The drama of April is taking a bow on nature’s center stage, a magic moment of transition as the world awakens. The floodlights of strong sunlight lift the curtain and the show has begun.

Warm nights are filled with the light of thousands of stars. Along our coast, lapping wavelets mingle with the voices of otters romping in the white sands of a moonlight beach. Their soft chirping barks and chuckles mingle with the sounds of sleepy birds working the night shift.

Morning’s warming beams illuminate the bottoms of the passing clouds with a brilliant glow. A flight of long-necked egrets, with downcast bills and full of grace, sweeps inland, white bellies gleaming bright in the morning sun. From every tree and bush comes a melody of birdsong – chirping, tweeting, whistles and cooing, joyful voices full of cheer. And bobbing along a grassy roadway, a rusty-breasted robin searches for unwary earthworms that failed to come in after last night’s rain. [Read more...]

Climate change is making the world “bluer,” according to new study that finds that weather and animal populations are fluctuating more rapidly than in years past.

The blue shift is not literal; rather, the color blue is used to represent rapid fluctuations in a system called “spectral color,” which ecologists use to describe environmental change. The increasing blueness of the environment may be altering species extinction risks, said study author Bernardo Garcia-Carreras, a graduate student at Imperial College London.

“From simple models, it appears that if the spectral color of the population becomes bluer, as our results seem to suggest, then extinction risk is reduced,” Garcia-Carreras told LiveScience. “It is good news in that sense.”

But there is a large caveat to the good news, Garcia-Carreras said. Environmental fluctuations are just one influence on species survival. Other factors — such as overall temperature change and habitat loss — put pressure on species that could offset any benefits from a bluer world. [Read: With Climate Change, Expect More Monster Winter Storms] [Read more...]

In an attempt to promote landscaping under the purview of environment-friendly concepts, Pune is all set to host the 5 th International Landscape and Gardening Expo-2010. And, for the first time, the landscape expo this year will include a new component – the ‘Stone art’, which will be the highlight of this three-day expo organised by Media Today Group.

“Stones play a very crucial role in the arena of landscaping. Stone art can enhance the appeal of landscaping. Moreover, landscape architecture can generate many jobs. But unfortunately, the capacity of stone art is not being utilised to its best. So this year, we are focusing on the idea of stone art, in order to create more jobs and better landscaping,” says S Jafar Naqvi, president of Indian Flowers and Ornamental Plants Welfare Association (IFLORA). [Read more...]

Across the Great Lakes, there’s growing interest in the ecological importance of islands and the need to keep them free of invasive plants, pests and other threats.

A new atlas compiled by U.S. and Canadian researchers catalogues their biological value and identifies threats from expanding homes, resorts, roads and marinas. The lakes contain more than 32,000 islands, making them the world’s largest collection of islands in fresh water, according to the atlas. [Read more...]

The battle against global warming and climate change should not be fought by adults alone.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines, a nongovernment organization involved in environmental concerns, believes that it is crucial to “train a new generation of climate warriors” if the government really wants to effect lasting solutions to environmental issues.

It was for this reason that WWF and HSBC launched back in 2008 their Project EcoKids, which stands for “environmentally-conscious kids.”

Three years and 15,000 students later, Project EcoKids can be considered the country’s single most effective program in teaching children in some 50 schools nationwide about climate change causes and solutions, according to WWF. [Read more...]