Looking for the happiest place on Earth? Look no further.

Costa Rica is officially happiest place on earth. It is also one of the most environmentally friendly, too says a new survey by a British non-governmental group.

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My son is a painter. He spends hours over the course of days trying to create a new painting. He uses a live model, searches out props and waits patiently for the paint to dry before adding layers. It’s tedious work, but he gives much effort to it in hopes of producing a first class piece of art that is enjoyable to the viewer. His work can be found here.

A Desert Strike

Should we think it takes less effort for the amazing pictures we can see in the sky? Think Auroras, halos, mirages, arcs, moonbows and such. Random? Accidental? Chance? Not a chance. indeed I am confident there is a designer behind the beauty we enjoy here on land and in the sky. I think that the Earth is a gift, to be treasured, cherished, protected, dare I say loved and cared for. We recycle because we are to be good stewards. We love our home because it has been given to us freely.

Dank Rainbow

An Inferior Mirage

I came across these beautiful pics. I know how they got there. Do you?

Aurora in Red

A Superior Mirage

Beautiful Halo

A Circumhorizontal Arc

Dewbow in Web

Alpenglow

Ice Crystal

Earth is an awesome movie produced with the help of world’s best nature filmmakers, and Disneynature the first film label that has been introduced by Walt Disney in over 60 years. That in itself, should convey the significance, seriousness and the efforts that Disney is taking up.

However, unlike many other movie makers who make sweeping documentaries that only promote awareness, these guys decided to go a step further and offer all movie lovers to make a difference in a small yet worthy fashion by adding more trees to the planet. That means that If you go to the theater to watch it, Disney will plant a tree on your behalf in Brazil.

Disney has identified that the Brazilian Atlantic Forest is a sensitive and delicate ecosystem where only 7% of the original tropical rainforests is still intact today. That’s why this is where they’ll plant the trees, nurture them and ensure that the forest is replenished.

Apart from being part of a great and moving visual experience come April 22, when the Earth hits the screen, you can also do your little bid to help save the planet. Of course you can plant a tree yourself, but that’s also uber-cool… Kudos to Disney!

[Ecorazzi via GreenDaily]

Beautiful pics of the Earth’s 10 most amazing holes.

1. The Darvaza Gas Crater – Turkmenistan

A drilling rig fell into the hole in 1971 allowing natural gas to escape. Worried that poisonous gasses were being released, it was decided to let it burn. It has been burning now for these 29 years.

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There is a point beyond which you cannot trample with the mightily patient Mother earth. She has taken everything that has been thrown at her and has tried to balance the planet and keep it up and running by making tiny adjustments and giving us gentle jolts once in a while. But when the planet that you call home is heading towards a chaotic order, then she has to step in at some point to wipe out the infestation and set the record straight.

Image courtesy of Roberto Rizzato

With the way man has been destroying delicate balance of natural ecosystems and causing a steep rise in the global temperatures, global warming seems to be the cause that will one day bring about a catastrophic end to much of human race, much like nature put dinosaurs in their place millions of years ago. And when you have Nobel Laureates and the best minds in the world talking about how bad the situation is, then it is hard to dismiss it away.

This is why GP has compiled a list with what we believe to be the 15 most deadly effects of global warming. (more…)

The International Earth Rotation Service is calling for a leap second - the 24th of its kind since the first in 1971. I wonder what they did before that?

At midnight GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) on December 31st, the world will stop while a second is added to clocks everywhere.

The Earth rotates at different speeds in different years. The moon’s gravity supposedly has something to do with this. IERS uses calculations from more than 200 atomic clocks which base their time measurements on atomic resonance frequency.

Timekeepers warn that refusing to coordinate clocks might lead to lapse or collapse in communication, aerospace, finance and transportation. Remember Y2K!

Atomic time was introduced in 1958. Since then the Earth’s rotation has gained 33 seconds. I wonder, how did we and the animals get along before we had atomic time to tell us we were all off?

When I was in the Navy, we learned that the most reliable, predicatable and accurate measurements for navigation and time were the stars. Seems like we can’t be the Creator’s doing no matter how hard we try.

What are you going to do with your extra second?

If the Earth had a personality of its own, if Mother Nature were a real entity … we would be able to see the results of when she gets mad. Really really mad!

The Dasongshu Village of Xishelu Township in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China’s Yunnan Province was cut in half by a landslide. From the pics I can count 20+ other landslides in the area, but without a village at the bottom.

Some 40 people were killed and the area was isolated by the landslides and mud-flows. Helicopters had to fly in relief materials. So far, 43 are missing, 10 are injured, 60,800 people have been evacuated and 1.27 million people have been affected.

A more pertinent question – do we really want to know what happens when Mother Nature gets really really mad? If we don’t start taking better care of our planet, we are too sure to find out. And something tells me, we really really don’t want to know.

Source: Sina

I found five recent satellite photos of the Earth and I must admit, they’re some of the most beautiful, I’ve seen. It’s what the world looks like now from space.

Satellite photo of the Bahamas islands

Satellite photo of Guinea-Bissau

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Prince Charles is in Tokyo urging the world to fight climate change saying that,

“Given the current turbulence in the international financial system and the immediate and damaging effect it is having on the whole world, the credit crunch is rightly a preoccupation of vast significance and importance.

But we take our eye off the ‘climate crunch’ at our peril.”

The Prince thinks that the earth’s temps could rise by more than 6C by 2100, citing UN scientists. He didn’t mention, however, that the scientists aren’t sure what the temps will be next week. Elephants could fall out of airplanes, too.

I think the climate is changing. I think that we ought to be responsible stewards of Earth. I also think that there isn’t a whole lot we can do to change the weather cycles.

It’s kind of like giving $700 billion to Neel Kashkari and expecting him to change the tide of the world’s economies. That didn’t work either.

Image courtesy of petecarr

I don’t particularly like the word ‘nature.’ I prefer the word creation. It’s all about my convictions. But, that’s not the point of this post. The point is when things get out of whack on our home planet, they can really get out of kilter. And, there is not a whole lot we can do about it.

A flood in southern China triggered cave-ins, landslides, and mudslides. The result was some 147 geological disasters and 1,980 people having their safety threatened. People died, transport, power and communications were disrupted.

Torrential rains hit 11 prefectures in cities throughout the area over the past few days causing landslides, more flooding and mud-rock flow. $108 million in damages.

There is not a whole lot we can do about it … except, we can take care of what we have. We don’t know when the Earth, nature, creation (choose your word) will fight back. In the meantime, let’s be good stewards of what we have been entrusted in.

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