Category: Environment (Page 1 of 3)

Life expectancy at birth

2023.04.20 / Robert

Life expectancy at birth is one measure of overall quality of life in a country and summarizes the mortality at all ages.

Life expectancy at birth compares the estimated average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future.

Monaco » 89.64 years
Singapore 86.51
Macau 85.16
Japan 85.00
San Marino 84.05
Canada 83.99
Iceland 83.83
Hong Kong 83.80
Andorra 83.61
Israel 83.54
Guernsey 83.42
Switzerland 83.42
Malta 83.39
Australia 83.28
South Korea 83.17
Luxembourg 83.17
Jersey 82.83
Sweden 82.80
France 82.79
Italy 82.79
Spain 82.78
Liechtenstein 82.76
Norway 82.75
New Zealand 82.74
Austria 82.48
Anguilla 82.41
Netherlands 82.36
Bermuda 82.25
Cayman Islands 82.25
Isle of Man 82.25
Belgium 82.06
United Kingdom 82.05
Slovenia 82.02
Finland 81.96
Puerto Rico 81.89
Denmark 81.87
Ireland 81.87
Germany 81.72
Greece 81.71
Portugal 81.71
Saint Pierre and Miquelon 81.62
Faroe Islands 81.47
Taiwan 81.38
Turks and Caicos Islands 81.04
Wallis and Futuna 80.89
Saint-Barthélemy 80.80
Saint-Martin 80.80
United States 80.75
Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha 80.70
Gibraltar 80.65

A global campaign to raise awareness on human security. Human Security depends on the security of all beings and life on the planet. It includes the whole biosphere and all life on earth. The Human Security approach recognizes the interlinkages between peace, development, and human rights, and equally considers civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights.

How Kristine Tompkins and some 300 of her closest friends helped protect 15 Million acres in Chile and Argentina

2023.04.13 / Robert

Doug Tompkins; the Tompkinses on the coast of Chilean Patagonia

Outside »

The only way forward was to dive even further into her conservation work. With the help of a roughly 300-person staff at Tompkins Conservation, she exceeded her late husband’s dream of creating 12 national parks. The current count: 15, along with two marine parks and a total of 14.8 million protected acres in Chile and Argentina—an area roughly the size of West Virginia. Those numbers keep expanding, along with Kristine’s seemingly endless supply of energy to continue the work she started with her husband. “I carry Doug around in my pocket. If I get really stuck on something, I simply ask: ‘What would you do?’ I am just grateful that we have this marriage,” she said, still speaking of their union in the present tense. “It’s given me unbelievable strength.”

Ten coldest places on Earth

2023.04.02 / Robert

Coldest places on Earth, based on the lowest average monthly temperature

Verkhoyansk, Russia (-47°C / -53°F in January)
Oymyakon, Russia (-46°C / -52°F in January)
Eureka, Canada (-38.4°C / -37.1°F in February)
Isachsen, Canada -36°C / -32.8°F in February)
Alert, Canada (-34°C / -28°F in February)
Kap Morris Jesup, Greenland (-34°C / -29°F in March)
Cornwallis Island, Canada (-33.5°C / -28.3°F in February)
Cambridge Bay, Canada (-33.5°C / 28.3°F in February)
Ilirnej, Russia (-33°C / -28°F in January)
Resolute, Canada (-33°C / -27.4°F in February)

Ten hottest places on Earth

2023.03.31 / Robert

Hottest places on Earth, based on the highest average monthly temperature

Death Valley, California (39°C / 101°F in July)
Iranshahr, Iran (38.3°C / 100.9°F in June)
Ouallene, Algeria (38°C / 100.4°F in July)
Kuwait City, Kuwait (37.7°C / 100°F in July)
Medina, Saudi Arabia (36°C / 97°F in July)
Buckeye, Arizona (34°C / 93°F in July)
Jazan, Saudi Arabia (33°C / 91°F in June)
Al Kufrah, Libya (31°C / 87°F in July)
Alice Springs, Australia (29°C / 84°F in January)
Tamanrasset, Algeria (29°C / 84°F in June)

Ten wettest places on Earth

2023.03.30 / Robert

Wettest places on Earth based on average annual precipitation »

Mawsynram, India (11,871 mm / 467.4 inches annual precipitation)
Cherrapunji, India (11,777 mm / 463.7 in)
Tutunendo, Colombia (11,770 mm / 463.4 in)
Cropp River, New Zealand (11,516 mm / 453.4 in)
San Antonia de Ureca, Equatorial Guinea (10,450 mm / 411.4 in)
Debundsha, Cameroon (10,299 mm / 405.5 in)
Big Bog, Hawaii (10,272 mm / 404.4 in)
Mt Waialeale, Hawaii (9,763 mm / 384.4 in)
Kukui, Hawaii (9,293 mm / 365.9 in)
Emeishan, China (8,169 mm / 321.6 in)

Ten driest places on Earth

2023.03.26 / Robert

Driest places on earth based on least average annual precipitation »

McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica (0 mm / 0 inches annual precipitation)
Arica, Chile (0.76 mm / 0.03 in)
Al Kufrah, Libya (0.86 mm / 0.03 in)
Aswan, Egypt (0.86 mm / 0.03 in)
Luxor, Egypt (0.86 mm / 0.03 in)
Ica, Peru (2.29 mm / 0.09 in)
Wadi Halfa, Sudan (2.45 mm / 0.1 in)
Iquique, Chile (5.08 mm / 0.2 in)
Pelican Point, Namibia (8.13 mm / 0.32 in)
El Arab (Aoulef), Algeria (12.19 mm / 0.48 in)

Wilderness Poop Etiquette Is Changing (You’re Probably Not Going to Like It)

2022.05.09 / Robert

As the number of people exploring the great outdoors has exploded, so have the risk to the environment and the public’s health. We’ve known for a long time that burying our waste in six-inch deep cat holes is not a great way of breaking down poop. With so many now pooping in the wilderness, it is clear this is not sustainable to bury our waste, and time to update our backcountry poop etiquette.

Outside »

we ought to begin teaching backcountry users in nearly every location to pack out their poop with WAG bags (the acronym is for “waste alleviation and gelling”) or similar waste-disposal kits. Such kits usually include toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and special, double-layered bags you can poop directly into, complete with chemical crystals that render human waste inert and minimize the smell. (See below for tips on how to use these kits in the backcountry.)

Many public lands are already moving in this direction. A Forest Service website claims that “waste kits are becoming standard…throughout the West.” Visitors to Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument can now pick up free WAG bags at the visitor center. California’s Mount Whitney has required WAG bags since 2006, and it reports that users pack out 8,000 pounds of poop per year. And Rocky Mountain National Park provides WAG bags not just on climbing routes or above treeline but also at its backcountry permit office and trailheads throughout the park. »

The People’s Congress in Beijing formally announced it will construct the “Polar Silk Road” through the Arctic, despite not being an Arctic nation

2021.03.09 / Robert

Heiner Kubny writing for the Polar Journal »

China has been steadily increasing its presence in the Arctic since it defined the far north as a “new strategic frontier” in 2015 and began promoting a “Polar Silk Road” three years later. Moreover, in 2018, Beijing declared itself a “Near Arctic State,” a move that primarily served to underscore the interests of its Arctic claim.

The government in Beijing has its eye on lucrative minerals and other raw materials in addition to the Arctic transport link. There is particular interest in interests in the Canadian Arctic and in mining rights in Greenland. This is because the Arctic is rich in natural resources such as fish, precious metals and fossil fuels.

Read the whole article at Polar Journal »

Watch » The Icebreaker in the Arctic Ocean

2019.07.01 / Robert

This video was shot in the Arctic Ocean in March 2018.

For 7 days the crew passed through the Barents Sea to Karsky around the Novaya Zemlya archipelago on the nuclear icebreaker Yamal. They witnessed the northern lights, polar bears, watched the ships stuck in the ice being towed, and were very cold.

In the video you can see two Russian icebreakers – “50 Years of Victory” and “Yamal” with a capacity of 75,000 horsepower.