Earth Hour Celebration and beyond

Hi all


I hope you all had a great Earth Hour celebration. The last couple of weeks I have been sending e-mails and telling everybody about Earth Hour.

I received lots of messages from people to say that they would be supporting Earth Hour which is fantastic.
For Earth Hour, I met up with my sister Bella. We turned everything electrical off that wasn't essential, all the lights, computer, TV etc.

Then we played board games. It was a bit tricky seeing in the dark, but it all added to the fun.

Now that Earth Hour is over is that the end. No, all those things you turned off because you didn't need them you can check and turn off every day.

That doesn't mean you can't use the TV or computer at all. It just means that when you are not using it, it should be turned off, saving energy and money too.

Bye for now

Ed the Bear and Bella

What is Earth Hour?

Hi all

Earth Hour is a global movement that encourages individuals, businesses and governments around the world to take positive actions for the environment, and celebrating their commitment to the planet by switching off their lights for one hour. This year, Earth Hour will be held on Saturday March 26 between 8.30PM and 9.30PM.

During this hour, people will be encouraged to turn off their lights and all non-essential electrical appliances. By raising awareness in this way we hope that this will be the first step to making a commitment that will go beyond the hour by making small but long term changes.

As you know I have been travelling the world’s oceans investigating and teaching about global issues such as climate change and ocean acidification. I have visited coral reefs that are dying because the seas are becoming warmer and discovered how it is also affecting marine food webs.

Ocean acidification is caused as the oceans have absorbed increasing amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. This has upset the ocean chemistry causing oceans to become more acidic. This rise in acidity means the oceans cannot holds as much calcium carbonate, which is the building blocks of corals, crab shells and seashells. In some oceans these animals are already struggling to build their shells, but if it continues to rise we will start to see these animals’ shells beginning to dissolve.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. One year later it had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries and territories participating.

So why not join me during Earth Hour by turning off all unnecessary lights as lights will switch off around the globe.

You can find out more about Earth Hour by clicking on the link http://www.earthhour.org/Homepage.aspx
which will take you to the Earth Hour website.
Bye for now

Ed the Bear

News from the Hawaiian Islands

Hi all


I have just heard from Ron Hirshi and Fred the Monkey about the damage that the Tsunami have done to the beaches and wildlife in the Hawaiian Islands, including many places I visted when I was staying with Ron and Fred.

Ron and Fred have written about this on their own weblog called Project Soar. I could not say it better, so here is the link including news about a 60 year old Laysan Albatross called Wisdom who survived the Tsunami

http://soaronhirschi.blogspot.com/2011/03/wisdom-returnsmanao-akamai.html

Bye for now

Ed the Bear

Tsunami disaster

Hello

I am sure you have all heard about the terrible Earthquake in the ocean near Japan. This is a terrible disaster, the worst of the damage coming from a huge wave which is called a Tsunami. This was caused because the earthquake was underwater.

You may remember that when I was in the Hawaiian Islands in February last year there was an earthquake in Chile which was also terrible. This also caused a tsunami rushed across the ocean towards the Hawaiian islands. Everyone was evacuated to safety, including myself and sanctuary Sam. We took shelter in a 12 story building with other volunteers who had come to take part in the annual whale watch.

Lucky for us the wave lost much of its energy and did not cause any damage in Hawaii. This time, the tsunami did reach Hawaii and did cause some damage. Its not clear at the moment how much damage.

This time the wave was larger (because the earthquake was nearer to Hawaii) and not only reached the Hawaiian Islands it continued on to the West Coast mainland of the US. I have made lots of frinds in my travels thrught this area and I hope they are all safe.

More news soon

Ed