Archive for October, 2008
Rainforest Deforestation Destroys Native People’s Homes
Monday, October 20th, 2008
Last Thursday, the government of Brazil released photographs of a hidden tribe living deep in the Amazon, a tribe that the outside world has never seen or communicated with before.
The people in the photos are obviously disturbed by the low-flying plane-they have painted themselves in red and black body paint and are threatening it with arrows. Undoubtedly, the story of the day the plane flew by will be passed down among these people for generations to come… if they are protected and allowed to continue living undisturbed.
These photographs remind us how much of the rainforest is still left to protect: a jungle large enough to shelter tribal groups that have never come into contact with modern society. This jungle is important to all of us on planet Earth, no matter where we live. The rainforest contains an astonishing number of plants and animals, some with untested medicinal potential. (more…)
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Rainforests of the Deep
Friday, October 10th, 2008
Coral reefs are the largest living structures on earth, and provide the backbone for some of the planet’s most spectacular ecosystems. Like underwater forests, coral reefs provide a nurturing habitat for an astonishing variety of marine life. In fact, despite only covering a tiny portion of the ocean’s surface area, coral reefs are home to a quarter of all the species that live in the ocean!
For this reason, coral reefs are sometimes referred to as the rainforests of the sea.
In addition to sheltering so many of the ocean’s creatures, coral reefs are also visually stunning. Filled with colour, shape and texture, they resemble nothing so much as an underwater fairyland. Naturally, the backbone of a coral reef is coral.
A coral reef is composed of “living stone,” made up of thousands upon of thousands of individual coral organisms, called polyps. Coral polyps are small, soft-bodied creatures that create limestone skeletons for themselves using calcium and carbon dioxide from ocean water. (more…)
Tags: coral, Ocean, rainforest
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The Walrus and the Carpenter
Wednesday, October 1st, 2008
“O Oysters, come and walk with us!”
The Walrus did beseech.
“A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each.”
Lewis Carrol
Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872
The walrus is, without a doubt, one of the coolest of all mammals. Not only do they look like cartoon characters, with their comical old-man whiskers and long tusks, they also have amazing personalities. As the New York Times reported yesterday, walruses are friendly, sociable and playful. Like dolphins, they are easily trained in captivity and naturally bond with humans. (more…)
Tags: Mammals, Walrus
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