International Day of Forests and Trees 21 March

"On this first International Day of Forests and the Tree, I urge governments, businesses and all sectors of society to commit to reducing deforestation, preventing forest degradation, reducing poverty and promoting sustainable livelihoods for all forest-dependent peoples".                                             
     Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon                                                      
     Message for the International Day of Forests, 21 March 2013


Forests cover one third of the Earth's land mass, performing vital functions around the world. Around 1.6 billion people - including more than 2,000 indigenous cultures - depend on forests for their livelihood.
Forests are the most biologically-diverse ecosystems on land, home to more than half of the terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects. Forests also provide shelter, jobs and security for forest-dependent populations.
They play a key role in our battle against climate change. Forests contribute to the balance of oxygen, carbon dioxide and humidity in the air. They protect watersheds, which supply fresh water to rivers.
Yet despite all of these priceless ecological, economic, social and health benefits, we are destroying the very forests we need to survive. Global deforestation continues at an alarming rate - 13 million hectares of forest are destroyed annually. Deforestation accounts for 12 to 20 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.



 via http://www.un.org/

100 Best TED Talks

      For over five years now the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference has been releasing talks from their conference on video featuring leading thinkers not only in technology, entertainment, and design, but also science, psychology, personal growth, and numerous other areas. They now offer over 900 talks on their website and numerous other TED conferences have popped up including TED Global, TED India, TED Women, and 100s of TEDx Events which have produced almost 20,000 TEDx videos on YouTube.

      The TED Talks give you a global outlook in a way that few other resources can provide. And at 20 minutes you can get through a lot of them and gain a lot of condensed knowledge very quickly.
Here are the categories we've featured below with the number of TED talks that we featured for each category:
ART & DESIGN (5 talks)
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS (10 talks)
EDUCATION (5 talks)
HEALTH & PERSONAL GROWTH (10 talks)
PSYCHOLOGY (15 talks)
RELIGION & PHILOSOPHY (10 talks)
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (25 talks)
SOCIAL SCIENCES & GLOBAL ISSUES (15 talks)
MISCELLANEOUS (5 talks)
Expand your mind and inspire yourself to learn more with these amazing TED talks!

LIFETIME: What would it mean for us to be Immortal?

         In this four-programme series, string theory pioneer Michio Kaku goes on an extraordinary exploration of the world in search of time.He discovers our sense of time passing and the clocks that drive our bodies. He reveals the forces of time that make and destroy us in a lifetime. He journeys to some of the Earth's most spectacular geological sites to look for clues to the extraordinary depths of time at a planetary level. Finally, he takes us on a cosmic journey in search of the beginning (and the end) of time itself.

		1. DAYTIME Monday 30 July 2007 11pm-midnight Time seems to drive every moment. It's the most inescapable force we feel. But do we experience time from within our minds and bodies or from the outside?  Further details about the episode
		2. LIFETIME Monday 6 August 2007 11pm-midnight The most powerful effect of time on our lives is the way it limits us. Our knowledge of death is so embedded in our lives and spirituality that, were immortality possible, would we lose the sense that makes us human?  Further details about the episode
		3. EARTH TIME Monday 13 August 2007 11pm-midnight TBC We hold a unique knowledge of time, realising that it stretches deep into the past, and will continue into the future. How does this affect our sense of who we are?  Further details about the episode
		4. COSMIC TIME Monday 20 August 2007 11pm-midnight TBC We've always structured our lives based on an unchanging past and a predictable and ordered future. But atomic and cosmic discoveries have changed all that. What is time itself? And will it ever end?  Further details about the episode

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/time.shtml