Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts

Reptile Study

#environment
A saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)
There are many classes of animals, for example elephants are mammals. Reptiles belong to another class: the reptilia. All the reptiles are cold-blooded vertebrates, which means that they have backbones. In addition, they are also covered in scales and they breath with their lungs. Nearly all reptiles lay shelled eggs. There are over 10,000 species in the world! The first reptiles are believed to have evolved around 320 million years ago. Rattlesnakes, Vipers, Cobras, Coral snakes, Pythons, Chameleons, Cobras, Lizards and Turtles are only a few examples of them.
Reptiles normally live in warm tropical climates because they are cold-blooded, this means they are unable to regulate the internal temperature of their bodies. They prefer to live in dry climates rather than wet ones. They are normally found in areas like deserts. However, reptiles can be found on every continent except for Antarctica because they have adapted to live in a variety of environments including water, deserts, jungles, forests and mountains.

Reptiles are one of the longest living group of species on Earth. For example, the Aldabra tortoise can live for more than 150 years! An Alligator can live for nearly 70 years and in addition a ball python can live up to 40 years. Reptiles live so long because of the slow rate of their metabolism. One of the reasons turtles are believed to live so long is due to their slowness. Turtles grow very slowly, this prevents them from aging like birds and mammals. Thanks to their slow metabolism, they can survive for a long period of time without water or food. Surviving for a long period of time with no water or food gives them a greater chance of surviving in harsh conditions, therefore they live longer.

Reptiles use many methods to defend themselves like for example camouflage, hissing and biting. A Cobra protects itself with fangs that inject venom. This venom causes paralysis and it kills if not quickly treated. If the Cobra feels endangered it will increase its size by rising up and by spreading it hood. This makes the cobra appear larger and more frightening to its predators. A Chameleon is able to camouflage and in addition it has two eyes on the top of its head that allows it to look in two directions at once.


Reptiles can eat everything from large mammals to small insects. However, some reptiles like the giant tortoise are vegetarians that eat plants like cacti, grasses and other vegetation. Chameleons eat insects. Other type of lizards, such as the green iguana also eat fruit, flowers and leaves. Caiman lizards prefer snail. Whereas Komodo Dragons eat wild pigs and water buffalo. All snakes eat animals, there are no vegetarian snakes. Most snakes eat rodents or birds after killing them with their venom or squeezing them to death. The Green Anaconda, the largest snake in the world, which kills by constricting can eat animals as large as humans and pigs.

References:


Visit also our album of reptiles in Flickr, and in our Reptilia Album page
And a colorful review of Darwin city in Northern Territory, Australia, a place to go and spot reptiles! by one of our contributors (here a Google translation to English).
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Planet Blue

environment
Planet Blue, also known as Earth, is our home planet. It is called Planet Blue because the ocean occupies 71% (3 quarters) of our planet's surface. But where did all that water come from? The ocean has been here for 4 billion years. But 4 and a half billion years ago, Earth was just a lava ball. There was no place for liquid water. Although, deep in Earth, the ingredients were already there. As the volcanoes exploded, one of the gases it let out was steam. Scientists think it rained for thousands of years. But even this relentless down pour only delivered half of the water we have today. Scientist believe that the rest came from outer space. Throughout thousands of years Earth was hit by thousands of comets containing more than 250 000 tons of water that crashed down on earth. When the bombardment was done, it delivered half the water in our oceans. Water is what makes Earth different from every other planet in our solar system.
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Hurricane Matthew

environment

Hurricanes, also known as cyclones, are giant, powerful and dangerous storms that form in summer and fall. Warm moist air raises from hot spots and the storm gathers speed throughout time as it moves along the ocean. It rotates around the eye. The eye is the center of the hurricane and is the calmest part of it.
I have been reading the newspaper "Direct Matin" and found out about hurricane Matthew. Hurricane Matthew is a category 5 hurricane, that means it travels 156mph. Matthew has been traveling through the Caribbean and hit the North American coast. President Barack Obama ordered urgent evacuations. Their objectif was to move 1,1 million people who were situated at least 150 kilometers from the coast.  Certain zones in Haiti were hit badly. What surprised me most was that Cuba announced that there had been no casualties after the hurricane passed. Each year they do a hurricane drill and everyone is well prepared for the hurricane season. Many countries will take their example.
In Haiti the deadly hurricane destroyed thousands of homes, caused flash floods, and killed hundreds of people. 900,000 kids were affected by this catastrophe. Nearly 16,000 people are living in shelters, many schools stopped working and making safe clean water is now a top priority to stop cholera. All donations made will be  for ressources such as food, fuel, clean water, hygiene products, and shelter.  

 To help, you can support a number of organizations such as:


Global Giving
"Dozens of GlobalGiving's partners are responding in Haiti, the Bahamas, and the United States. Donations to GlobalGiving's relief fund will support locally driven relief and recovery efforts on the ground across the impacted areas."
Click here to donate.

NPH International
Your support funds the basics needed for our children to grow, as well as all of those things a child needs to really flourish.
Imagine the good fortune of these children who were born into a life of desperation, and now have unlimited possibilities.
Click here to donate.

UNICEF, United States Fund
"UNICEF can meet children's needs on many fronts — quickly, effectively and efficiently. Donate now to help UNICEF take rapid, lifesaving action for children and their families suffering from this terrible storm. 90% of every dollar spent goes directly to assist children."
Click here to donate.
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Sharks

environment

Sharks are cartilaginous fish. There are at least 300 types of species of sharks. Some sharks are some of the most efficient predators in the ocean. They are important parts of the marine eco system but are becoming rare and, in many cases, face extinction. Sharks have survived 5 major extinctions but they still rank among the most endangered animals on the planet. Why?

Part of the Circle

Sharks are important and are on top of the food chain. They keep populations of other fish healthy and and prevent them to over populate to keep balance in their habitats. They go after the old, sick, or slower fish keeping that population healthier so that those prey species don’t cause harm to the ecosystem by becoming too populous. Sharks also regulate the behavior of prey species, and prevent them from overgrazing habitats. If sharks are eliminated the ecosystem will lose its balance.

Example by Shark Savers: In the Atlantic a shark population was destroyed. The cownose rays population overgrew (a shark prey) and ate all the scallops ending a 100 year old scallop fishery.

Sharks in  Trouble

Sharks face extinction mostly due to shark finning. Sharks are caught and their fins are chopped off and although the fins are of high value their bodies are not and the sharks are thrown back into the ocean, alive, to drown... Thousands of sharks die each year due to finning. We don't need it, its inhuman, not even nutritious...Stop finning and help the sharks.

Videos

Fin soup shark is a delicacy in Asia, however this industry is driving the killing and waste of hundreds of millions of sharks a year. Watch what divers in Singapore had to say about this.


Do we need to eat shark fin soup? Watch why you do not need and shouldn't do it.


If you want to learn more on sharks head to: http://www.sharksavers.org/en/education/
If u r too against shark fin soup then take the pledge on: http://www.sharksavers.org/en/our-programs/i-m-finished-with-fins/get-active/take-the-pledge/

To adopt a shark with shark lab malta go to:  http://www.sharklab-malta.org/index.php/supporters-and-links.
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