Green Options » exploration

Freshwater Fish of the World - A Status Report

Michael Ricciardi — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:09:24 +0000

Pundamilia nyererei is a species of freshwater fish in the Cichlidae family. It is found in lakes in Kenya and Tanzania. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.

In may not be a great surprise to learn that fish are the most species-rich vertebrate group on the Planet–with an estimated 32,500 member species. But what is surprising is that 43% of these species are found in freshwater habitats, such as lakes and rivers.

This rich diversity of freshwater species is all the more startling when one considers that freshwater systems represent just one hundredth of one percent (.01%) of the Earth’s surface water. According to Fishes of the World (J.S. Nelson), over 5000 new species of freshwater fish have been discovered in just the past three decades–a time period marked by expanded exploration of fish habitats and better understanding of “taxonomic boundaries” (mostly, due to more accurate genetic analysis).

Deep Down into the Antarctic Ice

Halley Research Station Team — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:48:08 +0000

It’s early Sunday morning at Halley Research Station, Antarctica. The sun is rising quickly on the horizon, the wind is low and the temperature outside is a modest -18 degrees C. Conditions look perfect. As I look across the dining room at my friends and colleagues Niv and Colin I see two smiling faces nodding back at me. Today we are going to head out to the coast and attempt to explore a large crevasse at a point on the Ice shelf known as Creek Five.

Halley Research Station sits on the Brunt Ice Shelf 15km in from the edge of the shelf. It is the British Antarctic Surveys most southerly and remote research station. I am lucky enough to be a member of the eleven strong wintering team working as the chef on Station. With the impending arrival of 24 hour darkness we are all keen to make the most of the remaining daylight, taking every opportunity to make the most of our time in this amazing place.

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Experiential Education is About the Experience

Josh Thomas — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:00:54 +0000

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been interviewing wilderness/outdoors educators on their best practices for bringing teenagers into natural environments. In fact, I’m leaving today for a wild Wyoming weekend and another round of interviews.

As I was preparing for the upcoming trip, I’ve been reviewing footage of the previous interviews and reflecting on what I’ve heard. One quote in particular continues to circle back to the front of my mind. It goes something like this:

When you’re talking about experiential learning, .. the nature of experience is that it’s a kind of a trial, a testing, an experiment, in a sense. So you are experimenting with things. You are attempting things, and the whole concept of an experiment is that you’re not quite sure of the outcome. You can’t guarantee it, or it wouldn’t be an experience you are having.

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EPA says that US Companies Will Pay a Record $11.8 Billion on Pollution Control in 2008

Andrew Williams — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:35:25 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that, as a result of its enforcement actions, U.S. companies will spend a record-breaking $11.8 billion on pollution control and projects to clean up the environment this year.

The EPA calculates that the moves will result in a best ever reduction in pollution of 3.9 billion pounds per year, nearly four times the reduction achieved during 2007.

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Argentina’s President Vetoes Law to Protect Glaciers

Amiel Blajchman — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:46:46 +0000

On November 11th, Argentinian President Cristina Fernández vetoed a previously passed bill aimed at protecting Argentina’s glaciers.

The bill, entitled The Law of Minimum Budgets for the Protection of Glaciers and Periglacial Environment, had been passed overwhelmingly despite concerns from governors of affected provinces and Argentina’s Secretariat of Mines that the bill’s provisions would prevent mining development.

The glacier protection bill would have:

Established basic standards to preserve glaciers as strategic reserves of hydric resources and water supplies; and
Prohibited activities that would prevent the glaciers from acting as water supplies.

Some of the activities that would have been severely curtailed in glacial environments would have been mining (including gold, copper, aluminum, iron and steel, and others), oil and gas exploration and exploitation, general construction activities, and the release of any substances that would have a detrimental effect on glaciers.

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Imagination, Inspiration & the Next Generation

Lee Welles — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:14:01 +0000

One of the things I’m enjoying most about being an author, is the chance to go new places, meet inspiring people and make new connections. I recently had the pleasure of meeting the folks from Green Options Media at the Green Festival in San Francisco.

I’m thrilled to be asked to be a regular blogger here at Eco Child’s Play. I want to tell you a bit about myself and what I hope to contribute here. I am the author of the Gaia Girls Book Series, a wellness columnist, speaker and presenter, and doing my best to live lightly on the earth.

The first book in the seven-book Gaia Girls series, Gaia Girls Enter the Earth, came out in 2006 and won several awards, including the National Outdoor Book Award. I routinely present to schools and groups, email and blog with my young readers. Let your hearts be light…there is a real passion brewing in the next generation!

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