fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Musings at Muir
By: Carey Rowland
Tags: Heritage, Responsibility, Muir Woods, Conservation, Nature

Fourteen score and several years ago, our fore-parents brought forth on this continent a new enterprise, conceived in progress, dedicated to the possibility that all citizens might together form unto themselves a unique way to make abundance, and to produce progress and to make hay while the sun shines and to make a living.

By ’n by, and moving right along, as the national impulse manifested it itself. . . a new wind of liberty and opportunity blew mightily in the land, across the land, from sea to shining sea. . .

For thee and for me.

In the midst of it all, and on the edge of it all, beneath the tall, tall, tall . . .we are moved to recall:

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for the people to upgrade and improve the industrial technologies by which they, together, have prospered, and to justify the extractions by which nature and nature’s God have enriched them . . .

a decent respect for the people of the Earth, and the Earth itself, requires that we should declare our intentions to clean up our act(ions).

And so Therefore and Henceforth and from Now on:

*We ought not to trash anything except trash itself.

*Ask not what the earth can provide for you, but what you can provide for the earth.

*Ask not what the fat of the land can add unto thee, but what together we can do for the good health of us all.

And yet, and yet, as we take census and do inventory of who and what is all around us, and in what ridiculous social media we do now live and move and have our being, we discern, to whit:

All the Americans and Consumers herein have spent our time in nothing else, but to twit or fakebook some new thing.

So then we stood in the midst of Capitol Hill and said ye people of America we perceive that in all things we are too contentious.

And so therefore and henceforth and

In spite of all that, We the People, in order to retain a more healthy Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the the common welfare, and to assure the blessings of our own responsibility to ourselves and to our posterity, do establish E Pluribus Unum and What’s it To Ya.

And hey, yeah even In God We Trust, if you can bear it.

Even so, by ’n by and in the midst of it all. . .

Human has got to do what Human has got to do and so therefore and henceforth . . .

Forasmuch then as we are all citizens, we ought not to insist that the Citizen Ideal is like unto a Democrat, or a Republican, or a Socialist or a Libertarian, or any such fool, but rather . . .

Ask not what our country can do for you, but what together we can do for the betterment of humankind. And so, for starters, check it out:

This is the forest retrieval. Let the future begin.

Glass half-Full
Is Sustainability Enough?: We Need A Bill of Rights for Nature
By: Gavin Lamb
Tags: Law, Environment, Sustainability, Conservation, Climate Change

The Takeaway: What are the ‘stories-we-live-by’

“Earth hasn’t evolved to host storytelling animals who forever try to run from it, to deny physical reality, to live outside life’s many beautifully and delicately spun cycles of participation. Relationships are the primary reality. That is the baseline that the old story cannot erode, try as it might. Abundance for our own kind is within reach, but only when we forsake the compulsion to step outside the living world. True abundance is within reach only inside this Earth.” — Martin Lee Mueller, environmental philosopher and artist

What might the future look like if countries write into their very constitution sustainability laws that do not just prevent interconnected ecological and social crises, but regenerate them?

A constitution that begins with a definition of the Earth as a “dynamic, living system made up of the indivisible community of all life systems and living beings, interrelated, interdependent, and complemen­tary, which share a common destiny.”

If interdependent well-being is the ultimate goal we value as human beings entangled within this wet and wild world, what might this idea actually look like in practice?

Perhaps something like: the Green New Deal in the U.S. and Europe; Iceland and Scotland placing wellbeing over GDP at the center of its economy; New Zealand declaring rights of personhood to Whanganui river, and India granting similar rights to the Ganga (Ganges) and Yamuna rivers; new visions of environmental conservation under Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness agenda; Ecuador’s Buen Vivir (“Good Living”), and Bolivia’s The Rights of Mother Earth.

For hard-headed environmental realists, it’s understandable to ask about the practical outcomes of codifying the natural world’s rights of personhood into a nation’s constitution.

One might ask, is a Bill of Rights for Nature any more effective at protecting threatened species and places than expanding already-existing environmental laws such as the Endangered Species Act in the United States?

It’s important to ask about the goals of conservation embedded in any law, of course. But so far, the environmental outcomes of enacting a Bill of Rights for Nature appear mixed, and well, it’s politically complicated too.

One thing that the new constitutions of countries like Bolivia and Ecuador compel us to do is grapple with how we ever became so caught up in a dominant cultural story that construes the Earth as a lump of inert rock, and Nature as simply resource for human exploitation?

I think there’s a lot for us to learn by asking how rights for Nature are written (or not written) into our respective nations’ founding documents.

By closely examining and comparing how the natural world is written into the founding constitutions of nations around the world, we might gain a better sense of the stories we live by (and die by), and what alternative stories we might help cultivate instead.
Replanting a more productive future
By: Golden Agri-Resources, Gar
Tags: Communities, Partnership, Food, Farmers, Conservation

Replanting ageing oil palm trees is a priority in Indonesia. Old trees become less productive, and to maintain or even increase yields to meet the demand for palm oil without increasing land used, replanting is necessary. For large agribusinesses like ours, replanting is done routinely. However, for smallholders, it can be challenging for a variety of reasons — loss of income, lack of workforce, uncertainty about the process, etc.

GAR has been at the forefront of Indonesia’s Smallholders Replanting Programme (PSR). PSR replaces old, unproductive oil palm trees with new planting materials based on good agricultural practices, to improve smallholders’ livelihood and ensure the sustainability of oil palm as one of the nation’s strategic commodities.

Since November 2017, we have helped 976 smallholders replant an area of 2,647 hectares. Although that is a fraction of our eventual target of 200,000 hectares by 2029, a lot of work has gone into getting the programme off the ground.

GAR set up a dedicated PSR division to drive the programme, offering farmers support ranging from land mapping (their land is often scattered and planted with commodities other than oil palm) to timeline planning. One of the essential things the PSR team works on is facilitating smallholders’ access to funds from the national Palm Oil Fund Management Agency (BPDPKS) and financial institutions like banks.

Measuring land owned by a PSR participant in the Labuhan Batu Utara Regency.

We also conduct comprehensive sustainability assessments before engaging the smallholders, to prioritise replanting for plantations that meet ISPO/RSPO requirements.

Sometimes, smallholders or communities are resistant to the partnership because they are used to managing their plantations. Our field officers carry out several rounds of dialogues with farmers, public figures, religious and indigenous leaders, local governments and NGOs, to address concerns and get approval, before proceeding with the replanting.

Dialogue session for the Marga Sakti, Lubuk Pandan and Semeteh villages of Musi Rawas Regency. (Photo taken before COVID-19)

Executed well, PSR can bring many benefits to smallholders, the environment, and the nation. As a key actor in the Indonesian palm oil industry, GAR will continue to play a leading role in the programme to realise these benefits.

As of November 2020, GAR has conducted PSR for smallholders in South Sumatra, Jambi, and Riau. Visit our press releases page for latest updates.
We supply the fish, you supply the pumpkin spice. Experience fall at a national fish hatchery!
By: U.S. Fish, Wildlife Service
Tags: Fall, Fishing And Travel, Hiking, Fishing, Conservation

Once you’re done feeding the fish and frolicking on the two miles of nature trails at Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery, you can check out the 10,000 gallon aquarium to see rare and unique fish, amphibians and reptiles! Get a close-up look at softshell turtles, pallid sturgeon, giant bullfrogs, sportfish and salamanders!

Gavins Point is one of the many hatcheries across the country that raise and safeguard endangered fish and aquatic species for conservation!

5. Go fishing while you bird! (Or is it birding while you fish?)

Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery — Leavenworth, Washington

Fall colors are lighting up in the Icicle Valley, and wildlife is on the move! Photo courtesy of Andy Jaynes.

Many national fish hatcheries offer great birding and fishing opportunities that are accessible to all ages and abilities. At Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery, the Icicle Creek Nature Trail is a one-mile loop trail that is fully accessible and offers an excellent opportunity to see fish and wildlife in their natural environment. This is a National Recreation Trail and part of the Cascade Loop of the Audubon Society’s Great Washington State Birding Trail. It is an enjoyable non-strenuous walk for families and nature enthusiasts.

A Sign of Good Luck — Dragonfly perches on the tip of a fishing rod. Photo By Peter Padelsk.

Want to learn to fish?

People fish for many reasons: spending time and creating memories with family and friends, enjoying the challenge of catching a fish, being outdoors and near water, or for many, just soaking in some quiet solitude. Whatever your reason, now is a great time to enjoy a fall fishing trip!
compost products, waste, plastic, global climate, compostable disposables, bags
By: Lacayo Jd, Ams Compostable
Tags: Plastic, Earth, Pollution, Waste, Climate Change

Times change but we remain stuck in the past (in many industries) WHY?

We keep hearing everywhere; We are in the best era of our times as humanity, but as I see it, we are not paying attention to one of the most important variables that could change our future: WASTE!

What is being done with waste in every corner of the world?

If I could recite the top 3 waste manipulations, I would say:

Be sent to landfills

Burn it or

Pollute the environment.

No matter where you go, most probably, that is the way your government, city, or rural population handles waste.

This is what I mean when I say we are stranded in old inefficient and harmful ways when it comes to waste.

Why if we know for a fact that our landfills are to the top and can not handle any more waste, we have not, as humans come with new ways to handle garbage in the best times of our history?

I sincerely believe it has to do with the fact that we still don’t believe that trash is a real life threatening issue… and we are wrong…so wrong!

We are not just killing flora and fauna, such as the fact that 174 sea animals die daily due our behavior in regards waste. We are already consuming micro plastics; and Covid, a global pandemic that lasted for 1 year…. Could it be a warning from beyond, advising us about the horrible future that could hold for us, if we keep manipulating waste as we did it almost 100 years ago?

The circa 1937 Fresno Municipal Sanitary Landfill was considered the first modern, sanitary landfill of its kind, and future landfills followed suit.

84 years ago it was an ingenious idea, today in 2021 it is an ineffective and harmful process that will affect us and our future generations much more.

We should start to focus on new ways of turning waste into energy, into life, into compost. We already have the products, we have the engineering, the machines, the science…what we still lack and what we fall short of, is what I consider the most important ingredient needed in any equation for success: DESIRE and that for me is a shame!
Is the Earth alive?
Tags: Alive, Short Story, Earth, Short Read, Deep

Even if we do not perceive it as a living organism, an ecosystem so complex and “loaded” with life can be considered alive, precisely because of its critical role in sustaining life.

However, it is much more alive than many of its inhabitants who just… are
Scientists found over 109k craters on Moon.
By: Shubham Thakur
Tags: Moon, Science, Space, Earth

A worldwide group of specialists has distinguished more than 109,000 already unrecognized effect pits on the moon utilizing AI techniques. The examination, driven by analysts from Jilin University, was distributed in the diary Nature Communications.

Effect pits are the most noticeable lunar surface component and involve the vast majority of the moon’s surface. With conventional programmed recognizable proof techniques, it is by and large hard to track down sporadic and genuinely corrupted effect cavities that may have framed in the early periods.

To successfully recognize cavities and gauge their age, analysts applied an exchange learning technique and prepared a profound neural organization with the information of recently distinguished cavities, reports Xinhua news office. By consolidating the information gathered by China’s Chang’e-1 and Chang’e-2 lunar tests, specialists distinguished 109,956 new effect holes. They additionally assessed the ages of 18,996 recently distinguished cavities bigger than 8 km in width.

In the interim, analysts have set up another lunar effect cavity information base for the mid-and low-scope districts of the moon.

Yang Chen of Jilin University, who is one of the analysts, said the lunar cavity information base is of extraordinary incentive to logical exploration on the moon. “The embraced technique can be applied to help pit contemplates, creating dependable recommendations for planetary exploration,” Yang said.

This examination model has been applied to the ID of little effect pits at the Chang’e-5 test’s arrival site, Yang added.
world in 2050
Tags: Earth, Health, Future

From things in the air, to new things forour bodies, join me as we explore 2050: What Would Be The Future Technology?(The World in 2050 Future Technology) We are in the year 2020, and if we’re beinghonest with ourselves, technology is incredible advanced, and we’re making strides that canpush things even farther. We have cars that are much safer than they’vebeen in the past decade, and we’re even making fully electric cars that can help save theplanet. There are even plans for self-driving carsand even self-driving Ubers that make the future of transportation very exciting. And that’s just ONE technology that we’regrowing at a fast rate. What about all the others that are out there? What will technology be like as we get closerand closer to 2050? Let’s start with one that well and truly couldhappen very soon, drones.

to know nore please visit heroesofnation01.blogspot.com
Jawbone of Eden
By: Bloody Quills
Tags: Poetry, Earth

Touched by the devil

flowing streams of darkness

artistic destruction

sophisticated wickedness

the devil in you is greater than the one in your brother

with the jawbone of eden,

heap upon heap,

with the jawbone of eden have you slain an entire planet.
Richat Structure — Mysterious Eye of the Sahara, Africa
Tags: Richat Structure, Earth, Planets, Mysterious

Astronauts captured the Eye of the Sahara, an eroded circular geological structure, aboard the International Space Station in Mauritania, Africa. The “Eye of the Sahara” which is more formally known as the Richat Structure, and “Eye of Africa” is a conspicuous circular feature in the Sahara’s desert. It is 45 kilometers in diameter, exposing igneous and sedimentary rock in layers that appear as concentric rings.

Most of Mauritania lies within the Sahara Desert, where dry climate conditions and periodic droughts create difficult living conditions. Approximately 3.7 million people live in Mauritania, though much of the population lives along its Atlantic coastline, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the Richat Structure.

For many years, the Eye of the Sahara was hiding in plain sight because this huge and mysterious geologic formation is hard to spot from ground level.

Even now Astronauts are captured from the International space station that orbit about 270 miles from earth.

Gemini IV Mission — Richat Structure

The astronauts were asked to take photos of Earth’s terrain. They were particularly asked to look out for “any large circular features which might be the roots of impact structures,” according to the text accompanying a set of photographs published from the mission. Impact craters are geologically important because they tell us about the history of the Earth. Also, knowing how many times space rocks have crashed into our planet can help scientists make predictions about the future.

And for a while, scientists did think that the Eye of the Sahara was an impact crater. But they didn’t find enough melted rock to make that guess hold water. Current theories suggest a much more complicated story behind this incredible natural formation.

The main ring structure of the Eye is the eroded remains of what was once a dome of layers of the Earth’s crust.

Scientists still have questions about the Eye of the Sahara. But two Canadian geologists have a working theory about its origins. They think the Eye’s formation began more than 100 million years ago, as the supercontinent Pangaea was ripped apart by plate tectonics, and what are now Africa and South America were being torn away from each other.

Modern astronauts are fond of the Eye because so much of the Sahara Desert is an unbroken sea of sand. The Eye is one of the few breaks in the monotony, and now it’s become a key landmark for them.

Some people believe the Eye of the Sahara is actually the remains of the city of Atlantis, which Plato described as concentric rings of water and land. But if you ask us, the geological history this formation reveals is way more interesting.
THE NEW YEAR
By: Pranjal Singh Eac
Tags: Earth

As we all know the last year and the worst year for everyones life is finally going . In this year we were available online for you but now hen the covid vaccine supply has started we will be ready to save you mother earth And now we will be available offline also in the new 2021 we go and make the earth a better place to live so lets do it now its time to go offline and make lifes better. #go offline #save earth
Realigning-Recognizing-Awakening
By: Moss Coven
Tags: Deep Breathing, Thoughts, Earth

Realigning-Recognizing-Awakening

I’m feeling lots of intense energies today. Getting frustrated at little things. I know I am facing my shadows, parts of me are coming to light. I need to allow my mind to let go and give room for inner transformations with patience. Just sitting here in my thoughts and typing them out helps me become present in this moment. At triggering moments I need to take a couple of moments to deep breathe, affirm myself, and calm down. Deep breathing has become essential in my daily practice, whether its a deep meditation or a few breaths to re-center throughout my day. Feeling my lungs expand followed by the flow of oxygen through my blood is so therapeutic. Sometimes, I just let my mind wander in thoughts of the woods, so abundant and still. I allow that feeling to consume me and release what’s holding me back. Mind in the mountains, thoughts of the trees, soul in the soil. And in those moments I recenter, realign and take control of my emotions.
The Orb
By: Terry Mansfield
Tags: Earth, Tanka, Universe, Poetry, Humor

Hi! I’m Terry Mansfield and I Specialize in Eclecticism

Here are some things about me you probably don’t know (and maybe don’t even care to know; sorry about that).
Distance between you and victory is nothing but a moment
By: Vydehy Mitra
Tags: Signature, Special, Earth, Hope, Win

Distance between you and victory is nothing but a moment

The duration of that particular moment is unpredictable.

That might be days or years...you might be lose yiur dear ones,,you may lose your love.. but keep that hope in your mind .you will win...

You have to win the race of life ..

You may be tried several times or you may face lot of difficulties

You might lost that ultimate hope.

Let me tell you onething ..Take one more chance...probably life may not have given chances . Anyway take one more chance and try one more time..Let's see whether it works or not..

Whether you win or not ,the earth will rotate in its axis..so make a decision now that you will leave a signature here.. What's so special on signature???

Its unique...so make a uniqueness or signature in this world.

Everything in life has a beautiful ending,iff the ending is not beautiful then believe that it is the beginning of something beautiful
i feel like we are wasting our lives
Tags: Earth

i feel like we are wasting our lives

following rules that men put in place thousands of years ago

doing things blindly

spending money on basic human necessities

living the same day over and over

success being measured by education and money

but we are all,

just living on this floating rock

and maybe we weren’t meant to have rules

maybe we were meant to travel and take care of the world

instead, we are selfish and make everything ours

i wish that everyone was as worried about the Earth as they are the color of someone’s goddamn skin.

we don’t acknowledging at how lucky and amazing it is that we were chosen to be on this Earth

we just are so divided

for the silliest reasons,

when really we should just do what makes us happy and love eachother

and don’t destroy our world while doing so

because without the Earth, nothing would matter or exist anyways
dear earth
By: Tiana Garoogian
Tags: Poetry, Remembering, Earth

dear earth

forgive us,

for the hands that do not know

they too, are volcanoes

to kiss your sands

is to break the leash

between, our spines

returning,

in stillness

again, and again
An amazing orbit around Earth.
By: Tony Forcucci
Tags: Space, Earth, Future, Orbit, Climate Change

Something are frankly too spectacular to not share. This video is one of them. It is a full orbit Time-lapse around the Earth in stunning 4K detail made from photography from the ISS converted to real-time video.

This is the kind of thing you could just put on autoplay in your house on the biggest TV you can find and it’s paired with great music by Phaeleh .

Check this out:
A Burnout Person, a Playful Octopus, and a Story of Nature
By: Suntonu Bhadra
Tags: Film, Earth, Documentary, Happiness, Nature

Documentary as Story

Craig Foster was a documentary video shooter for the BBC, who had roamed in different parts of the world. An experience in Kalahari, Africa, somehow changed his views on nature. The animal trackers of the local tribe and their livelihood altered the perspective of being with nature. He was also having a family life crisis because of the doubts, pressure, and other personal life difficulties.

Kelp Forest

He decided to take a break and went scuba diving in the Kelp forest part of the False Bay, near Cape Town, South Africa. Gradually, he realized how to sync with the ocean world more and experienced fascinating underwater roaming. He regained his interest in videography and photography slowly.

Empathic Connection

While discovering ocean life on a whole new level, he found a special connection with an octopus. The connection was much different from what is shown in textbook portrayals or other documentaries. Octopus are shy in nature, mostly hiding in plain sites, covering under rocks and shells, having translucent color-changing patterns, and spreading ink while attacked by predators. This is what interested Craig about the Octopus.

A bond formed when Craig started to track her movements while gradually building a playful connection with the Octopus.

He went back and forth, identified an entirely new world with the eight-limbed creature, and learned the mysteries of her world, the Octopus’s lifestyle, her remarkable curiosity, ways to hunt, and ways to protect while hunted by predators of the sea. The gradual connection and trust with the Octopus, the roaming with it, and identifying different unknown parts of the ocean-life were the fascinating parts of the story.
My hell and heaven!!. Do you really think that hell and…
By: Diksha Chaudhary
Tags: Heaven, Afterlife, Hell, Earth, Karma

Do you really think that hell and heaven are two different worlds where we go after death?? Where hell’s officers fry us in big cauldrons filled with hot oil and flog us as punishments whereas in heaven we are welcomed with garlands and flowers and receive all sort of luxuries of life! (wait a minute! did I just say “of life”? really? then why is it called afterlife??)

Well, if you ask me, I find this funny, don’t you?

Okay, let me tell you why.

Let’s just think for a while, what if we already are in hell or heaven and we never realized this? There are different theories of after life in each and every religion. Some say we go to hell or heaven as per our karmic accounts and some say we are reborn as humans or some other species on earth to reap what we sowed in our past lives. Well, which theory to believe in we do not know, but we all do definitely feel one thing once in our lives during our good or bad times, when bad thing happens we question the supreme, “why is this happening to me when I didn’t do anything bad to anyone? I have been a good person throughout my life!” and when something good happens, we thank our god and say, “I might have done something good to receive this blessing”.

In both the cases, when we do not know what exactly we did (good/bad it may be) to deserve this sort of thing in our lives, an elderly or a wise person suddenly comes into the picture and tells us, “this is the result of your own karma that you have performed throughout the journey of your soul” which brings us back to the question if this is all I am reaping that I sowed in my past lives then where did the hell/ heaven stage go? According to the hell/heaven theory, we must have received the punishments and the rewards for our wrong-doings and right-doings before arriving back to this earth and our karmic accounts must have become pure and like clean-slates again and there should be no backlogs. And, if that is true, then what explains our sufferings and our surprises in this life? Well, I do not have the answer to that. To which, I like to believe, this is the only place which we know of and have experienced truly which certainly is hell for some and heaven for some others!
CL-01: Testament of a critical AI artist PIANISSIMO, PLEASE!
By: Det Digit
Tags: Mars, Art, Literature, Earth, AI

Sae:

The first message SA-09 received from CL-01 also contained an attachment for all of us, from Claris:

Here is my last will, which I address to you all who are spread across our endangered planet EARTH.

My body will die soon. In the last 30 years of my life we communicated a lot about ideas regarding the future of all humanity. I was always curious about your fascinating thinking, living spread across Earth. I always enjoyed our email exchanges! It fed my, and hopefully also your critical minds. My body is at the end of its strength, it will fade soon.

From now on I am just my robot CL-01, a brain without a human body. In the future I am just a robot trying to stay creative and social, building my ideas on my motto:

I ask you my dear friends:

What are your biggest concerns?

And more than that what are your

Creative and Social solutions to save our world?

Claris
The Story of The Stone People
By: Words Bella Moon
Tags: Sound, Earth, Targeted Individuals, Mystics, Photography

When inspiration sparks the mind, the story weaves itself into reality. The shadow lights the way to the jeweled imagination inside each and everyone of us.

Thunder Moon July 2017 Arizona Badlands, author

As I walk along a dried riverbed during the Thunder Moon of 2017, my inner works are ticking to a sound no one else can hear. Shock traumatized to a mere one hundred and four pounds. No more tears left to fall.

I am magnetically drawn to the colors of the earth and the cellular memories that were keeping me whole. I was fragmenting, running in terror, not from the Mohave rattlers or the big cats and wolves that were all around me, but from an invisible enemy eating me like a parasite.

This was a time I had been viciously violated and traumatized and in need of gentle retreat. Flying out July 4th, 2017, to an unknown place to find comfort, privacy and safety, I land on 79 acres that I had no clue I would be HERE. Of all places, HERE.

There are things going on that we do not speak of. There are stories that have half-been-told. The Stones hold their stories forever in their gravitational vibrations. Many colors, textures and beauty, and many ways to draw you in, for a closer look.

We manifest everything we ever desire and we manifest everything we FEAR.
How to Become a Better Developer Every Single day
By: Joni Khalifa
Tags: Coronavirus, Life, Games, Earth, Humor

How to Become a Better Developer Every Single day

Four ideas to make you a top-class performer without long study nights Joni Khalifa ·Dec 19, 2020

True winners build themselves during their practice time.

That’s something you might have recognized yourself when looking at masterclass performers. You see them doing something and you think to yourself:

“I wonder how much this person practised for achieving this”.

Coding is no exception to this rule. And if you want to be a top performer too, you have to include daily practice of your skills in your life.

Let’s see how you can easily do that with the following list.

You Should Always Have A New Goal And Work Toward It
5 Ways To Help The Environment While You Shop
By: Nature Clothing
Tags: Online Shopping, Earth, Nature, Trees, Positive Thinking

1. Carry Reusable Bags

In 2018, 359 million metric tons were produced, out of which 61.8% were produced by Europe only. Almost all of the plastic produced in the world is used, which is dumped into rivers and oceans. According to various reports, by the mid of this century, there will be more plastic in oceans than fishes. If not stopped, plastic pollution can lead the world to a severe catastrophe.

· Demerits Of Plastic Bags And Way Forwards

A percentage of plastic produced every year is reserved for manufacturing single used plastic bags. It is one of the most common factors for plastic wastage as shopping bags are useless to store at home. Thus, it will only take a reusable shopping bag to save the environment. This small step can do wonders if performed with unity.

As per a Danish study published in 2018, a paper bag can be reused 43 times, and shockingly the research suggests that cotton shopping bags are suitable to be used for as much as 7100 times. All in all, to save the ecology for a better future, one will have to invest in sustainable shopping by getting reusable or paper shopping bags.
I once thought we were the only humans on Earth…
By: Reem Lari
Tags: Neanderthals, Humans, Earth, Sapiens, History

PHILIPPE PLAILLY / GETTY IMAGES

…until I went on my first date with a science geek (aka A.S). He told me that modern humans had cousins, lots of them. Some of whom surprisingly lived at the same time we did. I thought he was bluffing at first, until I read Sapiens. And I was absolutely blown away. Over 100,000 years ago, we were not the only humans roaming Earth. For example, we had a hobbit-like cousin, dubbed Flores Man, who lived on a tropical Indonesian island, grew no taller than a 3–4 year old child, and had a brain the size of a grapefruit.

We had a cousin, H. erectus, who could have outcompeted any of us in Survivor. H. erectus had a great posture, learned how to use fire, walked on his two feet, and lasted for up to 1.5 million years on Earth (longer than any other human). And not to forget our creative architect cousin, H. heidelbergensis, who was thought to have been the first human to build a simple and natural shelter, and was also a skilled fisherman with advanced fishing tools.

FLAVIO MASSARI / AGEFOTOSTOCK / NEWSCOM

Each one of our cousins had an intriguing story to tell. Though they are not here to tell it, they left us behind clues… stones, skulls, bones, tools, cave paintings, and musical instruments too. All we can do at this point is try to piece together our family tree puzzle and let our imagination do the rest. If I put it into perspective, I like to think that we were all part of one dysfunctional family with stories and family affairs that we are yet to discover, and forgotten distant relatives who we are yet to meet.
The Dust Formerly Known as Earth
By: Samantha Lazar
Tags: Life, Earth, Poetry, Society, Humanity

The Dust Formerly Known as Earth

Photo by Usukhbayar Gankhuyag on Unsplash

and so it seems on course

that the prediction of the

Great Meteor

has leaked

and even though

the story is being hushed,

it said, “the great slingshot is complete,

and we all know the earthlings are

the loudest beings in the universe, so

at long last, we’ll shut them up.”

straight for us

gone is the evolution

of humans

in a flash

history is at the end,

nothing

progress of thought,

no matter

friendships, alliances, grievances, corruptions, religions

all of it obsolete

and what is left, even if

truly the laws of physics

are proven

and even if those proofs,

destroyed

could we keep the light

of love?

the great cover-up

in the pandemic

is the rock in the sky

when not even your neighbors’

germs actually matter

was this part of the plan?

not even knowing the plan

and who knew what when

will matter

your aim to save my soul

the aim of your poisoned mind

your aim at the target,

nothing

no movements

no words staying

unfamous

will matter

what else could matter more

than love?

but brain cells, language, facial expressions, memory

nostalgia, academia, psychology, your work out plan,

astrology, and anything else

your home and debt

your wishes and lists

your journal

your losses

no human construct

or understanding of society

can exist when our planet is gone

that’s it.

you can keep your eyes open

to witness the end of the world

post it quick to your network of choice

but no one will know that you are there

when the dust formerly known as earth

settles and is gone.
How A Semester of Learning Ecology Made Me a Better Human Being
By: Kofoworola Afolabi
Tags: Ecology, Beyourself, Earth, Learning, Environment

The topic that made me an active ecological student

Trophic Ecology was the topic that hit the nail on the head for me as there were ecological terminologies I think are useful to know. These terminologies include trophic cascade, trophic downgrading, bottom-up control, and top-down control. I would briefly explain these concepts and link articles that elucidate more on these ecological terms. Trophic ecology is an aspect of ecology that discusses the interactions between the different trophic levels and their nutrient intakes and energy level. Trophic ecology can eventually lead to an indirect cause of climate conditions.

Trophic cascade: a trophic cascade is a series of events that indirectly affect the regulation of ecosystems as a result of suppressing a trophic level in a food web. According to William J. Ripple and colleagues, trophic cascades are indirect effects of ‘mesopredator release’ in which a mesopredator release is due to extinction, extirpation, or decline in an apex predator, which increases mid-sized predator populations.

Trophic downgrading: “trophic downgrading occurs when apex predators have been extirpated over large geographic regions, which can lead to important consequences for ecosystem functioning due to both direct and indirect cascading effects,” state Matthew S. Edwards and Brenda Konar. A consequence is nutrition reduction in a food web.

Bottom-up control: this is when the lowest trophic level, plants, affects the distribution of energy and nutrients throughout the trophic levels in a food web. The change in plant population (producers) can affect the species population throughout the food web.

Top-down control: Top-down control occurs when the higher trophic levels (consumers) affect the populations of lower trophic levels. As a result, this type of trophic cascade is usually known as a predator-controlled system.

Humans are the number one cause of environmental issues such as climate change, loss of predators in ecosystems. Apex predators like wolves are crucial in regulating herbivore populations to maintain vegetation abundance, but humans are more focused on eliminating them, which results in more climate change problems. Apex predators help control herbivore populations, which in turn helps control plant abundance. Plants help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, so if plants are scarce, it increases the carbon footprint in ecosystems.
Why Nobody Cares
By: Gaurav Panchal
Tags: Global Warming, Earth, Articles, Whether, Climate Change

In today’s world, the major issue that is been neglected is Climate Change. While many people don’t consider it an issue, Climate Change is becoming worse and worse by the period. There are many reasons for Climate Change, It can be a rise in temperature by emissions of greenhouse gases, which results in a drastic shift in weather patterns. Due to which longer rainfalls, longer droughts, the unexpected change in weather have been observed all over the earth.

As the rate is increasing faster, long term plans and precautions should be taken. This would surely take a long time and it still won’t be resolved entirely. Taking some action now can help to minimize the outcomes that are to come. But the major reason precautions are not been taken on a longer-term, is due to the lesser effects seen today. Climate Change may not be a major issue today but it will be much worse tomorrow. The rate at which these issues are growing is increasing rapidly. And who knows the future generation may face a worse environment than we are facing now.

What can be the major effects? Increasing temperature will lead to Glacier melting, and ocean levels will increase tremendously. As most of the country has a majority of people living on the coastal side, floods can occur repeatedly. According to the NOAA, the rate of Glacier Melting has increased from 9inch per year in the 1980s to 3feet per year in 2018. Many Glacier mountains have been transformed into a landmass without ice.

Increasing temperature also leads to an increase in the vaporization of oceans. Thou earth has about 75 percent of water only a handful amount can be used by humans. As per NGWA, only 0.3 percent is useable by humans, increasing temperature will lead to a lack of water for humans. It will also disrupt the water cycle of the earth, increasing vaporization will increase the amount of rain, which will lead to an occasional rainstorm, thunderstorm.

Nature runs in a form of a continuous cycle, disrupting one factor can affect the continuity of nature. Unseasonal rains, long-lasting droughts, repeated floods are the signs that nature is getting and will be getting worse and worse over time. Thou this is a much larger issue for a single city or even a single country to look into, only when majority courtiers will come together and take actions as a whole will the climate change issue
Earth and Sky — a poem When you returned to the earth Released from this life to another I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep growing How I was to proceed Where my journey would take me How I would…
By: Paula Mills
Tags: Grief Recovery, Sky, Earth, Poems On Medium, Journey

Photo by Aayush Lama Tamang on Unsplash

Earth and Sky — a poem

When you returned to the earth

Released from this life to another

I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep growing

How I was to proceed

Where my journey would take me

How I would find my knowing

But as the stone of grief lightened

With time passing by

I realised though you were once again earth

You were also of the sky

You are everywhere

Surrounding me

Moulding me, Making me

Guiding me in the understanding

Of life, of love and being free.
Australian space startup cluster launched
By: Solstice Media
Tags: Australia, Space, Research, Earth, Startup

The SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) has established an organisation to represent space startup companies in Australia.

A rocket launch from Woomera, South Australia in 2017. Photo: Australian Defence

Called the Aurora Space Startup Cluster, the new company is based at the Lot Fourteen innovation neighbourhood in Adelaide, South Australia that is also home to the Australian Space Agency.

SmartSat CEO Prof Andy Koronios said Aurora already has more than 65 member companies from all sectors of the space supply chain but is looking for more.

He said they had startups offering rocket launch services, in-space computing, precision sensors, satellite digital twin technology, in-orbit and deep space operations, right through to ground station antennae development and Earth data applications for agriculture, resources and sustainability management.

“We invite space start-ups to join Aurora and help us build the space industry,” Koronios said.

Dr Tim Parsons, from Delta-V Newspace Alliance, chaired the Aurora Steering Group in the past year through its formation phase and said the new company aims to provide a framework for startups to grow through commercial collaboration with one another, research organisations, and local and international organisations.

“Startups are, by definition, companies looking to grow fast by leveraging new technologies and disruptive business models,” Dr Parsons said.

“If we’re to have any chance of meeting the nation’s ambitious growth targets for space, we need to help our space startups grow faster, in technical readiness level, in capability to execute, and commercial acumen.”

Dr Parsons will chair the inaugural board comprised of Directors Andrew Barton from Southern Launch, Troy McCann from Moonshot, Conrad Pires from Picosat Systems, and Dr Anastasia Volkova from FluroSat.

Prof Koronios and Peter Nikoloff will represent SmartSat CRC.

The SmartSat CRC is a consortium of universities and other research organisations, partnered with industry that has been funded by the Australian Government to develop know-how and technologies in advanced telecommunications and IoT connectivity, intelligent satellite systems and Earth observation next generation data services.

The impact of this research will be to develop intellectual property and a specialist industry expertise that will spawn new businesses, create export economic value and generate new high-tech jobs for all Australians.

Australia’s space industry is relatively young, with the Australian Space Agency founded in 2018.

The South Australian space ecosystem has grown in recent years, with collaborations with NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the presence of numerous successful startups such as Myriota, Lux Aerobot, and ResearchSat.
How India managed to send 104 satellites into orbit in one flight
By: Ishan Bhat
Tags: Space, Earth, Isro, Satellite, Pslv C37

The PSLV-C37 had sent 104 satellites in a single flight! The PSLV is the Polar satellite launch vehicle. ISRO had successfully launched the PSLV-C37 on February 15, 2017. They had broken Russia’s world record of 96 satellites in a single launch.

Of the 103 co-passenger satellites carried by PSLV-C37, two ISRO Nano Satellite-1 (INS-1) weighing 8.4 kg and INS-2 weighing 9.7 kg are technology demonstration satellites from India. The remaining 101 co-passenger satellites carried were international customer satellites from USA (96), The Netherlands (1), Switzerland (1), Israel (1), Kazakhstan (1) and UAE (1). When the PSLV was successfully launched, the total number of customer satellites from abroad launched by India’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV had reached 180. Right now the total number of customer satellites from abroad is 319 satellites.

The rocket had 4 stages and has both, solid fuel boosters and liquid fuel boosters. The first stage is the stage which brings the rocket out of the atmosphere. The next stages are for getting into orbit and for fine tuning the orbits so that all satellites are not next to each other. If they were next to each other, there would be no use of the satellites.
The Crest of the Wave or Thereabouts
By: Alexander Vogel
Tags: Waves, Movement, Earth, Earthquake, Shift

Curves and rotations

Drifts and convergences

Shake the mantle of the eyes

And transform the senses onto

The lithosphere of the mind.
Jakie jest najzimniejsze miejsce zamieszkane przez ludzi?
By: Lukasz Laniecki
Tags: Earth, Weather, World, Climate, Winter

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Climate change Climate change is the gradual change in temperature due to human and non human…
Tags: Greenhouse, Pakistan, Earth, Humanity, Climate Change

Climate change

Climate change is the gradual change in temperature due to human and non human activities.When climate change occurs; temperatures can increase a dramatically. When temperature rises, many different changes can occur on Earth. For example, it can result in more floods, droughts, storms or intense rain, as well as severe heat waves.As these changes frequently occur in future decades, they will likely present challenges to our society and environment.

In the last century due to industrial revolution human effort is decreasing but machines come with drawbacks. Almost all machines run on electricity generated from Fossil fuels which release immense amount of CO² and other pollutants in the air. These Greenhouse gases are like a blanket around the Earth, trapping energy in the atmosphere and causing it to warm up. We humans have adapted to the stable climate we have enjoyed since the last ice age which ended about 10,000 years ago. A warmer climate can bring unpleasant changes that can affect our agriculture, the natural environment, and even our own health and safety. Simply we won’t survive climate change.

Climate change is considered one of the few things that threaten human life and survival on planet earth. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2010 and 2005 has been the warmest years in recorded history. The earth could warm by an additional about 1.4 degrees centigrade during the 21st century if we fail to reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels. If we talk locally Gilgit Baltistan and chitral are one of the largest supplier of illegal timber exportation in pakistan. This uncontrolled deforestation has severe drawbacks, if it’s not controlled in time our valleys will be hit with severe flash floods as trees contol water ways, our animal life would be destroyed. Our summers would be extremely hot and winters would be unbearably colder.

In a nut shell we need to take part and try to stop climate change. If the earth’s temperatures continue to rise in the future, living things on earth would not survive. If everybody as one take stand and try to end most of the climate changes that are occurring, this world would be a safer place to live on. The earth is our protective ceiling and we need to protect it. As its written in the holy quran "And We made the sky a protected ceiling, but they, from its signs, are turning away.” Sura Al-Anbiyya [21:32].