05/02/2021

Archive

Geography | Iceberg!

What is an iceberg? The iceberg is a famous natural phenomenon- made ‘famous by such films as Titanic An iceberg is a large piece of freshwater ice is floating freely in open (salt) water. To be an iceberg, the height of the ice must be greater than 5 m (16 ft) above sea level and the thickness must be greater than 30 m (100 ft) and the ice must cover an area of at least 500 square m (5400 sq...

Bushfires | Natural and devastating as people, wildlife all suffer

    https://youtu.be/3AWp7ULODJ4 Bushfires – especially in Perth – making headlines again for being both “devastating as well as foreseeable “ – are, painfully, part of the ‘normal Australia’ .  Yet, it begs the question- are they becoming more voracious, or more reported? From Geoscience Australia: “Bushfires and grassfires are common throughout Australia. Bushfires are an intrinsic part of Australia’s environment. Natural ecosystems have evolved (with fire, and the landscape, along with its biological diversity, has been shaped by both...

Are plants really important? What about illegal trade?

Animals are exciting because they move, come with a sense of danger ( some can eat you etc ) ,  some make great pets, and so on. Plants are, well, not as exciting? even boring? Certainly overlooked. Question: What was last animal you saw? Can you remember its colour, size and shape? Could you ID it? What about the last plant? A phenomenon called ‘plant blindness’ means we tend to underappreciate the flora around us. That , suggests research including...

Celebrating 50 years of RAMSAR

The year 2021 commemorates the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971 in Ramsar, Iran. In 1974 we also designated the world’s first Wetland of International Importance (Ramsar wetland) – the Cobourg Peninsula, in the Northern Territory.     More information at https://www.ramsar.org/resources    ...

Water, Wetlands, life!

“Wetlands are the star of the ( habitats ) show“ …. Some of the benefits of wetlands include: * providing food and habitat for fish and wildlife, including threatened and endangered species * providing water quality improvement * key mechanism in flood storage * shoreline erosion control * economically beneficial natural products for human use * many opportunities for recreation, education, and research       Less than 1% of water on Earth is usable freshwater and it is mostly stored...