new information on bird population declines

Approximately 40% of our birds are declining; this is yet another report of declines in yet another area (Panama; a country that has been known for an incredibly rich avian variety). Additional articles are found below. Learn more at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/04/bird-populations-in-panama-rainforest-in-severe-decline-study-finds?fbclid=IwAR3w_BpH5-qGXeXixETeztKENVf9Q4lLX_GiM2kfReMbJPGE1dyEgyycJuY Anthropogenic drivers of avian community turnover from local to regional scales: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.15967 Understanding widespread declines for Common Terns across inland North America: productivity estimates, causes of reproductive failure, and movement of Common Terns breeding in the large lakes of Manitoba: https://www.ace-eco.org/vol17/iss1/art14/ Hunting for solutions to the loss of avian diversity: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/hunting-for-solutions-to-the-loss-of-avian-diversity/581F3AD4330D5BA31647E26C6E549DD3

Chestnut-mandibled Toucan - ph. by Charles J. Sharp; Wikim. Commons

"Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet"

This is probably not what you expect. For those who instinctively shy away from anything "spiritual", I wholeheartedly recommend that you read further. Thich Nhat Hanh passed away last week, at age 95. He published 130 books (over 5 million copies), many of them scholarly works on Buddhism, but also many immensely popular works on mindfulness and the pursuit of peace, which he never abandoned, despite untold hardships. Along the way he established many monastic centers and study/practice centers, many built on his philosophy of "interbeing". He was well-known to millions, including many who never claimed membership in anything that even hinted of religion. Thich Nhat Hanh worked tirelessly for peace,and for humanity's "waking up". He was nominated for the Nobel Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr. This book shows us how to not give up, though we may frequently feel despair about the future of the Earth and our place on it. From the publisher's website: "We face a potent intersection of crises: ecological destruction, rising inequality, racial injustice, and the lasting impacts of a devastating pandemic. The situation is beyond urgent. To face these challenges, we need to find ways to strengthen our clarity, compassion, and courage to act. Beloved Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is blazingly clear: there’s one thing we all have the power to change, which can make all the difference, and that is our mind. Our way of looking, seeing, and thinking determines every choice we make, the everyday actions we take or avoid, how we relate to those we love or oppose, and how we react in a crisis." Highly recommended (as are many of his books).

learning US History all over again

 Reading the extraordinary 2014 volume "An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States", by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, is like a fresh breeze into your mind, causing a re-visioning of much of what we think we've learned about US History.

Although many of us can say we "know this", it's disturbing to learn the extent to which our society is built on the genocide of native people in the Americas, and has been for several hundred years. This is a book that may keep you up at night.

Climate Change & Public Health

Here are some well-respected sources of information on this topic: 

CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/effects/default.htm 

CH Chan School of Public Health at Harvard: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/issues/climate-md/ 

Yale School of Public Health: https://ysph.yale.edu/research_practice/interdepartmental/climate/ 

American Public Health Association: https://www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/climate-change 

EPA Human Health and Climate Change Research https://www.epa.gov/climate-research/human-health-and-climate-change-research

Rewilding: what is it, why does it merit our attention?

 

More about "rewilding", how we wuld do it, what it means: "Rewilding is comprehensive, often large-scale, conservation effort focused on restoring sustainable biodiversity and ecosystem health by protecting core wild/wilderness areas, providing connectivity between such areas, and protecting or reintroducing apex predators and highly interactive species (keystone species). The shorthand definition of Rewilding is the "3 C's"--conservation of Cores, Corridors, and Carnivores. The ultimate goal of rewilding efforts is to mitigate the species extinction crisis and restore healthy and sustainable ecosystem function in areas that require little or no human intervention or management." https://rewilding.org/what-is-rewilding/ Learn more: https://rewilding.org/ https://rewildingeurope.com/what-is-rewilding-2/