Tanja's Little Corner of The World
A Texas city girl in a small New England town …
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National Great Outdoors Month in June reminds us to explore our nation’s abundant wildlife refuges, parks, and natural beauty. Whether we hike or bike the trails, kayak or canoe the many rivers and canyons, or pitch a tent in the forest or on a hillside, No matter our preferred mode of enjoying the great outdoors – hiking, biking, kayaking to name a few – nature is calling. Pursue the beauty and majesty of the big skies and open spaces the outdoors offers.
This month also raises awareness of the accessibility of the great outdoors. Depending on where we live, sometimes reaching nature is more difficult. Many cities create relaxing and vibrant green spaces with trails and paths designed for easy access by the community. However, in some inner-city neighborhoods, access to parks or the ability to get outside the city to visit State or National Parks is difficult. National Great Outdoors Month is an excellent time to consider making access possible.
Resource: https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/june/national-great-outdoors-month-june
The oldest corals appeared about 500 million years ago or even earlier. Researchers suggest that they began as plain, solitary organisms and, with time and constant environmental changes, transformed into the beautiful coral reefs that exist today.
During an ice age around 440 million years ago, sea temperatures dropped at an exponential rate and a large number of corals began diminishing from the ocean. This is called the Ordovician-Silurian Extinction Event. Around 410 million years ago, in the Devonian period, corals began to appear again. During the end of this period, stony corals started growing, which were a rare form of reef back then. Then, around 350 million years ago, corals disappeared again due to unstable sea levels.
100 million years later, corals appeared once again only to be wiped out once more by the Permian-Triassic Extinction 250 million years ago, where over 90% of sea creatures were affected. Reduced oxygen levels and increased carbon dioxide in the sea caused this tragic extinction event.
After disappearing and reappearing for another few million years, coral reefs finally reappeared 46 million years ago and disappeared for the last time during the mid-Eocene era. 20 million years later, they finally made a comeback in the form of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, which was founded by British explorer Captain James Cook in 1770.
Lately, some of the most beneficial reefs have been diminishing because of coral blanching, rising ocean temperatures, and toxic pollution. Moreover, the use of harmful sunscreens and increased tourism are also considered threats to the well-being of the coral reefs.
Resource: https://nationaltoday.com/world-reef-awareness-day/
The United States is home to a dazzling array of geographies and environments. Some, like the towering redwoods of California or the majestic cascades of Niagara Falls, enjoy worldwide reputations as media darlings and tourist hotspots. Other ecosystems, like the humble prairie that covers much of the interior United States, receive fewer accolades but play crucially important roles in the development of the nation.
Defined as a flat grassland with a temperate climate and derived from the French for ‘meadow,’ ‘prairie’ has become almost synonymous with the expansion of the American frontier. Flanked by the Great Lakes and the grandiose Rocky Mountains, the North American prairie extends across 15% of the continent’s land area. Other examples of similar grasslands around the world include the pampas in Argentina, the Central Asian steppes, and the llanos of Venezuela.
There’s more to the prairie than meets the eye. In fact, tall grass prairies host the most biodiversity in the Midwest and provide a home for dozens of rare species of animals and plants, including bison, antelope, elk, wolves, and bears.
Native prairies face extinction as more and more land is converted to agricultural and ranching use. Due to its rich, fertile soil, prairie land is prized for agricultural use. Around the world, almost three-quarters of agricultural regions are located in grassland areas. With only 1% of tallgrass prairie in the U.S. remaining untouched, the American tallgrass prairie is now one of the most endangered ecosystems on the planet. The Missouri Prairie Foundation launched National Prairie Day in 2016 to raise awareness and appreciation for the nation’s grasslands. The organization seeks to protect and restore native grasslands by promoting responsible stewardship, supporting acquisition initiatives, and providing public education and outreach.
Bears inhabited practically every continent when humans first reached North America. The grizzlies thrived in all western states, from Mexico to the tip of Alaska. The smaller black bear, a relative to the grizzly, lived in places as far-ranging as the Atlantic and the Pacific in North America, and Mexico to the northern edge of the continent. Since the black bear was a valuable source of thick hides for clothing and shelter, rich meat, and sweet fat for the Native Americans, we can see why they valued it and passed on the stories of these bears through their oral folktales.
The European settlers brought their fear of the wild and the animals. These bears posed a threat to life, livestock, and crops and so they began killing them. Their fear made its way into popular children’s books at the time, which showed bears attacking hunters alongside other predators preying on their cattle. As is common with a human presence, forest land was wiped out to make space for open farmland, and the bears began losing their homes. The more the population expanded, the more black bears were killed for safety, food, or other purposes. Because they reproduced much slower than other mammals, the black bear population began to dwindle.
However, restoration programs and recovery of forest land saw their numbers go up again, with some states like New Jersey and Maryland reporting a five-fold increase. While these bears have not been able to reclaim their entire territory across North America, there is still a good number of black bears in the wild. In fact, they are listed as the least endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to their large population. While the bear population is expanding, so is the human population, to the extent that the two are coexisting in many areas.
Resource: https://nationaltoday.com/national-black-bear-day/
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Dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. They were reptiles and ancestors of the common lizards, snakes, turtles, and crocodiles that exist today. Dinosaurs lived during the Mesozoic era or Age of Reptiles, which started about 252 million years ago. The first complete dinosaur skeleton to be found was an iguanodon in 1878. ‘Dinosaur’ stems from the words ‘terrible lizard’ in Greek. The name was invented by a famous scientist called Richard Owen in 1842.
Fossil footprints give us clues about the way dinosaurs moved about. The birds you see today are believed to be descendants of the dinosaurs and rocks from that era show that the last of the dinosaurs roamed the Earth 64 million years ago. There have been many theories about why dinosaurs became extinct. A change in the temperature of the Earth seems the most likely reason. Since they were cold-blooded, dinosaurs could not have survived without the warmth from the sun. Many scientists now agree that, 46 million years ago, a huge meteorite struck the Earth. It created a gigantic cloud of dust and cut out the sunlight for months, maybe even years, which led to the eventual decline of the Earth’s temperature.
Resource: https://nationaltoday.com/dinosaur-day/
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While I pulled some weeds, I found a little bunny hiding between the Evening Primroses in the frontyard. Since it was still little I could catch it and check it out. Once I saw it was okay I sat it back down in the primroses and let it move on. The plants were high enough to give the little bun-bun protection from predators.
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Author ~ Unknown
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Tanja's Little Corner of The World 