Watch “Reforestation and China’s Great Green Wall” on YouTube
13 Friday Aug 2021
Posted in China, Environment
Category Archives: Environment
The Economist: How can business survive climate change?
01 Thursday Apr 2021
Posted in Climate Change, Environment, news
Tags
Watching Birds, Trees is Good for Mental Health
13 Friday Nov 2020
Posted in Ecopsychology, Environment
According to a study led by University of Exeter researcher Daniel Cox, people living in neighborhoods with more birds, shrubs and trees are less likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and stress.
Dr. Cox and his colleagues from the University of Maryland, the University of Queensland in Australia, the British Trust for Ornithology and the University of Exeter in the UK, surveyed mental health in 263 people from different ages, incomes and ethnicities.
“All the participants lived within the urban limits of the so-called ‘Cranfield triangle,’ a region in southern England, UK, comprising the three adjacent towns of Milton Keynes, Luton, and Bedford,” the researchers said.
They found benefits for mental health of being able to see birds, shrubs and trees around the home, whether people lived in urban or more leafy suburban neighborhoods. They also found that those who spent less time out of doors than usual in the previous week were more likely to report they were anxious or depressed. MORE
Kathmandu & Water
22 Thursday Oct 2020
Posted in Environment, news, Organizations, water
Tags
Haphazard urbanization and political wrangling are seriously affecting people’s ability to realize their right to water in Nepal’s capital city. According to the Nepalese government’s Central Bureau of Statistics, one in every five Kathmandu households has no access to a domestic water source and two-thirds of its urban households live with an inadequate water supply. 
Estimates show that the city of 4 million has a severe water deficit. The demand is triple the current supply of 106m liters a day , which further reduces to 75m liters a day during the dry season [PDF] . Despite growing demand, little has been done to increase supply. Read the full article at the Guardian.
sailing stones of Death Valley
05 Wednesday Aug 2020
Posted in discovery, Environment, Japanese Textile Designs, Research, Science
The sailing stones of the Racetrack Playa, a dry lakebed in Death Valley, have been the subject of a mystery since the 1940s. The playa is dotted with stones, some as large as 700 pounds (320kg), with long tracks behind them, as though they have been performing a synchronised dance.
Although there have been many theories about how the rocks might be moving on their own — including dust devils, hurricane-force winds, films of slippery algae or thick sheets of ice — none had ever been confirmed, nor had any human seen the rocks actually moving.
Until now, that is. A team of researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego decided they were going to solve the mystery once and for all. In the winter of 2011, they brought in a high-resolution weather station to measure wind at one-second intervals, and brought in 15 rocks fitted with GPS devices (since the National Parks Service would not allow them to use the native rocks).
Environment for the Americas
10 Friday Jan 2020
Posted in Americas, discovery, Environment, Justice, poverty, Social Science
Tags
Environment for the Americas was created as a result of International Migratory Bird Day’s success. Created in 1993, the celebration has grown to become much more than a one day event. Over 450 events are now hosted from South America to Canada, materials are available year-round, and other projects and programs have been developed to increase bird conservation education.. As a result of Bird Day’s growth, sponsors could no longer house the program. In 2006, formal steps were taken to create a 501(c)(3) organization to provide a permanent home for Bird Day and other exciting efforts. That organization is Environment for the Americas (EFTA)! Today, EFTA works with partners and programs throughout the Western Hemisphere.
EFTA GOALS
At EFTA we strive to make bird conservation education available throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Our Goals are to:
•Create the framework educators need to host bird-focused programs, events, and festivals;
•Develop education materials about birds and their conservation;
•Serve as a network for the exchange of information about successful bird conservation education programs;
•Motivate the public to become involved in bird conserva
RichardbBrunner 