School pupils call for radical climate action in UK-wide strike

If there are changes going  to be made in how the environment is caretakered, its going to be kids. A great many of the old farts making short term decisions today are not going to be around when the #$@% hits the fan 20 years from now. Unless we get greenhouse emissions under control with all inhabitants of this planet working for the greater good, the future for youngster and babies of today  being born will not be uncertain, it will be terminal.  

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/15/uk-climate-change-strike-school-pupils-children-environment-protest

WIKI LOVES EARTH

Greanwold contributed to Wikipedia

I can’t say enough how grateful I am to you and the millions of people who give what they can to support Wikipedia. You are part of a select group of knowledge seekers giving back to the knowledge ecosystem, and your contributions are truly incredible. Thank you for your support. Thank you for coming to Wikipedia when you want to learn. We couldn’t do this without you and the millions of others who give just enough to keep Wikipedia vibrant, fresh, useful—and entirely free of ads. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Wikipedia exists because people give of themselves through thousands of individual actions. Each edit, donation, and upload is a gift that someone has given the world. And I always anxiously await this time of year, when one of the best gifts of all comes to us: the photos from the Wiki Loves Earth photo contest. 

We invite you to open our gift to you. Discover secrets of our natural world found on Wikimedia Commons. Explore the top 15 photos of 2018, taken, shared, and selected by Wikimedia volunteers.

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SAVING THE PLANET

I am really tired of hearing news reports and interviews on "saving the planet". It's not the planet that has to be saved. It is saving humanity from itself. The planet will continue to "survive", long after humans have wiped themselves out. There is another 5 billion years ahead of this planet before it is consumed by a dying star, the sun. 

We humans are a squabbling, quarrelsome bunch, many who are religious fundamentalists of some religion or belief who for the most part have undying faith in some invisible man who lives in the sky  swooping down one day to save all those who believe. I should mention at this point there are now an estimated 4,400 religions existing in the world today and god knows how many sub-sects. Does this mean there are 4,400 gods?

The big bugaboo today is plastic! It is not a "fake" scare such as Y2K. It is stifling this planet and being consumed by the very  sea-life and land animals we consume. Ergo, humans are consuming plastic in ever increasing amounts. The Great Lakes are now fully polluted with micro plastic balls. There is 18 BILLION pounds of plastic thrown into the oceans each year.  Glaciers all over the world are retreating with a dire recent warning that Canadian glaciers will have disappeared in another 50 years. Rising oceans?  Watch out all you people who live near coastlines.

So, saving the planet!  The earth has been here for an estimated 4 billion years. Homo sapiens have been around for about 200,000 years. Neanderthals, who died out around 35,000 years ago where around for about 350,000 years. What are the chances of our species lasting that long? As long as we have wars, religious conflict, greed, power struggles, unchecked pollution and destruction of our forests and oceans. NOT THAT DAMN LONG!

18 BILLION POUNDS OF PLASTIC GO INTO OUR OCEANS EACH YEAR

The inhabitants of earth are drowning in plastic. This, according to a new report carried out by National Geographic. What is the future on this planet for the children of today if the oceans become poisoned?

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/planetorplastic/

Greanwold's World is for Kids and Families

Greanwold’s World, a global Internet website for 5 – 11 year old children, is a new entrant in the $700 + Billion Dollar “kiddy” market. Initially the Greanwold brand will be marketed in all English speaking countries including India and also China, and is designed to make a positive difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of children around the globe via the Internet, with fun, excitement, intelligence, magic and a touch of social responsibility. 

The latter is accomplished with a school fund raising program; Greanwold’s Run for your Life Campaign and a children’s charity, The Greanwold Foundation for Kids Worldwide as well as a package of mesmerizing new video games and “apps’, some with an environmental and  “green world” message. 

Greanwold’s mission? Encourage parents and kids who-have, to help parents and kids world-wide who have-not.

www.greanwold.com

The Absolutely Worst Example of Human Treatment of other Humans Unfolding in Yemen

85,000 Children in Yemen May Have Died of Starvation

The aid organization Save the Children said the number was a conservative estimate of those under age 5 who may have died.

Experts say Yemen has become the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, and 14 million people could soon be on the brink of starvation,according to the United Nations.

‘It’s entirely preventable’

“For every child killed by bombs and bullets, dozens are starving to death — and it’s entirely preventable,” Tamer Kirolos, Save the Children’s country director in Yemen, said in the statement. “Children who die in this way suffer immensely as their vital organ functions slow down and eventually stop.”

What can you do to help?  Contribute to any of the following organisations, write to you government, fund raise in your neighborhood for starters.

https://foundationbeyondbelief.org/give

https://www.charityweb.net/

https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org

https://www.unicef.ca/en

These are just a few of the many charities working towards better world for children and families. You can help today.

Household cleaning products may contribute to kids' overweight by altering their gut microbiota

Commonly used household cleaners could be making children overweight by altering their gut microbiota, suggests a Canadian study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

The study analyzed the gut flora of 757 infants from the general population at age 3-4 months and weight at ages 1 and 3 years, looking at exposure to disinfectants, detergents and eco-friendly products used in the home.

Researchers from across Canada looked at data from the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) birth cohort on microbes in infant fecal matter. They used World Health Organization growth charts for body mass index (BMI) scores.
Associations with altered gut flora in babies 3-4 months old were strongest for frequent use of household disinfectants such as multisurface cleaners, which showed lower
levels of Haemophilus and Clostridium bacteria but higher levels of Lachnospiraceae. 

The researchers also observed an increase in Lachnospiraceae bacteria with more frequent cleaning with disinfectants. They did not find the same association with detergents or eco-friendly cleaners. Studies of piglets have found similar changes in the gut microbiome when exposed to aerosol disinfectants.

"We found that infants living in households with disinfectants being used at least weekly were twice as likely to have higher levels of the gut microbes Lachnospiraceae at age 3-4 months; when they were 3 years old, their body mass index was higher than children not exposed to heavy home use of disinfectants as an infant," said Anita Kozyrskyj, a University of Alberta pediatrics professor, and principal investigator on the SyMBIOTA project, an investigation into how alteration of the infant gut microbiome impacts health.

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