Earth Day 2019

View of Bahia Concepcion, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Forty-nine years ago, CBS News addressed the first Earth Day with a special report by Walter Cronkite, and others.  During this report on 22 April 1970, Mr. Cronkite said "The gravity of the message of Earth Day [from reports from around the world] still came through: act or die."  Unfortunately, while we have made some progress in some areas (i.e., air and water pollution in the USA), environmental problems have actually gotten worse, all being driving by human activity.  Climate is changing and the world is getting warmer, glaciers are melting, sea level is rising, large storm events are becoming more frequent, along with catastrophic wildfires, habitats are being destroyed, trees are being cut, and species are becoming extinct.  It has gotten so bad around the world, that many warn that even our very survival as a species is at risk.  The following has been attributed to the actor Harrison Ford, and these statements really make the point very clearly.

"Nature doesn't need people - people need nature; nature would survive the extinction of the human being and go on just fine, but human culture, human beings cannot survive without nature."

The natural world is just wonderful, is what motivates me almost day-to-day.  I have been very fortunate to be able to visit, and explore and experience, some amazing places, natural areas with incredible landscapes and vistas, impressive mountains, rivers and lakes, and interesting and beautiful biodiversity.  So get out there, explore and experience nature, and be sure to appreciate the beauty, complexity and intricacies of the species and natural habitats of the world, before they are all gone.  We are just one species of the millions of species which have evolved on this Earth, yet we are the one species with the capability to destroy it all.  We must act, now, and aggressively, if we are going to address climate change, and all the other environmental threats which are causing such devastation to natural habitats, and resulting in the loss of so many species.  We must do something, or this amazing natural world will be altered and maybe even lost, forever, and this is unacceptable.

​Below are a number of images of some wonderful places I have had the opportunity to visit, photographs of places and species, all of which deserve to be preserved.

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