I am not very smart. I freely admit that and sometimes readers remind me of it. But, I do believe there are not many whales in Mexico City. I think Mexico City is landlocked. This causes me to wonder, “What in the world are Greenpeace protestors doing chaining themselves to the Japanese embassy in Mexico City to protest whale hunting?”

I get the idea that people are opposed to the Japanese exploiting whales under pretenses of research. But, young folk in Mexico City protesting Japanese activities in the Antarctic? I don’t get that. And Greenpeace wonders why some (many?) people don’t take them seriously.

Advice to Greenpeacers - find an issue closer to home that folks nearby can really relate to. Maybe then, somebody will take your cause seriously.

Source: BreitBart

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A naked Argentinian Playboy model, Vanessa Carbone, has got my attention. She was found in the buff, in her birthday suit protesting outside the Japanese Embassy in Chile about whale hunting by the Japanese.

Her placard says - “let them live.” I’d like to say something, too, about what I’d like her to let do with … never mind. Vanessa also wants the Argentinian government to set whale protection zones in its territorial waters.

I may be wrong, but I am betting that the Japanese embassy officials are now busily on the phone to all the whale fishermen in Japan saying “Go! Go! Fish, Catch whales! Don’t worry about the protesters. We’ve got that covered.” Or in this case, uncovered.

Dead serious here - Does Vanessa really really think that by stripping down, she can make a difference? She did get my attention, but I’ll be darn if I can remember why. - via Xinhuanet

For some of us, mountains are the best places for a vacation, but for others is a way of living. I’m talking about climbers that take their chances to make it “on top of the world”, conquering some of the highest mountains out there. But some are not only after heights, they’re after the most dangerous mountains. They need adrenaline, even if they have to pay with their lives and that’s why we decided to make up a list with the deadliest mountains in the world.

Image: Wikipedia

In the Northern Areas of Pakistan, Baintha Brakk or commonly known as The Ogre Mountain, definitely deserves to be mentioned here. Rises above the north side of the Biafo Glacier, one of the major glaciers of the central Karakoram, and with an elevation of 7,285m (23,901 ft) Baintha Brakk is a dangerous combination of altitude, height above local terrain, and steepness. That’s the reason why the first ascent from 1977 was only followed 24 years later, in 2001.

Image: Wikipedia

Annapurna is a 55-km long massif in Himalaya with six major peaks over 7,200 m and the 10 highest peak in the world. In Sanskrit it means “full of food”, but locals call it the Goddess of the Harvests, however there’s another reason why Anapurna is famous. Since the first ascend in 1950, it’s been climbed by 130 people out which 53 died trying. Fatality rate is close to 40% making it the most statistically dangerous mountain in the world.

Image: Wikipedia

Remember Patagonia and the stunning Los Glaciares National Park? Located close to the amazing El Chaiten close to the Argentinta - Chile border, Monte Fitz Roy - also known as Cerro Chaltén or Cerro Fitz Roy, it’s guarded on all sides by steep rock faces that make it extremely difficult from a technical point of view. Because of unpredictable weather and the relative isolation, Monte Fitz Roy has been considered the most dangerous mountain in the world for decades.

Image: Se7en Summits

Though fully covered in snow, Antarctica has mountains. And one of them, Mount Vinson, has made it to the list with the most endangered mountains in the world. Though not very high, less difficult and with a lower fatality rate than the other mountains, Vinson is an isolated place with extreme temperatures and unpredictable weather. Accidents, no matter how small, are not an option and could lead to disasters.

Image: Wikipedia

Located in Northern Pakistan and part of the Karakoram segment in the Himalayan range, K2 is the second highest mountain in the world also known as the Savage Mountain. That’s because of its ascent difficulty. One out of four people die trying to “conquer” K2 making it one of the most dangerous in the world, all these because of steep, exposed, and committing nature of all routes, because of the extreme high altitude that lacks in oxygen and the fact that it’s renowned for extreme storms that last for days.

Image : judepics

Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain peaks after Mt. Everest and K2, it translates as The Five Treasures of Snows. Because technology evolved and we now have access to better gear, fatality rates are expeCted to go down, but not on Kangchenjunga. In the recent years, 22 people out of 100 trying to win the top have died because of avalanches and and weather hazards. It’s a dangerous mountain, indeed.

Image: Wikipedia

You would have expected, the highest mountains to be he most dangerous. Well, the Eiger mountain in the Swiss Alps made it to the list as a legendary dangerous, too. The most dificult part of the Eiger is the north face which got the “nickname” of Mordwand (Murder Wall).

Image: Wikipedia

Located on the Swiss-Italian border, Matterhorn (Cervino or Cervin) is one of the most renowned mountains in the European Alps. Looking like a horn rising, it was one of the last peaks in the Alps to be conquered and not only because of its technical difficulty, the prevalence of avalanches and rockfall,but mostly because of the fear it inspired in early mountaineers. Even though these days there are fixed ropes on parts of the routes to help, several climbers die each year.

Image: Ben Tubby

Nanga Parbat is the ninth highest peak in the world and i the western anchor of the Himalayas, lying south of the Indus River in the Astore District of Pakistan. In Urdu the name means Naked Mountain but Nanga Parbat is also two nicknames that made it famouse; Killer Mountain and The Man Eater. That’s mainly because of its technical difficulty.

Image: Giant Ginko

Mount Denali is the highest mountain in North America. Also known as Mount McKinley, the 20,32 ft tall mountain is renowned for its extreme weather conditions and temperature that make it a tough ride. More than 100 climbers lost their lives trying to conquer Denali, keeping the success rate at low levels (50%).

Image: vitafluida

The highest mountain on Earth (8,848 metres - 29,029 ft), Mount Everest makes it hard for climbers to reach its top mainly because of the high altitude where temperatures dip to very low levels causing frostbites to any body parts exposed to air. Exhaustion, extreme cold, the dangers of the climb or the low level oxygen (pressure is one third of sea levels pressure), makes Mt. Everest an undeniably dangerous objective.

So are you up to the challenge? Which one would you like to conquer?

Toyama prefecture is located in northern Japan. It gets cold there in the winter, but not really cold enough to freeze a lake or a pond. Not to worry, Japan has an answer to those who still want to go skating. There’s a skating made out of resin, plastic. It’s 300-square-meters square and  billed as environmentally friendly.

The two reasons are - 1. The rink doesn’t use water to make ice and 2. the rink can be operated at half the cost of conventional ice rinks. There is no need for a cooling system. So, why only half the cost, I wonder?

The rink uses some 80 pieces of plastic glued together and skaters can frolic about as if they were on ice. Speed is slower because of greater friction and I don’t suppose your hands get cold when you fall down. Ah, and no worrying about going through the ice and into the drink either.

57 activists belonging to an environment organization called Plane Stupid were taken into custody by the Police after they broke on to the Stansted Airport runway area and caused trouble in the restricted region.

The protests lead to dozens of planes being canceled as the air traffic was halted for over 5 hours at the airport causing inconvenience to thousands of passengers who were eager to catch up with their holiday flights. The protesters are opposed to the government’s decision to allow the expansion of Stansted with a second runway as it would cause further damage to the planet, but the authorities refute their claim by saying that the aviation industry had become more fuel efficient in the last few years.

The protesters may be right, but the way they took action in their own hands, wasn’t the best option.

Source: Guardian

Plastic is one of the biggest demons that plagues the environment today and while we would love to do away with it completely, it just isn’t that simple.

Swiss company Recycline is offering a very interesting and cute way to recycle and reuse plastic with its new range of products that transform PET bottles into newspaper racks, vases, napkin rings and a whole lot more. While you can purchase them for a price that ranges from 6 to 120 Swiss Francs, you could very easily also make imitations of these with some simple work in your own home. Of course, you could always buy the more complex ones! - via TreeHugger

This 1950’s home - the Pinon House, was reinvented into its modern form by designer Erik Sommerfeld, who carefully used simple design and lighting concepts along with green building material to blend in the old with the new. The wonderful and elegant use of wood along with the traditional concrete in the home helped give the home its modern look without altering it too drastically.

The interiors still look more retro in style rather than futuristic, but the natural lighting and available space have been improved drastically to create a whole new home out of the mid-century abode in Boulder, Colorado. - via Inhabitat

For some of us who have grown up watching the Cheetah hunt down prey in all its splendor and magnificence over prime time Discovery television, it is hard to even believe what we has been revealed by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

Cheetah - the fastest land animal in the world, has now been officially added to the list of Endangered Species by the UNEP. That means that this sprint king of nature is now on the verge of disappearing from the planet forever, unless conservation steps are not taken with immediate effect.

The UNEP stated that the Cheetah is already extinct in 18 countries that it previously roamed due to loss of natural habitat, hunting and lack of a proper captive breeding program. The survey claims that less than 10,000 of these magnificent animals are left in Africa today, while only 50 of them roam in Asia - a continent where they once were found in plenty.

Along with the cheetah, 21 animal species were named in a UN Wildlife Treaty, including three dolphin families, six bird species and African wild dogs.

The world is currently facing a sixth wave of extinctions mainly as a result of human impacts and despite 100 government organizations and 70 independent environment groups meeting and passing resolutions at Rome, it will be hard to stop the wave if the promises are not translated into action soon.

The cheetahs need vast hunting grounds, good bush cover and the sparse trees to both kill and guard its prey. With humans clearing the forests at an incredible pace and vast plains shrinking rapidly, the cheetah is being driven quickly to extinction.

Even though there are other animals on the list of extinction, nothing will hit us harder than the lack of the fastest land animal on the planet, if at all it disappears. One surely hopes that after this new warning signal from UNEP, the world wakes up and takes notice before that pulsating hunt at 90 mph on the African Savanna is gone forever.

Lovely isn’t it ?

Source: DailyMail

All Images courtesy of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

he problem is not why Japan cannot meet its protocol goals. The problem is why Japan doesn’t know WHY it’s not meeting its goal. Consider these two most recent Christmas displays.

This one is not technically a Christmas display, but it’s Christmas, and here it is. It’s called the Kobe Luminarie in central Kobe, home of Kobe Bryant and Kobe beef. The Luminarie has been running annually since 1996. It will end on Dec. 15th. It is built to remember the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake. GP thinks that Japan could remember those who died in the earthquake by taking better care of the environment left for those who are still alive.

This one is a Christmas display.

It is the Caretta OCEAN Christmas 2008 at Shiodome in Tokyo and will run through Dec 25.

Maybe…maybe…Japan could learn a lesson from the guys who made this tunnel at the Toki no Sumba resort in Shizuoka prefecture. The entire thing is lit up with lights from solar power.

Now, if they could just figure out how to do the Christmas displays and commemorations with solar power at night, eh?

Have you ever come up with an environment slogan? I remember thinking about those special words that make people understand that we should be good stewards of our planet, our home. Even though most of the time facts are more important in changing people’s minds; they need to see the harm done with their own eyes, often times words have their own weight.

Back to the title. I’ve decided to choose some of the best environment slogans I’ve ever read or heard in various places, ever since I became aware that we should do something to change how we live to guard our home - planet  Earth. We don’t care if you’re going to use them on stickers, banners or t-shirts, but we’d appreciate if you could come up with a few of your own and stick them in the comments below. We’ll add them to the list.

So let’s get going, here are the 20 environment slogans we think we’ll get you thinking.

20. You Must Be the Change You Wish to See in the World - That shouldn’t surprise anyone.

19. Every Time History Repeats Itself the Price Goes Up. - Oil anyone?

18. Where Do You Think the Environment Is? - That will sure get smart people think. What is it? Does it need help? How can we help it?

17. What Would Nature Do? - James Bond style. What would James Bond do to save the animals, to reduce pollution? He’d sure do something brilliant. Right?

16. I Object to NOT Saving our Planet - I do, too.

15. Can You Hear the Eco? - Many don’t. Maybe we can teach them.

14. Hear the Trees Falling? - Not really, but we see forests disappearing.

13. Ignore It And It Will Go Away - Extinct is the word. Ignore the needs and we’ll be space history.

12. What Will Your Children Breathe? - Well don’t be smart with us. It’s going to be air (O2) but unless we do something it’s going to be filled with all sorts of poisons.

11. What Will Your Children Drink? - Sure hope it doesn’t need any more explanations.

10. See Green, See Life - Most of the time if it’s green it has life in it. And no don’t give me the Green Hummer example. We’re talking about plants, nature.

9. Melting Ice - A Hot Topic! - I think it was the World Environment Day slogan selected for 2007. And they have a point. Ever thought what will happen if ice melts. What about the polar bears and their habitat?

8. Delivering Environmental Innovation Through Sustainable Practices. - Intel

7. Kick the CO2 Habit - That was used for the 2008 World Environment Day and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said it may be easier than you think.

6. Green. That’s how we’d like the world to be. - Toyota … you and me both.

5. Good Golly, Go Green Girl - More like eco club stuff, targeting young students, right?

4. It’s Cool to Be an Eco-school - It sure is. If you really believe in what you do, and your students understand that being eco is not just to be fashionable, we’re good.

3. Green for Bikes - My fellow Romanian friends (pedaleaza.ro) came up with an interesting slogan to make authorities aware that cycling is a solution to a city’s high traffic. The results have been incredible. Lots of bikers.

2. Reduce, Reuse & Recycle - Doesn’t need any explanation, I bet.

1. Will Work for Trees - Simply amazing. Kudos to the one who thought of it. Wish my boss would plant a tree for every article I’m putting up. Right Bill?

Thanks for the beautiful image to photos_mweber@Flickr