2010 and 2011: International Years of Biodiversity and Forests

                   The United Nations declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity. In this link you can, for instance, find information about the animal species which are in the Red List, that is, in inmiment danger of extinction. On the positive side, you can also find, for example, a long list of successful stories of communities, governments or organisations which have managed to reach some of the targets of the Biodiversity Project.


Year 2011 was declared the International Year of Forests. Again, you can find in the webpage of the United Nations lots of information about forests and the people who are working on sustainable ways of using them. 

An Inconvenient Truth

              

            In 2005 the film An Inconvenient Truth was released. In it the once candidate for the Presidency of the United States Al Gore presents and helps us through much data and evidence that shows that the global temperature of our planet is rising. This has already had dramatic consequences for our lives throughout the globe.
        
            The future prospect seems even more bleak and grim: thousands of animal species and plants will disappear; the coastline of many countries will be altered, resulting in thousands of dead people and refugees; new diseases will spring and even the milder consequences of climate change will dramatically alter our lives and our environment.

             Al Gore claims that to do something about it has become a MORAL ISSUE.
Together WE CAN prevent those dreadful consequences from happening. Only political will and personal commitment is required.
You'll find here 12 tips about things that you could do about your house to help prevent global warming.

The film became a huge success and since its release many actions have taken place. You can read here about the the impact that the movie caused and about the measures taken by the US Government and other institutions after the film was publicised worldwide.

Take a look at the tips above and spend a few minutes giving these questions a thought.

 Have you ever considered doing any of these things? 


Do you think you could try to incorporate some of these actions into your everyday life?

Do you believe we can make a difference?


Do you feel obliged by this moral imperative of saving our planet for our children?


You can click here to calculate your carbon footprint: What is the impact of your lifestyle on the earth in terms
of carbon dioxide emissions?

You might be inspired by the video of the song "I need to wake up", by Melissa Etheridge. The song was a winner of an Oscar and it's the leading song of the movie's soundtrack.

Planet Earth

Hello dear students,
This week we're going to start dealing with a new topic and I hope this will bring us new challenges and tasks to tackle.
In the next few sessions we'll be addressing different aspects regarding our Blue Planet: main problems and challenges for the present and the future, environmental issues, nature and conservationism, animals, etc.

I will ask you to take an active role for some of the activities and topics so be ready to step in with your work, reflection and interactive participation.

Saving the Planet is in our hands.
For some advice  click here