This one is about something we ’ re all intimately familiar with . ( Let me guess … headlice ? Ed ) No . And why was that your first thought ? I am talking about the Earth .
Trees , take a bough ! Geddit ? OK , fair enough . Reforestation is happening all over the world , but it ’ s not as simple as just planting a shed load of trees and hoping for the best – there is a lot more to those lean , green , carbon-banking machines than you might think .
( Oh . Is it all doom and gloom then ?)
Far from it . The Earth is an extraordinarily beautiful and complex place . Wonderful things are happening here all the time .
For example , did you know :
1 The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park has strengthened its entire ecosystem .
2 Scientists have discovered that African wild dogs communicate by sneezing at each other .
3 The Greek island of Paros is working to become the world ’ s first plastic-free island .
4 The largest living organism on Earth by area is Armillaria ostoyae , also called the humongous fungus ( great name ). It lives in Oregon , covers almost 4 miles and is thousands of years old .
5 Southern white rhinos were once thought to be extinct . Now – thanks to conservation efforts – there are between 19,000 and 21,000 living in protected areas .
But , OK , there is some doom and gloom . Worrying about the problems of climate change is completely understandable , but it ’ s not always helpful . Here are a few things we can all do to help us feel better :
1 Focus only on evidence-based news . Learn to notice the difference between fact and opinion .
2 Couldn ’ t resist that burger ? Try not to worry . Everyone slips up sometimes , even me ( especially you , ed ).
3 You can do something . Remember that the environment isn ’ t a faraway place – it ’ s right there on your doorstep . Show you mean business by nurturing your garden and local green spaces .
4 Find friends who feel the same way you do and celebrate your small victories together .
We hope you have an incredible April . Don ’ t forget to join us back here in May to get your paws on our daring and dazzling Discovering Dogs issue . You ’ d have to be barking to miss it !
Greenhouse graft Harvey ’ s here to look at the Greenhouse Effect and the Goldilocks Zone – which is the area around a star where potentially inhabitable planets reside , and NOT the name of my local fairy-tale-themed escape room *.
* Although that is a great name for a fairy-talethemed escape room .
All mapped out You may not have heard of cartographer Gerardus Mercator but you ’ ve definitely seen his work . He was one of the first people to create a reliable map of the planet that could be used for navigation . He got a lot of things right – we still use his version daily – but not everything ! Turns out there ’ s more than one way to see the world !
Trash talk What are scientists doing to understand the impact of plastic on the planet ? Since when is Punk Archaeology a thing , and what on Earth has all this got to do with my Lego collection ? E . B . investigates the Anthropocene .