It made it to this Friday File because it has a cool looking chart which prompted Rob Hopkins of the Brockville Climate Action Group to write about resilience and global risks.  He points out that the World Economic Forum suggests that the three key risks over the next 10 years are energy price volatility, climate change and economic crises. But the financial crisis has reduced global economic resilience, the report states, while increasing geopolitical tension and heightened social concerns suggest that both governments and societies are less able than ever to cope with global challenges.

Perhaps a heavy topic for a Friday File, but do have a look at the chart. As Rob suggests, it’s pretty cool!

Along with the photos, Mark Godfrey interviews Ian Shive about his photography. When asked, Ian says that like most photographers, since he likes what he shot last the most, his favorite national park is whichever one he’s just back from. But then he talks about the Channel Islands which offer both landscape and water views.

The slideshow is just shy of 4 minutes, and viewing it over my morning coffee started my day off right. Enjoy!

The e-cards come in 3 categories – Wildlife, Romantic, and Christmas.

The 23 Wildlife e-cards include 3 new ones. They show pictures of animals ranging from a feeding humpback whale to a Bush Baby to a Polar Bear.

The Romantic e-cards, which can be used either on Valentine’s Day or any day that you’re feeling romantic, feature animals as well. The Swan with Cignets (baby swans) is particularly beautiful.

The Christmas e-cards (is it too early to mention these?!) feature some Christmas themes but also have some with more generic winter themes.

To use the e-cards is easy. All you do is:

1. Choose a free Wildlife eCard (click on an image to select the card and view it full size)
2. Personalise the card and compose your message
3. Address your card (names and email addresses will only be used for sending and receiving cards)
4. Preview and send (now or at a future date)

Enjoy!

The map allows you to choose a location, such as Vancouver, BC, Canada. It then places red patches the size of the tar sands over your chosen location. Seeing the red patches over your home town really does give a sense of the enormity of the project.

More than its size, the environmental damage the tar sands cause makes them controversial. As the website writes, the harvesting of petroleum from the tar sands destroys the land, pollutes the water and is poisoning downstream communities. It is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emission growth in Canada. The tar sands already produce over 30 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year; by 2020 that number could grow to over 140 million tonnes.

While most of us use oil in some form, it would be good if the tar sands would clean up their act.

The Society has photographs of most of the mammals from 27 categories, ranging from ocean going mammals to land mammals. The categories are in Latin, but some of them look similar to their English names so you can tell what they are (eg. Cetacea and Monotremata). For the others, click on the category and look at the first photo and that should help you realize what category you’ve chosen.

Have a safe and happy long weekend!

You can search the directory by using either the plant’s name, or by entering your region and desired plant type. When I entered Annual and BC, I got the familiar Common Sunflower, and the not so familiar Pursh’s Lotus. The Lotus photo didn’t load on my computer – it may just be my computer, but if you find the same thing you can always search for the name using Google images.

Annual and Ontario brought up just one result – the Partridge Pea. Many more results were shown for searches for Ontario and Perenial, Ontario and Ground Cover, Ontario and Shrub, and other searches.

So with the summer weather here, it’s time to get outside and gardening is one way to do it. So do your research, tend your plants, and Enjoy!

There’s a map online that shows where the Chainsaw Barbies are hidden. If you click on a Barbie photo, you get clues as to her whereabouts. You can click ‘More clues’ for the complete set which you can print off to take with you, just like a real treasure hunt.

Once you’ve found your Chainsaw Barbie, follow the instructions on her label to join Greenpeace’s Barbie Investigation Bureau. You’ll receive further special assignments which will help bring Barbie’s rainforest devastation to an end.

If you live or are going to be in an area without Chainsaw Barbies, you can make your own. And keep checking Greenpeace’s website, since they promise to add new Chainsaw Barbies frequently.

Included among the children are Jonathan who lives in Manitoba and plays hockey. His online colleagues include Chrismone who lives in Haiti and is learning about trees at school. Wanda from Iraq is also profiled, and she likes to play hide and seek with her siblings. As well, 11 other children are introduced.

Each profile features the children’s story, as well as information on the country they live in.

Embedded in Wanda’s profile is mention of eight blankets. Called Blankets of Peace, they started in a correctional facility in Kitchener Ontario, and then were distributed by MCC to families in northern Iraq. Altogether, MCC has collected 5,400 blankets, 900 relief kits and 9,200 school kits and distributed them in northern Iraq since December 2007.

photo: Kaua`i Monk Seal Watch Program

If a picture’s worth a thousand words, then the Marine Conservation Biology Institute is using many thousands of words to tell about the important life that is in our oceans. They have a photo gallery on their website that is filled with 25 downloadable jpeg photographs.

The photos include some of the endangered Hawaiian monk seal, as well as a photo of one of their prime pupping sites. Then there are several underwater photos that make you feel you might be viewing the sealife from a glass bottomed boat. They also have a grey reef shark and a manta ray. Rounding out the collection are a few photos of seabirds, although at time of writing one of them opens to the shark photo.

Enjoy!

It all starts with getting a pair of binoculars. When birdwatching, a little brown bird flying into a tree can become a little yellow bird through the binoculars. Timothy Boucher and Ellen Paul, who wrote the Nature Conservancy article, advise paying attention to how the binoculars feel in your hands, since they have to fit properly to be comfortable over your hours of birdwatching or wildlife watching.

Learn about birds by buying a guide, and learn to start identifying birds by their largest features such as colors, shape and size. Your goal is not to memorize the guide but to learn how to use it in the field.

Find bird walks through your local Audubon chapter or nature center. In Vancouver, VanDusen Garden and Nature Vancouver have bird walks, and other botanical gardens and nature societies likely do as well. Going with an expert at first is a great way to start learning how to use the field guide and how to identify birds. Also, experts are filled with interesting stories and facts about birds.

Use the internet for finding great local birdwatching locations. Take your time, walk slowly, and keep your eyes and ears open for bird movements and sounds. There are a lot of birds around that you will miss if you power walk your way through an area.

I love how Timothy and Ellen end their article. “That’s it! Are you still at your computer? Why? Grab your ‘nocs and go!”