There are several species of Migratory Birds affected by the impacts of Climate Change. Whether in the lowland species extending their ranges upslope in Costa Rica, earlier arrival of migrants in the USA, or even mismatches in the timing of breeding and food supply in the UK. If global warming exceeds 2 º C above pre-industrial levels Scientists have found that bird extinction rates could be as high as 38 percent in Europe, and 72 percent in northeastern Australia, according to a WWF report. 

We have asked you to share a story on how #birdmigration is being affected by Climate Change for our weekly Instagram Challenge. So, we are glad to congratulate Allan F. Castañeda for his great picture: 

#Climatechange one of the reason why birds needs to visit another country this what we called#birdmigration or climate change greatly affects the life of birds. This photo taken at IRRI in Los Baños Laguna Philippines. These Whiskered tern (chlidonias hybridus) certain species only pass through the Philippines as they commute between winter and summer quarters. Extremely large flocks pass through the IRRI fields and nearby areas every year. Many roost and feed on the flooded rice fields, with some birds remaining throughout the winter. In summer, they develop a very attractive breeding plumage and birds in this condition this can sometimes be seen at IRRI. April is also a key month for breeding birds in the Philippines, with most resident species starting to engage in some kind of mating behaviour by the end of the month.
Photo Credit: Allan F. Castañeda

On April 22, the world celebrated the Earth Day with a common goal - to plant more trees. Driven by this idea, its relevance and a very opportune time to take action on climate change, we joined the Earth Day celebration by initiating a “Plant a Tree for the Earth” initiative as our initial advocacy action to save Mother Earth. 

We - a group of visual artists alongside with the youth and community from Marinduque (an island in the Philippines) – worked together to celebrate this moment with the world, by planting mangrove trees at the Botilao Mangrove Forestry situated in the Botilao Island in Marinduque - the well-known "Heart of the Philippines", due to its heart-shaped form.

Photo Credit: Trees for The Earth

Our commitment to plant trees, together with some friends, fellow artists, and fellow environmentalists, went beyond expected, and our movement to plant mangrove trees become an inspiration to people of Marinduque Island to partake in saving, not only their Mangrove Forestry, but also the environment of the island. To join us on this quest, we had the help of volunteers from Sining Karaban, a Free-Art Learning Education that promotes leveraging creativity to help and inspire the young people and the participation of the Dream Favor Travel & Tours, a private company who also promulgates a good environment in the island through Eco-Tourism initiatives.

The day started early, and together hand-in-hand, we hit the road leading to the Mangrove Forestry. As we initiated a remarkable and unforgettable celebration of Earth Day in the Island of Marinduque, we felt a strong and positive support from the community, willing to help mitigate the effects of Climate Change by creating a new green “blanket” of trees to “cover” our Mother Earth.

Photo Credit: Trees for The Earth

Find out more here.

Education contributes to the solutions being developed to respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by climate change. Also, according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, “The solutions to climate change are also the paths to a safer, healthier, cleaner and more prosperous future for all. To see this and to understand what needs to be done requires a sharp and sustained focus on education, training and public awareness in all countries and at all levels of government, society and enterprise.”

Last week we challenged you to capture an inspiring story that raises awareness on climate change throught #education and now we are pleased to announce Allan F. Castañeda as the winner and a special mention to Recycle Points photography. Congratulations! 

Take a look at the original captures, first picture from Allan F. Castañeda that presents us with a creative and environmental friendly solution that is really improving the situation of students in Phillipines; second picture from Recycle Points ilustrating an inspiring initiative:

#Climatechange also affects education specially during rainy seasons and typhoons. #Education one of the most important aspects of our lives, because education can change our lives and our destiny. We notice in this picture that those students are boarding in a boat while waiting for the others it was time to return back home after their classes at school . Every day they keep doing this because they live on the island, they had to cross the lake of Taal for schooling. They do not mind the heavy waves pounding on their boat going to school and return back on their homes they do this for the sake of their studies. Because they said education helps us specially to our parents and make them proud when we are graduated. They are so grateful to this boatman because of him the travel going to their schools are very easy now. This was taken at Balete, Batangas, Philippines.

Students from @ur4africavisited our Collection and Sorting Hub to mark World Earth Day, and our Schools Recycling Program Coordinator Miss Ebere Iroegbu (@i_ebere) took them on a tour around our facility and also lectured them on the importance & benefits of proper waste disposal and recycling.

If you think your electricity bill is too high, you’re probably right - but it’s not just because energy is expensive. The average monthly bill for electricity is over $110, and almost $40 of that is from energy that your home is wasting. This is a problem - but for a homeowner who’s serious about sustainable living, it’s not insurmountable.

The Cost of Convenience

There’s no denying that the modern world is convenient. We can travel farther, communicate faster, and achieve more than at any other point in history. All of this is possible through our society’s mastery of electricity.

It’s electricity that powers the factories where cars are made. It’s electricity that powers the internet, lets us pay with credit and debit cards, and literally lights up our lives. According to the Energy Information Administration, the last few decades have seen explosive growth in the amount of energy consumed across the country. The truth of the matter is that there aren’t many new things that don’t involve a lot of energy being spent at some point in the process, and we’re quite literally paying the price for it.

Now, in a perfect world, we’d never waste the slightest bit of energy we produced. Unfortunately, reality is a little less than ideal, giving rise to the following considerations.

•  First, perfect use of energy is an unobtainable goal. We literally do not have the capability to use 100% of our energy without any kind of waste. When we say that a product is “energy efficient”, what we really mean is “it’s one of the least-wasteful choices we have”.
• Second, the only practical way to have zero waste is to use zero energy. In other words, to truly eliminate waste, we’d have to give up almost everything our society has created. It doesn’t take an expert to realize this has exactly no chance of happening.

This doesn’t mean all is lost, though. While we can’t expect to be perfect, we canmake a serious commitment to reducing energy waste when and where it’s practical to do so. There are many ways to save energy in your home, and when every household takes a few small steps to reduce waste, the total result is incredible. For now, though, let’s take a look at the infographic below and see which parts of your home are using the most energy.