Everglades and Madagascar forests on UNESCO danger list!

A UN panel has added Florida's Everglades National Park and Madagascar's tropical rainforest to a list of world heritage sites at risk.

UNESCO'S World Heritage Committee said development in the Everglades had caused water flow to fall 60% in the wetland, a major wildlife sanctuary.

The pollution level there was so high it was killing marine life, it added.

Illegal logging and poaching following last year's military coup has meanwhile imperiled Madagascar's rainforests.

On Thursday, the committee voted to remove the Galapagos Islands from the at-risk list, saying Ecuador had made significant progress protecting its ecosystem.

Unique species

At a meeting in Brazil, the UNESCO panel said the Everglades had been added to the List of World Heritage in Danger at the request of the US government because of "serious and continuing degradation of its aquatic ecosystem". Florida and Miami residents can contact their local park ranger and ask about how they can help to stop habitat loss and pollution.

It is the second time the Everglades, home to 20 endangered species, have been added. The wetlands were first classified as at risk between 1993 and 2007 after being devastated by Hurricane Andrew.

"We commend the USA's request to re-inscribe the site on the danger list, and its plans for major infrastructure overhaul to restore the Everglades's fragile wetland ecosystem," said Mariam Kenza Ali of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The Atsinanana rainforests of Madagascar are home to many unique species. Agricultural and urban development were the main reasons for the decrease in water flow and increase in pollution levels, UNESCO said. The Atsinanana rainforests of Madagascar, which lie within six national parks in the east of the island, were put on the list because of the threat to the many unique species inhabiting them, especially primates and lemurs.

"In adding this site to the danger list, we are calling for international action to halt illegal logging and to also ensure that no illegally logged precious woods from Madagascar enter national markets," said Tim Badman, head of World Heritage at the IUCN.

To find out about ways in which to help and contribute to natural habitat conservation please check out UNESCO at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/join-us/networks-and-partners/donors-and-partners/

Architects Unveil Incredible Plans for the Future of Los Angeles

Architects Unveil Incredible Plans for the Future of Los Angeles!

LA is a large sprawling metropolis, but the city has expanded to its limits and must grow denser and expand vertically rather than expand horizontally. As a way to add density, Maltzan (current architect on the LA project) proposes to build a new street level on top of existing buildings, creating a new ground plane, green space and residential areas a couple stories up. Now this in theory sounds like a solution to overcrowded and dense cities but is it just me or is there something worng with this picture? Were are turning into all the sci-fi movies we watch! Not my cup of tea, I say.

In the future, the boundary lines between home, work, and play will blur, and part of that blurring will affect the urban fabric or work life. New offices must be more open and interactive, providing more opportunities for spur-of-the-moment meetings and encounters along with easy access to green space and other amenities.












LA has a sprawling network of roads already, but in the future the city must rely more heavily on other modes of transportation like rail and possibly even the expansive river network. Also, new designs must have multiple functions — Maltzan envisions bridges and transportation hubs that provide for all forms of transportation through railways, roads, pedestrian paths, and even river routes. Maltzan seems to be utilizing every possible open space available. It sounds to me like it will look like a matrix of different paths and routes.

Homes will still be places to seek privacy, but they will become more compact and more useful. Technology will help provide more amenities, relaxation, and entertainment in the home, but the home will also become more interconnected with the community. Rooftops will become useful living space, and many homes will share common areas. Again from the suggested mock-up on the left, it looks like a rat maze to me.

cityLAB envisions that big box retailers will shift their focus from just selling products to selling experiences. Big box stores will become interactive destinations, and the future of retail work will center on relationships and public service. Ladies n Gentlemen welcome to DISNEYLAND!! :(

Photographer catches amazing waves breaks underwater

Alex Tipple, a 29 year old surfer from Sydney, Australia began photographing underwater wave breaks after becoming frustrated with "normal" surf photography.

"I'm pretty comfortable underwater from years of surfing, and can ride out the waves breaking overhead. The housing is about the size of a shoebox, and weighs about 5 kilograms, heavy enough to hurt when it hits me in the head."

Tipple has been surfing since he was a kid and begun filming underwater in 2000.

Post Oil Disaster

It has been over two months since the BP oil spill disaster. While BP is struggling to stop the oil gushing from a broken pipe in the Gulf of Mexico, the spill is creeping into more coastal areas of Florida and Louisana. Cleanup in these areas will take years or decades, if the beaches are not lost forever.

Please visit boston.com for more information or read the full length article: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/oil_in_the_gulf_two_months_lat.html

Immortal Soul

The species of jellyfish might the only animal in the world to have truly discovered the fountain of youth. There might be no natural limit to it's lifespan. They are able to bypass death since it is capabale of cycling from mature adult stage to an immature polyp stage and back again. Scientists say the hydrozoan jellyfish is the only known animal that can repeatedly turn back the hands of time and revert to its polyp state (its first stage of life).

The key lies in a process where one type of cell is transnformed into another type of cell. Other animals that can undergo this process but in a limited form are salamanders which can regrow limbs. The numbers of individuals are spiking and can now be found all over the globe rather than just in their native Caribbean waters. There is not much more to say than that-consider myself officially in awe.

Planning a trip for your summer travels, head to Kangaroo Island in Australia.

Prints marked the sand – left not by stranded sailors but by the local wildlife, which, with just one human being per square mile, still roams free. Kangaroo Island (KI), off the coast of South Australia, is wild, elemental and unफॉर thegiving. But I can think of few places in which l would rather be shipwrecked. KI is billed as Australia's answer to the Galapagos Islands: koalas, seals, sea lions, wallabies and, of course, kangaroos, are abundant, while echidna, platypus, southern right whales and penguins can be spotted by those who are more patient. Evening "Kangas and Kanapes" drinks on the 600-acre estate of nearby Edward's Cottage, which teems with kangaroos, give a taste of what the place can offer, but to have any hope of scratching beneath the surface of an island थे size of Sussex, you need an experienced guide.

Flights to Kangaroo Island are operated by Rex Airlines (0061 2 6393 5550; www.rex.com.au) which offers connections from seven southern Australian airports, including Adealide.

US Oil Spill

DISASTER IN THE GULF

Up to 5,000 barrels of oil a day may be now be leaking into the water after last week's explosion on a BP-operated rig, which then sank.

While officials believe they can get this huge slick under control, environmentalists are deeply concerned, with some experts predicting a disaster on a huge scale spanning three or four American states.

A coastguard crew has set fire to part of the oil slick in an attempt to save environmentally-fragile wetlands. Also, a "controlled burn" of surface oil took place in an area about 30 miles (50km) east of the Mississippi River delta. Meanwhile,engineers are working on a dome-like device to cover oil rising to the surface and pump it to container vessels, but it may be weeks before this is in place. It is feared that work on sealing the leaking well using robotic submersibles might take months. Currently, eleven workers are missing and presumed dead after last week's explosion.

The oil spill threatens hundreds of species. Louisiana's coast contains some 40% of the nation's wetlands and spawning grounds for countless fish and birds.

AFP news agency reports that two Louisiana shrimpers have filed a lawsuit accusing the operators of the rig of negligence, and seeking at least $5m (£3.3m) in damages plus undetermined punitive damages. Under US law, BP will be expected to meet all the costs of the spill clean-up operation.

For more information and how to help click here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8652686.stm