World Oceans Day is celebrated on 8 June. The theme for World Oceans Day 2020 is “Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean.” The Marine Environments is divided up into three main ecosystems; Oceans, Coral Reefs and Estuaries.
There are the five major oceans that cover the world including the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Southern Oceans. Coral reefs are small in size when compared to the oceans, but around 25% of marine species live in the coral reefs ecosystems. Estuaries are areas where rivers and streams flow into the ocean. This area where freshwater and saltwater meets, creates an ecosystem diverse plant and animal life often called the ‘nurseries of the sea”.
Our oceans make up 71% of the earth’s surface and they contain the greatest diversity of life on Earth. Habitats range from the freezing polar regions to the warm waters of the coral reefs, deep sea hydrothermal vents to shallow seagrass beds and beautiful sponge gardens to giant kelp forests, marine organisms are found everywhere.
World Environment Day is celebrated every 5th of June and the theme for 2020 is Celebrating Biodiversity. Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth. It encompasses the 8 million species on the planet including plants, animals, fungi and bacteria. Biodiversity is also the diversity ecosystems across the globe, oceans, forests, alpine regions and coral reefs.
Biodiversity is at risk, we are losing species at a rate 1,000 times greater than at any other time in recorded human history. Over one million species face extinction.
Species diversity is the variety of species within an ecosystem or a region. In Australia, more than 80% of plant and animal species are endemic, which means that they only occur naturally in Australia. We usually notice mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and frogs, but they actually make up less than 1% of all animal species.
Attract birds to your backyard by creating a garden that will provide food, shelter and nesting materials and sites. Local flowering plants and fruit trees provide birds with nectar and seeds. To provide birds with some protein rich food, use mulch to encourage worms, insects and grubs to thrive. Plant dense prickly native shrubs for shelter, hang up nesting boxes and install a bird bath.
Encourage frogs to come to live and breed in your backyard. Create a small shallow pond in an area that is partly shaded. Include thick ground hugging plants around part of the pond to provide areas of warmer and cooler water. Your pond will need some sunlight to encourage algae and other plants that provide food for tadpoles. Make sure the banks slope gently so that the frogs can get out. Add some rocks and logs to provide shelter for adult frogs.
Not all bugs are pests. Good bugs pollinate plants, break down dead flora and fauna, aerate the soil and provide for other wildlife. They can even help keep harmful pests away. Create an inviting environment for good bugs by planting plenty of native plants, wildflowers and herbs and use chemical-free pest control when the pests do creep in.
World Bee Day was created to spread awareness of the significance of bees and other pollinators for our survival.
World Bee Day is celebrated on 20 May: Helping Protect our Bees
Australia has more than 1600 native bee species. There could be as many as 2000 to 3000 still to be identified. Australian native bees are wonderful pollinators, especially for our native plants.
Most Australian bees are solitary bees which raise their young in burrows in the ground or in tiny hollows in timber. Australia also has 11 species of social native bees which do not sting.
What can you to to help native Bees?
There are a lot of ways that you can create a safe habitat for your local bee. Make sure you are Bee aware and don’t use pesticides in your garden and use the information below to create bee homes.
This year is the 40th anniversary of the eruption of Mount St Helens. I feel like it is one of my earliest memories, but I was only 4 years old at the time and in Australia. More likely I’m just remembering the grainy images of the eruption seen at school and in textbooks This event permanently shaped the landscape but also shaped me as a person. I went on to study geology and landforms and focused my life on sharing my passion for the natural world.
40 years ago Mount St. Helens famously erupted, creating a 25 km high ash and gas cloud that flattening 350 square kms of forest. The eruption killed 57 people in the Americas deadliest eruption.
Mount St Helens is still considered one of the most dangerous in the United States, and the most active of the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest.
Mount St Helens is in the Cascades mountain range and are part of the Ring of Fire. The volcanoes are the result of the dense oceanic crust of the Pacific plate sliding beneath North America.
The Ring of Fire
The Ring of Fire occurs where the Pacific Plate meets many surrounding tectonic plates and is the most seismically and volcanically active zone in the world. The Ring of Fire is made up of a series of oceanic trenches and volcanic arcs caused by plate movements. It has 452 volcanoes, more than 75% of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes.
I have spent the last 20 years teaching children and adults about plate tectonics and the power within the earth. 40 years on and Mount St Helens is still an awesome example of the dynamic earth we live on.
Earth Day is on April 22 and this year is the 50th anniversary. The theme for Earth Day for 2020 is climate action. This is an enormous challenge and also provides an opportunities to be a part of Earth Challenge 2020, the world’s largest citizen science effort.
Climate change represents the biggest challenge to the future of humanity and the life-support systems that make our world habitable.
The world’s largest civic event is going digital for the first time in its history. We’ll demand that leaders take science seriously, listen to their people and push for action at every level of society to stop the rising tide of climate change.
We can make a better world for everyone. Pass it on, tell everyone you know about April 22 and join in at earthday.org. Help flood the world with messages of hope, optimism and, above all — action.
What can you do to help?
Join in with Earth Day events if you can. There are always some time zone issues but plenty of options available. You can also look in your own backyard about how you can take action.
Fight today for a better tomorrow
Find out how you can take action in your own backyard
Video Conferencing can be used to create unique learning experiences for students of all ages. Sydney Science Education now offers a range of video conferences called Science Made Easy. Specialising in Earth and Environmental Science, Science Made Easy are hands on, interactive workshops designed to inspire your students about the natural world.
Since 2001, I have designed and delivered innovative programs for schools across New South Wales and Australia. Over the last 20 years I have become a leading expert on using digital technologies especially video conferencing to deliver quality learning experiences in schools.
https://youtu.be/CiDtyDzekw0
Through these programs your students will gain insight into the importance of science and help them discover more about the natural world. Workshops are designed to empower your students and provide them with the knowledge and skills to continue their learning. Content will help increase your students scientific literacy and critical thinking skills by participating in experiments, fieldwork and asking questions.
Due to the current health crisis Video Conferencing becomes more important as a way to deliver programs to students in the classroom and at home.
Find out how you can participate in live, interactive video conference sessions. This enables your students to ask questions and really be involved in their online learning.
There are a range of packages available to suit your digital science education needs. Enquires and bookings
With all the recent rain there has been some great fungi appearing. I was very excited today to finally find an Anemone Fungus. They were emerging from the mulch next to a car park in Sydney. I saw dozens of the fascinating fungus poking out of the bark.
Aseroe rubra, commonly known as the Anemone Stinkhorn, Sea Anemone and Starfish fungus is considered common. It is recognisable by it’s colour, shape and foul odour when mature. The plant’s odour attracts flies, which ingest and trample the spores, distributing them starting new fungi colonies.
An article on ABC Open reported on the interesting history of the Aseroe rubra It reads: “Jacques Labillardière, a French botanist, visited Tasmania on an exploration voyage and discovered Aseroe rubra growing in the appropriately named Recherche Bay in southern Tasmania.” Collected on May 1, 1792 it became the first Australian fungi collected and scientifically documented.
Fascinating fungus
A fungus is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes yeasts, molds and mushrooms. They are classified in their own Kingdom, Fungi. This Kingdom is separate from the other eukaryotic life kingdoms of plants and animals. This means they are not animals, plants, or bacteria. Fungus breaks down dead organic matter around it, and uses it as food.
I started 2020 with the claim that this year is going to be My Year of Sustainability. Since then Sydney has experienced continued bushfires, droughts, heatwaves through to record rains and floods all in the last 2 months. So as Summer comes to an end what have I done on My Journey to Sustainability?
Illustration of a Sustainable House with Solar and Vegetable Garden copyright @ BNP Design Studio
My Journey to Sustainability started with water. My husband and I went to find a water pump. We live in an older house with the shower over the bath. This made it easier for us to start collecting shower water to use on the garden. After a few weeks the 3 flights of stairs became a challenge. We brought a pump from Bunnings, ran a hose out the window down onto the carport roof so the water would flow into the rainwater tank. We have another pump and hose off the rainwater tank so we can water the garden and fill up the watering cans.
This change enabled us to save over a 100L of water a day that we can store and use in the garden. We fixed the leaking cistern in the toilet, that was wasting a staggering 360L of water a day. If you want to find out some simpler ways of being Water Wise check out these tips.
Water was also a big issue for local wildlife. Many animals were being impacted by the heat and lack of available water. These Magpies were trying to get drops out of the bubbler and tap.
I made sure there were suitable water dishes available in the park and at home.
In the Garden
I’ve really enjoyed being able to spend extra time in the garden. I have planted more natives especially flowering shrubs and grasses to provide food and shelter for smaller birds. The pond is providing water for animals and a habitat for frogs. there are some small fish that keep the numbers of mosquito down.
Native garden
I’ve pruned, weeded and planted in the vege garden. I’m growing some of the herbs I love to use in the kitchen like Lemon Thyme, Basil, Shallots and Chives. Continental Parsley and Tomatoes have sprouted everywhere from last seasons seeds. I’m growing mint from my Mums garden and my Strawberries have come back to life. I’ve picked over a dozen Limes with plenty more fruit growing on both the Lime and Lemon trees. I’m trying to grow Eggplants again and so far have been having more success. I’m growing Brussels Sprouts for the first time so fingers crossed the caterpillars don’t get them.
I have been weeding and controlling pest by hand at the moment and will see how that goes. The advantage is that I can spend more time on garden maintenance at the moment so I’m hoping the attention now will pay off later.
Vegie Garden
Do you enjoy gardening, but don’t have the space to build you own garden? Would you like to eating produce that you have helped grow, but don’t have enough time? How about joining your local Community Garden.
Community gardening can give you the opportunity to grow and harvest your own produce. Creating more green patches of vegetables, plants and flowers across urban environments. Community Gardens also:
help reduce household waste through composting.
offer the chance to get your hands dirty in a communal plot of land.
create opportunities where people can learn about gardening methods.
Over the last year I have brought Bees Wax wraps, silicon lids and recently silicone ziplock bags. These products have been great and I like having the variety to suit different needs. This year I have started using the Hercules® Sustain ™ Compostable Paper food bags for dry lunch box items. I’m buying larger products size for the kids and portioning into small reusable containers or compostable bags.
With these products I have been able to reduce our amount of waste at home and school. The kids have noticed and doing a great job remembering to bring their containers home for reuse.
The main difference is being mindful when I am doing the shopping and making sustainable choices. Reducing my waste by ensuring I don’t buy products with unnecessary packaging.
What to do with unwanted clothes especially with growing kids is always a challenge. These are a few of the strategies I have used.
Embrace the hand me downs: I get a constant stream of clothes and shoes from my sisters neighbour. They are usually great quality and as they are older kids the sizes are right for the next year. Most of my sons clothes go to his cousin if they are still in a good condition.
If you want to help those in need with your donations make sure you choose your Charity Bin wisely. The National Association of Charitable Recycling Organisations (NACRO) ensures that all the collected goods and proceeds are used exclusively for their welfare programs. The Recycle Near You website has a list of NACRO charities
Some retailers, including H&M and Zara offer textile recycling bins in their stores where people can deposit any textiles, not just clothing from that brand, to be sent for recycling offshore.
If it can’t be handed down to family and friends or donated to charity cut them up for cleaning rags.
Contact you local animal hospitals and shelters to see if they need old sheets and towels.
Now that I’m not working in the city I went through my wardrobe to find clothes and outfits for Dressed for Success. They are a registered charity that improves the employability of women in need in NSW. They provide professional clothing, support network and the career development tools to help women achieve self-sufficiency.
I just found this initiative recycling socks. Starts With Socks is taking your old socks and gives them new life. Any pairs that can be up-cycled will be donated to people in need. Socks that can’t be saved will be recycled and turned into new textiles, saving them from landfill.
The Simple Things
There are also plenty of things that we continued to do at home like:
Taking Shorter Showers
Turning of lights when not in the room
Setting the air conditioner on 23’C
Composting
Recycling
Batteries
E-waste
Soft plastics
Discover more about becoming sustainable and how you can make a difference.
What you need to know about the Urban Heat Island effect? Cities create their own micro climates by affecting the surrounding atmosphere and interacting with climate processes. The result is that urban areas are becoming significantly warmer than the surrounding areas. Especially when there is less green cover and more hard surfaces which absorb, store and radiate heat.
The impacts of the Urban Heat Island effect include:
Increased daytime temperatures
Reduced night time cooling
Higher air pollution levels
These impacts affect human health by causing:
Respiratory difficulties
Heat cramps
Exhaustion
Heat stroke
Heat-related mortality
The 2017 Cooling Western Sydney report shows the most effective urban heat mitigation technologies incorporate a combination of urban greening, water-based technologies and cool materials. Increased green spaces with water features and fountains, combined with cool material technologies including cool roofs and pavements are all ways to reduce temperatures across Sydney making a more liveable and climate resilient city.
With the increase in urbanisation across Sydney incorporating theses strategies in urban design will become even more important.
What can you do?
Increase shade around your home: planting trees and other vegetation lowers surface and air temperatures by providing shade and cooling through evapotranspiration. Trees and vegetation can also reduce stormwater runoff and protect against erosion.
Install Green Roofs: growing plants, shrubs, grasses and trees on a rooftop reduces temperatures of the roof surface and the surrounding air and improves stormwater management. Also called “rooftop gardens” or “eco-roofs,” green roofs achieve these benefits by providing shade and removing heat from the air through evapotranspiration.
Install Cool Roofs: a cool roof is made of materials or coatings that significantly reflect sunlight and heat away from a building. This reduces roof temperatures, increases the comfort and lowers energy demand.
Install Cool Pavements: Using paving materials on sidewalks, parking lots, and streets that remain cooler than conventional pavements by reflecting solar energy and enhancing water evaporation. This cools the pavement surface and surrounding air and can also reduce stormwater runoff and improve night time visibility.
Diving in Sydney is a great experience, there is literally a secret garden hidden beneath the surface. Sandstone rock formations, incredible sponge gardens and a huge diversity of marine life is waiting for you to explore.
Watch this video to get a taste of what is hidden beneath the surface.
I know not everyone is interested in scuba diving so I thought I would share some of the amazing species I saw on my last dive at Long Reef and Old Mans Hat in Sydney with you. You can experience what I saw without leaving your house.
Giant Cuttlefish
The Giant Cuttlefish Sepia apama are one of my favourite animals to find on a dive. They are inquisitive and playful and amazing to see. They can change the colour and texture of their skin so quickly that it almost looks like they are flashing. One of my favourite moments was when I found a Giant Cuttlefish under a ledge, I offered it my occy (secondary air hose) that has a fluro yellow end. The Cuttle was fascinated with the colour and movement, it came in very close, extended a tentacle and tried to take the occy. It was unforgettable to have a personal interaction and be so close to these highly intelligent animals. You can find out more about the Giant Cuttlefish on the Australian Museum website.
Sydney Octopus
My sister spotted a Common Sydney Octopus Octopus tetricus trying to hide in the rock wall. Their camouflage is truly incredible and are very hard to find. One tip is to look for a a pile of discarded shells from their last meal. You can find out more on the Australian Museum website
Blue Groper
The Eastern Blue Groper Achoerodus viridis is a familiar sight for Sydney Divers. The friendly Blue Groper often follows you around while you are on a dive. I have been surprised more than once to turn around and be face to face with one of these guys. You can find out more about the Blue Groper on the Australian Museum website
Weedy Sea Dragon
I was very lucky to see 5 Weedy Seadragon Phyllopteryx taeniolatus at Old Mans Hat yesterday. They camouflage by hiding in the kelp and you need to look carefully to find them. People will often find their dried bodies washed up on the shore after storms. You can find out more about the Weedy Seadragon on the Australian Museum website.
Spotted Wobbegong
It is not unusual to find a Spotted Wobbegong Orectolobus maculatus hiding under a rock ledge or spotting a tail through a gap in the rocks. My sister pointed the Wobby hiding under a ledge at Long Reef. You can find out more about the Spotted Woobegong on the Australian Museum website.
Grey Nurse Shark
I was excited to see so many Grey Nurse Sharks Carcharias taurus yesterday. At one point I was swimming along the top of the rock wall will a adult swam in time below, it must have been almost 3 metres long. I was mesmerised watching this majestic animal and wondered why these sharks create a panic with so many people.
Nudibranchs
Nudibranchs are sea slugs, they are small, colourful and slow moving. Approximately 382 species have been found along the NSW coastline. I saw several of the Nudibranch Polycera hedgpethipictured below on my dive yesterday. I usually see a couple of different species on each Sydney dive. You can find out more about the variety of Sydney Nudibranch on the Sydney Dive website
Sponge Gardens are hidden gardens beneath the sea. The Sea Tulips and sponges move in the current to create a surreal environment. It feels like you are in another world.
What can you do to help preserve this amazing environment?
Remove any rubbish that you find in the water or on the beach
Remove any bits of fishing line and nets that you see
Be aware that what you do on land impacts our marine systems downstream
