MY WORLD:WELCOME TO IT

Carbon dioxide threat to survival of fish,study says

Carbon dioxide is a threat to the survival of fish, study says

101 Ways To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Please visit these websites and please commit yourself right now to reducing your carbon footprint on the Planet!

Source: http://www.eoearth.org/files/112301_112400/112391/Individual_carbon_footprint.JPG

Japan free Erwin Vermeulen!!

Men and Women Have Major Personality Differences: New Report Suggests Previous Measurements Have Underestimated Variation Between the Sexes

Wolves’ Return Revitalizes Yellowstone

Happy 2012:International Year of the Bat!

Duet of the Ninjas

Keith Medley and his amazing 27 string guitar!!

Marine predators in global free fall: UBC fisheries study

Evidence that the funds for the Japanese Security costs against Sea Shepherd came from the Tsunami Earthquake Relief Fund:

Stop Killing Dolphins

Mermaidseas Dolphin Defense League International :
https://www.facebook.com/Mermaidseas.Dolphin.Defense.League.International

Stop Dolphin Drive Hunting:

The Biggest Killer....

"The Biggest Killer-Nature’s greatest threat in today’s society is human indifference."

These important twelve words are the first words in Nicole McLachlan's latest blog post concerning the disgusting slaughter of innocent dolphin families in Taiji, Japan. Sadly these words not only apply to the horrors which our dolphin friends are having to experience on a daily basis in Japanese waters, but they also refer to what is happening in the World to many of our plant and animals species on the Planet due to the Human species. To read Nicole's very important message about human indifference and the awful murders of dolphin families in the waters off of Taiji Japan please click on the following link:

http://nicolemclachlan.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/the-biggest-killer/

Please share this very important message of Nicole's with your friends and family members. The more people who hear Nicole's very astute and accurate message the better!!!

What are the causes or reasons for human indifference? Firstlly, I believe it would be a good idea to define the word "indifference" so we all have the same point of reference.The online edition of the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word "indifferent" in this manner::

:"marked by a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern for something." (source:http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indifferent )

Why wouldn't people on this planet be interested, enthusiastic about being involved in stopping these dolphin murders, or concerned over the fact that thousands of dolphins are losing their lives each year in Taiji Japan??

I would like to assert that there are several reasons for this situation. Firstly, people may not be interested in these awful murders because they may not even know that these murders are occurring!! It is because of this fact that I, and others like Nicole , The Sea Shepherd Society and other organizations like the SSS, are telling the World about the awful behavior of some Japanese in Taiji, Japan Waters. The big question that activists such as Nicole,and The Sea Shepherd Society, and myself are asking is "Why aren't the World media (television, print, and radio) interested in reporting on the deaths of another life form on this planet? Do the media think that most people are not interested in the plight of other life on this planet? According to an article entitled, "Animals in media: Righting the wrongs: The misrepresentation of animals continues when animals go to press"
Published on January 25, 2010 by Marc Bekoff in Animal Emotions, " at the website:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201001/animals-in-media-righting-the-wrongs

" Carrie Packwood Freeman at Georgia State University has shown that when animals go to press there are "serious" concerns about how they are represented. She notes in addition to objectifying animals when we use the inanimate pronoun it, we also do so when we call them livestock, meat, seafood, or game rather than cow, pig, chicken, fish, or elk. She also notes a strong tendency to refer to animals by their utilitarian end such as beef cattle, dairy cows, laboratory rats, or circus elephants". As Marc Bekoff goes on to state, the language which the media uses when it is talking about our animal friends can actually demean animals!! He asserts that "Such misrepresentations lead to the perception that chimpanzees are "Subhuman."

Clearly the media of this planet need to learn how to use language in a completely different way than they are at present in regards to our animal friends!!! It certainly is ironic to me that many people think that humans are superior to other life forms on this planet because of the advanced level of communication we possess (in the form of words, and written and oral language) , yet in the case of the media of this Planet, some of these people are not using our language correctly or are even using language incorrectly in regards to other animals which share this planet with us!! Why are humans listening to, or reading the news which is being written and spoken to us when it is misrepresenting the other life forms on this planet??

Marc Bekoff in his article continues in this manner:

"Animals are also misrepresented in still photography and in wildlife films." What can we do about media misrepresentations? Some simple rules of thumb will go a long way to representing animals more accurately. We can refrain from using words such as "higher" or "lower" to refer to animals because individuals do what they need to do to be card-carrying members of their species. We should get word-processors to stop replacing “who” with “that” when referring to animals. We should stop portraying animals as mock humans. We must pay attention to what we know about the fascinating cognitive, emotional, and moral capacities of animals because misrepresentations underestimate and demean them."

These certainly are wonderful suggestions of his!!! I wish that this article of Marc Bekoff's was sent to all of the major television and radio networks and stations on this Planet as well as to all the newspaper and magazines which are printed on the Earth!!

As Marc Bekoff concludes:

"Given the enormous amount of press animals are receiving in what might be called the "century of the animal" we should expect that these who write about animals represent them as the beings who they are, not as who we want them to be or as objects to be used for our own ends."

...."Nonhuman animals deserve better....." "...more accurate and less deflationary and "cute" representations will make their lives better."

Marc our animal friends sure do deserve better and they sure do deserve to be represented more accurately by the media so their lives are better than we have made them!!! What can you do to improve the quality of life for other animals on this planet? You can phone, write or email the media when you find that they are not using the most accurate or are not representing our animal friends in a deflationary manner! You can also contact the media and ask them to be much less indifferent to the other animals (and for that matter) all the other life on this Planet!!

Please do so, in order that our animal friends get the kind of live they deserve to live on this home we share with them!! Thank you for reading this post! Are you willing to help dolphins and other animals the kind of lives that Mother Nature intended them to have? I hope so!!

Dolphins deserve to live like this in their family units (pods):

Hou Yifan retains Women's World Chess Championship

Golden orb web spider spins ant-repellent silk

Women's World Chess Championship Hou Yifan wins game 3 !!

The state of Canada's water supply!

Tal Memorial 2011 Chess Tournament

2011 FIDE Women's World Chess Championship

Is it time to give up on tigers and pandas?

Save shark from fin trade

Serious Vulnerablity detected in Java framework!!

Vietnam loses fight to save its rare Javan rhinos after last animal believed poached for horn

Is Ecocide a Crime? - Ecocentric - TIME.com

What is Ecocide and Should It Be Considered an International Crime Against Peace?

Ecocide: a fifth international crime against peace?

Anyone can become homeless...even siblings of the Rich and famous like .....

Humans are not the only ones who love life!!

Defenseless Animals

An Animal's eyes....

Sea levels to continue to rise for 500 years? Long-term climate calculations suggest so

One World One Ocean Campaign

A better way to see Orcas!

Dog rescues another dog

Prairie falcons make a comeback

A vision for grizzly bears

Stop the Killing:Boycott Japan!!

Life is dear

Ozone layer found on Venus!

Planet 'far away' on climate goals: study

9$B hasn't done much so far

World Animal Day 2011, Tuesday, October 4rd

Every aspect of our lives is a vote!

I believe Animals should be respected as citizens of this Earth!

Sea otters or sushi topping?

Sharks Are in Trouble, New Analysis Confirms

Turn up the heat on geothermal

Study: BP oil from spill not breaking down in Gulf

Sharks' Virus Killer Could Cure Humans

MISSION STATEMENT - WORLD ANIMAL DAY

How disgusting of the Government of Japan,shame on you!!

People donated to save lives, NOT to kill Dolphins, Porpoises and Whales! :o( link from "Lynn Gladhill
Evidence that the funds for the Japanese Security costs against Sea Shepherd came from the Tsunami Earthquake Relief Fund: Angry CONFIRMED - Donation money to Japan used for Antarctic Whaling"...

Evidence that the funds for the Japanese Security costs against Sea Shepherd came from the Tsunami Earthquake Relief Fund: Angry CONFIRMED - Donation money to Japan used for Antarctic Whaling

Here is a translation of the justification of increasing Japans whaling budget to provide security measures against Sea Shepherd

It reads that it is necessary to provide these funds to assist in the "severe destruction" of the Ishinomaki area and to "stimulate the restoration".

This is absolutely disgusting. I feel so sorry for the people in Japan who still haven't even got continuous power supply yet. Its time for Japans citizens to know the truth and stand up to their corrupted Government. I for one would not stand idle if the Australian Government used funds from say the QLD flood relief on a external program.

Source: Japanese Fisheries
http://www.jfa.maff.go.jp/j/budget/23_hosei/dai3ji.html

and document
http://www.jfa.maff.go.jp/j/budget/23_hosei/pdf/9-2.pdf

----------------------------

Special Permit Research Whaling
Stabilisation and Promotion Program

Budget: 2,284,000,000 yen

Aim
In order to ensure the stable execution of the 2011 season of the Antarctic Whale Survey(JARPA), the program will strengthen measures to combat harassment by anti-whaling activists.

Background
In the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Ishinomaki area, one of the prominent whaling centers in Japan, suffered severe destruction. In order to return to commercial whaling, Japan has been carrying out research whaling, but in recent years has suffered increasing harassment from anti-whaling activists, such that
last year the Antarctic survey had to be ended prematurely in order to ensure the safety of its research vessels. Strengthening measures to combat harassment by anti-whaling activists will ensure the stable execution of this year’s Antarctic survey and stimulate the restoration and revival of the region around Ishinomaki.

Objective
To carry out the 2011 season of Special Permit Research Whaling as planned.

Content
While providing support in response to the loss of income from sale of byproducts (whalemeat) due to the premature end of last year’s survey, the program will strengthen safetymeasures against harassment by anti-whaling activists.

Executing Authority
Institute of Cetacean Research

Please contact the Government of Japan and tell them your disgust for their behavior you can do so using this contact information, thank you!
Contact
Fisheries Agency, International Section (03-3502-2443)
----------------------------

水産庁/平成23年度第3次水産関係補正予算の概要
www.jfa.maff.go.jp

23年度第3次補正予算のPR版
水産庁/平成23年度第3次水産関係補正予算の概要
www.jfa.maff.go.jp

23年度第3次補正予算のPR版
水産庁/平成23年度第3次水産関係補正予算の概要
www.jfa.maff.go.jp

23年度第3次補正予算のPR版
水産庁/平成23年度第3次水産関係補正予算の概要
www.jfa.maff.go.jp

23年度第3次補正予算のPR版
水産庁/平成23年度第3次水産関係補正予算の概要
www.jfa.maff.go.jp

23年度第3次補正予算のPR版

Dear visitor to my blog:

You need to go to to a website I will give you the address to below and check if you have the latest version of Java installed on your computer. A serious vulnerability has been detected within the Java framework that can make you extremely vulnerable to attacks from Hackers!!! Sun Microsystems officially licensed the Java Standard Edition platform for Linux, Mac OS X, and Solaris but not to Microsoft. In relation to Microsoft and the Windows operating system, the license expired without renewal.Because Windows does not ship with a Java software platform, a network of third-party vendors and licensees develop them for Windows and other operating system/hardware platforms. However, note that if you have a Windows Operating system, Java might have been installed on your computer as part of the initial install of software on your computer at the factory. Or like myself, you may have installed Java onto your computer yourself.

All of you please visit the following website http://www.java.com/en/ and then click on the box: Do I have Java? This will tell you if you have the latest version of Java installed on your computer. If you do then you are safe, if you do not have the latest version then you need to install it to avoid being targeted by evil people who use the internet to wreck out fun and our computers! The website will give you directions as to how to install the latest verson of Java!!! Please take this information very seriously, and do what I suggest. And please pass this message on to your friends and family so they are not affected by these evil hackers in the future! If you do not know how to install java or the java updates then I suggest you talk to someone you know who knows about computers, and have them help you install this patch for Java as soon as possible! Even if this costs you money it is cheaper to pay someone now then to have your computer destroyed by evil hackers!

2012-01-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

According to an article in Agence France-Presse, "

Agence France-PresseJanuary 16, 2012

"Carbon dioxide emissions may be affecting the brains and central nervous systems of fish, with serious consequences for their survival, according to research."

"Carbon dioxide concentrations predicted to occur in the ocean by the end of this century will interfere with fishes' ability to hear, smell, turn and evade predators, the research found. The Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies said it had been testing the performance of baby coral fishes in sea water containing higher levels of dissolved CO2. "It is now pretty clear that they sustain significant disruption to their central nervous system, which is likely to impair their chances of survival," said professor Phillip Munday."

If this finding is true for fish then we must hypothesize that other species of life on the planet is also being seriously affected by excessive emissions of CO2 in the oceans, and other areas. How many more warnings is "Mother Nature" going to give us before we listen to her and change our behavior as a species?

For more information on this story please visit:

http://www.theage.com.au/national/reef-fish-at-risk-as-carbon-dioxide-levels-build-20120116-1q361.html

"The main source for carbon dioxide that permeates the atmosphere is the burning of fossil fuels (gas, oil, coal). Thus, excessive use of it increases the accumulation of greenhouse gases. Anything that burns produces a corresponding amount of carbon dioxide, from forest fires to automobile acceleration to jet engines and even small grass fires."

"Decaying vegetation also contributes to carbon dioxide accumulation. Man and animals add to the pollution of the environment, because as we exhale oxygen we expel carbon dioxide. The main concentration of excessive carbon dioxide emissions lie with manufacturing plants and power plants, especially those that are run on fossil fuels."

Source: http://www.carboncycle.biz/carbon-dioxide.html

Here are some links to websites which will help you calculate what your carbon footprint is and also help you reduce your carbon footprint on our planet::

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/reduce-your-carbon-footprint/

2012-01-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

"Erwin Vermeulen was arrested on Friday 16th of December in Taji, Japan while attempting to make photographs of the transport of dolphins. The animals who were captured in the wild were being transported towards holding basins at the Dolphin Resort Hotel."

"Erwin traveled to Japan on his own initiative to investigate the slaughter of dolphins in Taji. His intention was to observe the transport in a peaceful manner and collect footage to reveal to the world what is happening. Annually the Japanese government provides 23.000 licenses to various coastal towns to slaughter dolphins of various species for consumption purposes."

"Police claim Erwin shoved a hotel employee even though Erwin strongly denies ever using violence. The arrest seems pre-planned since no witnesses saw him shove the employee and Erwin was not even questioned as police simply approached him and took him away.
According to Sea Shepherd the Japanese authorities use any possibility to remove activists out of Taji.
Out of compassion for the dolphins being slaughtered in Taji, Erwin Vermeulen ventured to Japan at his own expense to devote his time and energy."

Source: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/free-sea-shepherd-activist/

Government of Japan you have no right to hold Erwin against his will in jail in Japan. By doing this you are creating a very unfavorable image of your country in the World. Free Erwin now, or be prepared to face economic and political boycotts of your Country's goods and services, and negative press concerning your Government and your people!!

For more information about this situation please visit the following website:

http://taijiactiongroup.blogspot.com/2011/12/erwin-vermeulen-reportedly-gets-visit.html

2012-01-09T01:20:00.001-07:00

Source of images: http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2011/12/111212153123.jpg and

http://images.sciencedaily.com/2007/10/071024145626-large.jpg

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Men and women have large differences in personality, according to a new study published Jan. 4 in the online journal PLoS ONE. To read more about this finding please visit:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120104174812.htm and

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0029265

Did you think that Men and Women were more close in personality or did you think that Men and Women varied widely in our personalities? Did you think that it was personality was not going to be varied between the sexes on the basis of our gender? This new study suggests that differences in personality on the basis of our gender are more pronounced than they were previously though to be. For more on this research please visit:

http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/01/06/study-supports-gender-differences-in-personality/33384.html

Wouldn't it be interesting to see if these differences exist if children are raised by male-single parent or a female- single parent? I think it would be a fascinating study!

2012-01-01T18:26:00.000-07:00

To read an article entitled, " Wolves’ Return Revitalizes Yellowstone"

please click on the following link:

http://planetsave.com/2011/12/30/wolves-return-revitalizes-yellowstone/

This article shows how important Wolves are to the ecosystems they live in. Humans have no right to interfere in the lives of wolves on this Planet!! How dare some cattlemen in this world actually lobby the Government in order to have culls of Wolves! As stated in the article other life such as trees and shrubs are now flourishing in Yellowstone National Park because of Wolves as are beaver populations! We need to save the wolves of this Planet, they have as much right to live on the Planet as any other species, including our species! They are essential because they are part of the web of life in the ecosystems they life in and as predators they serve important roles, such as helping keep prey species healthy. In fact

"The gray wolf was reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in the spring of 1995, after a 70-year absence. In the past 6 years, the population has grown from 31 released animals to more than 100 individuals, as wolves have exploited an abundant elk population. Consequently, elk that had previously experienced significant mortality primarily in the late winter because of starvation now face mortality throughout the year. When an elk is killed by wolves, its carcass is partially consumed by the wolves and then is scavenged extensively by eight other carnivore species (coyote, bald eagle, golden eagle, grizzly bear, black bear, raven, magpie, and red fox) and less intensely by up to 20 other species. Field observations indicate that the infusion of wolf-killed ungulate carrion throughout the year has created an abundant and dependable food source for these other carnivores." source http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/6782 .

"Wolves prey mostly on animals that are young or elderly, sick or injured, and weak or unfit, thus keeping prey populations healthy and vigorous (Carbyn 1983). By preventing large herbivores such as deer and elk from becoming overpopulated, wolves help maintain native biodiversity. When deer and elk become too abundant for their habitat, they overgraze it and may destroy the plant base, making the habitat less suitable for other species." source:http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/wildlife_conservation/imperiled_species/wolves/wolf_facts/why_restore_wolves.php

Source of image of wolves photographed in Yellowstone National Park: http://gogreen.motivators.com/image.axd?picture=2011%2F12%2Fyellowstone.jpg

2012-01-01T00:49:00.000-07:00

Well we have just passed the year 2011 and now are into 2012 according to my watch. This means that we are officially in the United Nations sanctioned "Year of the Bat". How many of you knew that 2012 was "Year of the Bat"? How many of you realize how important bats are?

The United Nations has created a special website for the "Year of the Bat", which you can access by clicking on the following link:

http://www.yearofthebat.org/

Be sure to bookmark the page as there is so much interesting information at the site and I am sure the content will be updated throughout the year!

To test your knowledge of bats you can take a short quiz at this website. I missed one question on the the test I am sure you will do better than I did! http://www.yearofthebat.org/get-involved/bat-quiz/

Did you know that Bats are the only flying mammal? If you didn't then I can tell you did not visit the website above as this fact is mentioned on the first page of the website.I hope you chose to get involved in this the "International Year of the Bat". In doing so you can help bats because as a life form they are in trouble! <:(

"Like us, bats are warm-blooded, give birth, and suckle their young. They are also long-lived, intelligent, and have complex social lives. Although they're often called flying mice, bats are not closely related to mice but form a special group of their own: the Chiroptera. Bats have developed a highly sophisticated echolocation system that allows them to catch tiny insects and avoid obstacles, even in complete darkness. When they're flying, bats produce a stream of high-pitched squeaks and listen to the echoes to produce a sound picture of their surroundings.. They can live over 25 years in the wild - a remarkable feat for an animal weighing less than 10 grams! Perhaps this is because they spend more than half their lives asleep."
(source:http://www.snh.org.uk/publications/on-line/wildlife/batsandpeople/default.asp )

Why should you be concerned about the bats on our Planet?

Firstly, Bats eat millions of harmful and disease-caring insects every day. Secondly, bats help fertilize plants and spread new growth of vegetation by their daily activities.Thirdly , Because bats are sensitive to high pollution and pesticide levels, they are useful as a warning sign to potential environmental problems. Fruit-eating bats in the tropics disperse seeds that are critical to restoring cleared or damaged rainforests. To read more about the benefits which bats bring to our World please visit:

http://www.batcon.org/index.php/all-about-bats/intro-to-bats/subcategory/18.html

By the way do you know what kind of bat is pictured above?

The bat pictured above is a "fruit bat".
Source of image:http://www.mpg.de/de

Here are some interesting and important websites about bats:

How to help bats:
http://www.batrescue.org/helpbats/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat

http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/bats/index.htm (for children)

The Bat Conservation Society of Canada:
http://www.cancaver.ca/bats/canada.htm

Strategies for co-existing with Bats:

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/FW/2ColumnSubPage/290050.html

How Bats Work: http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/mammals/bat.htm

Please help bats this year and every year! They are important members of the World and they deserve and have a right to be here! They are not the vicious animals that Hollywood erroneously portrays them as!
Lastly I found these interesting videos about bats which I hope you can watch at some time during the year of 2012! Thank you!

Here is a video which talks about the importance of bats, white-nose syndrome and other facts about bats:

If you are a parent or educator I am sure your child or students will love this video:

Save the Bats of this World by educating your friends and family about them and their important roles in our World!

2011-12-21T19:07:00.002-07:00

2011-12-21T18:54:00.001-07:00

2011-12-10T19:12:00.001-07:00

Today, December 10th, is a day which has been established in our planet to recognized and remember the tragic deaths and murders of animals on our Planet. This day is officially known as "International Animal Rights Day."

As stated at the website, "Uncaged:Protecting Animals

"The annual International Animal Rights Day (IARD) - 10th December - aims to remember the animal victims of human tyranny and call for the recognition of our Universal Declaration of Animal Rights (UDAR). The goal of this historic campaign is to build on the recognition of human rights, and persuade humanity that kindness and respect is due to all sentient creatures. Click here to find out how what you can do to support International Animal Rights Day."

"Thousands of animal rights supporters across the world hold candlelit vigils and other inspiring events to mark the 13th annual IARD. Ethical pioneers united to remember the billions of animals subjected to deliberate cruelty and killing across the world every year. This coordinated global day of action has intensified calls for the recognition of the rights of all sentient beings to life, liberty and natural enjoyment."

"Based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), signed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10th 1948, the UDAR seeks protection of similar rights for animals calling for an end to "exploitation or oppression in the name of science or sport, or for use as food, for commercial profit or for other human ends".

"International Animal Rights Day and the UDAR were launched on December 10th 1998, 50 years to the day after the UDHR was agreed. "

Source: http://www.bloggersunite.org/event/international-animal-rights-day

The official website for this day is: http://internationalanimalrightsday.org/ where it is stated:

"This day is an opportunity to remind society that freedom, justice and dignity are inclusive terms, since suffering and the desire to live are not confined to a particular race, sex, social position... or species."

What can you do to help animals on this day (and on all days of the year for that matter!): As stated by one person at the website:

http://www.national-awareness-days.com/international-animal-rights-day.html

"Start with something little and together we'll soon be making a huge difference!" I am sure you can think of some way that you can help an animals or animals in the remaining hours of December 10th, 2011. If you cannot do it today, then promise yourself and our animal friends that you will think of something to do to help animals as soon as you can! Are you willing to commit to your promise on my blog? I hope so, because I love animals and I am going to make sure I do something to help an animal which lives around me,today or as soon as possible. Thank you!

I believe one of the best things that we humans can do is to allow all animals on this planet to have rights. At the present time in our World, many humans are killing, harming or exploiting animals on a daily basis. If animals had rights, then they would be protected from humans that for some reason think they can do anything they want to animals. It is a scientific fact that many humans who harm animals in some way or form:(ie injure,kill or imprison against the will of the animal), often end up harming a human or a human being in some way in the future in a serious way! <:( As stated by an expert of criminal behavior:

"Acts of cruelty to animals are not mere indications of a minor personality flaw in the abuser; they are symptomatic of a deep mental disturbance. Research in psychology and criminology shows that people who commit acts of cruelty to animals don’t stop there—many of them move on to their fellow humans. “Murderers ... very often start out by killing and torturing animals as kids,” says Robert K. Ressler, who developed profiles of serial killers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)." source:Daniel Goleman, “Experts See Parallels Between Dahmer, Previous Serial Killers,” New York Times News Service, 11 Aug. 1991.

Source of image:http://www.veggies.org.uk/img/pics/SARP.gif

2011-12-05T20:42:00.001-07:00

To read an article entitled, "Marine predators in global free fall: UBC fisheries study

please click on the highlighted words in the sentence above this one.

What I find appalling about this article is the following:

"In areas of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, fishing has led to a 90-per-cent decrease in top predators since the 1950s, and the impacts are now headed south of the Equator."

This statistic is both appalling and disgusting! Human ignorance is reaching new heights on a daily basis. Sure people will say, well back then we did not have the scientific knowledge we have now...etc...etc, but still, surely
someone must have seen these predators disappearing before now, why has it taken so long to discern this fact from the available data. Who is to blame? Well surely people in the fishing industry are, and scientists must also be held accountable for their lack of apparent scientific data on ocean predators in this part of the World. The question is what are we humans going to do about our awful behavior in the present and future?

I know for a fact that many of these ocean predators were caught in the nets of fisherman, and their carcasses were simply discarded as by-catch by these fisherman! Fisherman and Fishing industries have been selfishly catching anything and everything that moves using bottom trawling (see:http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/in-dead-water/page/1251.aspx ) and other methods."Traps set for marine organisms can cause damage to hard corals, soft corals, and sponges. They may also result in bycatch and "ghost fishing" (fishing gear that continues to catch fish even though it has been lost or discarded). Both commercial and recreational fishing contributes to anchor damage on coral reefs. Furthermore, groundings of fishing vessels have significantly damaged certain reefs." (source: http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/visions/coral/side3.html ).

One other type of fishing which has been extremely destructive to fish and other marine life is known as, "Factory Fishing". This refers to "Fishing ships "(which) "use state-of-the-art technology to target one species of fish at a time, until that population collapses, and then they turn to another species for profit."
(source:http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/oceans/threats/factory-fishing/ ).

Clearly if there has been a 90 percent decrease in the top -predators in the sea since the 1950's this is a very dangerous condition for another reason, that being the fact that the fish and animals known as "producers" must have had their populations increase in numbers in great quantities due to lack of predators of these animals. As stated in a previous blog post of mine, if these producers overpopulate the oceans, all the life on the planet may be in jeopardy because these producers will consume all the phytoplankton and other microscopic life in the oceans. This will be a serious problem because these phytoplankton are responsible for creating much of the the oxygen for life on the planet to breathe!! To explain this further I found the following information regarding the Marine food chain.

The marine food chain
"Phytoplankton are at the base of the food chain, they are very simple forms of life stimulated by light and nutrients in the water to grow and multiply.

The second level of the food chain is Zooplankton such as the tiny shrimp-like krill, which abound in Antarctic waters. Animal plankton "graze" on the phytoplankton.

The Zooplankton is in turn are eaten by invertebrates, such as squid, and small fish like pilchards and sprats. At the fourth level are the most spectacular hunters, the pelagic fish like tuna, kahawai and kingfish. Streamlined for speed, these fish move in large schools, some migrating many thousands of kilometres each year.

This "mako shark" is among the predators at the top of the marine food chain

At the very top of this branch of the food chain are marine mammals such as dolphins and seals, sharks and humans.
Also connected to the food chain are the bottom dwellers. Life on the sea bed in the continental shelf regions is fed a constant drizzle of dead and decaying matter from the upper levels. This supports a complex community of plant and animal life and bacteria, which is fed upon by bottom feeding, or demersal fish, and species such as rock lobster.
The bacteria on the sea bed perform an essential role by breaking down organic matter and unlocking nutrients which can then be released into the water for re-use by a new generation of plankton. "

Source:http://www.tbc.school.nz/elearning/localsites/starfish/shared-graphics-for-download/ocean-foodchain.gif

Clearly the Oceans of this Planet are in trouble, and because of this fact, all life in the Oceans and all life on the land and in the air on our planet is also threatened! Five threats (all of which can be at least partially if not totally blamed on Humans and our behavior) which are responsible for our oceans being in trouble are outlined and discussed at the following website:

http://saveourseas.com/threats

Please take the time to visit this website and learn what you can do as an individual and as a member of a group, to stop these five threats from becoming too severe in nature!! Thank you!

To learn more about the implications concerning the loss of predators in the Marine food chains of this Planet please visit these websites by clicking on their addresses: (note at least two require you have a program that can read PDF files on your computer before you can access them):

1. "Effects of Losing Top Predators": .http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Reports/Protecting_ocean_life/Top_predator_loss_RSR_FINAL.pdf

2."Predators as Prey: Why Healthy Oceans need sharks": http://na.oceana.org/sites/default/files/o/fileadmin/oceana/uploads/Sharks/Predators_as_Prey_FINAL_FINAL.pdf

3."Sea Creatures make a healthy ocean planet, air included
– another “inconvenient truth?”: http://www.fisherycrisis.com/CO2/predators.htm

4.Loss of Top Animal Predators has Massive Ecological Effects:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110714142133.htm

5.The Grazers and Predators: http://marinebio.org/oceans/grazers-predators.asp

6.Loss of Large Predators Has Caused Widespread Disruption of Ecosystems : http://scrippsnews.ucsd.edu/Releases/?releaseID=1179

7."Scientists Decry Loss Of Big Ocean Predators": http://www.rense.com/general67/decry.htm

8. Loss of World's Top Predators Is Pervasively Changing Ecosystems: http://www.livescience.com/15051-apex-top-predators-loss-food-chain-ecosystem.html

9. Sharks' role in the oceans:
http://www.sharksavers.org/en/education/why-sharks-are-important/710-sharks-role-in-the-oceans.html

10. Habitat Loss: http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/climate-and-energy/archive/background/threats/global-melting/sea-level-rise/habitat-loss/

11. Overfishing threatening Ocean predators: http://www.globalanimal.org/2011/02/28/overfishing-threatening-oceans-predators/31375/

2011-11-29T04:27:00.002-07:00

水産庁/平成23年度第3次水産関係補正予算の概要

www.jfa.maff.go.jp

More evidence concerning this behavior of the Government of Japan in this matter has been revealed to me. To read about this information, please visit:CONFIRMED - Donation money to Japan used for Antarctic Whaling: http://www.planetoceanalliance.org/forum/showthread.php/16957-CONFIRMED-Donation-money-to-Japan-used-for-Antarctic-Whaling

2011-11-29T03:26:00.001-07:00

Here is a link which discusses the disgusting practice of "Drive dolphin" Hunting on our Planet:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin_drive_hunting

Help stop Drive Dolphin hunting. How, by geting involved by signing petitions like these:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/9/help-stop-dolphin-drive-hunting/

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/end-dolphin-slaughter-in-japan/

Please join these facebook groups:

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=128633203833434

You can leave a comment on the PM of Japan's Facebook page to express your disgust concerning the Dolphin and Porpoise slaughters there. : http://www.facebook.com/Japan.PMO (A big thank you to Apple Neilson for this link)

Dolphins need your voice to stop the killing against them! Please take a few minutes to involve yourself in helping them by signing these petitions and by leaving a message on the PM of Japan's facebook page.
Thank you on behalf of our dolphin friends! Please do not use profanity that will only hurt the chances of helping our dolphin friends. Thank you. Here is a video I hope you take a few minutes to watch. This discusses the truth about what is going on in our World to our dolphin friends!

2011-11-28T01:26:00.001-07:00

2011-11-26T06:38:00.001-07:00

Seventeen year old Hou Yifan of China (photo on the right above) has retained her World Champion Crown of Women's Chess!

Hou Yifan, 17, retained the title when she drew the eighth game of a match against Indian GM Humpy Koneru (pictured above on the left),. The final score of the best-of-10 match was 5.5 points to 2.5 points. Both players hold the Male Grandmaster Crown in Professional Chess. Yes chess is a sexist activity! Congratulations to Humpy Koneru for reaching the Championship match!

Here are some links to some analysis of all the games:

Game 1:http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7673

Game 2:http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7675

Game 3:http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7679

Game 4:http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7683

Game 5:http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7687

Game 6:http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7691

Game 7:http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7697

Game 8:http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7700

Congratulations to Hou Yifan! Here is a link to an interesting interview with her which was done after her match against Humpy Koneru: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7705
To learn more about Hou Yifan please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hou_Yifan
You can learn some interesting things about her opponent, Humpy Koneru at this website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koneru_Humpy

To learn more about Humpy Koneru please read the interview Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk gave her and posted to Alexandra's website:

http://www.chessblog.com/2009/11/star-interview-humpy-koneru.html

I hope Hou Yifan enjoys her reign as Women's World Chess Champion!!

2011-11-26T05:46:00.001-07:00

Two Golden Orb spiders:the one on the left is a female and the one on the right is a
male
(source of image:http://geoffpark.wordpress.com/category/invertebrates/page/2/ )

To read an article entitled, Golden orb web spider spins ant-repellent silk please click on the highlighted words in this sentence. So once again we see that it was another animal species which beat humans to the punch, this time it is the Golden orb web spider that seems to have created the first known insect repellent!

According to the website http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/inverts/nephila.htm , the Golden Orb spider species
"makes the largest and strongest web. It gets its name from the golden colour of its silk." Female spiders can measure up to 45 mm while the smaller males measure only 6 mm.

The web created by the female orb spider " is extremely strong. So strong that even small birds stick in the net!!"

"E.J. Banfield, a naturalist who lived on Dunk Island in Queensland, wrote in 1918 about indigenous people using these webs for fishing.

The end of a stick was twisted in the web to attach the web to it, then the stick was waved about to spin the web into a single line about a metre long. The spider was squashed onto the end of the line and trailed in the water. Fish that attacked the bait became attached by their mouths and were taken. The breaking strain of the line was estimated at about 0.3kg but this was of no real consequence because the fish that were being caught were only about 4cm long. However, the method was successful enough to yield 17 fish in 10 minutes of observation."

Being a male of this insect species is a risky proposition at best, because "The web is occupied by a single female and several hopeful males. Although it might not be true of Nephila pilipes, in the related species, Nephila plumipes, 60% of males are eaten during or after" mating!!

"This species was first described by the Danish entomologist, Johan Fabricius, in 1793. A pupil of Linnaeus, the Swedish scientist who devised the basis of modern biological classification, Fabricius went on to become a professor at the University of Kiel (which was in Denmark at that time), publishing several important works on insects."

"The Golden-Orb Spider is found in the northern parts of Australia as well as in South-East Asia and in the Papua-New Guinea region."

source:http://www.learningspark.com.au/shop/nt/gospider/index.html
"The golden silk orb-weavers (genus Nephila) are a genus of araneomorph spiders noted for the impressive webs they weave. (The Araneomorphae (also called the Labidognatha) are a suborder of spiders. They are distinguished by having fangs that oppose each other and cross in a pinching action, in contrast to the Mygalomorphae (tarantulas and their close kin), which have fangs that are nearly parallel in alignment. source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araneomorph )

Nephila consists of numerous individual species found around the world. They are also commonly called golden orb-weavers, giant wood spiders, or banana spiders. In North America, the golden silk orb-weavers (see also Nephila clavipes) are sometimes referred to as writing spiders due to occasional zigzag patterns (stabilimenta) built into their webs, though these occur much more frequently in the webs of Argiope, such as the St Andrew's Cross spider."

"The species N. jurassica, which lived about 165 million years ago, had a leg span of some 15 cm, and is the largest known fossilized spider/

"The genus name roughly translated from Ancient Greek, means "fond of spinning", a testament to the enormous webs the golden orbs weave. The golden orb's web has been seen to start at the top of a 6 metre tree and stretch as much as 2 metres across. Whereas most other spider webs are short-lived, these impressive structures can last for years."

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_silk_orb-weaver

I know many people have a fear or dislike of spiders however they are amazing animals which have very important roles and lives on our planet! Spiders are predators that eat various other arthropods, usually smaller than themselves. Because they are acting as predators they kill and eat many harmful species of insects to humans.

Spiders "are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every habitat with the exception of air and sea colonization. As of 2008, approximately 40,000 spider species, and 109 families have been recorded by taxonomists!!"
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider

Here is a short video about The Golden Orb species which I found on Youtube:

How many of you knew that some spiders species consist of members who live together (ie.they are social animals)?? I didn't know this until now! Fascinating!!

A few species of spiders that build webs live together in large colonies and show social behavior, although not as complex as in social insects. Anelosimus eximius (in the family Theridiidae) can form colonies of up to 50,000 individuals. The genus Anelosimus has a strong tendency towards sociality: all known American species are social, and species in Madagascar are at least somewhat social. Members of other species in the same family but several different genera have independently developed social behavior. For example, although Theridion nigroannulatum belongs to a genus with no other social species, T. nigroannulatum build colonies that may contain several thousand individuals that co-operate in prey capture and share food."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider

I hope you have enjoyed learning about The Golden Orb spiders and spiders in general. I sure have!!! :)

2011-11-18T06:30:00.001-07:00

The third game of the FIDE Women's World Chess Championship was played yesterday. Chinese GM Hou Yifan (pictured above) won the game when her opponent, Humpy Koneru resigned after move 37. Yifan has the black pieces in the game. The opening played in the game was the Queen's Gambit Declined:Ragozin variation. This means that the score in the match is now 2-1 for Hou Yifan with game 4 being played today. Analysis of the third game which was done by Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez can be played through by going to the Chessbase.com website: http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7679 Game 4 of the match is being played today.

You can read a short report (which includes photos and some analysis) about Game 3 by going to the FIDE website:

http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/5714-womens-world-chess-championship-match-round-3.html

Other reports about Game 3 are at :

(a) http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/wwch-g3-hou-yifan-scores-first-win and

(b) http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2011/11/game-3-hou-yifan-takes-lead.html

(c)Computer analysis of all the moves played in game 3 can be played through at this website:

http://livechess.chessdom.com/site/

You can watch the fourth game live at the FIDE Website by clicking on the following link:
http://www.wwcc2011tirana.com/template.php?pag=1&tongue=ENG The game begins at 15:00 CET Time. You can find out what time the game begins where you live by clicking on this link:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Women\%27s%2BWorld%2BChess%2BChampionship&iso=20111118T15&p1=284

Best wishes to both players!

2011-11-17T01:11:00.001-07:00

These grades are shameful! What are we Canadians doing to our water supply?? And our Federal Government gets an F for its Grade??? Apparently, Canadians have been blessed with clean water for too long! Having been to countries myself where they have problems with their water, Canadians should realize the blessing we have had in terms of clean and disease free water!

"Much of Canada's tap water remains at risk from contamination.For the first time, the report has expanded beyond treatment and monitoring to look at protection of drinking water sources."
"However, it finds that only seven of 13 provinces and territories have taken steps to implement full-fledged source-water protection plans." (source:http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2011/11/15/environment-ecojustice-drinking-water.html )

Why hasn't the Federal Government of Canada required all provinces and territories in this country to have full-fledged source-water protection plans??

2011-11-16T22:49:00.001-07:00

The 2011 Tal Memorial Chess Tournament has begun in Moscow. The event runs from November 16th to November 25th in Moscow, Russia. Ten of the strongest chess players in the World are participating in this year's event:
Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen with an elo of 2826 is the highest-rated player in the event. Other players participating (presented in order based upon their elo rating) are:Viswanathan Anand (the current World chess champion whose elo rating is 2811 second-highest-rated player in the World), Levon Aronian ( with an elo rating of 2802 currently the third-highest-rated player in the World), GM Vladimir Kramnik whose elo of 2800 make him the fourth-highest-rated player in the November 2011 FIDE ratings list, GM Vassily Ivanchuk, who is the sixth-highest-rated player in the World with an elo of 2775, GM Sergey Karjakin,who has an elo of 2763, Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura who is the tenth-highest-rated player in the World with an elo of 2758, GM Peter Svidler (elo 2755), GM Boris Gelfand (elo 2744), and GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (elo 2730) round out the field for the tournament. The time control for this event is: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves, and 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one.

Here are the results from round one of the tournament:

Round 1: Wednesday November 16, 2011

Levon Aronian

½ ½
Magnus Carlsen

Vladimir Kramnik

0-1
Ian Nepomniachtchi

Vassily Ivanchuk

1-0
Peter Svidler

Vishy Anand

½ ½
Sergey Karjakin

Hikaru Nakamura

½ ½
Boris Gelfand

You can play through the moves of all the games for round one by going to the Chessviewer Deluxe Program at the bottom of this blog page.If you do not know how to use Chessviewer Deluxe then please visit the following page first: http://www.chessgames.com/cvdhelp.html
Alternatively you can go to the Chessdom.com website and play through the moves of all of these games using the ChessTempo program. The owner of Chessdom has also incorporated the use of a strong chess engine Stockfish, so you can see where these first round games were won by Nepomniachchi and Ivanchuk. To access the games at Chessdom please click on the following link:

http://www.chessdom.com/tal-memorial-2011-live

These are the pairings for round two of the event:
(the player on the left has the white pieces in the game):

Best wishes to all players for round 2!!

2011-11-16T14:50:00.001-07:00

The 2010 FIDE Women's World chess championship has begun in Tirana, Albania. The match pits Indian player Humpy Koneru (seen on the left in the photo above) against Women's World Chess champion, Chinese phenom Hou Yifan, who is on the right in the photo above). Koneru, (who is 24 years of age) as an FIDE Elo rating of 2600 which makes her the second-highest rated female player in the World (behind Judit Polgar). Hou Yifan (who is 17 years old) has an Elo rating of 2578 (which makes her the 3rd-highest-rated female player in the World, behind Koneru and Polgar.

The first two games of this match have been already played in Tirana, with both games ending in draws.The match began this past Monday with Koneru having the advantage of the white pieces. She began the game by playing the move 1.d4 and after Yifan responsed with 1...Nf6 the game continued 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O (This opening is known as the Catalan opening. Tartakower first played it in a 1929 Barcelona tournament and then named it after the region.). When the game continued with Yifan playing the capture 6....dxc4 the "Open" variation of the Catalan was being played. To learn more about this opening please visit the following website by clicking on the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_Opening .The two players continued the game after 6...dxc4 for another 73 moves before agreeing on a draw. You can play through the game move by move and see analysis by GM Alejandro Ramirez, by clicking on the following link:

http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7673

The second game of the match was played in Tirana yesterday with Hou Yifan playing the white pieces. She began the game by playing 1.e4 and Koneru decided to play classically as black by responding with the move 1...e5. The game continued with Yifan playining 2.Nf3 and after Koneru played her next move of 2...Nf6 we could say that the opening was the Petrov (Petroff's) defense. You can read some information concerning game two and play through the game with analysis by GM Alejandro Ramiez by clicking on the following link:

http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7675

The third game of the match will be played tomorrow in Tirana.
It should be noted that this match is only ten games in length, with the first player to reach 5.5 points being declared the Women's World Chess Championshiip. The time control for these games is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the remainder of the game plus an increment of 30 seconds per move starting at move one.

If the two players are tied after 10 games, then they will play a sudden-death playoff consisting of 4 games at a time control of Game/25 plus a 10 second increment after each move.

I think that the match is only being held for 10 games is an outrage and ridiculous! Why has the FIDE decided that this important match is only going to have this short a duration? If the FIDE wanted to get more girls and women interested in playing chess, they should have held a longer match! Each game in the match is now extremely important and neither Koneru nor Hou Yifan can fall behind early in the match, because she will simply not have enough games to recover!

Best wishes to both players for tommorrow's third game!!

Source of image:http://www.chess.com/news/yifan-leads-rostov-grand-prix-8971

2011-11-10T01:38:00.001-07:00

Photo:This photo was recently taken by a photographer positioned above
a beach in China.

To read an article at the www.independent.co.uk website entitled, "Is it time to give up on tigers and pandas?" please click on the highlighted words in this sentence.

What does this say about humans as a species if we are not able to conserve all of the life on this planet? How did we get to this point in our history? I truly believe that there are many too many humans on this planet. We have overpopulated areas of this planet which were not meant for us to inhabit. Of course some of you must have recently read in a newspaper or heard in a tv news broadcast that in the first week of this month of November, the human population on this planet exceeded 7 billion people! Will it come to a point that there are so many humans on this planet that we are going to engage in wars and other cruel confrontations in order to see which of us will be allowed to continue to live on the planet? Experts have been saying this type of situation may be inevitable! Why do people continue to have children on this planet, when there are so many children who have no families or parents? What is it about our species which causes us to lose focus of our behavior so badly that we are threatening the existence of all life on the planet? If scientists are telling us that certain species of animals and plants are too difficult or costly to preserve in the wild, then this suggests that we humans have gone way too far in our overpopulation of this planet and the use of its finite resources!

One ofthe fastest-growing areas (population wise) is Africa, where the population couldmore than triple from today's one-billion level! People in this area of the World I was able to learn of this fact by reading the
article, Alarm about population growth is not a new fear ,which you can read by clicking on the highlighted words in this sentence.Dr. M. Ray Perryman, who wrote this article, indicates that he believes the only way we are going to be able to deal with this kind of population of our species on the planet is through . the " hope that technology and productivity can help us solvethe other problems inherent in the next billions."

The big question Dr. Perryman is what if technology and productivity do not help us solve these problems? Then what?

As stated by the National Geographic Society:

"The challenge remains to find ever more efficient and less environmentally harmful ways to feed the world. Better management of soil—for example, by rotating crops—can reduce the need to clear more woodland for agriculture. Contour plowing diminishes water-polluting runoff. Some governments have limited or banned the use of DDT as an insecticide because of its cumulative effects in the food chain.
As the Earth’s population continues to mushroom, can ways be found to manage natural resources without causing ecological collapse? The most successful efforts are almost always the result of cooperation between government and industry. But as is true with all government regulation, laws tend to be effective only when they are understood and supported by the people who are affected: both producers and consumers.
In places where these vital conditions do not exist the environment suffers, and ultimately, so do people around the world." (source: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/overpopulation/science.html )

"Environmentalists have long been concerned about the resources threatened by rapidly growing human populations, focusing on phenomenon such as deforestation, desertification, air pollution and global warming. But the worst-case scenario for people experiencing overpopulation, according to Lawrence Smith, president of the Population Institute, is a lack of fresh, clean water.
"If the water goes, the species goes," he said." (source:http://articles.cnn.com/2007-09-25/tech/overpopulation.overview_1_world-population-population-institute-population-estimates/2?_s=PM:TECH )

Humans have some serious issues to deal with concerning our population level and its impact on the ecosystems and other life on this planet! Will it come to a point that laws are necessary to prevent couples from having children in our World? This is one possible "solution" which some experts have suggested may be necessary in the future in order to save all live on the Planet! Let us hope that these solutions are still available to the World if and when definite concrete concerted efforts on the part of all countries on this planet are launched by our species!!

2011-11-01T22:53:00.000-06:00

Source of image:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Extant_Shark_Orders.svg/350px-Extant_Shark_Orders.svg.png

To read an article entitled, "Save shark from fin trade " which was written by a writer at the SunSentinel.com website please click on the highlighted words in this sentence. The reason I am telling you about this article is because of these statements from the article:

"No other animal on the planet has been wiped out by another species like sharks are being wiped out," Abernethy said, explaining that by extension, "our oceans are being wiped out."

"As an apex creature on the top of the food chain, sharks play a vital role in the balance of the ocean's ecosystem. As they die out, other marine life will follow, and the health of the world's oceans — covering the vast majority of the planet's surface — will crumble".

What does the first statement say about our species? Humans have known for some time that our over-killing of sharks would lead to severe consequences on this planet, yet some people go out every day and kill more sharks. I just watched a National Geographic video entitled, "Journey to Shark Eden" and in the video marine research scientists show that were sharks are in abundance the surrounding marine ecosystems are healthy and strong! Conversely, in areas of the World's oceans where sharks are no longer found, because they have been over-fished, and consequently few sharks exist, the surrounding ecosystem, including coral structures, and variety and number of species of marine animals, are literally dead! This scientific research proves that Humans have had a severe adverse effect on the Oceans and all the life within them, (especially the shark populations).

To those of you who think you can go out and kill as many sharks as you want to, guess again. If you selfishly continue this activity you are going to cause the animals known as producers to overpopulate this planet and these animals will use so much oxygen that there will be none left for the rest of life on the Planet! Then where are you going to live??

2011-10-26T05:27:00.001-06:00

2011-10-25T23:59:00.002-06:00

To read an article entitled, Vietnam loses fight to save its rare Javan rhinos after last animal believed poached for horn which is at the Time.com website (Time magazine) please click on the highlighted words in this sentence.

As stated in the article: "Only 40 to 60 Javan rhinos now remain in Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia. They are the last known living members of the species, with none in captivity."

What chance does this species have of surviving now when so few are left in the Wild? Once again members of the human species have wiped out another form of life on this planet because of greed,ignorance and selfishness!!!

The article continues with this statement:

"Demand for rhino horn has surged in recent years among Vietnamese and Chinese who believe it can cure an array of ailments."

If this demand is increasing, then Rhinos will soon become extinct as a species. Then what species of animals are these Asians going to wipe off the planet next via extinction? Why aren't other Governments of this planet threatening these countries which are wiping other species of life off the planet, via economic sanctions, and other measures?? Why weren't efforts made to educate the people in these countries who believe that rhino horn can cure ailments, that there is no scientific basis for such beliefs? I suggest that a person's beliefs are her or his own business, until these beliefs cause harm to other life on this planet! In this case these beliefs are causing the extinction of the Javan Rhino species on this planet! And in this case, someone or some organizations better step forward and start to come up with some dramatic plans of action to save other species of life which are being threatened, by selfish human beliefs and behaviours!!

Take a look at a photo of a Javan Rhino mother and its youngster above, it may be the only way that these animals may be seen in the near future, in photos!!! Think of all the Children who are going to come into this World and ask to see a video of some Rhinos, and then have to be told that there are no live Rhinos left in the World because some humans selfishly killed all of them off!!

Source of image: http://photos.mongabay.com/11/0517-javan-rhino.jpg Javan rhino mother and calf photographed by a camera trap at Ujung Kulon. Photo courtesy of the World Wildlife Fund.

2011-10-25T22:14:00.000-06:00

Image above: The Alberta Oil sands

Is Ecocide a Crime? - Ecocentric - TIME.com

To read an article which discusses whether it should be a crime for companies (and individuals?) to
cause the mass destruction of ecosystems on our planet, please click on the link above this sentence. For your information, two dictionary definitions of the word and one legal definition of the word"ecocide" are these:

(1)"Heedless or deliberate destruction of the natural environment, as by pollutants or an act of war."source:

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/ecocide

(2) "The destruction of large areas of the natural environment especially as a result of deliberate human action." (source:http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecocide

(3)Legal defintion: "The extensive destruction, damage to or loss of ecosystem(s) of a given territory, whether by human agency or by other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been severely diminished."
(source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/apr/09/ecocide-crime-genocide-un-environmental-damage

It is my personal belief that a company or individual or group of individuals who destroy some of the natural environment of this planet should be charged with committing a criminal offense. If individuals or employees of companies think they can do anything they want, especially in order to gain profit or control of some of the natural resources of this planet, without regard to any destruction of the natural environment or without regard to other life on this planet, this is morally and ethically unacceptable! This kind of circumstance is happening all too often,every day in our World, and it has been shown that such behavior can cause serious short-term and long-term effects to the Planet and the life on our home!!

I would be interested in hearing what you think about this issue.You can leave a comment to me and others by clicking on the words "Post a comment" under this blog post of mine.

For more information about the concept of Ecocide please visit these websites:

http://www.thisisecocide.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecocide

What If Ecocide Was a Crime? Let's Find Out...

Source of image:

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/3566/blogcarbonemissionta001.jpg

2011-10-25T20:58:00.000-06:00

....the Brother of Madonna! I never,ever thought that I would mention "her"on my blog, however I have to because this is fact is such an indication of how unfairly some people are treated on our planet!

If you do not believe me that one of Madonna's brother's is homeless then read this article:

http://www.dramarama.ca/2011/10/madonnas-brother-is-homeless.html

"In the United States alone, there are estimates that approximately 3.5 million people are homeless and 1.35 million of them are children . (source:http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/teen-angst/201101/homeless-teens )

How can people like the members of Edmonton City council, find money to use for another hockey arena in our city,when so many people in Edmonton are homeless and so many people in our city are living in poverty!!!! It is shameful, and irresponsible for these elected representatives of our city to suggest that they are willing to give more money to millionaire hockey players and the millionaire owner of the Oilers, when there are people in our city who have no place to live because the are homeless. Many homeless people are suffering from severe mental or physical health problems, which makes it even more appalling for Edmonton City council to even think of creating a second hockey arena in this city,before the needs of these people who are homeless, or have other needs, are met! Why do these elected members of our city have the right to decide that the Oiler's owner and his players can have another arena, when so many people in this city are against the idea???!!!

The Edmonton Journal's Gary Lamphier has written a very good article about the Arena question in Edmonton. To read it please click on the following link:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/arena+deal+taxpayers/5601017/story.html

2011-10-25T19:40:00.003-06:00

2011-10-25T19:38:00.003-06:00

2011-10-25T19:36:00.001-06:00

2011-10-18T15:36:00.001-06:00

Sea levels to continue to rise for 500 years? Long-term climate calculations suggest so

To read an article at the ScienceDaily.com website which discusses new research concerning the fact that sea levels on the planet may continue to rise for a long time due to global warming please click on the highlighted words above this line.

As stated in the article:

"Based on the current situation we have projected changes in sea level 500 years into the future. We are not looking at what is happening with the climate, but are focusing exclusively on sea levels," explains Aslak Grinsted, a researcher at the Centre for Ice and Climate, the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen."

The fact that changes in sea levels will last this long certainly tells us a great deal concerning the impact of climate changes on our planet!The article continues by making these statements:

"Even in the most optimistic scenario, which requires extremely dramatic climate change goals, major technological advances and strong international cooperation to stop emitting greenhouse gases and polluting the atmosphere, the sea would continue to rise. By the year 2100 it will have risen by 60 cm and by the year 2500 the rise in sea level will be 1.8 meters."
"For the two more realistic scenarios, calculated based on the emissions and pollution stabilizing, the results show that there will be a sea level rise of about 75 cm by the year 2100 and that by the year 2500 the sea will have risen by 2 meters."

Now we have more evidence of the impact of human behavior on the planet and all of its life! If we do not change our behavior regarding reducing our carbon footprint on the planet, and reducing the amount of pollution we place on and within Mother Earth, humans may have to move to higher ground on the planet by the year 2100 or worse!

If you want to explore the regions of the Earth that are most vulnerable to sea level rise
please visit the following website:

http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Special:SeaLevel

2011-10-18T10:53:00.000-06:00

Image: Bowie Seamount, One of Canada's newest Marine Protected Areas.

To read an article entitled, " One World One Ocean Campaign Highlights Need For Conservation" please click on the highlighted words in this sentence.As stated by "the campaign's principal science advisor, Dr. Sylvia Earle, said in a press release, "The world’s oceans are in trouble, but the good news is there is still time to save them. Our actions toward the ocean in the next 10 years will define the next 10,000." For more information about the campaign please visit the Campaign's official website by clicking on the following link:

http://www.oneworldoneocean.org/

2011-10-13T14:54:00.001-06:00

2011-10-13T07:53:00.000-06:00

Check out this beautiful video. What an intelligent and caring dog!! To think some humans do not believe our dog friends are intelligent, and could not act in this fashion!! How wrong you are!!!

2011-10-12T21:50:00.000-06:00

EDMONTON — "After nearly three decades of trying to save the peregrine falcon from disappearing on the Prairies, Alberta Fish and Wildlife biologist Gord Court and a handful of other biologists are wearing satisfied smiles. From one end of Alberta to the other, and from the eastern edge of the Prairies to the Rocky Mountains and beyond, peregrines are making a comeback to levels not seen for almost a half-century."

This is fantastic news!!! To read the remainder of the article which the above paragraph was taken from please click on the following link:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/10/03/peregrine-falcons-make-a-comeback-in-prairies/

To learn more about Peregrine Falcons please visit the following websites:

Hinterland Who's Who
Peregrine Falcon:From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Canadian Peregrine Foundation
Government of Alberta:Sustainable Resource Development:Fish and Wildlife

Source of image:http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts?u=/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/USGS_Prairie_Falcon.jpg/250px-USGS_Prairie_Falcon.jpg

2011-10-12T21:09:00.000-06:00

Once again the Government of Alberta is being criticized for how it is mismanaging the Grizzly Bear species in our Province! To read an article entitled, A vision for grizzly bears which was written by Hamish MacLean and published in the Canmore Leader newspaper please click on the following link:

http://www.canmoreleader.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3331360

I find these two sentences to be the most pertinent in this article:

"There are 700 grizzly bears in Alberta. And there are seven sub-populations that are being further fragmented. The grizzly bear recovery plan, enacted in 2008, is proof, Gailus said, that the Alberta government is unwilling or unable to help grizzly bears in the province."

What do these statements say about the Political leaders of this province?? How can they allow a species which has lived here thousands of years before humans did, to become so fragmented in their population (due to human activity such as forestry and oil exploration and oil extraction), that the survival of the species is now seriously threatened with extinction??

Please show you care about the Grizzly bears by sending a letter, an email, or a phone call to the new Premier of Alberta, Alison Redford by clicking on her contact page at the Alberta Government website below. Demand that her and her Government show that they care about the Grizzly bears by having them develop plans which will keep the Grizzly bears of this province from being fragmented any further in their population, and by stopping Big Oil and Big Forestry from damaging the habitat these bears have lived in for centuries! Thank you on behalf of the Grizzly bears of this Province!

http://alberta.ca/premier_contact.cfm

2011-10-12T12:21:00.004-06:00

2011-10-07T10:51:00.000-06:00

2011-10-06T16:11:00.000-06:00

Scientists have revealed that they have been able to show that the planet Venus contains an ozone layer in its atmosphere! This revelation means that the planet shares this distinction with our own planet and the planet Mars!! You can read more about this discovery by reading the article. "Ozone layer found on Venus" which is at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's news website: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/06/science-ozone-layer-venus.html

From the article:

"Franck Montmessin, an atmospheric scientist at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France, said in a statement that researchers were actually looking for other molecules in Venus's atmosphere when they noticed the strong ozone signature in some of their plots. That prompted them to go back and search for it in other scans."
"This ozone detection tells us a lot about the circulation and the chemistry of Venus' atmosphere," says Håkan Svedhem, ESA project scientist for the Venus Express mission in a statement"

Isn't it amazing how many scientific discoveries are made by accident (as this discovery apparently was!!)??

To read more articles (which are more scientific in nature than the above-mentioned article), please click on the following links:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21021-venus-has-an-ozone-layer-too.html

http://www.ecnmag.com/News/2011/10/Europe/ESA-Venus-ozone-layer/

To develop a better understanding of the purpose of an ozone layer (as it applies to the Earth) and its functioning, please visit the following websites by clicking on their links:

http://www.weatherquestions.com/What_is_the_ozone_layer.htm

http://www.oar.noaa.gov/climate/t_ozonelayer.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_layer

"The photochemical mechanisms that give rise to the ozone layer were discovered by the British physicist Sidney Chapman in 1930. Ozone in the Earth's stratosphere is created by ultraviolet light striking oxygen molecules containing two oxygen atoms (O₂), splitting them into individual oxygen atoms (atomic oxygen); the atomic oxygen then combines with unbroken O₂ to create ozone, O_3."

Of course unless proved otherwise, this scientific finding regarding Venus possessing an ozone layer in its atmosphere tells us that there is oxygen in the atmosphere of Venus!!

To learn more about the atmosphere of Venus and other planets please visit the following websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Venus

http://www.windows2universe.org/venus/atmosphere.html

http://230nsc1.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Solar/venusenv.html

http://eesc.columbia.edu/courses/ees/climate/lectures/earth.html

Here is a video which discusses the Atmosphere of Venus:

Source of video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnZcIqLrRLA

Source of image:http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2008/03/venus-unveiled/

2011-10-06T14:10:00.001-06:00

To read an article entitled, "Planet 'far away' on climate goals: study" please click on the highlighted words in this sentence. This will take you to a page at the science website Phys.org.This article to me indicates that the politicians of this planet could care less about the people, animal and plant species and our Mother Earth!! We have known for a long time that climate change is occurring on this planet, and yet who is listening to Mother Earth and her cries? The politicians of this World think they know so much, yet this new research proves exactly the opposite and that they are heading all life on this planet down a disastrous course!

As mentioned in the article:
"The planet is "very, very far away" from meeting the 2.0-degree goal, said co-author Bill Hare, a lead writer of the major 2007 UN scientific report on climate change and director at Potsdam-based research group Climate Analytics."
"We are heading towards a warming of well over 3.0 degrees at present unless there are major improvements in the pledges," Hare, who has advised environmental group Greenpeace, told a news conference.
"Hare said that while even 2.0-degree warming is problematic, the higher rate puts the world at risk to major problems such as more frequent wildfires and rising sea levels -- a top concern for low-lying nations.

Why are the politicians of this World willing to risk causing problems to the Planet, problems which may not be correctable at a certain point in time??? I urge all of you who read this message, to contact your Federal and local politicians and demand that they answer for their lack of willingness to commit the necessary human and financial resources to achieve the climate goals, which at best may reduce the chance that major damage to our planet will likely occur in the present and future!!

Listen to what experts say about the Politicians of Canada!!:

To learn more about Climate Action Canada please visit their website at: http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/

2011-10-05T18:31:00.000-06:00

"Canada's environmental watch dog shammed the federal government Tuesday for poor accountability and management of more than $9 billion dollars set aside for a range of climate-changing measures that he said would fall short of meeting the country's latest international commitments.

This quote comes from an article entitled, "$9B hasn't done much so far"", which I found in the Wednesday, October 6th,2011 edition of the Edmonton Journal newspaper. To read this article please click on the highlighted words in the last sentence.

It is news articles like this one, which indicate why citizens of the country of Canada do not trust politicians and the the bureaucracies they have created! If a Government cannot handle the irresponsibility of using and monitoring such a large sum of taxpayer money, is it any wonder why so many citizens of Canada have become apathetic towards politicians and loathe them? Not only has a great deal of money gone up in smoke, money which could have been used to help mitigate some of the social problems in our country, but public trust in the Harper government and its bureaucracy has once again been reduced even further! Of course the real important thing, the fact that climate-changing measures are not in place to reduce the impact of activity of Canadians and their economy, mean that Canadians can expect to be ridiculed and criticized by people in other countries and their governments! And what is worse is these "new" warnings about cumulative impacts of oilsands development in Western Canada! According to the article, "011 October Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development" which you can read by clicking on the following link:http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_cesd_201110_00_e_35759.html ,

"For over a decade, Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada have warned that key environmental information regarding the effects of oil sands projects has been missing. Since 1999, both federal departments have warned that insufficient environmental information makes it impossible to understand the combined impact of projects in the lower Athabasca region and the impact on ecosystems that are farther away, including the wider Mackenzie Basin of the Northwest Territories. In the absence of this information, it is impossible to track environmental changes over time.During our audit, we found that, despite repeated warnings of gaps in environmental information, little was done for almost a decade to close many of those key information gaps."

As taxpayers of this country we citizens have a right to know why this "key environmental information" is missing, especially since billion dollars of our money has now been spent!! The article continues in this fashion:

"However, uncertainty persists about other environmental trends, because of insufficient or inadequate environmental monitoring systems. Some of the environmental threats causing these trends include airborne toxic substances and their long-term impact on freshwater quality and wildlife, including the potential downstream impact. As a consequence, decisions about oil sands projects have been based on incomplete, poor, or non-existent environmental information that has, in turn, led to poorly informed decisions."

The citizens of this country want to know why these environmental monitoring systems are not adequate for the job, especially since this means that the health of humans, and other animal and plant species could now be at risk due to the activities of the Oilsands industry, and especially because 9 billion dollars of our money has been thrown away!!!
\

2011-10-04T00:00:00.000-06:00

My friends, Tuesday, October 4th,2011 has been designated as "World Animal Day", by the United Nations.
To understand what this day involves I would like to provide you with the official mission statement of the day: (source:http://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/about.asp )

To celebrate animal life in all its forms

To celebrate humankind’s relationship with the animal kingdom

To acknowledge the diverse roles that animals play in our lives – from being our companions, supporting and helping us, to bringing a sense of wonder into our lives
To acknowledge and be thankful for the way in which animals enrich our lives

Events are being held all over the World today. To see the events which are going to take place in your area of the World please click on the following link:

A list of World Animal Day ambassadors is at: http://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/Ambassadors/Webpages/AmbassadorIntro.asp

You can learn more about World Animal Day by clicking on the following links:

http://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/index.asp

http://ursafreedomproject.ning.com/xn/detail/2859061:Event:38027?xg_source=activity

http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Society/2008/09/world-animal-day-4th-october.html

Please share this information with your friends and family! And please try and show a member of the Animal Kingdom (other than members of our own species) that you care about them today by doing something nice for the animals you are in contact with today!

Please help Protect Wildlife, you can learn more about how to help accomplish this endevour by clicking on the following link:

http://www.worldwildlife.org/home-full.html

2011-10-02T16:55:00.000-06:00

2011-10-02T16:49:00.000-06:00

2011-10-01T03:14:00.000-06:00

To read an article entitled, "Sea otters or sushi topping?" written by Steve Shimek, of :The Otter Project", please click on the highlighted words above.

The facts in this article I find OUTRAGEOUS!! Why should shellfish fisherman be allowed to successfully lobby the Government of California to make the waters in Southern California, otter-free? This situation is similar to what is happening in Taiji Japan at the present time where selfish humans are killing and catching dolphins because they do not want to share the food resources of the ocean with the dolphins there!!! How are otters (and dolphins) supposed to live in conditions where they are not permitted to freely swim and move where existing food sources are available?? Why don't otters have the same protection afforded by the Endangered Species Act or Marine Mammal Protection act as other species??

Please get involved in this issue and help the Sea Otters get back the right to live where nature intended them to do. You can do this by visiting the following website:http://www.freetheotters.org./ and click on the words "Get Involved" at the top of the page. Thank you on behalf of the Otters of Southern California!
To read more about this situation, please click on the highlighted words below which will send you to the Santa Barbara Independent website in order to read the article: Taking Sides in Otter Showdown

It seems the human species gets more and more selfish every day! We have no right to stop other species from acting in their natural way, for profit/financial reasons or any other reason for that matter! And sea otters and dolphins are only two of the species which are being forced to change their natural way of life because of the Human species! Humans are not only out of control in terms of having too many children in this World, but now not only are we overpopulating the planet at the expense of other animal and plant life, some of us are also trying to kick out other species from their natural habitats for greedy and selfish reasons! If you live in California and are a nature and animal lover, you need to tell your State Goverment that you are not going to stand for behavior like this from them! Reading about human behavior like this makes me even more convinced that animal species otther than our own deserve rights, protected rights under the law of a country, state, province or city, so that humans like these shellfish fisherman cannot deny
an animal the right to live as Mother Nature intended the species to live!! If there are "too many" sea otters living in South Calfornia waters, it is only because humans there have wiped out the natural predators of the Sea otter species: ie. Sharks ("In California, great white sharks are sea otters’ primary predators. In Alaska, killer whales seem to be eating more sea otters, perhaps because their usual prey (seals and sea lions) are becoming more scarce. Stellar sea lions, coyotes, bears and eagles have also been known to feed on sea otters." (source:http://www.seaotterresearch.org/predators.shtml

To learn more about Animal rights, please visit the following websites:

http://animalrights.about.com/od/animalrights101/Animal_Rights_101_the_Basics.htm

http://animal-rights.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_rights

http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/animals/rights/rights_1.shtml

http://www.animalrightscanada.com/

http://www.animalconcerns.org/

To visit "The Otter Project" website please click on the following link:

http://www.otterproject.org/site/pp.asp?c=8pIKIYMIG&b=28098

2011-10-01T01:19:00.000-06:00

ScienceDaily (Sep. 30, 2011) — "Sharks are in big trouble on the Great Barrier Reef and worldwide, according to an Australian-based team who have developed a world-first way to measure rates of decline in shark populations."

"There is mounting evidence of widespread, substantial, and ongoing declines in the abundance of shark populations worldwide, coincident with marked rises in global shark catches in the last half-century," say Mizue Hisano, Professor Sean Connolly and Dr William Robbins from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University."
"Overfishing of sharks is now recognized as a major global conservation concern, with increasing numbers of shark species added to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's list of threatened species," they say in the latest issue of the international science journal PLos ONE."

To read the entire article please click on the following link:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110929103057.htm

(1) Please take 3 minutes of your time to watch a video entitled "Save Sharks" by clicking on the following link:

Save Sharks

(2) Now, please take another five minutes to watch this video.This is what is happening to sharks in our World on a daily basis! This behavior on the part of the human species cannot continue!: Please share this video with your friends and family! Only if you do this can we help save all the shark species from extinction!:

(3) Now please read the following webpage, where it is clearly shown how important sharks are to the survival of all life on our planet (including our species!!!): http://withoutmethereisnou.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/why-sharks-are-so-important-to-our-ecosystem/

(4) Now make a difference to sharks by visiting the following website. This website will give you a chance to act and save the Planet's sharks, by sharing key information about sharks with your friends.
You can help save Sharks by visiting http://www.sharkalliance.org//ecards.asp?level3id=49&level2id=49&nextlevel=49&rootid=20 via email. Please email as many friends and family members as you can by using the form (which allows you to send the educational e-cards to many of your friends at once by entering their emails in the designated place). Thank you for watching these videos and for sharing these e-cards with your friends! Please ask your friends to email their friends with these e-mail cards! In doing so you will start a wonderful chain or activity, which will help the Sharks species of this planet survive, by educating your friends and family about what sharks are having to go through in our World! Thank you on behalf of the Sharks of this Planet!

2011-09-27T19:40:00.000-06:00

A schematic representation of an ideal geothermal system.
(Source: Dickson and Fanelli, 2004)

To read an editorial which was in the Tuesday September 27th,2011 edition of the Edmonton Journal entitled "Turn up the heat on geothermal" please click on the highlighted words in this sentence. I hope you were like me while I was reading this editorial, by this I mean I hope you caught yourself shaking your head! Why? Because statements like these from this editorial stand out!:

(a) northern Alberta is among the regions with the greatest potential for tapping the Earth's heat and creating energy through geothermal technology"....

(b"That means we are blessed with a renewal, non-polluting source of electricity right under our feet..."

(c)"What we lack are clean,renewal energy sources..."

(d)"The report, "Geothermal Energy Resource Potential of Canada,says as few as 100 geothermal projects could meet a significant fraction of Canada's baseload energy needs,especially in the West."...It (geothemal energy techniques and technology), produces almost no emissions..."

(e)"The report calls for greater government commitment to research, better land surveying to determine where the best potential is and test projects to get this renewal resource ticking as a major player."

Let us now look at these five points which I believe are the most important aspects of this editorial! Firstly if Alberta is one of the areas of this planet which has the greatest potential for creating energy using Geothermal technology, why hasn't this fact been known to the Government of Alberta before this point in time? This fact suggest the Alberta Government has no plan for our province's energy needs in the future doesn't it? It also suggests that the Premier and his ministers are "in-bed" with the Oil Industry, and have been for such a long time that they have neglected to pay attention and examine the potential for Geothermal energy in our Province! According to online research I have done:

"Prince Piero Ginori Conti tested the first geothermal power generator on 4 July 1904 in Larderello, Italy."

If the idea of geothermal energy has been around for that long, we have to state that the province of Alberta and the World for that matter has really dropped the ball, especially since this process and the associated technology, "produces almost no air emissions"!! It is time the Government of Alberta use the potential we have in the Province to use Geothermal Technology!!! Especially if the source of this energy is rewable and non-polluting!

The fact that Canada would need only 100 geothermal projects to provide a significant fraction of Canada's baseload energy needs, is fantastic! That isn't even 10 per province and territory! What is holding back these provinces and territories from implenting geothermal energy projects in their boundaries? As far as I am concerned that is a big question which needs to be answered and the sooner the better!!

In Canada, something called the "Geothermal Energy Association exists (website at:http://www.cangea.ca/ )
At the website I found the following:

"In June 2011, the Geological Survey of Canada and a team of leading scientists in the field of geothermal energy have released a report detailing the geothermal energy resource potential for geothermal energy in Canada."

"The report confirms that “geothermal energy, as a renewable energy source, not only provides a clean and renewable option for electricity generation around the clock, but also efficient and competitive heating options for Canadians all over Canada”, said Alexander Richter, Director of the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association."

You may be thinking as I am, this geothermal energy idea seems like too much of a good thing. You may say, okay geothermal energy has its advantages, but what about its shortcomings as an energy source, what about its disadvantages?

Well, Geothermal energy does have some disadvantages:Some of these disadvantages are listed below,however I have also indicted how these disadvantages can be mitigated using research from experts in the field.

(1)"Geothermal energy use does entail some environmental impact,"A few (geothermal facilities) do produce some silica and sulfur dioxide, both of which are largely removed from the vapors and either returned to the hydrothermal well or processed and sold for industrial uses. However, "Most geothermal facilities operate virtually emission free. Some even reduce sulfur emissions that would have occurred from natural venting if these sites had been left untapped."
(source: http://www.energy-consumers-edge.com/pros_and_cons_of_geothermal_energy.html

(2)"Geothermal power plants do have high initial costs to drill and construct new facilities. But relatively high construction costs are paid back because there are no fuel costs." (source: same as above) We have to admit that coal-based and oil based power plants also have high initial costs don't we? Secondly these other types of power-plants certainly do have the disadvantage of having significant  fuel costs over time!! And this use of fuel contributes to pollution of the environment!!

(3)"Using current technologies, geothermal power is primarily available where hot magma finds its way close to the surface and heats ground water to usable temperatures above 212F.These hydrothermal hot spots don’t occur everywhere. In the U.S. they are located in the Western States, Alaska, and Hawaii." (source: same as above). Well, as I have already stated above,  "northern Alberta is among the regions with the greatest potential for tapping the Earth's heat and creating energy through geothermal technology". These hydrothermal hot spots may not exist in some areas of the world, which rules out the use of geothermal energy technology in these places unless the energy can be transferred to these areas where there are no hot spots (which certainly is a possibility!!).

(4) Another disadvantage of Geothermal energy technology is this one:

"The big key to universal use of geothermal resources is the development of deep, hot dry rock resources. The key to that is drilling technology. Due to the hot, often corrosive, environment of geothermal resource areas, drilling for geothermal resources is far more expensive than any other kind of drilling.
Even in relatively shallow hydrothermal wells, drilling costs can amount to half of the price of a new generating plant." (source:same as above). According to this source however, this disadvantage can be mitigated in the future. This is due to the fact that:

"... drilling technology is improving. Drilling costs, on average, have dropped by a fourth in the last two decades. The big key to universal use of geothermal resources is the development of deep, hot dry rock resources. The key to that is drilling technology. Due to the hot, often corrosive, environment of geothermal resource areas, drilling for geothermal resources is far more expensive than any other kind of drilling.
Even in relatively shallow hydrothermal wells, drilling costs can amount to half of the price of a new generating plant.
But drilling technology is improving. Drilling costs, on average, have dropped by a fourth in the last two decades. As drilling technology improves, geothermal power plants could become universally available..!!!"

Wow this is a fantastic revelation isn't it?

Drilling technology is sure to improve in the future as experts develop a better understanding of the technology and as they also better understand the concept of geothermal energy! What is even more wonderful is this fact:
"Geothermal resources may outlast the sun. There is enough thermal nuclear energy in our Earth to fuel the engines of civilization for billions of years. " (source:same as above). Obviously if these Geothermal resources might outlast the sun, then they will exist on the planet as long as all life on the planet exists!

(5) One last disad\vantage of Geothermal energy is this one:"Although the Earth's heat is ever-present, current or future geothermal sites may not be continuous sources of heat. Hot rocks must be managed well or the the water can cool the rocks. While some consider geothermal energy the most cost-efficient and non-polluting, there is as yet no guarantee that possible sites will provide desired quantities."
(source:http://www.ehow.com/about_4812930_pros-cons-geothermal-energy.html )

This seems to be the main disadvantage associated with implementing geothermal energy and its technology!
"The western United States has the best geothermal regions in the country, while Iceland , New Zealand , the Philippines , and South America , are some of the more prominent global "hot spots." In Iceland , geothermal energy, caused by the constant movement of geologic plates coupled with the volcanic nature of the island, is used to heat 95% of all homes."

Depletion of a Geothermal energy source may also occur. This is because "steam is being extracted faster than it can be naturally replaced."  (source:http://www.altenergy.org/renewables/geothermal.html ). Please read this article first before you read what I have stated below.

However, as stated in the article directly above, this problem can be overcome in this manner: "...plant operators and steam suppliers continually seek new operating strategies to maximize future power generation coupled with daily injection of millions of gallons of reclaimed municipal wastewater." Even though improvements in efficiency and conservation are being implemented and in 1996 The Geysers was still producing enough electricity to supply the power demand of a city like San Francisco , it is projected that the steam field will be defunct in 50 years or so. To prevent this sort of thing from happening elsewhere, geothermal facilities can use a closed-loop system at all times, or the re-injection of water back into the system for constant steam generation."

If only certain areas of the planet are best able to access and use Geothermal energy and its technology, then so be it. It will still be better for these areas to use this technology, rather than using non-renewable energy such as coal, and oil, because of the fact that the latter cause so much pollution to our planet in various forms! In addition, this technology will make us less reliant upon these pollution-casing energy sources, and that cannot be underestimated!!
Thank you for reading this blog post of mine! I hope you found this information interesting,education and thought-provoking! If you have views on using Geothermal energy or its processes please leave them as comments to this blog post by clicking on the word :comments" next to the posted time of this blog post and directly under the post! Thank you for doing so!

To learn more about Geothermal energy and its technology please visit the following websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_energy

http://www.cangea.ca/what-is-geothermal/

http://iceland.ednet.ns.ca/schedule.htm

http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/geothermal.htm

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/

http://www.thestar.com/business/cleanbreak/article/809649--hamilton-geothermal-could-meet-canada-s-power-needs

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/energy_technologies/how-geothermal-energy-works.html

Here are some videos I found online about Geothermal Energy:

(1) Here is an interesting short 5 minute video about Geothermal energy I found on the Dailymotion website:

Geothermal: Energy Right Under Our Feet - CBN.com by cbnonline

(2) A video with an emphasis on Canada: This video has an excellent part within it within which the process of obtaining energy from Geothermal sources is presented:

2011-09-27T07:08:00.000-06:00

Above–A picture of the oil-covered bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

To read an article entitled, "BP oil not degrading on Gulf floor, study says" which is at the Yahoo News website please click on the underlined words in this sentence.From the article:

"The study concluded that mats of oil — not weathered tar, which is harder and contains fewer hydrocarbons — are still submerged on the seabed and could pose a long-term risk to coastal ecosystems."

This is just awful! Why has the United States Government not done anything about this and not forced BP to pay to clean up the oil which is still on the seabed and in the water??

Round 2: Thursday, November 17, 2011

Magnus Carlsen

Boris Gelfand

Sergey Karjakin

Hikaru Nakamura

Peter Svidler

Vishy Anand

Ian Nepomniachtchi

Vassily Ivanchuk

Levon Aronian

Vladimir Kramnik

2011-09-23T06:00:00.000-06:00

To read about some fascinating new scientific research involving sharks which also relates to Human illness please click on the following link. This link takes you to a part of the National Geographic website:

Sharks' Virus Killer Could Cure Humans, Study Suggests

The above image represents the Chemical nomenclature for the chemical which is the focus of discussion in the National Geographic article. It is the organic chemistry representation for the compound squalamine. "Squalamine, a compound found in sharks, has great potential for treating human viruses and is known to be safe for humans to use, scientists from Georgetown University Medical Center wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Squalamine has been used in clinical trials for eye disorders and the treatment of cancer. Its safety profile is well established, meaning it could rapidly be tested as a new class of medications for the treatment of various viruses, such as hepatitis, dengue or yellow fever."
(source:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/234711.php

To see a video about this discovery in which Dr. Michael Zasloff, a professor at Georgetown University Medical Center, talks about how he first discoved squalamine in dogfish sharks, how it can be made in lab (to avoid having to harm sharks to get squalamine), and how its chemical properties could aid the fight against viruses like Hepatitis B, please click on the start button below:

Source of video:http://youtu.be/a0kmrn1ArWk

Of course the best part of this besides the fact that this compound could help end or help reduce the severity of several types of diseases in humans, is that Dr. Zasloff said the shark did not have to be harmed in this research! It is nice to hear a scientist use these words to describe scientific research!

Round 1: Wednesday November 16, 2011
Levon Aronian	½ ½	Magnus Carlsen
Vladimir Kramnik	0-1	Ian Nepomniachtchi
Vassily Ivanchuk	1-0	Peter Svidler
Vishy Anand	½ ½	Sergey Karjakin
Hikaru Nakamura	½ ½	Boris Gelfand