Take action on global climate change, Earth Hour begins...

Join hundreds of millions of people all over the world and make a commitment to take action on global climate change today.

How?

By turning out your lights and participating in events... like Earth Hour  >

Earth Hour starts Saturday, Mach 25, 2017 at 8:30 PM local time (that would be your local time).
The immediate action that can be taken this year is join the movement and participate by turning off your lights for one hour, starting at 8:30 PM, local time.

Their web site has loads of good information: research information, actions to take (large and small) find them on Facebook for live action, where to find events, how to plan an event for next year, and the impact of Earth Hour every year (this is the 10th anniversary of Earth Hour).

Interested in getting involved in other events? In making a positive impact on our home?

World Health Day is April 7. The health of our environments also affects human health and diseases.
Earth Day is April 22! Contact your local city/ county offices, extension offices, or colleges/ universities to find local events. We'll post more here shortly, including projects you can do.
International Dark Sky Week is the last week in April. It's always the week of April's new moon!
Arbor Day, April 28. Plant a tree, help a group plant trees in

Stay tuned...Quest^X will have more information on these and other events... and actions you can take to leave a positive footprint on the earth. 










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Understanding Clouds on World Meteorological Day, 2017

This year's theme for World Meteorological day is *Understanding Clouds*.




Clouds are created made of small drops of water, clustered together.

For *beginners* there are the 3 basic types of clouds:


  
 
Cumulus - thick, puffy clouds that tend to be white on top and on the edges with a darker, flat bottom. They kinda look like cotton-balls or cauliflower (depending on your preference ;)  ).
  




Cirrus - wispy, transparent / white, icy clouds. They are sheer clouds actually composed of ice crystals!
  



 
Stratus - low hanging clouds in dark/gray layer. These clouds can produce drizzle, ice prisms, and snow.




Understanding these clouds helps to understand weather, and to forecast the weather you can expect!

Here's a more advanced cloud chart from NOAA (and a link to a NOAA .pdf of clouds): 

click to view this chart larger!

...for more information about World Meteorological Day

Water, water, everywhere...

Water, it's everywhere we are.
Why?
Because *we* are 55-70% water.

Everything on earth needs water to survive, clean/ healthy water.
Some things have interesting ways of obtaining it, but *everything* requires water.
And the earth itself needs water.
Water is kinda like the blood of the planet, it carries nutrients and waste products through the system and it ties the entire body of the earth together.

We'll discuss loads more about water in other posts, but for *today*, plan something special... enjoy a glass of water and consider what would happen to our own health and that of the earth without clean/ healthy water.

...and here's a link to the U.N. site for World Water Day... there is loads of info there and ideas for planning and/or participating in events!

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World Wildlife Day!

... a day to celebrate what the wild brings to our lives...


This year's theme is "Listen to the Young Voices". Almost a quarter of the earth's population is between 10 and 24 years old. They will be the inheritors of our decisions, and the decision makers in the not-so-distant- future.
How do you want that to play out?

One thing.
If you have no time for anything more, today do ONE thing to help preserve, protect, and/or conserve wildlife and our wild lands.

What can YOU do today?

*talk with a young person about what they want for earth's wildlife and wild lands (encourage/ help them to take action),
*purchase a pass to a wild area,
*contact your government officials, expressing why it is important to protect wild life and wild lands (what benefits we get from protecting wildlife and wild lands) and what, specifically, you would like them to do (please vote yes/no on a particular bill, please fund "X" department, etc.),
*share/like/love! posts like this! ,
*donate to organizations that protect wild life and wild lands,
and, if you have *more* time ...
*start today, plan an event for next year!
*create your own posts/ blogs/ videos!
*participate in a clean-up (beach, park, roadside, trail, etc!)


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Backyard Bird Count Day #1 - report

Not all of the reports are in yet for the first day of The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), but by the end of the first day (a *day* is measured by E.S.T) there were about 30,000 checklists reported in! 
The ~snap below is with about 15 minutes left to go in the first *day* of reporting...

...and *here* (below) is a good start to the second *day* of reporting!
54 seconds in to *Day* 2...

As you can see, now, people from all over the world participate! Last year over 160,000 people in over 130 countries participated.

There are still THREE (3) days left to go, and you can participate in as little as 15 minutes!

For more information on how to participate, check out the Getting Started page. You'll find a link for setting up a reporting page, access to birding tips and techniques, bird identification (including audio, because sometimes you don't see the birds! ; ) ...
... there's a Photo Contest... 
 
AND,  you get to be a citizen scientist!
 

...contributing meaningful data

with thousands of others

to better understand our world... 

Personal Notes: Today we had very limited time, so participated for about an hour.
We saw 9 species: Great Blue Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, Steller's Jay, Robin, Mourning Dove, Bewick's Wren, Back-capped Chickadee, Crow, and Red-winged Blackbird.
We'll load a data collection sheet that we like to use, which you can copy or use for ideas to make your own   ; )
We'll post some pics and/or vid tomorrow!

World Water Day!!!

More information about World Water Day directly from Ramsar Secretariat.

IT'S WORLD WETLANDS DAY (oh...am i shouting? ; )

I'm just really excited about World Wetlands Day!

World Wetlands Day celebrates the value of wetlands for humanity (and, really, ALL of the planet). Each year a new theme is chosen to raise awareness about the critical importance of wetland areas; the theme for 2017 is "Wetlands for Disaster Risk Reduction" ("to raise awareness and to highlight the vital roles of healthy wetlands in reducing the impacts of extreme events such as floods, droughts and cyclones on communities, and in helping to build resilience").


World Wetlands Day is celebrated (or starts) on this day because the Ramsar Convention was signed on this day (Feb.2) in 1971, in Ramsar, Iran.


Interested in participating this year but hearing about this too late to create or attend an event? Well, check our QuestX Calendar for other events (including Earth Day which is coming up soon) OR you could participate in the the Wetlands Youth Photo Contest (youth 18 - 25, see poster below)... or/and you can get an early start on next year's World Wetlands Day!

http://www.worldwetlandsday.org/documents/10184/162407/WWD17_photo_poster_Engl_HD2_+Desktop.pdf/3ae72cc3-a9dc-4d00-8bf4-397b95c58924

Here is a list of the countries/parties that have joined the Ramsar Convention, date joined, number of sites, and total area conserved. There are over 2,200 sites listed and over 530,000,000 (that's MILLION!) acres included:

~

Country	Entry date	Ramsar sites	AREA-acres
Albania	Feb-96	4	242,610
Algeria	Mar-84	50	7,390,950
Andorra	Nov-12	3	17,000
Antigua and Barbuda	Oct-05	1	8,900
Argentina	Sep-92	22	13,900,680
Armenia	Nov-93	3	1,219,490
Australia	Dec-75	65	20,559,560
Austria	Apr-83	23	308,800
Azerbaijan	Sep-01	2	246,000
Bahamas	Jun-97	1	81,000
Bahrain	Feb-98	2	16,800
Bangladesh	Sep-92	2	1,510,000
Barbados	Apr-06	1	82
Belarus	Aug-91	20	1,692,029.20
Belgium	Jul-86	9	116,001.30
Belize	Aug-98	2	58,300
Benin	May-00	4	2,914,250
Bhutan	Sep-12	2	630
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	Oct-90	11	36,676,380
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Mar-92	3	140,300
Botswana	Apr-97	1	13,683,000
Brazil	Sep-93	12	17,855,060
Bulgaria	Jan-76	11	123,337.10
Burkina Faso	Oct-90	15	1,612,370
Burundi	Oct-02	4	194,010
Cambodia	Oct-99	4	187,660
Cameroon	Jul-06	7	2,043,700
Canada	May-81	37	32,338,120
Cape Verde	Nov-05	4	1,320
Central African Republic	Apr-06	2	930,000
Chad	Oct-90	6	30,653,590
Chile	Nov-81	13	893,930
China	Jul-92	49	10,162,019.90
Colombia	Oct-98	6	1,751,196.10
Comoros	Jun-95	3	39,600
Congo	Oct-98	13	33,998,589.20
Costa Rica	Apr-92	12	1,407,860
Côte d'Ivoire	Jun-96	6	314,670
Croatia	Jun-91	5	233,160
Cuba	Aug-01	6	2,936,630
Cyprus	Nov-01	1	2,740
Czech Republic	Jan-93	14	148,770
Democratic Republic of Congo	May-96	3	18,373,830
Denmark	Jan-78	43	5,721,440
Djibouti	Mar-03	1	7,400
Dominican Republic	Sep-02	4	333,831.00
Ecuador	Jan-91	18	708,330
Egypt	Sep-88	4	1,026,800
El Salvador	May-99	7	512,460
Equatorial Guinea	Oct-03	3	340,000
Estonia	Jul-94	17	753,120
Fiji	Aug-06	1	1,520
Finland	Dec-75	49	1,975,650
France	Dec-86	44	8,815,199.00
Gabon	Apr-87	9	6,964,590
Gambia	Jan-97	3	77,210
Georgia	Jun-97	2	85,200
Germany	Jun-76	34	2,145,430
Ghana	Jun-88	6	435,237.80
Greece	Dec-75	10	404,020
Grenada	Sep-12	1	1,280
Guatemala	Oct-90	7	1,553,280
Guinea	Mar-93	16	15,870,000
Guinea-Bissau	May-90	4	2,939,647.60
Honduras	Oct-93	9	667,740
Hungary	Aug-79	29	634,930
Iceland	Apr-78	6	317,940
India	Feb-82	26	1,702,880
Indonesia	Aug-92	7	3,392,700
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	Dec-75	24	3,673,070
Iraq	Feb-08	4	1,329,000
Ireland	Mar-85	45	165,550
Israel	Mar-97	2	900
Italy	Apr-77	52	148,810
Jamaica	Feb-98	4	93,520
Japan	Oct-80	50	365,720
Jordan	May-77	1	18,220
Kazakhstan	May-07	10	8,108,510
Kenya	Oct-90	6	655,940
Kiribati	Aug-13	1	2,550
Kuwait	Sep-15	1	125,900
Kyrgyzstan	Mar-03	3	1,678,850
Lao People's Democratic Republic	Oct-10	2	36,500
Latvia	Nov-95	6	371,440
Lebanon	Aug-99	4	2,660
Lesotho	Nov-04	1	1,070
Liberia	Nov-03	5	236,920
Libya	Aug-00	2	210
Liechtenstein	Dec-91	1	250
Lithuania	Dec-93	7	162,050
Luxembourg	Aug-98	2	42,530
Madagascar	Jan-99	10	3,330,063
Malawi	Mar-97	1	555,000
Malaysia	Mar-95	6	331,510
Mali	Sep-87	4	10,389,900
Malta	Jan-89	2	40
Marshall Islands	Nov-04	2	173,270
Mauritania	Feb-83	4	3,066,000
Mauritius	Sep-01	3	990
Mexico	Nov-86	142	21,358,750.10
Monaco	Dec-97	1	57
Mongolia	Apr-98	11	3,557,200
Montenegro	Jun-96	2	49,800
Morocco	Oct-80	24	672,200
Mozambique	Dec-04	2	11,205,910
Myanmar	Mar-05	2	143,922.50
Namibia	Dec-95	5	1,671,830
Nepal	Apr-88	10	149,650
Netherlands	Sep-80	54	2,233,168
New Zealand	Dec-76	6	137,170
Nicaragua	Nov-97	9	1,005,350
Niger	Aug-87	12	10,669,690
Nigeria	Feb-01	11	2,660,650
Norway	Dec-75	63	2,198,010
Oman	Aug-13	1	264
Pakistan	Nov-76	19	3,320,170
Palau	Feb-03	1	1,200
Panama	Nov-90	5	454,650
Papua New Guinea	Jul-93	2	1,470,090
Paraguay	Oct-95	6	1,942,200
Peru	Mar-92	13	16,763,730
Philippines	Nov-94	6	381,550
Poland	Mar-78	13	358,490
Portugal	Mar-81	31	327,380
Republic of Korea	Jul-97	21	46,020
Republic of Moldova	Oct-00	3	234,020
Romania	Sep-91	19	2,857,650
Russian Federation	Feb-77	35	25,510,580
	(ratified as Soviet Union)
Rwanda	Apr-06	1	0
Saint Lucia	Jun-02	2	210
Samoa	Feb-05	1	1,200
Sao Tome and Principe	Dec-06	1	57
Senegal	Nov-77	5	247,090
Serbia	Apr-92	10	157,950
	(ratified as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
Seychelles	Mar-05	3	108,790
Sierra Leone	Apr-00	1	730,000
Slovakia	Jan-93	14	100,560
Slovenia	Jun-91	3	20,270
South Africa	Dec-75	22	1,373,110
South Sudan	Oct-13	1	14,000,000
Spain	Sep-82	74	749,000
Sri Lanka	Oct-90	6	489,690
Sudan	May-05	3	6,152,000
Suriname	Nov-85	1	30,000
Swaziland	Jun-13	3	0
Sweden	Dec-75	66	1,610,340
Switzerland	May-76	11	36,290
Syrian Arab Republic	Jul-98	1	25,000
Tajikistan	Nov-01	5	234,000
Thailand	Sep-98	14	987,710
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia	Sep-91	2	53,410
Togo	Nov-95	4	2,991,000
Trinidad and Tobago	Apr-93	3	39,340
Tunisia	Mar-81	41	2,076,580
Turkey	Nov-94	14	455,880
Turkmenistan	Jul-09	1	660,080
Uganda	Jul-88	12	1,122,610
Ukraine	Dec-91	33	1,840,070
United Arab Emirates	Dec-07	5	50,110
United Kingdom	May-76	170	3,160,290
United Republic of Tanzania	Aug-00	4	12,030,140
United States of America	Dec-86	38	4,598,040.00
Uruguay	Sep-84	3	1,076,980
Uzbekistan	Feb-02	2	1,380,000
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	Nov-88	5	651,460
Viet Nam	Jan-89	8	291,120
Yemen	Feb-08	1	1,400
Zambia	Dec-91	8	9,960,000
Zimbabwe	May-13	7	577,718.40

~

Get Down and Celebrate Dirt! (aka Happy World SOIL Day!)

"Essentially, all life depends upon the soil... 

There can be no life without soil and no soil without life; 

they have evolved together."

-Charles E. Kellogg

Happy Soil Day! credit: M. Barnes

On *this* the anniversary of Carl Sagan's birth...

World Space Day! (May 6!!!)

International Space Day, now celebrated on the first Friday in May, was started in 2001 by astronaut (and senator) John Glenn. It was developed from the popularity of the National (US) Space Day created by Lockheed Martin for a one day event in 1997.

On May 5, 1961, Commander Alan Shepard Jr. became the first America astronaut to be launched into space, aboard Freedom 7 (space capsule). The flight, suborbital, lasted 15 minutes and traveled to a height of 116 miles.
 On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin, Soviet cosmonaut, was the first man launched in to space and safely returned!

Stay tuned for World Space Week in October! 

Many museums hold Space Day celebrations:
Smithsonian International Air and Space Museum
Seattle Museum of Flight
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
 Maine Space Grant Consortium Space Day Celebration
World Space Day on FB

National Arbor Day(s) - US April 29, 2016

 
Arbor Day is an international celebration, but it is celebrated on different days around the world (usually in spring) depending upon local climates. The first (known) Arbor Festival was in Mondonedo, Spain, in 1594. The first *modern* Arbor Day was held in 1805 in Villanueva de la Sierra, Spain.

In the US the first Arbor Day was celebrated April 10, 1872, when ~1 million trees were planted in Nebraska. Over time Arbor Day became an official celebration with President Roosevelt issuing an Arbor Day Proclamation (April 15, 1907) addressed to the school children of the United States about the importance of trees, and encouraging that forestry be taught in US schools.

Over the years the date has changed a bit, and now Arbor Day is celebrated in the US on the last Friday in April, this year that is April 29!


A partial list of tree planting celebration (& times) around the world:

Australia

National Tree Day is on the last Sunday in July. Arbor Day has been observed in Australia since June 20, 1889.

Belgium

International Day of Tree-planting is celebrated ~March 21 as an educational day/observance, not as a public holiday.

Brazil

Arbor Day (Dia da Árvore) is celebrated September 21.

British Virgin Islands

Sponsored by the National Parks Trust, Arbour Day is celebrated November 22. \

Cambodia

Cambodia celebrates Arbor Day July 9.

Canada

National Forest Week is celebrated the last full week of September, with National Tree Day falling on the Wednesday of that week. Individual Arbor Days are celebrated around Canada in spring.

Central African Republic

National Tree Planting Day is July 20.

China

Arbor Day, celebrated on March 12, is upheld in China with the The Resolution on the Unfolding of a Nationwide Voluntary Tree-planting Campaign,1981

Costa Rica

"Día del Árbol" is June 15.

Egypt

Arbor Day is January 15

Germany

The first Arbor Day ("Tag des Baumes") in Germany was in 1952, it is celebrated on April 25.

India

The tree planting festival in India is called Van Mahotsav (festival of trees). Originating in 1947, it lasts one week in July.

Iran

"National Tree Planting Day is on the 15th day of month Esfand which is generally ~ March5.

Israel

Tu Bishvat (the new year for trees), is on the 15^th day of Shvat, which is ~ January or February.

Japan

Greenery Day, similar to Arbor Day, is celebrated May 4.

Kenya

National Tree Planting Day is April 21.

Luxembourg

National Tree Planting Day is in November.

Republic of Macedonia

'Tree Day-Plant Your Future' tradition was started on March 12, 2008, when over 150,000 Macedonians planted 2 million trees in one day (symbolically, one for each citizen). It continues now each year.

Malawi

National Tree Planting Day is on the 2nd Monday of December.

Mexico

The Día del Árbol , started in 1959, it is celebrated each year on the 2nd Thursday of July.

Mongolia

The first National Tree Planting Day was celebrated in 2010, it is now tradition on the 2nd Saturday of May and October.

Namibia

Arbor Day is celebrated on October 8.

Netherlands

Begun in 1957, National Festival of Trees (Nationale Boomplantdag/Nationale Boomfeestdag) is celebrated the third Wednesday of March.

New Zealand

Arobor Day is on June 5.

Niger

Arbor Day is August 3.

Pakistan

National tree plantation day is August 18.

Philippines

Arbor Day has been celebrated since 1947, and is now celebrated on June 25.

Poland

Arbor Day is October 10.

Portugal

Arbor Day is March 21.

South Africa

Arbor Day, begun in 1945, was expanded to Arbor Week in 200, lasting from September 1-7.

South Korea

Arbor Day is celebrated April 5.

Spain

Celebrations for Arbor Day are chosen locally, but they are usually celebrated from February to May.

Taiwan

Arbor Day is celebrated on March 12.

Tanzania

National Tree Planting Day is April 1

Uganda

National Tree Planting Day is March 24.

United Kingdom

National Tree Week, first celebrated in 1975, this year is from Nov 26- Dec 4.

United States

Arbor Day is on the last Friday in April.

Venezuela

Día del Arbol (Day of the Tree) is the last Sunday of May.