To my dear visitors and commenters

Hi, everybody! I've noticed with lots of joy and happiness, that thousands of comments have been written in my posts. It's wonderful that so may people around the world appreciate my work. Therefore, I want to thank you for that and ,at the same time I want to ask you to be this blog's followers. It's fast and easy! Make it be even more visited and spread all over the world! I'm a woman, a teacher of English in Portugal, and I've been away for quite a long time because of my father's health. Unfortunately he died from Covid19 a few months ago. Now I felt it was time to restart my activity in this and other blogs I owe. I've recently created a new one in a partnership with a street photographer, Mr. Daniel Antunes. He's fabulous! https://pandpbydandd.blogspot.com I'd like you to visit it and, who knows, become our followers. The poems, chronicles and thoughts are all mine. Thank you so much! Kisses :-)

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Friday, August 07, 2015

Death of rare Northern White Rhino leaves four alive

One of the last five Northern White Rhino left in the world has died.


Northern white rhino
Nabire, a 31-year-old female, died at a zoo in the Czech Republic on Monday.She had a cyst inside her body and vets had no way to treat it.
Rhino
The animals are hunted for their horns
Her death leaves just three females and one male alive; one of them at the San Diego Zoo and three at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy reserve in Kenya.
The sub-species has been on the brink of extinction for years because of hunting and habitat loss.
Hunters sell their tusks to countries like China, where some people believe ivory has healing powers.
From CBBC Newsround

Wednesday, August 05, 2015

Humpback whale numbers 'increasing' around Australia

New research suggests that humpback whale populations in waters around Australia are increasing faster than anywhere else in the world.


The seas around the country are a popular area for this type of whale, but many decades of legal and illegal hunting, saw their numbers dip dangerously low and they were considered to be an endangered species.
However, conservation efforts now seem to be paying off because scientists say that humpback whales have recovered so well, they are "a symbol of hope."
Whale hunting is still a problem in other parts of the world so these results will be looked at closely to see how to help numbers increase globally. (CBBC Newsround)

Monday, August 03, 2015

Climate change: Obama unveils Clean Power Plan

US President Barack Obama has unveiled what he called "the biggest, most important step we have ever taken" in tackling climate change.


President Obama: "I believe there is such a thing as being too late"
The aim of the revised Clean Power Plan is to cut greenhouse gas emissions from US power stations by nearly a third within 15 years.
The measures will place significant emphasis on wind and solar power and other renewable energy sources.
However, opponents in the energy industry have vowed to fight the plan.
"I'm convinced no challenge provides a greater threat to the future of the planet," Mr Obama said. "There is such a thing as being too late."
Those opponents say Mr Obama has declared "a war on coal". Power plants fired by coal provide more than a third of the US electricity supply.
The revised plan will aim to cut carbon emissions from the power sector by 32% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.
"We are the first generation to feel the impacts of climate change, and the last generation to be able to do something about it," Mr Obama said. He likened the plan to taking 166 million cars off the road in terms of environmental impact. He called taking a stand against climate change a "moral obligation".
Mr Obama brushed off the notion that the plan is a "War on Coal" that will kill jobs and said he is reinvesting in areas of the US known as "coal country".
"Scaremonging" tactics will not work to stop the proposal, he said.

"If we don't do it nobody will. America leads the way forward... that's what this plan is about. This is our moment to get something right and get something right for our kids," he said.
US power stations are the country's largest source of greenhouse gases
US power stations are the country's largest source of greenhouse gases

In a video released by the White House, Mr Obama said the new limits were backed up by decades of data showing that without action the world faced more extreme weather and escalating health problems.
"Climate change is not a problem for another generation. Not any more," Mr Obama said.
"My administration will release the final version of America's Clean Power Plan, the biggest, most important step we have ever taken to combat climate change."
Bar chart showing the 10 states in the US most dependent on coal for their energy
Graphic: Estimated emissions by country, 2013

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she would defend the plan if she was elected to replace Mr Obama.
"It will need defending. Because Republican doubters and defeatists - including every Republican candidate for president - won't offer any credible solution," she said.

"The truth is, they don't want one."
One Republican presidential candidate, Marco Rubio, said the plan would be "catastrophic," while another, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, said the plan was "irresponsible and over-reaching".
"The Supreme Court ruled, it's very clear that the EPA has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, so regulation is inevitable and I think it's very irresponsible for the Republican leadership to go out there and say we don't have any solutions, this is all wrong, we don't believe in the science, so let's throw up our hands and do nothing," Heather Zichal, a former climate and energy adviser to the president and a key architect of the plan told the BBC's Matt McGrath.
"This will be an issue in the 2016 election and because the Democrats have a far more responsible policy position, it will allow them to prevail."
Correspondents say the emphasis on renewable energy sources marks a significant shift from the earlier version of the plan that sought to speed up a transition from coal-fired power to natural gas plants, which emit less carbon dioxide.
It is believed the revised plan will aim to keep the share of natural gas in US power generation at current levels.
Power stations are the largest source of greenhouse gases in the US and account for about one third of all such US emissions.


From BBC News


More than £300,000 raised for Cecil the lion

More than £300,000 has been raised for the project that was tracking Cecil the lion, since his death last month.

Cecil the lion
Cecil was a major tourist attraction in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park
Cecil was a big tourist attraction in Zimbabwe in Africa and his death by the American Walter Palmer has made headlines this week.
It's all because Cecil was protected as part of a study by Oxford University looking at how lions live in the wild.
Mr Palmer has said he regrets what happened and he thought the hunt he was on was legal.
Now it's hoped the donations will help the university group to do more to protect other lions in the wild.
From CBBC Newsround

New York's Empire State Building hosts wildlife display

New York's famous Empire State Building had images of endangered animals flashed across its walls this weekend.

Images on Empire State Building

The aim was to raise awareness about these animals and risks of extinction.
Pictures of snow leopards, tigers and various animals were shown on the 381m high skyscraper.
An image of Cecil the lion, who died last month in Zimbabwe, Africa, was also displayed.

Cecil the lion projected on to Empire State
Cecil the lion projected on to Empire State building
People watch a projection on the Empire State Building
Crowds of people came to watch and take photos

Images of animals on Empire State Building


From CBBC Newsround

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