Category Archives: Animals

Animals, Carbon Footprint Reduction, Leadership, Life, Nature

Canada’s Wildfires

I write this blog while scorching wildfires race through eastern and western Canada.  Honestly, my heart is quite heavy and I fear greatly for our precious, livable planet.  The fires are out of control and over 9.4 million acres have already burned.  The fires affect countless people, pets, and wild animals.  The smoke from the fires is so bad it has reached down to New York, NJ, and Washington DC.  Air quality levels have been frightening and New York City ranked among the worst cities in the world.  People have been told to stay at home and schools are conducting remote classes.  As I think about all of the animals inhaling smoke who can’t shut themselves in an enclosed space with air purifiers, I shudder.  I wonder about the animals in Canada literally fleeing the fires and dying.  I had to bury two dead birds that I found lying on my lawn.  When will we end this chaos?  When will we all wake up and drastically cut our carbon footprints and change our ways of life?  This matter is so urgent and time is of the essence.  Please, we must WAKE UP!!!  We must make different choices.  It is truly a matter of life and death.

@climatereality
@gretathunberg

Animals, Carbon Footprint Reduction, Climate Change, Leadership

The Motivation of Hope

I recently watched this moving video (below) where David Attenborough, a British biologist and broadcaster known for his natural history television series, talks about reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and hope. He said, “Nature is a key ally. Whenever we restore the wild it will recapture carbon and help us bring back balance to our planet.” He went on to state that “we must use this opportunity to create a more equal world. Our motivation must not be fear but hope.” I urge you to continue to make a positive difference in this world.

Animals, Kindness

Happy Holidays!

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There are numerous holidays at this special time of year and I would like to give thanks to you for reading my blog and being part of my life. Let us all rejoice in good health and many blessings, and may we remember to care for one another, and the world we live in.

Animals, Dolphins, Nature

Biodiversity & Climate Change

Pink River Dolphins

The World Wildlife Fund recently released its “Living Planet” report. Sadly, there has been a 69% drop in the numbers of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish since 1970. Populations in the Caribbean and Latin America did the worst, with an average decline of 94%. Global freshwater species also declined by 83% on average. The report said the key drivers of biodiversity decline include habitat loss, species overexploitation, invasive species, pollution, climate change and disease.

Anyone who cares about animals and wildlife must urge policymakers to transform economies so that natural resources are properly valued. Since biodiversity loss and climate change share many of the same underlying causes actions which transform food production and consumption, cut emissions, and increase investment in conservation can mitigate both.

“The world is waking up to the fact that our future depends on reversing the loss of nature just as much as it depends on addressing climate change. And you can’t solve one without solving the other,” says Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF-US. “Everyone has a role to play in reversing these trends, from individuals to companies to governments.”

Animals, Climate Change, Oceans

Marine Life

According to new research, global warming is causing such a drastic change to the world’s oceans that it risks a mass extinction event of marine species that rivals anything that’s happened in the Earth’s history over tens of millions of years.

“The future of life in the oceans rests strongly on what we decide to do with greenhouse gases today. There are two vastly different oceans we could be seeing, one devoid of a lot of life we see today, depending on what we see with CO2 emissions moving forward,” said Justin Penn, a climate scientist at Princeton University who co-authored new research published in “Science”.

So what can you do?  Reduce your carbon footprint, eat less meat, avoid using or purchasing items that are wrapped in plastic, and plant native trees.  Trees are one of the best ways to take carbon out of the atmosphere.  Thank you!

Animals, Leadership

Some good news

Active panda climbing tree
  1. China’s giant pandas are no longer endangered.
  2. Renewable energy generation hit an all-time high in 2021.  The world added 290 gigawatts of renewable power production capacity, according to a recent report from the International Energy Agency.
  3. A marine-protected area around the Galapagos will be expanded by 60,000sq km (37,282 sq miles).
  4. A hole in the ozone layer is healing.  The ozone layer protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun.
  5. There is some recovery happening in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef which has been suffering from coral bleaching and storms.  Scientists are using in vitro fertilization (IVF) to regenerate the reefs.
Animals, Birds

Shapeshifting

Nicole Altneu

A warming climate is causing animals to ‘shapeshift’.  Climate change is a human problem and an animal one.  Animals have to adapt to it too.  Some warm-blooded animals are changing in shape and getting larger ears, beaks, and legs to better regulate their body temperatures as the planet gets hotter.  Bird researcher Sara Ryding of Deakin University in Australia describes these changes in a review published on September 7th in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution.  Strong shapeshifting has particularly been reported in birds such as the North American dark-eyed junco and Australian parrot.  “Shapeshifting does not mean that animals are coping with climate change and that all is ‘fine,’ says Ryding. “It just means they are evolving to survive it — but we’re not sure what the other ecological consequences of these changes are, or indeed that all species are capable of changing and surviving.”  I wonder what will happen to this great blue heron.

Animals, Carbon Footprint Reduction, Leadership

Still Very Important

This video, from September 2014, is still very important. Dr. Jane Goodall said, “in 200 years people will look back on this particular period and say to themselves, how did those people, at that time, just allow all those amazing creatures to vanish?” She continued to say, “if we all lose hope there is no hope. Without hope people fall into apathy. There is still a lot left worth fighting for.”

Animals, Life

Finding Beauty

I was thinking about life and all of the challenges we now face.  In particular, how do we stay positive when our aesthetic surroundings are ugly?  I usually derive happiness from a beautiful stream set in a lush pine forest, or when the sun is shining and I am standing at the ocean’s edge.  So, what am I or you to do, when we are faced with a gray day, no trees, and a cityscape with no redeeming qualities?  What do we do when we have to work in that type of environment every day?  As I search for an answer, I ask myself if I really just need to look inside and find beauty in my own heart.  Isn’t that what we are supposed to do?  Or maybe I must find the one or two things in that cityscape that are pretty or find beauty in a stranger’s smile.  Perhaps I must find beauty in the curve of a building’s architectural line or in the fact that I have family and loved ones who care for me.  Perhaps it is up to me to recall a stunning landscape that I once visited.  Let me know what you think and how you have found beauty, even in the ugliest of times.