New Blog Covering Earth Watching, Space & Geography

EarthDirectory's new blog, "EarthObserver.Net" will include some of the coolest views of Earth from space; interesting space topics such as near earth objects, weather in space and news about the International Space Station; and various items of interest involving the Earth's geography.  To see EarthObserver.Net click here.

New Directories on Coral Reefs, Indigenous Peoples, Lakes and Mountains

EarthDirectory's newest directories cover coral reefs, indigenous peoples, lakes and mountains.  The next directory will be about food safety.  The entire network of EarthDirectory's directories and blogs can be viewed here.  

EarthDirectory's New Directory on Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP)

EarthDirectory's newest directory is on Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP).  EMP is a phenomenon that scientists claim can knock out the power grid and most of the electronics in the USA.  According to certain scientists and experts, EMP can be caused by the detonation of a single nuclear weapon many miles over the United States, and it can also be caused by rare solar geomagnetic storms that are predicted to occur every 100 years or so (such a storm is apparently well overdue).  EarthDirectory's EMP Directory can be viewed at www.earthdirectory.net/emp.  I especially recommend checking out the video on the National Geographic link which is located a few links from the bottom of the directory (you might have to try this link a couple of times for it to load properly).  Also, for additional and more specific information on EMP, I recommend the EMPact AMERICA site which is just a few links above the National Geographic link in the directory.

New Ugandan and Ethiopian Environmental Directories

This is just a brief post to announce that EarthDirectory's two newest directories are the Ugandan and Ethiopian environmental directories.  They can be viewed at www.earthdirectory.net/uganda and www.earthdirectory.net/ethiopia.   EarthDirectory now has directories covering four of the major East African countries; Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia.

New Environmental and Conservation Directory on Tanzania

EarthDirectory's newest directory covers conservation and environmental organizations and agencies in Tanzania.  Tanzania is an amazing country which has seacoast, lowland forests, the Serengeti, Mount Kilimanjaro, the Island of Zanzibar, huge lakes including Lake Victoria, exotic animals and Jane Goodall's research station.  The Tanzania Directory can be viewed at www.earthdirectory.net/tanzania.

New Directory on "Peak Oil"

EarthDirectory's newest directory is The World Directory of Peak Oil Organizations and Related Sites.  It can be viewed at www.earthdirectory.net/peakoil.  "Peak Oil" is the theory that the Earth's supply of recoverable oil is at or nearing it's peak level of production and as it gets harder and more expensive to get oil out of the Earth, the world's usable supply of oil will rapidly decline by the end of the century. 

A Republican Environmental Group

Many of you may think that there are no specifically Republican environmental organizations in existence due to the current political climate in which Republicans and Democrats seem to be at polar opposites on environmental issues.  Well, it turns out that there actually is a Republican activist environmental organization and its name is Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP America).  Its homepage can be viewed at http://www.repamerica.org/.

Traditionally Republicans have not necessarily been on the anti-environment or anti-conservation side.  Some examples are: 1. The world's first national park, Yellowstone, was established in 1872 under the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant, a Republican. 2. The Forest Service was founded and multiple national parks were established under the administration of Republican President Theodore Roosevelt in the early 1900's. 3.The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created during the administration of Republican President Richard Nixon in 1970. 4. Republican President Ronald Reagan strongly backed the Montreal Protocol treaty of the late 1980's which has the purpose of phasing out ozone-depleting chemicals in the atmosphere (see: www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/republican/reagan-global-warming).

While some Republican environmentalists are leaving the party, such as former Congressman Pete McCloskey, many still remain in the party and continue to work for environmentalist and conservationist goals and values.

Three New Directories Added to the EarthDirectory Network

This week three new directories have been added the the EarthDirectory Network!  They are the World Directories on Birds (http://earthdirectory.net/birds), Whales, Dolphins, Other Marine Mammals and Sea Turtles (http://earthdirectory.net/sea), and Natural Hazard and Disaster Research & Safety Organizations(http://earthdirectory.net/hazards).  The table of contents for the entire EarthDirectory Network is at http://discoverearth.net/.

New Middle East Environmental Directory

The newest addition to the EarthDirectory Network is The Directory of Environmental Organizations and Environmental Government Agencies in the Middle East.  It was just completed a few days ago and can be viewed at http://earthdirectory.net/middleeast.  I'm really excited about the completion of the Directory because there previously was not a lot of conveniently available information on the Web about Middle Eastern environmental organizations and Middle Eastern government environmental agencies.

Some Links to Organizations Working to Conserve Mountain Regions

If you have an interest in mountains, the EarthDirectory Network has some great links to organizations working to conserve mountain regions around the world.  These links can be found approximately two thirds of the way down EarthDirectory's land conservation directory which can be viewed at www.earthdirectory.net/land.

The Environmental Directory of the United States

I'm also pleased to announce that The Directory of Environmental Organizations and Environmental Government Agencies in the United States has recently been completely updated.  It includes major national, regional and international environmental groups based in the USA, and also state, tribal and national government environmental agencies in the United States.  The Directory can be viewed at www.earthdirectory.net/unitedstates.

The Directory of Native American Environmental Agencies

I'm happy to announce that EarthDirectory's directory of Native American environmental agencies, Native American Government Environmental Agencies in the United States, has been completely updated as of today and can be viewed at www.earthdirectory.net/tribes.  Many people in the USA and around the world don't know that many Native American tribes have their own sovereign national governments within the USA and have their own governmental agencies, including ones covering conservation and environmental protection.

A Progressive/Liberal Organization that Works for Reduced Immigration into the USA

For those of you who are on the progressive/liberal side of the political spectrum and who support a moderate level of immigration into the United States, rather than mass immigration or "open borders," there is an organization for you.  Its name is Progressives for Immigration Reform and it can be viewed at http://www.progressivesforimmigrationreform.org/.  It supports a reduction of immigration into the USA while simultaneously working to help improve conditions in immigrant-origin countries so that not as many people from those countries will feel compelled to emigrate to the USA and can instead have a better life in their home countries. 

If we don't reduce our yearly legal and illegal immigration levels which are at millions of people, the USA is heading towards having nearly a half billion people by the middle of this century and could have over a billion people in the next century, barring an ecological and population collapse caused by overpopulation and other environmental problems.

EarthDirectory's directory on population, demographics and immigration covers many facets of the immigration situation and can be viewed at www.earthdirectory.net/population.

EarthDirectory's China Environmental Directory

EarthDirectory's China directory, The Directory of Environmental Organizations and Environmental Government Agencies in China, remains number one on "Google China" under various listings such as directories of Chinese environmental groups and Chinese environmental organization directories.  It's fun to see what the Environmental Movement on the other side of the world in China is up to.  I'm not very worried about China taking over the world economically....instead what I'm worried about is China potentially imploding from its various environmental, social and economic problems.  These problems include widespread water shortages, dangerously contaminated rivers, overpopulation, horrible air pollution in many Chinese cities, corruption at various levels of society, lack of political democracy, loss of the Communist social safety-net and an ever-growing disparity between the different economic classes in China.  Anyway, you can see the directory at www.earthdirectory.net/china.

A Little Bit About the Environmental Movement

The modern Environmental Movement in the United States came into existence in the late 1960's and early 1970's.  It evolved from the American Conservation Movement of the 1800's which continued to grow right through the first half of the 20th century.  Other major influences on the creation of the Environmental Movement included Native American philosophy and religion, the "Greens" Movement in Europe and advances in ecological science taking place around the world in the mid twentieth century.

The Environmental Movement in the USA is a continually evolving and changing entity and has a right and left wing, but can better be described politically as a circle of extremely diverse opinions with each individual within the Movement having slightly different views from anyone else.  For example, many environmentalists are hunters and fishermen, while others (including myself) are vegetarians and animal protectionists.  Regarding immigration, some believe in open borders and that it's a fundamental human right for every person to live wherever they want to live, while others (including myself) believe that each country has the right to democratically determine the level of immigration that it would like to support.  Some people in the Movement now believe that nuclear power is an energy resouce that can help to significantly reduce climate change, while most others (including myself) are still very skeptical that fission nuclear power will ever be a viable option, either environmentally or economically, for partially solving our extremely critical energy problems.  Some environmentalists are very distrustful of technology. Others fully embrace modern technology and science as the ultimate tool for solving our environmental problems. Many of the rest of us fall somewhere in between the two positions.

A few organizations within the Environmental Movement, including the Sierra Club, are over 100 years old and were created in the Conservation Movement of the previous centuries, many other groups are several to a few decades old, and other organizations have just been established within the last few years.  Some organizations have already experienced a natural death, and others have merged with or been absorbed by healthier environmental groups.  Meanwhile new groups are continually being formed in the United States and around the world.

Another excellent explanation of the modern Environmental Movement was written by Ted Trzyna and can be read at www.interenvironment.org/wd1intro/aboutorgs.htm.