We humans have drained half the world’s wetlands and fully exploited or overexploited 75 percent of its fishing grounds. There are other sobering statistics our behavior has caused: every day, 130 species of plants or animals become extinct — a rate that’s probably more than a thousand times higher than the number the Earth would [...]
Posts Tagged ‘natural habitats’
Send in the Crows
Three animal or plant species are going extinct every hour, according to a report presented by Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, an international treaty that is part of the United Nations Environment Programme. Most of them are quickly disappearing because of human activities: clearing of land for farms or cities; [...]
Nature Makes Us Good-Natured People
You’ve probably read oodles of stories, articles, and personal anecdotes on the transformative powers of seeing Churchill’s polar bears. And being a flagship tour at Natural Habitat Adventures, you’ve most likely read a lot of them here, on the company’s website and in its columns.
My own first, real nature trip was a Natural Habitat Adventures [...]
In the Unplanned Moments, Travel Happens
There are probably just as many “types” of travelers as there are travelers. But when it comes to travel itineraries, you can generally break people down into two categories: those of the what-will-be-will-be ilk (freestyle fellows) and those who want to stick to the schedule so they’re sure they get to do everything that was [...]
Protect Patagonia: Eat Sustainable Wild Salmon
The jagged coast of southern Chile is one of the most dramatic places on earth. A maze of fjords and islands, the topography is testament to the power of ice to shape a landscape. Massive glaciers wind down from the high Andes, calving blue icebergs into the frigid sea.
Patagonia’s crenellated western shoreline stretches more than [...]
The Inventor Wore Feathers: Animal Designers
Dogs never lie. I suspect it’s because they have tails. Happy or sad, a canine instantly communicates his feelings by the aspect of his tail. I’ve often wondered why we don’t invent such a backside appendage for ourselves that could connect to our nerve endings, much as some prosthetic arms and legs do. That way [...]
