Never a better time to travel and learn

As school begins once more all across the nation, we're reminded of why we love travel.  It takes us out of the brick and mortar world to experience something real, and envigorating.  And we learn something...every time.

Check out this view of our students this past July on Portage Lake in Alaska.  The Portage Glacier around the corner to the right sheds small icebergs like these into its lake each summer... certainly not something that you get to see every day.

This coming winter, spring and summer Earth Explore Adventures is again sponsoring 10-15 sessions in which students and teachers get to experience the world around them...from the glaciers of Alaska, to the coral reefs of Hawaii, to the rare and endangered tropical forests of Costa Rica.

If you are interested in leaving the brick and mortar world behind for awhile, and learning something new in the most lasting way, drop us a line at info@earthexplore.com, or visit us at earthexplore.com.

Washington, D.C. this Election Year

This is the perfect year to bring your class to Washington, D.C.   As the nation prepares to choose its next President, the capitol offers students a glimpse at their rich cultural and historic legacy.  From Arlington National Cemetery, to the National Archives, to the Vietnam Memorial, our local guides share the stories of the people and events that shaped who we are as a people.

Be part of the action with Earth Explore History Pathways fully inclusive trips to D.C.  From your airport departure to your return, you group will be closely guided, and enjoy a rich array of activities as varied as visits to Mt. Vernon, home of Washington, to tours of the Newseum, for a dazzling look at how news of the world has been made, covered, and reported.

Visit us to discover all of the benefits of a trip with History Pathways to the Nation's Capitol.  Then contact us for a free online quote for your group. 

Limited Edition - Custom Trips for Amazing Schools

There was a time when learning was confined to the classroom, and inspiration came from a textbook.

But dynamic and innovative teachers understand that great things happen, when the mortar and brick classroom is enriched with real-world experience.

For these schools, the Earth Explore Foundation offers custom educational programs to Costa Rica, Hawaii, Alaska and the Rockies.  Fully accredited for high school or college credit, these experiences are tailored to deliver active, dynamic learning in real world settings.  As custom experiences, each trip can be crafted to meet the goals of the participating school, which means they are highly flexible to the curriculum needs of the teachers who take part.

The Foundation arranges custom programs year-round, but the number is limited to 20 groups each year.  If you would like more information about the Foundation's custom trips, go to earthexplore.com/customtrips to learn more, or contact Earth Explore toll free at 877.224.3623

   

Kicking off the 2012 season! Now, family trips.

Join us for all new Family Trips by the not for profit Earth Explore Foundation.  Exclusive, educational, exotic, and packed with adrenline and learning.

Partnering with the same world-class organizations we use for our student trips allows us to provide families with life-list destinations, and experience they won't find anywhere else.  Flowing lava, a morning chorus of howler monkeys, stargazing on an active volcano in Hawaii.  Just a few of the highlights.  Interested? 

One of the best features of our trips is that families travel together, and also meet and travel with other like-minded families who share their passions, and interests. 

We're pretty excited.

Learning Trips in Costa Rica and Hawaii - Now for Families Too

For the past dozen or so years, Earth Explore has sent thousands of students and teachers on life-list trips all over the world.  The goal; to have fun and learn about the world.  And for all of those years we've heard from hundreds of parents who tell us they want the same thing for themselves.  They'd like to travel and learn the same way as their kids do.  But as a family.  Together. 

Now, for 2011-2012 Earth Explore is proud to announce our all new Family Trips.  We've been waiting to perfect the right combination of experiences that mix a lot of travel thrills and adrenline, with a real adventure in learning.  And suitable for all members of the family.  And we have.

Our new Family Trips to Costa Rica and Hawaii fit the bill perfectly.  They are active, they are fun, and they are chocked full of learning, imparted by experienced, warm and knowledgable guides whom we've been using on our student programs for many years.  We couldn't be more proud of what our Family Trips offer to parents looking for a true adventure, and a real learning experience suitable for everyone.

And one more thing.  One of the best features of our Family Trips is your opportunity to meet, socialize, and travel with other great families who share your love of travel, and of learning along the way.  And yes, you can invite families you know to join you on the adventure.

So if you're a family looking for adventure mixed with real learning, you should check out what we offer.  We're experts on kids, so we know how to keep your whole family having fun, and learning something along the way.  Earth Explore Family Trips

New Adventures for 2012!

With the great success of our programs to Costa Rica and Hawaii's Big Island, we're thinking big!

We're now offering winter and spring break trips, to our warmest, most tropical destinations.  They also happen to be our most popular.  And offering trips in the winter and spring months mean more opportunities for students and adults to witness some amazing natural wonders with Earth Explore.

Earth Explore is expanding the opportunities students (and adults) will enjoy on each of our most popular trips with new and exciting activities.  On our Hawaii trip, our students will venture close to the latest lava flows coming off of the new vents in the very active East Rift Zone of Kilauea.  Our first students there raved about the experience!  As we do this activity in the evening, the glow of lava is one of the attractions that make this a life list experience!  We are also heading up, way up, Mauna Kea for a look at the heavens.  Our students reach more than 9 thousand feet when they go stargazing on Mauna Kea, literally within sight of the world-class telescopes on the peak at more than 13 thousand feet!  Our guides make some pretty big scopes available as well...12 inch and larger.  Since the site is above the clouds, away from the lights, and at a high elevation, the seeing conditions are remarkable.  Computer guided scopes allow our students to see first-hand celestial objects they would never witness otherwise.

In Costa Rica, our opportunities for witnessing green sea turtle nesting along the Caribbean coast are better than ever, as we are offering trips in July that take place at the height of the nesting season.  Literally hundreds of turtles haul themselves up the beach sands to lay their eggs.  Our guides are local experts whose job is to protect the turtles, and get visitors up close with these noble animals...which encourages conservation.  The experience of standing on a dark, warm, and breezy tropical beach, while a mother sea turtle lays her eggs just feet away, is nothing short of awesome.  Again, another life list opportunity.

See you in the coming year!

Winter and Spring Break in Costa Rica, Hawaii

We all lead very busy lives.  And that's why Earth Explore has kicked off our new winter and spring break trips for students and teachers.  Because sometimes it's just easier to get away when it's not summer.

And let's face it, in many parts of the country, when snow and blustery weather have been around for months, we need the break.

And what a break.  Our winter and spring break adventures offer the same amazing kind of learning and inspiring travel as our summertime trips.  And academic credit opportunities as well.

If you know of a great teacher, or a great school that is in the hunt for enriching, educational, and relevant real-world travel programs, tell them about us.

Here's where to go:  www.earthexplore.com/layerswinterbreak.html

A Teachable Moment

The huge quake in Japan is first and foremost a human tragedy.  But, what shocks and saddens us, paradoxically, can also inspire teaching.

The quake is one more example of nature's awesome power.  Not surprisingly, once the shock wore off, Earth Science teachers nationwide were looking for way to focus less on the human tragedy, and more on teaching about the science behind what happened.

Huge events galvanize attention.  In that way, they create teachable moments when young minds and attention is focused, however briefly, on an issue of importance.

Science Crisis? Add excitement.

Back in high school I was lucky enough to have a teacher named Mr. Beck.  He would send ball bearings sailing through the air, blow things up, and make students' hair stand on end.   And he'd get you involved.

"Dr. Van Amburg'...he would say, 'could you come to the front of the class to assist in this lesson?"

Science was cool.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Last night in his State of the Union address, President Obama, as have all recent national leaders, underscored the great and pressing need for science achievement and competency in a competitive world.

The same day, a huge national assessment of our students' grasp of science showed only 30% of 8th graders, and 21 % of 12th graders rated as proficient.  And only 2% of 8th graders, and 1% of 12th graders qualified as advanced.

What's going on?

Clearly we aren't getting science across in a way that will allow us to, as President Obama says, "win the future." Math and science drive technological innovation, and innovation creates the new industries of the future.  What we don't want, is for those industries to be created, and dominated, by our competitors overseas.

Science has an image problem.

There's no doubt that young people love what science does.  This is embodied the universal appeal of hand-held wonders like  iPad and iPod, their love affair with smart phones, and the explosion of Facebook and all of the rest.  And, what 8th grader doesn't like to send a rocket into the air, or blow something up?  That's science too.

Problem is, students say they don't like to do science at school.   They don't see it as fun, or relevant.  They think it's nerdy.

So it seems to me, this begs the question, "how do we get kids excited about science, and take it from nerdy to coolness?"

One answer, and the one we advocate here at Earth Explore, is to make it a tactile experience.  Make it hands on, and therefore real.

When students are doing science, in the field, they don't think it's nerdy.  They know it's fun, and active, and exciting, and relevant.

While EE programs put kids in beautiful and exciting places with field experts, the same thing can be done in the classroom.  But we have to break the rules.  We have to do more of the learning hands-on.  Blow things up.  Make them boil over.  Make a student's hair stand up with static charge.  And send a rocket into the air. When the weather is good, take a walk in the woods and make the sky, the trees, the soil, and the air part of the lesson plan.

At Earth Explore, we've found that it works.  Science interest grows.  Science becomes the cool thing to do, and not the nerdy subject to be avoided.

Inspiration is Everything

I like to think that at Earth Explore, we're in the inspiration business.  In a half century of living, of watching people of all kinds make changes, and learn new things, the single common place it all begins, is inspiration.

This is especially true of young people.

Kids are eager for inspiration.  We all know about, or once were, the student who was inspired to do more, or to be more, by an especially encouraging, nurturing, or exciting adult.  Maybe it was a teacher, maybe it was a parent, or maybe it was a pastor or rabbi who provided the spark.  But whomever it was, and whatever the spark might have been, that person sent a life into a whole new trajectory, and opened up for that young person a world of possibilities never imagined.

Earth Explore is a tool for inspiration, but it takes people, great people, to provide the spark.  And that's where our teacher chaperones, and our on site educators come in.  They help to get our students excited about what they're doing, in large part by being excited themselves.  They show them the amazing possibilities out there, because, at the end of the day, it is still a wondrous world in which we live.

When you inspire, you provide a great light to another person.  The kind of light that illuminates possibilities in a world that too often is darkened by despair and the opinions of cynics.  And, let's face it.  Nothing great was ever accomplished by through despair, or by making the world more jaded.  But great things have always come, and always will, through simple acts of inspiration.

If you know of an inspiring teacher, or other adult, tell us about them.  http://www.earthexplore.com/

Make this New Year an Opportunity

I'm not much one for preaching.  Except when I've found something that works.  And boy, have I ever. 

This is a post about change. The story begins over a year ago.  It's not new.  Man goes to doctor for checkup, finds he has high cholesterol and low vitamin D levels, and panics.

Now here is where it gets interesting.  But only if you can agree that convention wisdom is just that...conventional.  That sometimes what we have known (or thought we knew) for our whole lives, is, well, wrong.  Consider that at one time we all believed that the world was flat...and you could be burned, yes burned, for disagreeing with that conventional wisdom. 


But let's back up.  Two years ago I had a moderately disappointing cholesterol test.  Just over 200...lousy level of HDL (you know, the good kind).  Curious, I thought.  I'm not overweight, am physically active, and no health issues. 

So, two years ago, I did what I was told.  What conventional wisdom requires.  I virtually cut out cheese, and eggs, ate low fat everything.  Virtually no saturated fat, or cholesterol in the diet.  It was a year of lean, lean, lean.

Fast forward to a year ago.  Doctor emails that my cholesterol has gone from average...to, well, nasty.  That it had shot up by more than 50 points in the past year, and that my levels of vitamin D and good cholesterol were pathetic.

The first day I wandered around the grocery store in a daze.  What could I eat?  It seemed that doing the right thing, had the opposite effect than had been promised.

Out of fear, came action.  I began to read.  Not what had been "known" for so long, but what the latest research was uncovering about the relationship between food, and health.

You know what?  The truth is out there, if you care to find it.  But, for now at least, it isn't the conventional wisdom.  Not yet.  No wonder our nation is facing an obesity crisis, a heart disease crisis, a health crisis, which has been building for the past 50 years.

At this point I'll acknowledge that you probably don't want to read a long post about a "journey to health."  Or how early research upon which our conventional food wisdom was built was well intentioned, but went badly off the tracks.  So let me sum it up for you clearly, and without confusion.

Carbohydrates = Fat in the Body, and Fat in the Blood, and High Cholesterol.

There it is.  From grains (yes, bread and rice), to sugary drinks, to pasta in every form, to chips, and cake, we just eat too much of it.  We didn't evolve the body systems to handle it.  Our early forebears didn't have access to it.  But in our country, and in most others, there are billions of dollars at stake each day in making sure we continue to overindulge in these things.  Think Coke, Pepsi, Frito Lay, Archer Daniels Midland.

Now I'll admit.  It's hard to believe that a loaf of bread can be evil.  Really, a loaf of bread??  That a potato can be like sugar.  I know.  I am just here to tell you that, that is precisely how the body sees it.  They are all carbohydrates, and are converted to sugar, and then to triglicerides, then to cholesterol, and then to the bad cholesterol, in our livers, and in our blood stream.

So, unless you're running a daily marathon, or riding a 100 miles on your bike and can burn them, consider cutting back.  If you make a real change, I guarantee you'll feel, and see, the difference.

If you'd like to read more about this topic, look up "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes, and check out the Heart Scan Blog by noted cardiologist Dr. William Davis Heart Scan Blog, or check out The Healthy Skeptic Blog

Earth Explore Earth Science - A Guidebook to the Planet

Imagine that you were an alien dropped from space straight into your home.  You don't know a wall from a door, a light switch from a thermostat, or an oven from a downspout.

Not so easy a place to navigate huh?  If you could find the thermostat at all, you might turn up the heat way too much and be miserable, or maybe leave the frig open and go hungry, or leave the water running and flood the place.

The point is, you need some knowledge to guide you, or before long, your home just isn't one anymore.

The same things goes for Planet Earth.  And that's why connecting kids and teachers with the earth sciences is like giving us humans the owners manual for this planet.   When we know how it works, we can turn the right switches and make (some of) the right decisions, actions that will insure its, and our future.

We already know what happens when we don't have all of the pages to the manual, and worse when we don't read the ones we do have.  Things tend to come off of the tracks, so to speak, and you get irritating developments like climate change, species extinction, and all the rest.

Now, you and I both know that it's human nature to not read the book.  We like to rush right in and turn the switches and see what happens.  But this isn't Christmas morning...there is a lot more at stake here.

At Earth Explore, we like to share with kids the pages to the planetary owners manual that we do have.  To take them out and show them how their home works.  But in an exciting, hands-on way.  So that they become inspired to pass their knowledge along, and also, just maybe, go foward and add some pages.  Insuring that we humans have a chance to enjoy this planet for a long time into the future.

 

Science and, well, everything

I was talking to a student the other day, and he told me that he loved his iPod, but hated science.  That struck me as odd, since he was, of course, holding science in his hand.  But, it turns out, too many young people don't get the connection between science, and cool.

Really, science is everywhere.  In that iPod, at work when our scoop of vanilla falls out of the cone, right there in the discussion about runaway oil wells and global warming.   In fact, science is so cool that it's hiding in plain sight, everyday, everywhere.

In a way, Earth Explore is about making that coolness more obvious to young people.  Showing them that science is a very fun, and relevant way to make sense of the world.  And that it provides opportunities that they don't want to miss.

I remember more than 10 years ago talking to the lead scientist at the Hawaii Volcano Observatory.  She loved to explain to our students how the Kilauea volcano works.  But she also had another message, which she made with great passion.  And that is that science is really everything.  In a volcano you can find art, history, culture and lots more.

More recently I was standing among a group of students at 5:30AM, listening to howler monkeys, and spotting birds outside the Tortuga Lodge in Costa Rica.  And it struck me that everything we were doing, from watching toucans feed, to finding tiny poison dart frogs, was science.  But the students didn't think of it that way.  It was just plain coolness. 

We're hearing all the time about America's kids falling behind in science and math.  About our place as the world's innovators and creators being at risk.  I believe one solution is to get the cool back in science, and make it a thrilling experience that kids don't want to miss.

Costa Rica

Just back from Costa Rica, traveling with a bunch of Earth Explore students and teachers.  And I have to say that the energy and excitement is still with me.

Costa Rica is a showcase of life.  Everywhere.  It bursts forth and gives you a new perspective on...well...everything.

Earth Explore takes students and teachers to some pretty exotic places, ranging from Kilauea caldera in Hawaii to Denali in Alaska.  All great.  But to come face to face with life in its greatest variety, in its most interesting and exciting forms, there is no place I've been that can rival CR.

And better, our students get to do it with the experts; quite simply the finest naturalists around.  Our guides were two amazing individuals who together were experts on tropical ecology...the plants and animals, as well as the history and cultures of the country.  And they understood the needs of students.  So they could spot three toed sloths hidden in the tops of trees along jungle canals, and also explain the importance, and sketchy history of banana cultivation, and its social, environmental impact. 

Great information, stunning views, and some amazing places to stay as well.  Earth Explore's partners in Costa Rica lead the nation in sustainable eco tourism and responsible development.  When the students stay at the elegant Tortuga Lodge in the Tortuguero jungle, they stay in style.  Ceiling fans, fluffy beds, gourmet meals over the Tortuguero River, and all the comforts of home.  And some things they don't find at home.  Like a serenade by howler monkeys at 5AM each morning, and grounds that are a tropical wonderland of plants and colorful toucans.  Little do they know that a recently completed bio digester means that the lodge is now off septic tanks, and has further reduced its impact on the fragile rain forest environment. 

Take a break from what you're doing a check out our students in action in Costa Rica.  Here's the link. I think, even in just a few pictures, that you'll find it a relaxing, and inspiring journey.

Earth Explore Learning - A Path to Success

We've witnessed it so many times in the past 15 years.  Students participate in one of our learning adventures, and emerge as very different people.  More focused,  more mature (yes, we get lots of props from parents on that one), and more prepared to tackle new challenges that lie ahead.

I have two teenagers.  And, like other parents, I've learned that motivation is everything.  It's one of the keys to a successful future.  Although EE students learn plenty (and qualify for college credit in many cases), the personal changes we see are, I'm convinced, more important than what's learned.  How many of us wouldn't like to have had a bit more confidence, a greater ease in dealing with challenges and with people, at an earlier age?  

Our past participants have gone on to be doctors, engineers, scientists, artists and confident adults.  And we're happy that they still call the EE experience an important one in their lives.

After all, when you have a platform for success, anything is possible.

Know a Great Teacher?

You know the kind I mean. Loves kids, and loves teaching. The kind of teacher who encourages students to believe that they are special, and that they can do and accomplish anything.

The kind of person who, through their positive influence on kids, shapes the future.

That is the kind of teacher that we at Earth Explore work hard the entire year to find.  They're out there.  As parents we know them instinctively.  Our kids talk about them.  Love their classes.  Remember them fondly, as do we.  Through experience we know that this kind of teacher will help students to blossom on their away from home learning experiences. 

So if you know of someone like that, and most of us parents do, then do us both a favor and tell them about Earth Explore Adventures at http://www.earthexplore.com/. We provide rewarding opportunities for teachers to venture outside the classroom with their very own students, to share spectacular places and experiences with those kids, and learn and grow right alongside them. 

One of my favorite things all year is to witness this in action.  When I get the chance to join one of our groups, whether it be in Alaska, or Costa Rica, or Jackson, Wyoming...I see teachers and students interacting in ways not always seen in the classroom.  Relaxed, excited about what's to come, and loving every minute of it.  There is no pressure to learn, or to teach, or to have fun.  It just happens. 

Our teachers earn professional development credit on their trips.  Important for their careers, and for the requirements of many school districts.  But I'll bet they'd tell you that's not why they decided to do Earth Explore.  No, it was more likely the chance to travel and learn, and to see their students reinvented belore their eyes, and in turn, be reinvented in their students' eyes. 

Reinvented as someone who just loves learning.  Period.  And loves to mentor and encourage kids to learn as well.

Who are We?

In the end, that simple question, posed by Al Gore at the Copenhagen climate summit, sums up what's at stake.

Just who are we, as a species, if we don't act now to save our planet for our children? 

Together, in the past few thousand years, we've had the imagination and the energy to utterly transform this planet, to redirect its resources to our common (or perceived) good, and a better, more comfortable life.

After all of this, we can't agree to save it? 

Let's be clear.  We are not saving the planet.  The Earth will go on, recycling its raw materials for billions of years into the future.  Mountains will be built, oceans will rise and fall, structures, man made and otherwise, will be dissolved and reused.  The Earth will ultimately be fine, given time.  That is, until our sun enters its final stages, and consumes it all...sort of the ultimate recycler.

No, it is us that needs saving.  Humankind, and the creatures that share this world with us.  Our reign has been, so far, relatively brief on this planet (after all the dinosaurs ruled for 200 million years...us...well, less than a million), and we are in danger of making it end more quickly than we needed to.

Do we sentence our children (yes, the bill is coming that soon), and our grandchildren to a future less prosperous, and less optimistic than our own?  With dwindling natural resources, and the inevitable consequences of too little to go around for too many...wars, famine and disease?

I don't think we will choose that.  I share what Gore calls his core belief, the belief that animates his life, and keeps him moving forward.  Namely, that humans are better than that.

But we have to act soon to prove it.

They're way ahead, and that's good

Listen in on teenagers these days (without being noticed) and you'll hear a common theme.  No, I'm not talking about boyfriend or girlfriend issues, which are still big news.  No, what you'll hear about is communication...that is, the newest, coolest way to keep up with your friends' lives.

Teenagers are classic early adopters.  If it's new, they want it and must have it.  And these days "it" so often is the latest way to stay in touch.  Now, if you're a parent like me, you may struggle a bit to keep up and keep abreast of technologies that are moving at warpspeed (yeah, that word dates me a bit).  But I'm here to tell you that it's a good thing.  Here's why.

Communication, even in its most banal forms, is connection.  It is sharing a moment in time or space with someone else, and often, with new ideas.  It is the antithesis of isolation.  While some argue that young people are too wired (or wireless) these days, I think we should weigh the negatives with the positives...and I'm convinced the positives win out. 

Our planet is facing some tough times.  Money is tight, debt is high, and global changes in climate and shifts in power balance are making lots of people nervous.  The good news is that we're more connected than we've ever been.  Want to see what they're talking about in England? Browse to the London Times website. Or use google translater to discipher news and opinion from sources all over the globe.  Very little can be hidden...for long.  Many celebrities have learned this (Tiger Woods for one), and governments too.  Connection and communication have their downsides, but it can also be argued that they are like a digital cleanser...they tend to scrub away lies, and promote disclosure and in the end, transparency.

The point is, while we're facing tough times, we're communicating and sharing information as never before.  There is no way to remain isolated from information...whether you're in China (where the government has tried), or your kid's bedroom (where many parents have tried).  It's out there and it's not going away.

Kids know this instinctively.  They have adopted these technologies...the technologies of communication, as their very own and they will fight to keep them.  And that's important.  Because our kids are the future...they will say what stays and what goes.  It seems to me that communication, connection, is in.  To stay.

Let's Get Real

Hey...did you see it on the news?   It snowed in Colorado early this year.  Really dumped.  I even saw video of them skiing in October.  Denver was a complete mess.

Guess the climate crisis is a bunch of baloney, huh?  Glad to get THAT over with.

I guess it's part of being human.  We tend to look out our windows, and make conclusions about the entire planet.  And, it's easier too.  How many of us really want to believe that sea levels could rise and flood our major cities...or 200 million people could be climate refugees?    Turns out 2009 wasn't even the hottest of all time either.  Just 6th or so.  Nothing to worry about.

It doesn't hurt of course that hundreds of millions of dollars is being spent to encourage our ambivilence.  Muddy the water, so to speak, with doubt.  Relatively simple...just nudge people in the direction they already want to go.

Who would do such a thing?  Well, let's follow the money.

Flush with record profits of the past few years totaling in the tens of billions (remember $4 plus gas?), oil, coal, natural gas and other industries that stand to benefit by the status quo (and their proxys in DC by the way), are doing all they can to insure you don't believe what you're being told.  Scientists....what do they know?

And it's working.  Recent polls released in Newsweek magazine show just 57 percent of Americans believe the world is warming.  Down from 71 percent last year.  And even fewer...just 36 percent believe human activity is to blame.

In that Newsweek article, Al Gore is interviewed about his just released book "Our Choice."  Despite these numbers, he says he still believes the tipping point is nearing, when governments, led by the U.S., will take bold action to address climate change.  Have to admire him for that.  I hope he's right.

Here's the rub.  As Gore says "reality really has a way of knocking at the door."  Humans sadly are more moved by emotion than fact.  Will it take a dramatic disaster...say a continent-sized chunk of Antarctica slipping away...before people are swayed?

Disturbingly, 80 percent of CEOs and CFOs say they would not take action to make their factories run more efficiently and save money in the long run....if it hurt their next quarter bottom line.  Way to go guys.

Is that just incredibly myopic, or is it truly insane?  I'll leave that to you.

Let's just hope the rest of us don't need a full preview of doomsday to get moving.  And that, in our actions in the next few years, we show a bit more wisdom, and a bit more respect, for the generations that will come after us.

Concrete Kills

Ok, granted, that is a bit harsh.  But close to the point actually.  A big new study out of the Netherlands comfirms in an empirical way what most of us (who love the outdoors) have long suspected.  That getting out in nature just flat makes you live longer.

Actually, it's more than that.  The health study of almost 350 thousand dutch people found that even being in close proximity to nature...has big benefits.

One of the major findings; that living near (within 1 km) to a park, or any green open space, significantly reduced people's anxiety and all forms of stress.  And, as we know, stress has been found to be a contributing factor in everything from hives to bad digestion, to cancer.

Another very interesting finding of this study.  When people of all kinds and income levels were living near nature, the gap between the health of rich and poor lessened.  You might say that beautiful surroundings, bring enhanced health to everyone, but especially those with less access to the best health care technology.

As you might expect, the study has huge implications.  Not only on how we live, but where, and why.  Already urban planners are looking at the findings, which could have a great impact on how neighborhoods of the future are planned (with more parks we presume), and how aging neighborhoods are brought back to life.

With health care costs running amuck, it may well be in our best interests as a society to give these findings a hard look.  Developers may not make as much money leaving open space for parks, but the human and societal cost of not doing so may be far greater.  It may kill us.

Read the article at Nature and Health Study

Nine Days Left

I got your attention didn't I?  But here's the problem.  Can you or anyone you know tell me what is nine days away? 

I thought so.  And that's part of the challenge we all face.  For the record, in nine days the International Day of Climate Action will arrive.  That's October 24th...a day designed to get people talking, and more importantly, doing things to bring about change. 

The goal of course is to make a big splash, to jump start our collective consciousness, and in so doing spur popular pressure to force decision makers to actually do something about onrushing climate change.

Of course, here in the U.S. the health care debate is sucking up all of the oxygen in Washington D.C.   That doesn't help.  Neither does the fact that lobbying organizations for those who would be most affected by climate change, like farmers and ranchers, are actively opposing or watering down proposals that are on the table in advance of the Copenhagen Climate Change summit in December.  Sigh...it appears the U.S. will join other industrialized nations in forwarding no bold initiatives.

Here's the rub.  We know now that climate change will impact our children and grandchildren in huge ways.  But its a gradual process.  So, like that bump that we ignore, we try to think about something else.  Because we can.  For now.

The southwest as a dust bowl?  Very likely if things don't change.  A global explosion of climate refugees?  How about 200 million by latest estimates.  And a sea level rise of 80 feet swamping our most important cities.

Perhaps a new approach is needed.  Don't think about climate change in terms of impacts on polar bears, or deserts.  Think about its impacts on your kid.  What crushing problems are we passing along?  What will they say about us if we don't act?  It is past irresponsible now to be the ostrich, with its head in the sand.  We owe our kids better.

So go to http://www.350.org/  Take action.  Ride your bike.  Make a sign.  Spread the 350 video virally.  It could help.  

The Bio Gem of Costa Rica

We at Earth Explore are excited to be expanding our programs south in 2010, to the rich and environmentally important nation of Costa Rica.  Home to critical world biomes, Costa Rica is beautiful and educationally rich.  But it is also much more than simply a showplace of luxuriant tropical life.

In a place blessed with such a rich array of nature's splender, something rather unusual in human history has taken place.  This small nation has taken aggressive steps to lock it's jewels away from rampant and uncontrolled development...the kind that has despoiled environmental treasures in too many other places.  The nation has been aggressive in promoting sustainability...and hopes to become the world's first carbon neutral nation.  National Reserves and Parks, many arising from, or supported by private donations, have sprung up everywhere.  There is a push for eco friendly development and tourism; very good signs for the future.

But the picture is not all rosy.  Pressures to open coastlines to oil and gas exploration and drilling, and exploit virgin rainforest for timber and mining are ramping up.  All too easily, this small nation could be directed down the path seen so often in the tropics; of slash and burn and quick profit.

The Natural Resources Defense Council has named Costa Rica a world Bio Gem...and is encouraging action to keep it safe, wild, and beautiful.  We believe sustainable tourist development and visitation can help to provide a solid economic base to counter the lure of quick profit through exploitation of natural resources.

What do you think?  If you're interested in the issue, go and learn more about the NRDC's Bio Gems, by visiting http://www.savebiogems.org/costarica/

Ken Burns - National Parks

There's been lots of talk here and elsewhere of the "nature deficit" experienced by we as adults, and by our kids.  Weekdays mean we're off on the commute to work, and back after dark.  On weekends it's soccer practice, or the batting cages, or just stocking up at Costco or the supermarket.  Somewhere there we need to fit in an hour for a walk in the park, a spin on the bike, or jog with the dog.

It's a rare treat when we can get an outdoor experience from our living rooms, but that's what's possible all this week during Ken Burn's documentary special "The National Parks."

If you can't see this special, try to Tivo it.  And not just for the pretty film images.

Burns and writer Duncan Dayton remind us how important our connection to place is and should be.  And why the amazing landscapes of America have defined us as a people, and that how and why we protect them, will continue to define us as a nation.

The most important message from this documentary is that our battle to save and enjoy natural places, spectacular landscapes, has always been a story about people.  Courageous ones, who bucked the dehumanizing pressures of the industrial revolution to argue that wild is good, wild is necessary, and wild can restore and remind us what is best about ourselves.

Watch Burn's special this week. Get your kids to sit down too. See if you don't agree.

What do you know? Branson has it right.

I was reading recently about a meeting two years ago between Al Gore and Sir Richard Branson.  Branson you might recall is the colorful British promoter who's the genius (or villian depending on your take) behind the Virgin business empire, world record attempts in all manner of flying things, and a massive mane of silvery hair.

Turns out Gore had an interesting proposition.  Branson calls it a lecture.  In two hours, Al told him why as a global Titan of Industry, he should be leading the push to save the Planet.  Explained that government was not doing the job, and couldn't be expected to anytime soon.  So, said Gore, it was up to business to lead the way.

A compelling argument, in that it has been the insatiable appetite of business, fueled by consumers, that has gotten us in to the mega mess called climate change.

Anyway...in a bathtub sometime later..Sir Richard had the epiphany that changed his life, and he hopes, will change ours as well.  He made the decision then and there, in a sea of bubbles, to really commit to the idea of doing something.  Not long after, he announced that the ENTIRE profits of his transportation businesses...air and train...would be devoted...for ten years, to research into finding a clean alternative to fossil fuels.  That's three billion dollars. 

Now, you say, that's easy for a man who is among the richest on earth.  And you may be right.  But as far as I can see he is still the only billionaire to make such a commitment.  If it was truly that easy, I think others would have stepped onboard as well.

No the commitment was real, and so is the money.  Sir Richard may be a publicity hungry capitalist promoter, but he's put his billions where his mouth is.  And it may in fact show us an important way forward.  Branson concluded that those who have benefited the most from the fruits of Mother Earth, should be the ones who are first to step forward with dollars...and commitment.

I for one applaud him for his action.  Now, he may be more shrewd than any of us understand.  His pro earth commitment may put him on the leading edge of a Green Wave in business that could enrich him even more.  But if that comes to be, I say he deserves it.  He was the among the first to say, I'm rich enough...now let's do something with it.

After the greed spotlighted by our financial meltdown of the past year, I can only say... cheers Sir Richard.  Now let's see how many other follow your lead.

Being versus Doing

The latest Ken Burns documentary on our National Parks, coming out this month, got me thinking about the whole concept of being versus doing. Burns makes a good point when describing why our National Parks and other natural places are in trouble. Basically it boils down to this; it is way too easy these days to live a virtual life, but not even perceive that you're missing out.

You know what I mean. We tend to live online, or somehow plugged in. It takes less effort to view pretty pictures on a screen than to go out and experience them live. And there are advantages. Can't fly to Thailand? Visit there virtually by web cam. Can't visit a friend? Text or chat with him online. By the way, I'm all for most of that, because it connects us and informs us about the world that is out there...and let's face it, we can't all travel everywhere we want.

No, the danger of being, and not doing is different. It is when we come to believe that by simply being, we're getting all the benefits of doing. Burns argues, and rightfully I think, that we loose our commitment to protect precious things when we don't experience them in the real sense. A virtual experience of Yosemite may make us happy, but will it drive us to actively oppose the interests that would like to reduce natural places to open pit mines, or amusement parks?

The fear is that without enough of us getting active in the out of doors, we lose the constituency needed to watch over, and protect our wild places. Without use, spectacular trails and vistas become less important to us as a whole, and more likely to be bulldozed and widened for timber access.

One thing is clear. There is no going back in our devotion to and fascination with technology and entertainment. We will only get more wired and more plugged in in the future. The marketing giants that give us weekends of football and beer, of vicarious experiences of all sorts, are not going away.

The question is, will emerging factors like the global climate crisis create a tipping point...a point at which we choose to put away our virtual experience of the world for just long enough to rediscover the real world in its actual, and not virtual, splendor.

Granted, doing so takes a bit of effort, and sometimes a drive or a hike, but it is worth it. Whenever I see a 20 something with a kayak or bike on her roof heading somewhere...I become optimistic. Change may be in the air. And that change is so necessary to create and maintain the "constituency" Burns describes; the army of those who appreciate and use natural places, and who through collective action, will keep the world's great places not just flickering on our web cams, but in our actual experience.