How to green the world’s deserts and reverse climate change (environmental video)

From the TED.com YouTube channel: “Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert,” begins Allan Savory in this quietly powerful talk. And terrifyingly, it’s happening to about two-thirds of the world’s grasslands, accelerating climate change and causing traditional grazing societies to descend into social chaos. Savory has devoted his life to stopping it. He now believes — and his work so far shows — that a surprising factor can protect grasslands and even reclaim degraded land that was once desert.
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Crows, smarter than you think (environmental video)

From the TEDx.com YouTube channel: As research continues, the term “bird brain” no longer carries a negative connotation. Avian researcher John Marzluff showcases a few amazing, problem solving (and sometimes vindictive) feats accomplished by crows in order to break down common misconceptions about avian intelligence.

John Marzluff, Ph.D., is the James W. Ridgeway Professor of Wildlife Science at the University of Washington. His research has been the focus of articles in the New York Times, National Geographic, Audubon, Boys Life, The Seattle Times, and National Wildlife. PBS’s NATURE featured his raven research in its production, “Ravens,” and his crow research in the film documentary, “A Murder of Crows”. His graduate and initial post-doctoral research focused on the social behavior and ecology of jays and ravens. He was especially interested in communication, social organization, and foraging behavior. His current research brings this behavioral approach to pressing conservation issues including raptor management, management of pest species, and assessment of nest predation.

His book, In the Company of Crows and Ravens (with Tony Angell, 2005 Yale U. Press) blends biology, conservation, and anthropology to suggest that human and crow cultures have co-evolved. This book won the 2006 Washington State Book Award for general nonfiction. With his wife, Colleen, he has published Dog Days, Raven Nights (2011 Yale University Press), which combines reflection with biology and the recreational pursuit of dog sledding to show how a life in science blooms. Gifts of the Crow (2012 Free Press) applies a neurobiological perspective to understand the amazing feats of corvids. He is a member of the board of editors for Acta Ornithologica, Landscape Ecology and Ecological Applications. Currently leader of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Recovery Team for the critically endangered Mariana Crow, he is also a Fellow of the American Ornithologist’s Union. Read more

Photos of Africa, taken from a flying lawn chair (environmental video)

From the TED.com YouTube channel: George Steinmetz’s spectacular photos show Africa from the air, taken from the world’s slowest, lightest aircraft. Join Steinmetz to discover the surprising historical, ecological and sociopolitical patterns that emerge when you go low and slow in a flying lawn chair.

What a planet needs to sustain life (environmental video)

From the TED.com YouTube channel: “Venus is too hot, Mars is too cold, and Earth is just right,” says planetary scientist Dave Brain. But why? In this pleasantly humorous talk, Brain explores the fascinating science behind what it takes for a planet to host life — and why humanity may just be in the right place at the right time when it comes to the timeline of life-sustaining planets.

For the love of birds (environmental video)

From the TED.com YouTube channel: From the glorious crested guinea fowl to the adulterous African jacana to vultures that can pick a zebra carcass clean in 30 minutes, Washington Wachira wants us all to get to know the marvelous species of birds that share the planet with us. If you’re not already a fan of earth’s feathermakers — or concerned about their conservation — you will be after you watch this delightful talk.
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What are animals thinking and feeling? (environmental video)

From the TED.com YouTube channel: What’s going on inside the brains of animals? Can we know what, or if, they’re thinking and feeling? Carl Safina thinks we can. Using discoveries and anecdotes that span ecology, biology and behavioral science, he weaves together stories of whales, wolves, elephants and albatrosses to argue that just as we think, feel, use tools and express emotions, so too do the other creatures – and minds – that share the Earth with us.
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One person can indeed make a huge difference (environmental video)

Watch as teenager, Jadav Payeng, whose island home on Majuli, India, saved his rapidly sinking island home.

The stunning beauty of our insect world (environmental video)

From the TED.com YouTube channel: Photographer Levon Biss was looking for a new, extraordinary subject when one afternoon he and his young son popped a ground beetle under a microscope and discovered the wondrous world of insects. Applying his knowledge of photography to subjects just five millimeters long, Biss created a process for shooting insects in unbelievable microscopic detail. He shares the resulting portraits — each comprised of 8- to 10,000 individual shots — and a story about how inspiration can come from the most unlikely places.
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Does your child (or grandchild) have a world-changing message for adults? (environmental video)

From the We Your Children YouTube channel: An Urgent Message From Your Children is a Public Service Video Series featuring children speaking in their own words to adults, expressing their fears, concerns and their hopes for the future of our planet, and making an appeal to all of us to respond with appropriate urgency.

Go to https://WeYourChildren.org to add your own video today!

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How Plants Communicate and Think (nature documentary)

You might be amazed watching this beautiful nature documentary.

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