Ever thought (but never said) Californian weather in Germany wouldn’t be such a bad thing? Don’t worry: you are not the only one taking global 'warming' as, in that extent, good thing. German biologist Josef Reichholf now said in an interview for the magazine Der Spiegel, that’s actually the natural way to think: “Biologically speaking, we are children of the tropics”! Wherever we go, we artificially create our own comfortable climate (through cloths etc.) – 27 degrees Celsius. That simply means: a milder climate won’t pose problems for mankind as a whole. We are flexible enough to change accordingly to the conditions around us. The same is also true for most plants and animals. But Reichholf goes one step further: his thesis is that warming temperatures in contrast to common knowledge promote biodiversity. He paints the picture of flourishing new habitats growing in numbers in the future parallel to global warming – if we manage not to destroy them through human intervention right away.
Read the whole article here
Foto: Denis Vallan

You thought: adventure, expeditions – that’s for the Heyerdahls and de Rothschilds of this world but not for me? You are not alone. Most people would love to do something for the environment, have a so called "hands on impact" but do not know how.

A German is succesfully leading a "new" way (in thinking and acting): Dr. Michael Hammer founded biosphere-expeditions in 1999. An Organization which brings ordinary people together with scientists – to do useful research all over the world: Monitoring Arabian leopard presence in Oman or assisting in a reef survey programme in Honduras.

The concept is so successful that the organization runs four offices worldwide and organizes at least seven big expeditions per year. It also won the “Best Volunteering Organisation” Category at the Responsible Tourism Awards – the Oscars in this field. Well deserved - the organization not just encourages pioneering but is also the work of a real pioneer!
Excerpts from their mission statement:

Our projects are not tours, photographic safaris or excursions but genuine research expeditions. Biosphere Expeditions promotes sustainable conservation and preservation of the planet's wildlife by forging alliances between scientists and the public. Our goal is to make, through our expedition work, an active contribution towards a sustainable biosphere. At Biosphere Expeditions we believe in empowering ordinary people by placing them at the centre of scientific study and by actively involving them out in the field, where there is conservation work to be done. We always work in close conjunction with local people and scientists and make sure that the fruits of our expedition work benefit our local helpers, their society and the environment they live in.

Fotos: Website

50 years old – it’s the age where you start thinking about retirement. Kind of looking back what has been achieved and looking forward into a bright future with no more or at least less work. Not so for the European Union: in political terms the EU is just learning how to walk (with so many feet), let alone talk with one voice.
Stavros Dimas, Europe’s Environment commissioner, reviews in BBC’s Green Room what has been done concerning the environment etc. in the first phase of the EU’s lifetime – and finds many reasons to celebrate. While not forgetting how much more work is laying ahead of the Environmental Union...
Read the whole article here.