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Saving the Earth: Caring for the Environment and Protecting Endangered Species

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Welcome to Saving the Earth!

Saving the Earth is all about ... saving the Earth, this beautiful planet, the oceans, the animals, the forests, indigenous cultures everywhere.

The diversity of life on our planet is astonishing - and it is greatly endangered. The population of humans quadrupled in the last 100 years - 1.6 billion of us in 1900 and 6.5 billion today. Our numbers and our technology have a massive and harmful impact on the environment.

We can change this! Already there are millions of people worldwide working on these challenges - global warming, endangered species, conservation, sustainable agriculture, green building, renewable energy, population growth, water resources and more.

There's a lot of information here that I hope you will find helpful. Let's work together to protect the Earth. It's home.

Table of Contents for Saving the Earth

  1. Saving The Earth
  2. Save the Earth!
  3. The Earth Is a System
  4. Human Activities Are Changing Earth's Climate
  5. We Can Change This!
  6. "This land is your land . . ."
  7. Planet Earth
  8. "Earthrise"
  9. Planet Earth as Viewed from Space.
  10. Orbit
  11. Saving the Earth Resource Links
  12. Planet Earth, the DVD set
  13. Earth-friendly on Ebay
  14. Saving the Earth Guestbook.
  15. The Isle of Squid
  16. Be a Part of the Solution!

Saving The Earth

The Environmental Challenges We Face

Our planet faces an environmental crisis that is without compare in historical times. Burgeoning human populations, global warming, depletion of natural resources, species extinctions, wars and genocidal conflicts make this an extremely dangerous time in our history.

There is no single intervention that will reverse global warming, rapid population growth or the depletion of natural resources. We must learn to pay attention to the costs and consequences of our actions so that it is possible to choose those that are most environmentally conscious and beneficial.

Save the Earth!

The effect of global warming and climate change.

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The Earth Is a System

The Earth, the biosphere that contains a teeming abundance of life -- is a vast system. Our actions and interventions therefore must be informed by systemic thinking, with the realization that each and every action has an effect on the system as a whole. A reductionistic approach that treats single symptoms will not improve the overall health of the biosphere -- but can lead to a cascading chain of reactions to the intervention, many of which can be unwanted.

Recent history is filled with evidence of this limited view. The extensive use of DDT after World War II had many effects other than eradicating unwanted insect "pests" -- it affected the entire food chain, including greatly depleting the songbird population. Widespread use of fluorocarbon gases as propellants in aerosol products has resulted in significant disruption in the ozone layer that protects the earth from ultraviolet rays.

Seawalls built by beachfront homeowners to stop beach erosion have actually increased beach erosion in adjacent areas. Hydroelectric dams constructed in streams and rivers have wiped out salmon runs that depended upon those waterways to reach their spawning grounds.

The worldwide use of non-degradable plastics has caused the remotest beaches in the Pacific to be strewn with tons of plastic waste. Phosphate compounds added to soap products had the unexpected effect of severely polluting rivers. Overuse of groundwater for irrigation in the west has depleted underground aquifers and led to salinization of soils.

Human Activities Are Changing Earth's Climate

And, most horrifyingly, it appears that human activities have altered the earth's climate. The burning of fossil fuels, use of aerosols, and cement manufacturing are the three largest contributors to the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere, which produces the "greenhouse effect", warming the earth. This global warming leads to increased melting of the ice covering both poles, which means that sea levels are rising. The result is that many population centers built on low-lying ground will be submerged in the next century.

These changes may increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves, hurricanes, and tornados. Seasonal variations affect agriculture and animal reproductive patterns worldwide. Other consequences include higher or lower agricultural yields, glacier retreat, reduced summer streamflows, species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors.

It is in the oceans that many elements of this climate change due to global warming are most visible. Sea level rise has been called "the dipstick of climate change." Best estimates for sea level rise this century are between 6 and 20 inches. Three dozen small island nations will find much of their territory drowned.

During recent years tropical sea-surface temperatures have been the highest ever recorded -- causing the worst coral die-off ever seen. 16% of the world's coral reefs are suffering extensive mortality.

Small temperature changes can have large effects. The 2 degree Centigrade increase in temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Alaska since 1980 has caused an 80% decline in planktonic animals -- the foundation of the entire ocean food chain!

We Can Change This!

The problem we face is large. Yet there is much reason for hope, as people and organizations worldwide are devoting their energies to addressing the complex challenges of halting, and reversing global warming. Public awareness of the problem is increasing; one symbol of this is the Nobel Peace prize in 2007 awarded to former Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for "their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."

There is a large, and increasing, body of scientific knowledge that is available to guide more enlightened policies and actions to address global warming. Many technologies already exist, for example, that can drastically increase fuel economy in automobiles. A number of U.S. states, cities and corporations are forging ahead with green initiatives, using recycling programs, renewable energy sources, alternative-fuel vehicles, and guidelines for sustainable design of new buildings.

We have the tools and the knowledge; what is lacking is the will. As public awareness grows, as the thousands of environmental groups around the globe work together -- we can make progress. It is the 11th hour, but it is not too late.

"This land is your land . . ."

The Earth at its best!

snow by moertl
2007-02-15--15-09-30-0-j by ellute6500
2007-01-21--14-24-59-j by ellute6500
2007-01-14--15-13-20-j by ellute6500
automatically generated by Flickr

Planet Earth

Seeing the Earth from Space Changed Things Forever

The first photographs of Earth from space were taken on October 24, 1946. They were taken from an altitude of 65 miles over the New Mexico desert by a V-2 missile launched from the White Sands Missile Range. The grainy, black and white photos clearly showed the curvature of the Earth, though from that low altitude only a partial view of the globe was possible.

It was not until 1961, with the beginning of NASA manned spaceflights, that Americans began to see stunning pictures of the Earth from space -- pictures that changed everything.

To see the Earth from space meant gaining a perspective never before available to mankind. From space no political boundaries, no borders, no ethnic homelands are to be seen. Instead we see that our planet is a shimmering blue ball hanging in utter darkness.

Even from afar, the evidence of abundant life is clear: 77% of the Earth's surface is covered with sparkling blue water; white-cloud weather patterns swirl around the globe; and the glorious shades of green signal the presence of photosynthesis-based plant life.

"Earthrise"

On December 24, 1968 astronaut William A. Anders snapped a famous photograph from the Apollo 8 spacecraft in lunar orbit as it emerged from the far side of the moon. Crew commander Frank Borman exclaimed, "Oh my God, look at that picture over there! Here's the Earth coming up!"

Earthrise, as this photograph came to be called, is surely one of the most powerful and eloquent images ever taken of the Earth from space. We see the watery abundance of our life-filled planet contrasting with the sterile lunar landscape below, set against the backdrop of vast and empty Space.
Noted wilderness photographer Galen Rowell has described this image as "the most influential environmental photograph ever taken.

Perhaps we are jaded, after all these years. A NASA website catalogs some 745,000 photographs of Earth from space. Yet these photographs evoke a sense of place in a way that words cannot. They can reawaken that sense of wonder we experienced when we first saw Earthrise -- and to indelibly and unforgettably remind us how vast and beautiful and fragile is this Earth.

Artist Lance Hidy says that the pictures of Earth from Space changed history. We can no longer deny the fragility of our planet, nor the necessity of cooperation to effectively care for the environment.

Planet Earth as Viewed from Space.

This is magical. Enjoy!

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Orbit

This awe-inspiring collection of photograhs gives those of us stuck on Earth a glimpse of what our home planet looks like from the window of a spacecraft. All the continents are shown, as well as weather events, the aurora borealis, and the visible effects of anthropogenic environmental change - deforestation and desertification chief among them. Take a sobering look at our lovely planet and realize how small and fragile it really is.
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Saving the Earth Resource Links

Environmental organizations dedicated to Saving The Earth

The Alliance for Climate Protection
The Alliance for Climate Protection, headed by former Vice President Al Gore, has a mission: to persuade the American people - and people elsewhere in the world - of the importance and urgency of adopting and implementing effective and comprehensive solutions for the climate crisis.
Champions of Conservation
Audubon recognizes 100 people who shaped the environmental movement and made the 20th century particularly American. A timeline traces notable accomplishments and events over the past century of conservation history.
Conservation International
Conservation International believes that Earth's natural heritage must be maintained if future generations are to thrive spiritually, culturally and economically. Our mission is to conserve the Earth's living heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature.
Envirolink
EnviroLink is a non-profit organization... a grassroots online community that unites hundreds of organizations and volunteers around the world with millions of people in more than 150 countries. EnviroLink is dedicated to providing comprehensive, up-to-date environmental information and news.

"The Envirolink site is one of the largest online resources." -- The New York Times
Environmental Defense
Environmental Defense is dedicated to protecting the environmental rights of all people, including future generations. Among these rights are access to clean air and water, healthy and nourishing food, and flourishing ecosystems.
Friends of the Earth International
The world's largest grassroots environmental network, uniting 70 national member groups and some 5,000 local activist groups on every continent. With over 2 million members and supporters around the world, thry campaign on today's most urgent environmental and social issues. Thry challenge the current model of economic and corporate globalization, and promote solutions that will help to create environmentally sustainable and socially just societies.
Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council's purpose is to safeguard the Earth: its people, its plants and animals and the natural systems on which all life depends.
We work to restore the integrity of the elements that sustain life -- air, land and water -- and to defend endangered natural places.
The Nature Conservancy
The leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. They've protected more than 117 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide - and they operate more than 100 marine conservation projects globally. They address threats to conservation involving climate change, fire, fresh water, forests, invasive species, and marine ecosystems.
The Rewilding Institute
The Rewilding Institute's Mission is to develop and promote the ideas and strategies to advance continental-scale conservation in North America, particularly the need for large carnivores and a permeable landscape for their movement, and to offer a bold, scientifically credible, practically achievable, and hopeful vision for the future of wild Nature and human civilization in North America.
The Sierra Club
The Sierra Club's members and supporters are more than 1.3 million of your friends and neighbors. Inspired by nature, they work together to protect our communities and the planet. The Club is America's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization.
The Wilderness Society
Protecting America's Wilderness since 1935 through the potent combination of science, advocacy and education, their mission is to deliver to future generations an unspoiled legacy of wild places, with all the precious values they hold: Biological diversity; clean air and water; towering forests, rushing rivers, and sage-sweet, silent deserts.
The World Conservation Union
The World Conservation Union supports and develops cutting-edge conservation science; implements this research in field projects around the world; and then links both research and results to local, national, regional and global policy by convening dialogues between governments, civil society and the private sector.
The World Directory of Environmental Organizations
This descriptive directory has over 350 Web pages with thousands of entries and links. It has detailed subject and geographic sections, background pages, and numerous cross-references. It has no advertising.
Worldwatch Institute
The Worldwatch Institute offers a unique blend of interdisciplinary research, global focus, and accessible writing that has made it a leading source of information on the interactions among key environmental, social, and economic trends. Their work revolves around the transition to an environmentally sustainable and socially just society-and how to achieve it.

Just Say NO to Plastic Bags

Show your support for the Earth.

Get in the habit of carrying your own tote bags. These 100% cotton canvas tote bags have plenty of room to carry everything you need when you are on the go. They include a bottom gusset and extra long handles for easy carrying.
  • 10 oz heavyweight natural canvas fabric

  • Full side and bottom gusset

    • 22" reinforced self-fabric handles
    Machine washable
    Measures 15" x 18" x 6"
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    Planet Earth, the DVD set

    A Must-See

    BBC natural history producer Alastair Fothergill spent the last ten years producing two of the most stunningly beautiful series ever created. Seas of Life is the definitive exploration of the marine world, chronicling the mysteries of the deep, coastline populations, sea mammals, tidal and climatic influences, and the complete biological system that revolves around the world's oceans. Planet Earth uses high definition photography and revolutionary ultra-high speed cameras to produce the ultimate portrait of our planet - capturing rare action, impossible locations and intimate moments with our planet's best loved, wildest and most elusive creatures. Sixteen hours of viewing time, including many extra features.
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    Earth-friendly on Ebay

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    Saving the Earth Guestbook.

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    The Isle of Squid

    The Best of Lenses on Squidoo!



    Saving the Earth: Caring for Environment and Protecting Endangered Species now appears on the Isle of Squid website! This great website is a directory of the best lenses on Squidoo, each having been screened for quality.

    See for yourself! And Review this Site on the Isle of Squid.

    Be a Part of the Solution!

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    DavidYarian

    I live in Nashville, TN where I work as a psychologist. I am a lifelong environmentalist, and was lucky enough to grow up outside a small town in East... more »

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