Good News: The Seabin Can Clean Up Our Ocean

Two Australian surfers have quit their jobs and come up with a brilliant solution to combat the millions of tons of trash in our oceans.

Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski’s Seabin invention is an ocean-cleaning device so simple and effective, we’re wondering why it took so long.

The water filtration system is much like what you’d find in a fish tank, but it has the potential to clean up an entire ocean:

QUIT = RENUNCIAR

TRASH = BASURA

DEVICE = ARTILUGIO

The concept is simple: A bucket, as seen in the GIF below, connects to a water pump, sucking in any floating trash inside a removable mesh bag (= bolsa de malla)

(...)  Turton and Ceglinski say they have never caught a fish or marine animal in their pumps in four years of testing.

From: www.huffingtonpost.com

At last, Leonardo DiCaprio.

Nineteen years after “Titanic” made him a global star, Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar Sunday night for his role as a vengeful frontiersman in “The Revenant”. 
This is his brave and righteous speech of acceptance: 

SCRIPT:
“Making “The Revenant” was about man’s relationship to the natural world, a world that we collectively felt in 2015 as the hottest year in recorded history. Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow.

Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating. We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters or the big corporations, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people who will be most affected by this, for our children’s children, and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed.

“I thank you all for this amazing award tonight. Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted.”

PROCRASTINATE= POSPONER, DEJAR PARA DESPUÉS

DROWN = AHOGAR

GREED= CODICIA

TAKE FOR GRANTED = DAR POR HECHO, SUBESTIMAR

Sing for the Climate.

Sing For The Climate is a Belgian initiative, made possible by the goodwill of many volunteers.

In 2012 Sing For The Climate was organised in Belgium: more than 380.000 people sang ‘Do it now‘! So we made a clip that united all the voices. This clip was shown to the Belgian Prime Minister, the State Secretary of Environment, the Flemish and the European Ministers of Environment. All the above signed the demands of the Campaign for the Climate and therefore committed themselves to take necessary measures. Finally, the clip was shown on the last plenary meeting of UN Climate Conference in Doha. It may be a coincidence, but only that last night they reached an agreement to extend the Kyoto Protocol.

Climate change is not a problem for the far future. It is already a problem. 300.000 people die annually, because of climate change. Floods, drought, hurricanes, food shortages,… The vast majority of these victims falling in the south, should not prevent us from feeling involved and sounding the alarm. 

We need you!

Join our team by sending an email to info@singfortheclimate.com

And let us know in which country you want to help spread the song.

Let’s change climate change together!

..................................................................................IJIJOIN THE MOVEMENTIII

..................................We thank Iria Cadilla for her kind cooperation 

.................................................................................

The Power of Love.

Lil’ Drac is a little orphaned short-tailed bat (murciélago de rabo corto). This little baby bat was very lucky as it got rescued by Weatherford, Texas Bat World Sanctuary. It is a no-profit organization dedicated towards the preservation of hundreds of bats.

Bat World Sanctuary offers rehabilitation and release programs and even lifelong sanctuary programs to non releasable bats. Bat population is in a rapid decline. More than half of the native bats of USA are endangered. Watch this man giving a loving care to this baby bat.

RELEASE PROGRAM = programa de puesta en libertad

LIFELONG = para toda la vida

BAT POPULATION = población de murciélagos

ENDAGERED = en peligro

................

ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS in real life: Oklahoma tornado.

Terrified cildren, hero teachers:

(CNN) -- It was the end of the school day. The kids at Plaza Towers Elementary School were stuffing their backpacks, looking forward to going home, playing with friends, eating snacks. But the tornado warnings changed that. When the twister came barreling in Monday afternoon, terrified young students huddled together in the hallways, screaming as walls and roofs caved in. Chairs and backpacks swirled above them. The winds and blaring sounds enveloped them. Cars from the parking lot landed just inches away. Teachers dove onto groups of kids to protect them from falling debris.(...)

STUFF = meter rápidamente.....................................CAVE IN= desplomarse
BACKPACKS = mochilas............................................SWIRL= girar
LOOK FORWARD TO = desear..................................BLARING = tremendo (ruido)
WARNING = advertencia, aviso.................................ENVELOPE = envolver
TWISTER = tornado...................................................INCH = pulgada
BARREL = salir disparado..........................................DIVE ONTO = tirarse encima
HUDDLE = acurrucarse..............................................DEBRIS = escombros

 By the time it was gone, so was the school in Moore, Oklahoma. In its place was a huge pile of rubble, trapping teachers and children. And seven students were dead.(...)

RUBBLE = escombros     

 First responders and volunteers rushed to the scene to begin the treacherous work of searching for survivors. "We had to pull a car off a teacher and she had three little kids underneath her," one first responder, in tears, told KFOR. "Good job, teach." "I was on top of six kids," one sixth grade teacher said, working her way across the rubble. "I was lying on top. All of mine are OK." Teachers helped tear through several feet of rubble to rescue sobbing students, some of them injured. Rescue teams successfully pulled several kids from the leveled school. But with each passing hour, the hope began to fade.(...) The devastation is palpable throughout Moore.

RUSH = darse prisa ...............................................INJURED = herido
TREACHEROUS = traicionero, movedizo..............SOBBING = sollozante
SEARCH = buscar.................................................SUCCESFULLY = con éxito
TEAR = arrancar, rasgar.........................................FADE = desvanecerse

You are what you eat.

Freegans: Creative Living Outside of Capitalism

Everyday, supermarkets throw away a huge amount of food because it's past  the sell-by date. 'Freegans' are a group of people who don't agree with this food waste. They take food from the supermarkets' rubbish bins, and eat it. Would you...?

Watch the documentary below and try to fill in the gaps:

1. I was in the .................. for years before I told my .....................
2. I cooked them up a ................. big dinner, with stuff I'd gotten from ...................................
3. They really .................. this. Then, I told them it was.......................... Now, we don't ..................so much any more.
4. Freeganism is something that most people tend to ....................................
5. They imagine the media created the image of a........................... person rummaging through ............................ It's not like that .........   ..........

.....................................................

Remarkable people

William Kamkwamba, an example to all of us:

William Kamkwamba (born August 5, 1987) is a Malawian inventor and author. He gained fame in his country when, in 2002, he built a windmill to power a few electrical appliances in his family's house in Masitala using blue gum trees, bicycle parts, and materials collected in a local scrapyard. 

From Wikipedia,

WINDMILL = MOLINO DE VIENTO
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES = APARATOS ELÉCTRICOS
SCRAPYARD = DESGUACE

"I tried, and I made it (...)

Trust yourself and believe; whatever happens, don't give up."

What can we do to save our planet?

An environmental crime?

EDIBLE = COMESTIBLE............................................MADNESS = LOCURA

WASTED = MALGASTADO.........................................SENSELESS = SIN SENTIDo

DISCARDING = DESCARTE

Around half of the fish caught by fishermen in the North Sea are unnecessarily thrown back into the ocean dead. 

The problem is that in a mixed fishery where many different fish live together, fishermen cannot control the species that they catch. 

FISHERY = ÁREA DE PESCA

Fishing for one species often means catching another, and if people don’t want them or fishermen are not allowed to land them, the only option is to throw them overboard. The vast majority of these discarded fish will die.

OVERBOARD = POR LA BORDA

Because discards are not monitored, it is difficult to know exactly how many fish are being thrown away. The EU estimates that in the North Sea, discards are between 40% and 60% of the total catch. Many of these fish are species that have fallen out of fashion: we can help to prevent their discard just by rediscovering our taste for them.

MONITORED = CONTROLADO, MONOTORIZADO....PREVENT = EVITAR

Others are prime cod, haddock, plaice and other popular food species that are “over-quota”. The quota system is intended to protect fish stocks by setting limits on how many fish of a certain species should be caught. 

COD = BACALAO, HADDOCK = ABADEJO....PLAICE = PLATIJA....QUOTA = CUOTA, CUPO

Fishermen are not allowed to land any over-quota fish; if they accidentally catch them – which they can’t help but do - there is no choice but to throw them overboard before they reach the docks.

DOCKS = MUELLES

........................................................................... From:  http://www.fishfight.net/the-campaign/

This is... HOME!

Amazing Nature 

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. ” – Hilary Cooper

MEASURE = medir
BREATH = respiración, aliento

Earthday everyday

Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. (born March 31, 1948) served as the 45th Vice President of the United States (1993–2001), under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election.

Gore is currently an author and environmental activist. He has founded a number of non-profit organizations, including the Alliance for Climate Protection, and has received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in climate change activism.

SCRIPT:

"Like you, I'm a strong believer in doing what we can as committed individuals and as communities to make a difference, and that's why I know  this Earth Day many of us will take the opportunity to do all that we can to help solve the climate crisis and improve our environment."

BELIEVER = CREYENTE

COMITTED INDIVIDUALS = INDIVIDUOS COMPROMETIDOS  

TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY = APROVECHAR LA OPORTUNIDAD        

IMPROVE = MEJORAR                           

Earth Day Every Day

Earth Day 2012

Air, Earth, Water

Recycling.......................Renewable Energy

CLIMATE CHANGE    POLLUTION
.........................................................................ECOLOGICAL DISASTER


The Earth won't wait!......................DEFORESTATION


SUSTAINABILITY........................................Environmental Friendly

We Pledge to go Green

Elephant rescue in Zambia

Photograph courtesy Abraham Banda, Norman Carr Safaris

A mother African elephant and her baby lie mired in mud as family members look on in  Zambia's Luangwa Valley  on November 1.

The pair were rescued by wildlife officials and conservationists after a two-hour battle against heat, dehydration, and rapidly drying mud.

MIRE = ENREDARSE, ENLODARSE

MUD = LODO, BARRO

WILDLIFE OFFICIALS = AGENTES MEDIOAMBIENTALES

The Kapani lagoon, where the elephants got strapped, is nearly dry and very sticky at this time of year—making it easy for an animal to become ensnared (...)

On this particular occasion the baby became trapped first. (...)

GET STRAPPED = QUEDAR ATRAPADO

STICKY = PEGAJOSO

ENSNARE = ATRAPAR

When the mother elephant came to help the baby, she sank into the mud as well. Other members of the herd quickly retreated when the rescuers arrived (...)

Without a rescue attempt, the prospects for the elephants were grim, South Luangwa Conservation Society's McRobb noted.

SINK, sank, sunk = HUNDIRSE

HERD = MANADA, REBAÑO

RETREAT = RETIRARSE

RESCUE ATTEMPT = INTENTO DE RESCATE

PROSPECT = PERSPECTIVA, POSIBILIDAD

GRIM = NEFASTO, SOMBRÍO

"If hyenas and lions didn't come and eat them alive, they would have slowly just dehydrated" to death over a period of five or six days, McRobb said.

   

...................................................................................More photos: "Dramatic" Elephant Rescue in Zambia

                            

Oil spill in New Zealand

(CNN) -- A major clean-up operation is underway along the north coast of New Zealand 's North Island as debris and oil leaking from a cargo ship that ran aground on a reef wash ashore, officials say.
The Rena, a Liberian-flagged vessel, struck the Astrolabe Reef, about 12 nautical miles off the city of Tauranga, last week.
New Zealand's oil spill response agency, Maritime New Zealand (MNZ), estimates that as much as 300 tonnes of fuel oil has leaked from the vessel, which was carrying 1,700 cubic meters (450,000 gallons) of fuel.
The country's environment minister, Nick Smith, has called the spill the country's most significant maritime environmental disaster


MAJOR =  IMPORTANTE......................................................FLAGGED = DE BANDERA...
UNDERWAY = EN PROCESO..............................................VESSEL = NAVÍO
DEBRIS = RESTOS.............................................................STRIKE struck stricken = GOLPEAR
OIL LEAKING = VERTIDO/GOTEO de PETRÓLEO..................OIL SPILL = VERTIDO DE PETRÓLEO
RUN AGROUND = ENCALLAR.............................................ENVIROMENTAL DISASTER= DESÁSTRE ECOLÓGICO
REEF =  ARRECIFE
WASH ASHORE = LLEGAR A LA ORILLA

(...)The agency said 36 wildlife rescue teams are scouring the coast for wildlife affected by the spill and 47 oiled animals are being treated at center that has been set up in Tauranga. A team has been established to capture seals and five of the animals are being kept in captivity.
Greenpeace has expressed "extreme concern" about the spill and urged the government to avoid using further toxic dispersants.


WILDLIFE = FAUNA y FLORA..................................................SEAL = FOCA
RESCUE TEAM = EQUIPO de RESCATE....................................EXTREME CONCERN = MÁXIMA PREOCUPACIÓN
SCOUR = DAR una BATIDA......................................................FURTHER = ADICIONAL
SET UP = ESTABLECER...........................................................TOXIC DISPERSANT = DISPERSANTE TÓXICO

We are all one (subtitled)

Everyday that you don't do what's right is a day that you've  lost an option...

It is your responsability and it is your duty, to look after all life:

DUTY = DEBER
LOOK AFTER = CUIDAR


....................

Shakira: EDUCATION for ALL... Bravo!

Shakira's Speech at Oxford Union

Enviromental Disaster

(CNN) -- A tide of toxic red mud burst through the walls of a giant storage reservoir at the Ajkai Timfoldgyar alumina refinery on the outskirts of Akja, a small town in the county of Veszprem, Hungary on Monday, October 4.
So far, four people are known to have been killed by the torrent, six people are missing and more than 120 people have been injured by the sludge which inundated the villages of Kolontar, Devecser and Somlovasarhely, around 150 kilometers southwest of the capital, Budapest.
Illes (Hungary's Environmental Affairs State Secretary) described the flood as Hungary's worst chemical accident and an "ecological catastrophe."

tide = corriente, marea..... storage reservoir = embalse.......missing = desaparecidas......flood = inundación
mud = barro........................outskirts = afueras...................injured = heridas
burst = desbordarse...........so far = hasta ahora..................sludge =lodo,fango
Environmental Affairs State Secretary= Ministro de Medioambiente

Volcanic ash cloud causes air travel chaos

London, England (CNN) -- A cloud of ash from a volcano in Iceland swept toward mainland Europe on Thursday, forcing up to 6,000 flight cancellations across the continent, according to the intergovernmental body that manages European air travel

Thousands of flights were affected as some of Europe's busiest airports closed, including London's Heathrow; Amsterdam, Netherlands' Schiphol; and Paris, France's Charles de Gaulle.

Volcanic ash can cause jet engines to shut down.

...Airspace over the United Kingdom was closed to all flights except emergencies at least until 7 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET) Friday, Britain's Civil Aviation Authority said. The agency was due to review the situation Thursday evening.

France, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands also announced the complete or partial closure of their airspace, authorities in each country said.

Norway also closed its ocean territory and canceled helicopter flights to offshore oil installations, according to Avinor, the Norwegian agency responsible for the country's airport network.

Germany closed the Berlin airport as well as airspace over the city, an airport spokesman said. ash = ceniza.......................................................................... closure = cierre swept = sweep/swept, barrer ..................................................airspace = espacio aereomainland = la masa principal de un país o de un continente..........offshore = lejos de la costaflight cancellations = cancelaciones de vuelos.......................... network = estación, red, cadena
jet engines = motor a reacción................................................ spokesman = portavozwas due = se esperaba, se suponía

Is the Earth trying to tell us something?

Climate change: melting ice will trigger wave of natural disasters

Scientists at a London conference next week will warn of earthquakes, avalanches and volcanic eruptions as the atmosphere heats up and geology is altered. Even Britain could face being struck by tsunamis
Scientists are to outline dramatic evidence that global warming threatens the planet in a new and unexpected way – by triggering earthquakes, tsunamis, avalanches and volcanic eruptions.
Reports by international groups of researchers – to be presented at a London conference next week – will show that climate change, caused by rising outputs of carbon dioxide from vehicles, factories and power stations, will not only affect the atmosphere and the sea but will alter the geology of the Earth.
Melting glaciers will set off avalanches, floods and mud flows in the Alps and other mountain ranges; torrential rainfall in the UK is likely to cause widespread erosion; while disappearing Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets threaten to let loose underwater landslides, triggering tsunamis that could even strike the seas around Britain.
At the same time the disappearance of ice caps will change the pressures acting on the Earth's crust and set off volcanic eruptions across the globe. Life on Earth faces a warm future – and a fiery one.
"Not only are the oceans and atmosphere conspiring against us, bringing baking temperatures, more powerful storms and floods, but the crust beneath our feet seems likely to join in too," said Professor Bill McGuire, director of the Benfield Hazard Research Centre, at University College London (UCL).
Is there any hope for the human race?
BEAUTY WILL RISE