Word: earthly
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...Giving Earth a Voice I am an environmental educator who works internationally, and I bought the "Heroes of the Environment" special issue with great interest [Oct. 29]. However, I was disappointed to see Virgin tycoon Richard Branson alongside real environmental heroes such as Gaia theorist James Lovelock and Green Belt Movement co-founder Wangari Maathai. Although the writer defended Branson's inclusion, I am not convinced. I acknowledge that he is giving a large sum of money to scientific research for developing clean fuels, and this will certainly help our fight. But his environmental efforts are akin to offsetting long...
...giant oil multinationals that are conducting oil-exploration activities. In the process of searching for oil, large quantities of gas have been flared throughout my over 30 years of existence and are still being flared. I was never bothered by the gas flares until I read Al Gore's Earth in the Balance, from which I learned they are a great contributor to global warming. I became enlightened but at the same time frightened by the damage done to my immediate environment and the greater world. As an African, my interest in the environment was further aroused when Wangari Maathai...
...surprised that none of your heroes are focusing on the root cause of Earth's numerous environmental challenges: unchecked population growth. This issue is apparently so fraught with religion and nationalism that to bring it up would stain the reputation of any heroes and cast their virtuous achievements as questionable. As our little planet hurtles toward a projected 9.4 billion humans by 2050, however, I suspect the topic will eventually come into vogue. Stephen Ehrenberg, Stavanger, Norway...
...sound absurd, but I am truly sad that I have not yet contributed enough to the well-being of Earth to be listed as one of the Heroes of the Environment. When environmental issues first inspired me in elementary school, I worried that I might have to fight the war against global deterioration alone. I have since realized there is no need to worry; there are many people who take environmental issues seriously and act to make a difference. Right now I am only 18, not yet knowledgeable enough to influence the world, but with my passions, I believe...
Apart from the kangaroo, the koala and other enchanting marsupials, Australia seems short of identity icons. There is, of course, Ayers Rock, the most sublime stone on earth. There is also the incomparable Great Barrier Reef, a single coral organism some 1,250 miles long. We have two famous structures, both in Sydney: the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, the latter a masterpiece by the Danish architect Jorn Utzon. Perched on one of the world's most beautiful sites for a ceremonial building, a headland in Sydney Harbor, and surrounded on three sides by sapphire water, this great building...