Where Is Environmental Sky

     Worms are nature’s most perfect recycling bin. The little eating machines can devour half their weight in organic waste every day, cleaning up the leavings of plants and animals. As they munch and wiggle they create a tiny subway system below the ground making the earth friable and aerated. What a boon to organic gardens! The end product of all this goodie gobbling contains rich nutrients called worm castings or black gold. Think of it as steroids for your garden. That little beast is pumping your garden up!

     You can restore worms to your garden by providing worm comforts. Begin by burying vegetation from your yard and garden just under the soil. Leaves, dead plants, grass clippings, kitchen scraps such as carrot or potato peels, crushed egg shells, strawberry hulls, leftover fruits and vegetables that stayed in the ‘fridge too long entice worms to come for a nibble. Cover the garbage with a light layer of soil and then water. You may even want to buy worm castings from a garden shop or greenhouse to initially build up the soil.

     Red worms, considered the best worm to use for composting and adding black gold to the garden are surface worms that seldom delve down more than eighteen inches below ground level. Their basic needs are simple: food, moisture, oxygen, and a dark place to call home. Every week worms create about three cocoons, each holds between three to ten baby worms quickly increasing their population. It’s important to harvest the worms every three months, separating them from their castings. This would be a good time to introduce more worms to your garden as well as sprinkle the black gold over the soil.

     Building a home for the producers of black gold ensures that you’ll have plenty of worms and loads of the rich black humus that benefits the garden. Try to make a worm bin out of wood, if at all possible. However, almost anything can be used. A wooden crate or box works well, but a plastic container works, too. The container needs to be at the very least, twelve inches deep with a preference for eighteen and two to three square feet of space should do the trick. This area can comfortably house one pound of worms adding up to between 800 and 1200 of the lowly creatures. A lid that fits tight and holes drilled into the bottom of the container completes the home for your adopted worms. continue reading…

     Gardenias are evergreen shrubs with small flowers growing in clusters. The color of the flower ranges from creamy white to a pale yellow. Originally from China and Japan, they are very popular in the southern part of the United States, where they are used as ornamental decorations. Their leaves are dark green and have a glossy look, which make the flowers to stand out to grab the attention of the onlookers. They are also very fragrant and so attractive that people are drawn to them. There are about 250 species of gardenia.

     Read on to know more about evergreen shrubs.

     Gardenias are such plants that can thrive indoors as well as outdoors. They can also be grown in greenhouses. The only thing required is that they need to be tended accordingly. Caring for a gardenia plant can be a bit tricky. For a gardenia plant to grow and produce flowers it requires a suitable climate and temperature. Gardenias can grow in any soil, as they are adaptive to the type of soil they are planted in. Depending on the species, the gardenia plant can grow upto a height of eight feet. When grown outside, they will grow happily even in partial shade, but when it comes to grow them indoors, they require maximum sunlight. The best time to plant a gardenia is around spring or fall when the temperature is appropriate.

     Gardenia in a Pot
     Gardenias can also be grown in bushes, by pruning them according to the size required. But one has to be careful when pruning them. Gardenias should be pruned only after the flowering season ends. Planting a gardenia in a pot requires special care. Read to know more about container gardening. One must take care to avoid excess humidity, as it may prove harmful for the plant. Potted plants can be kept in a bright area but extreme or direct exposure to the sunlight must be avoided. Puttting pebbles at the bottom of the pot & filling it half with water, before adding the soil, can help retain moisture. But take care that there is no standing water, as dampness may attract fungal growth. Here are some Gardenia care instructions which would be helpful for you to tend to the plant. continue reading…

     There are shears and secateurs that are hand and electricity or battery empowered that flaunt designs that are very versatile and more durable. The first power tool that every gardener invests in is the efficient lawn mower. The wide range of power tools include hedge trimmers, cultivators, mini tractors, sprinklers, weeders and aerators and leaf blowers and sweepers. The electronic soil tester is a multi functional garden tool that enables you to measure the pH level, the moisture and sunlight absorbing capacity of the soil and the fertilizer levels! Your compost pile can be added to with the help of the simple design of the leaf scoop, while the nitrile gloves now available enable you to protect your hands as you work and yet feel all the components or material thoroughly.

     The wearable gardening stool enables you to walk around the garden and squat whenever you need to. The stool is worn around the waist and is very useful, especially in the case of elderly and retired people indulging in gardening. The weeders available no more require you to bend down and strain your back. You can identify and remove the troublesome weeds standing straight. It is interesting to note that this implement is a make-over design from what early man used left paintings and drawings of, in caves! The versatile trowel-rake-hoe-saw all-in-one ergonomic garden tool set is perfect for the novice and the involved gardener.

     The metal, wood and plastic gardening tools are now marketed within specially designed bags that hold the long and short handle tools well and are a great stroage option. The garden carts enable you to easily maneuver raked debris and the tools around the garde. Most of the carts can be folded and stacked away for further use and can be hosed clean and dried prior to stacking. The garden kneeling pad enables the earnest gardener to kneel and work, wherever and whenever needed, without having to worry about soiling clothes or hurting the knees. The range of basic tools such as the weeder, knife, chain saw and tester come in a variety of options and storage facilities. continue reading…

     The conventional method of gardening and crop cultivation involved tilling of land, sowing seeds, weeding, fertilizing, etc. Advent of technology revolutionized the traditional methods of gardening and plant propagation. Earlier, it was thought that soil is necessary for the germination of seeds and growth of plants. But, with researches proving the fact that it was not the soil, but the nutrients and minerals in it, which is responsible for the healthy growth of plants, a wide range of mediums and equipments were invented, for growing seeds without soil and for growing house plants without soil. One such example is hydroponic gardening, which uses water as a growing medium for plants, with or without using other growing mediums (perlite, gravel, mineral wool, etc.), except soil. Coming back to growing seeds without soil, there are various methods, which can help you in this task. Let us take a look at the different methods of sprouting seeds without soil.

     How to Grow Seeds Indoors Without Soil?

     People often come up with doubts like, how do you plant a seed without soil? The following paragraphs deal with the various methods, which can be used for growing seeds without soil. You can choose a method, which is best suited for you and try it out.

     Growing Seeds in Paper Towels continue reading…

     Hurricane is a tropical disturbance and is formed on the ocean water in the warm tropical regions. The three initial stages which lead to the formation of a hurricane are: tropical depression, tropical storm and then the fierce hurricane. When the surface of water is warm enough, around 27 degrees Celsius, a tropical depression is formed on the ocean due to a storm. As the speed of the tropical depression exceeds 39 mph, it turns into a tropical storm. The tropical storm becomes a hurricane, if it reaches a speed of 75 mph.

     A hurricane can be viewed as an engine that gets its energy from the moisture evaporated seawater and heat. The hurricane is a spiral wind pattern and the center of which is called the ‘eye of the hurricane’. The diameter of the eye is around 10-20 miles. The center of the eye is calmer than the other regions of the spiral storm. Usually, a hurricane loses its power, as it approaches the coast. It brings in torrential rains and fierce winds and mostly coastal areas are affected due to hurricane.

     A hurricane is known by different names, according to the places where it occurs. It is called hurricane, if it takes place in the Atlantic Ocean and northeast Pacific Ocean. A hurricane in the Indian Ocean, is known as a cyclone The strength of a hurricane is measured on the Saffir-Simpson scale from 1 to 5. continue reading…

     Volcanoes are notorious for their devastating effects, not only on human life but also on the global environment. Lava, emission of toxic gases, ash fall, lahars and landslides are some of the most dangerous hazards of volcanic eruptions.

     Lava

     The mention of the name, volcano, brings to mind the red hot lava, destroying and burning everything that comes in its way. But, lava flow is only a part of the hazards created by volcanoes. There are many more hazards of volcanic eruptions and some of them are potentially more dangerous than lava. Lava flows are usually slow and therefore, people can easily escape them. However, they can cause extensive economic loss by burning and burying buildings and crops.

     Gas

     Volcanic eruptions usually contain a number of harmful gases like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, water vapor, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide, halocarbon and metal chlorides that can create a lot of changes in the Earth’s atmosphere. The violent eruptions of volcanoes, insert these gases and compounds into the stratosphere, where the sulfur oxide converts to sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid in turn condenses to sulfur aerosols, which are responsible for cooling the lower atmosphere, known as troposphere, by increasing the reflection of radiation from the Sun, back into space. On the other hand, they increase the temperature of the stratosphere by absorbing the heat radiated by the Earth.

     The hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride present in volcanic eruptions are important contributors to acid rain. These compounds get dissolved in water droplets, present in clouds and then fall back on Earth as acid rain.

     Landslides and Lahars continue reading…

     The share of the global resources consumed by a large part of the society is very high. This has led to tremendous imbalance in the ecology.

     Ecological footprint reduction should be carried out by every responsible citizen of this planet, in order to secure a decent future for the coming generations. The ways to this are quite simple and can easily be practiced in the daily routine with a bit of determination and responsibility.
A sure way to achieve a goal is to set realistic goals and to create awareness for the need to solve environmental issues. Involve every member of your family and friends to pro actively get necessitated in raising awareness about the need to reduce the ecological footprint on an individual level.

     Small steps like buying organic and locally grown food can help in a big way. It reduces the footprint generated by food or goods transported around the world, which forms a part of unnecessary spending and wastage of resources like, fuel and manpower. The sustainability and proper use of local resources, a healthy and fresh consumption of food leading to a much better society is guaranteed by this small endeavor. A 2007 United Nations survey points out the fact, that global livestock resources are a big cause of environmental pollution, more than even transportation footprints effect. Meat eating leads to demand for more livestock and hence necessitates heavy deforestation and utilize more grazing lands. Thus, changing from a meat eating to a vegetarian person is more effective in reducing ecological footprint than changing from a conventional high vehicle to a fuel efficient one. continue reading…

     The truth is that most people believe the present rate of melting ice mass is a natural event, however, this is not so. This rapid meltdown is not necessarily the result of man-made processes any longer. This meltdown is speeded up because most of the planet’s ecological structures are no longer functioning in the best possible ways. As a result these masses of ice can no longer remain in existence while the rest of the ecology is already so damaged. Many people are beginning to notice the consequences of pollution. The resulting ecological damage is causing much hardship for most people on all continents. With so many severely polluted waterways, atmospheric pollution all over the planet, and in some parts of the world the food quality being affected, it is important to become aware and more proactive about reducing pollution.

     It is often overlooked that pollution is the main contributor to the present meltdown. Our severely ecologically damaged environment - with its own environmental processes – can from a higher perspective no longer support these processes in the best possible ways. It is of utmost importance to look at what can be done to preserve our precious planet, our natural heritage, for our own benefit. This includes all ice structures such as icebergs, glaciers, Arctic ice and ice in mountainous regions, as these are all facets of a whole complex ecological structure.

     Most people have not given much thought to what will happen once these ice masses have disappeared and the molecular structures of all the ice, in particular that on land has changed from a frozen to a more fluid state. What would eventually happen with the climate when there is hardly any ice left? With humans already polluting most parts of the world, will there be more man-made pollution once the newly gained land is occupied, worsening the never-ending cycle of ecological destruction? Humanity is running out of time and needs to stop this increasing cycle of polluting the planet. continue reading…

     In spite of the evidence that goes to support global warming, there are many who are still of the opinion that global warming is a hoax. However, global warming myths and facts, if studied, shows that global warming is indeed happening. The following are the major arguments that help decide if global warming is fact or fiction.
 
     Arguments Against Global Warming
     The arguments put forth by global warming skeptics revolve around two aspects - unreliability of the data and previous climate changes. They argue that most of the data which suggests that the planet is threatened by global warming is based on mere assumptions. The only reliable source of data is the satellites based in space, and these satellites which monitor the climate of the entire planet don’t give any evidence of climate change in the lower troposphere. On the other hand, the data collected by sources on the Earth is subjected to alteration due to several reasons, including the presence of industries nearby and human error.
 
     Arguments against global warming also stress on the fact that the atmosphere-ocean dynamics are quite unpredictable, and hence it is difficult to predict the detailed evolution of weather in the future. The computerized climatic models that are used to predict the climate trend in future are too crude to be trusted. Global warming skeptics also believe that the expenses that are being incurred on various global warming solutions, in the absence of any concrete evidence of global warming, would be futile and result in heavy loss for the developing as well as the developed countries. And lastly, if at all the global temperatures rise by modest amounts; it would be beneficial for us in several ways. The growing season will be prolonged, we will have more usable land and warmer winters will mean safer climate. Read more on arguments against global warming. continue reading…

     Avalanche

     Avalanches kill an average of 200 people each year. The victims of avalanche incidents are mostly the snow-mobilers, snow-boarders and skiers. Avalanches are snowballs which roll down the mountainside and shatter like a glass. Avalanches mostly occur after a heavy snowfall. When the snow piles up quickly, it weakens the layer beneath the snow and causes a fracture. This loosens the snow on the top layer causing it to move down the mountain slope at a great speed. A victim caught in an avalanche seldom escapes. The factors that foster an avalanche include temperature, storminess, wind and also the steepness of the slope.

     Blizzard

     A severe winter storm is known as a blizzard. Strong winds, heavy snowfall and low temperatures characterize a blizzard. A blizzard that occurred in 1888 killed over 400 people in the northeastern United States. Two hundred ships were wrecked in this blizzard. This blizzard is known as the Great Blizzard of 1888.

     Drought

     Drought can be defined as a condition of unusually dry climate within a certain geographic region due to lack of annual rainfall. Drought is a natural disaster, which is hazardous to human beings because it results in water shortage, causes damages to crops, and an increased death rate of livestock and wild animals. Drought also results in shortage of electricity. Reports show, many people worldwide die during the time of drought. In drought-prone areas certain measures such as construction of reservoirs, rain-harvest system and stopping over-grazing could be taken. Drought causes increase in food prices and unemployment. The incidents of forest fires would be more at the time of drought. Drought affects the entire human and animal population of that geographical location.

     Earthquake continue reading…