last eight years our environmental issues have been ignored. This video is further proof that electing the Republicans again w... more
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Beer Waste to Energy: Anheuser-Busch's BERS System : TreeHugger
Now....I like this kind of corporate recycling!
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Science With Curves: Women in the Field
One woman's struggle in a career dominated by men. Her story touches on issues such as: lower salaries and juggling family and career that women in science have to face. One woman's struggle in a career dominated by men. Her story touches on issues such as: lower salaries and juggling family and c... more
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Vegetarian spider?!
This little critter that darts around acacia trees could be the first discovered vegetarian spider.
"Bagheera kiplingi belongs among the big-eyed, athletic predators in the family of jumping spiders and gets its name from a panther in a Rudyard Kipling story. Yet a population of these spiders in Mexico mostly eats bits of the acacia trees, says Christopher Meehan of Villanova University in Pennsylvania."
Other spiders have been known to taste vegetable matter but no previously discovered species live exclusively on it. This little critter that darts around acacia trees could be the first discovered vegetarian spider. ... more -
Roots of Humanity: Am I Not Human?
Join The Roots of Humanity on the 27th of every month in asking the unified, persistent question that has the answers collectively needed, within it.
We ask on behalf of our human siblings lacking in access to the most basic of communication tools, or barred from communication by their governments:
Am I Not Human?
Download this month's ebook: 'Where Do We Go From Here' Join The Roots of Humanity on the 27th of every month in asking the unified, persistent question that has the answers collectively nee... more -
How big is your footprint
This is a great website that shows you what kind of impact you have on Earth. It will show you all kinds of different things that you do that impact our one and only earth. If you go there and take the quiz, then you can look at tips to reduce your footprint. If a whole lot of people do something small, we can make something big happen.
I challenge everyone to go there and see what they can do to reduce pollution. This is a great website that shows you what kind of impact you have on Earth. It will show you all kinds of different things that you ... more -
EPA Buzz Kill: Is the Agency Hiding Colony Collapse Disorder Information?
NRDC Forced to Sue to Get Public Records on Bee Mystery
WASHINGTON, DC (August 18, 2008); The Natural Resources Defense Council filed a lawsuit today to uncover critical information that the US government is withholding about the risks posed by pesticides to honey bees. NRDC legal experts and a leading bee researcher are convinced that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has evidence of connections between pesticides and the mysterious honey bee die-offs reported across the country. The phenomenon has come to be called "colony collapse disorder," or CCD, and it is already proving to have disastrous consequences for American agriculture and the $15 billion worth of crops pollinated by bees every year.
EPA has failed to respond to NRDC's Freedom of Information Act request for agency records concerning the toxicity of pesticides to bees, forcing the legal action.
"Recently approved pesticides have been implicated in massive bee die-offs and are the focus of increasing scientific scrutiny," said NRDC Senior Attorney Aaron Colangelo. "EPA should be evaluating the risks to bees before approving new pesticides, but now refuses to tell the public what it knows. Pesticide restrictions might be at the heart of the solution to this growing crisis, so why hide the information they should be using to make those decisions?"
In 2003, EPA granted a registration to a new pesticide manufactured by Bayer CropScience under the condition that Bayer submit studies about its product's impact on bees. EPA has refused to disclose the results of these studies, or if the studies have even been submitted. The pesticide in question, clothianidin, recently was banned in Germany due to concerns about its impact on bees. A similar insecticide was banned in France for the same reason a couple of years before. In the United States, these chemicals still are in use despite a growing consensus among bee specialists that pesticides, including clothianidin and its chemical cousins, may contribute to CCD... NRDC Forced to Sue to Get Public Records on Bee Mystery ... more -
Sierra climate change puts range's species on the run
Jim Patton, a retired professor of zoology at UC Berkeley, had his quarry: the tiny ash-gray alpine chipmunk, a Sierra Nevada native that is now one of the leading sentinels – and apparent victims – of climate change in the United States.
One century ago, alpine chipmunks owned the upper half of Yosemite. They skittered under logs and darted across rocks from the rugged Sierra crest down to the conifer forests at 7,800 feet. Today, they are missing in action below 9,800 feet.
"It's lost half its geographic range," Patton said. "Climate is the culprit. I don't think there is any iota of reason not to think that...." Jim Patton, a retired professor of zoology at UC Berkeley, had his quarry: the tiny ash-gray alpine chipmunk, a Sierra Nevada native t... more -
Chilika ecology faces renewed threat
Berhampur (Orissa), Aug 20: The ecology of Chilika
lake - Asia's biggest brackish water lake - faces a serious
threat due to a naturally formed new confluence point with the
Bay of Bengal, according to marine scientists.
"If the new mouth will exist for a long period and widen
further, it has the potential to change the salinity level of
the lake and may put its rich flora and fauna under stress,"
R C Panigrahi, professor of marine science at the Berhampur
University, said.
Spread over 1200 sq km, Chilika is famous for
Irrawadi dolphins, a rare species.
source of livelihood for lakhs of fishermen living around the
districts of Ganjam, Puri and Khurda.
The new confluence point near Gabakunda, a village on
the bank of the Chilika, was seen on August one.
than a kilometre away from the existing confluence point at
Sipakuda.
The new mouth was only 50 metres wide at first, but now
has expanded to about 400 metres, the chief executive of the
Chilika Development Authority, Sudarshan Panda, said.
"Initially, there is no threat to Chilika with the
opening of the new mouth.
effect in the long term," he said.
The salinity level of Chilika water presently varies
from nine to 11 PPT while the salinity of the sea water
measured at 18 PPT.
"The new mouth opened during monsoon pressure and may
close in coming months," the CDA chief said.
Senior scientists are being engaged to study the
effect on the ecology of the lake with the opening of the new
mouth, Panda said.
The change in the salinity of the water will depend on
the longevity of the new mouth, Panda said.
The change in water quality would be known only after
the summer season when the sea water enters the lake, the
vice-chancellor of Berhampur University, Bijay Kumar Sahu,
also a marine scientist, said.
P K Mohanty, another professor at the marine science
department of Berhampur University, however, ruled out any
"immediate threat" to the nearby coastal villages due to the
opening of the new mouth in the lake.
"We think there is no threat to the nearby villages
with the opening of the new mouth," he said.
Mohanty was one of the members to study the impact on
coastal villages following the formation of new confluence
constituted by the Orissa State Disaster Mitigation
Authority. Berhampur (Orissa), Aug 20: The ecology of Chilika lake - Asia's biggest brackish water lake - faces a serious ... more -
UGA gets $4.1 million to study honeybee deaths
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $4.1 million to the University of Georgia to lead a nationwide investigation into the mysterious deaths of honeybees, a threat to pollination valued at $15 billion a year to American farming.
"Georgia is one of the lead players" in the honeybee world, said Keith Delaplane, the UGA entomology professor who will direct the four-year investigation that will involve 17 colleges and universities.
"We estimate that honeybees contribute $75 million a year to the state economy," Delaplane said in a telephone interview. That includes pollination of crops such as fruits and vegetables, honey revenues, and actual sales of bees. Georgia is the leading producer of queen bees and packaged bees east of the Mississippi River, he said.
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced the grant to study the causes of colony collapse disorder and other diseases affecting bee populations.
"Bees are an extremely valuable contributor to the overall productivity of American agriculture, but invasive pests, diseases and environmental stresses are putting U.S. bees at serious risk," Schafer said. "This research will help beekeepers meet the pollination demand for the nation's food supply."
The University of Georgia is the lead institution for the project, and Delaplane is the director. The professor is the author of several books on honeybees and beekeeping.
"This is a special category of grants (to deal with) problems of national impact. They award only one a year," Delaplane said Thursday.
Delaplane said the decline of the honeybee population has been tracked since 1945. However, there has been a "sharp downward spike" in the past few years.
He said the new research will focus on a relatively short list of possible causes. Among these are a handful of bee viruses; a single-cell organism that "gets in the gut" of bees and causes death; the varroa mite, which came from Asia in 1987, and new categories of pesticides such as flea killers for pets, Delaplane said.
The goal of the nationwide research is to eliminate redundancy in a "coordinated attempt to figure out what is causing honeybee decline and what we can do about it," he said.
So, the universities of Maine and Massachusetts will be dealing more broadly with pollinators beyond honeybees, the University of Georgia will focus on the varroa mite, the University of Nebraska will look at pesticides, and other universities will deal with other aspects of the problem.... The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $4.1 million to the University of Georgia to lead a nationwide investigation into the m... more
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Ecology
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Ecology
