Global real estate is in a state of decline, that is except for on the coasts of South Africa where there is a construction boom. The houses are currently only going for $40 USD but they will one-day pay much larger dividends.

What I’m talking about is the financing and construction of artificial penguins nests now taking place on the beaches of Cape Town and Dyer Island.

African penguins are facing an increasingly dire situation which has seen their numbers plummet in recent years. Some colonies have witnessed declines of up to 50% since 2005. Experts fear that the entire species could die out within ten years.

The main culprit has been the mismanagement of fishing resources which has caused the supply of the penguins’ diet to dwindle. Climate change threatens to add to the damage by way of scorching days and warming of the ocean leading to an alteration in fish migratory patterns. But one of the most immediate problems is that a history of guano scraping has left the penguins without the material required to burrow, and instead are left to make their nests on the surface.

This is where the artificial penguin nests come into play. They’re intended to provide the penguins with shelter from the heat, and protection for their eggs from predatory gulls. They’ve proven popular with the penguins, boasting an 80% occupancy rate where they’ve been installed.

It’s one of the last lines of defence for the species, so if you have any money to send for your penguin brethren, please do so. I’ve already contributed what I can.

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The time has come once again for Earth Hour which will take place tomorrow evening at 8PM local time. Earth Hour is the highly regarded and very fashionable brain child of the World Wildlife Fund and the Sydney Morning Herald. Its stated goal is to raise awareness of climate change by encouraging people to turn off all non-essential lights for one hour on the last Saturday of every March.

The event started a mere two years ago and has already gained significant traction around the globe, with over 36 million participants in the event last year. Tomorrow lights will dim all around the globe with some of the world’s most iconic landmarks getting involved in going dark.

All of this has led me to question, what is Earth Hour, what are its impacts, and why should I care? Now I’m all for protecting the environment, reduce and reuse, and all of that. What I can’t say is that I’m a big fan of grandiose symbolic gestures.

I can see why raising awareness can be good. But are candles really better for the environment than light-bulbs? I read an interesting blog post earlier today that said if you wanted to replace a 40-watt bulb with candles (500 Candles) you would end up emitting ten times the C02. Of course no one will be burning that many candles tomorrow night but even if you end up only using a few candles during Earth Hour you will be emitting more emissions than you would have from using one light-bulb for one hour.

(Now obviously there are ways to mitigate your candles’ environmental impact such as using natural candles, or you could just not use any candles. But if I wanted to get into the details I would have things like sources and facts.)

I think the lesson is that if you think reading by candlelight for one hour absolves you from any sort of responsibility, you would be wrong. And to remember to take Earth Hour for what it is. Something only beneficial if you remember to apply its core values of reducing your energy consumption more often than one hour a year.

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 Visit the 8th continent Madagascar
Often referred to as the “eighth continent” in reference to the island’s break from Africa sometime around 160 million years ago. It’s long absence from a continental body has allowed an entirely unique set of animal and plant life to develop. Madagascar is now home to one of the world’s more diverse eco-systems, housing 5% of the world’s animal species.

The primary attractions are the tropical rainforests that litter the island, and the unspoiled beaches lining the coast. The best way to experience the island is to stay at one of the many eco-lodges.

The easiest way to reach Madagascar by flight is from either South Africa or France. The island was once a French colony and as such there are regular flights from Paris to its capital of Antananarivo. Despite being an island nation, Madagascar does not maintain regular passenger sea links with neighbouring nations.

In modern times Madagascar has faced its largest threat, deforestation. More than eighty-percent of the nation’s original forests are gone, and every year another one-percent disappear. Madagascar is one of the most threatened eco-systems in the world, however there is hope. Currently more money pours into Madagascar for conservation efforts than any other African nation.

One non-profit organization working in Madagascar is Azafady. They work with disadvantaged communities to improve living standards and promote positive coexistence with the the local environment.

I’ve made my donation. Now it’s on you.

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I was looking at Central Asia on Google Maps the other day when I came across the Aral Sea. So I decided to look into what the sea is all about. What I discovered, is that while the sea looked large on the antiquated map on Google, it is only a remnant of its former self at just one-quarter of its original surface area.

As early as the 1920’s the Soviet Union decided the two rivers that feed the Aral Sea would be diverted to irrigate the deserts of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to allow the widespread production of cotton. The canals were completed in the 1940’s and just twenty years later the sea started its steady decline, taking with it one-sixth of the USSR’s fishing industry.

The collapse of the sea was no surprise to the Russians as they had anticipated it happening long before. Plans to build another canal system to restore the Aral Sea were shelved due to staggering costs and insufficient public support.

Today we find ourselves with an ecological disaster on the steppes. The lack of freshwater inflow to the lake has not only caused the water levels to recede but it has also caused salinity levels in the sea to spike thus destroying virtually all marine life.

Currently Kazakhstan is taking aggressive measures to restore water levels to the North Aral sea, including the construction of a dam between the North and South Aral Seas. While this has helped water levels rise in the north, it obviously has not helped the south much.

The South Aral Sea lies in the poorer Uzbekistan and has been largely abandoned to its fate. Uzbekistan has shown no willingness to part with its cotton industry, and has begun to search for mineral deposits on the dry seabed. The South Aral Sea is expected to completely vanish before the turn of the century.

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Here’s an eco-adventure for everyone.

 See the polar bears do what they do in Churchill, Manitoba
In the far north of Canada, on the western shores of the Hudson Bay lies the world’s largest Polar bear denning area. Visitors to the region take tundra buggies over the frozen ice for the chance to view polar bears in their natural habitat. Many mothers, some with young cubs, can often be seen in close proximity to the vehicles. In addition to the polar bears, Churchill is one of Canada’s best place to observe the Northern Lights.

Fall is the time to visit as it’s when the bears are returning to the ice after the summer, and it’s also the best time to observe the lights. VIA Rail (Canada’s national rail line) provides train service to Churchill from Winnipeg on a regular basis.

Polar bears around the world currently face enormous threats to their habitats. These threats come from a variety of sources not limited to but including climate change. Now whether you believe in climate change as a man made event, or even at all. There is no denying that polar bears are a species on the brink.

There are dozens of organizations working to protect the species and its habitat. The WWF comes to mind as one who uses a multi-faceted approach to conservation and is surely working tirelessly to achieve some protection for the polar bear. They also organize eco-tours to Churchill.

To find out ways you can help, please visit the following website: http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/polarbear/polarbear.html

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According to Prince Charles that is how long we have to save the world from irreversible damage due to climate change.

Fresh off the high of being named the world’s best dressed man by Esquire magazine, Prince Charles has now set off on a new more important quest to once again bring the environment to the forefront of political discussion. The Prince will be touring South America all week and delivering a keynote speech on the environment in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.

I can’t say I know a lot about Prince Charles’ personal values, but he is a vegetarian and that alone gives him immeasurably more credibility than Al Gore on all things related to the environment. Also I think it’s great that someone from the British Royal Family is doing something other than making Pakistanis feel bad about themselves.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/4952918/Prince-Charles-we-have-100-months-to-save-the-world.html

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(This is news from a few days ago, so bear with me.) NASA’s much touted ‘Orbiting Carbon Observatory’ recently failed to achieve orbit and instead crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a major setback for the space agency and a costly one at $280 Million US Dollars.

If the launch had been successful it would have provided scientists studying climate change with new tools to measure the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere. Instead it invariably added carbon to the earth’s atmosphere. Irony…

http://topnews.us/content/23878-orbiting-carbon-observatory-fiasco-nightmare-nasa

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The climate does however seem to favour Republican talk radio. The United States’ largest ever protest on climate change is expected to take place later today and initial reports had speculated it might be met with a snowstorm. Naturally this led to right-wing media outlets declaring global warming a fallacy.

Thankfully the prospects of a snowstorm have been averted and the current forecast is for sunny skies. Global warming is officially back on.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2009/03/01/2003437275

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