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New videos DAILY: https://bigth.ink/youtube Join Big Think Edge for exclusive videos: https://bigth.ink/Edge ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daniel C. Esty is the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the Yale Law School. Known for his innovative policy ideas and commitment to transformative change, Dan served as head of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection from 2011 to 2014 and in several leadership roles at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1989 to 1993. He is the editor of A Better Planet: 40 Big Ideas for a Sustainable Future (Yale University Press). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT BIG THINK: Smarter Faster™ Big Think is the leading source of expert-driven, actionable, educational content -- with thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, we help you get smarter, faster. S​ubscribe to learn from top minds like these daily. Get actionable lessons from the world’s greatest thinkers & doers. Our experts are either disrupting or leading their respective fields. ​We aim to help you explore the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century, so you can apply them to the questions and challenges in your own life. Other Frequent contributors include Michio Kaku & Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Michio Kaku Playlist: https://bigth.ink/kaku Bill Nye Playlist: https://bigth.ink/BillNye Neil DeGrasse Tyson Playlist: https://bigth.ink/deGrasseTyson Read more at Bigthink.com for a multitude of articles just as informative and satisfying as our videos. New articles posted daily on a range of intellectual topics. Join Big Think Edge, to gain access to an immense library of content. It features insight from many of the most celebrated and intelligent individuals in the world today. Topics on the platform are focused on: emotional intelligence, digital fluency, health and wellness, critical thinking, creativity, communication, career development, lifelong learning, management, problem solving & self-motivation. BIG THINK EDGE: https://bigth.ink/Edge If you're interested in licensing this or any other Big Think clip for commercial or private use, contact our licensing partner, Executive Interviews: https://bigth.ink/licensing ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Transcript: So genomics, the idea that we can intervene with the genome of not just humans but any species in a way that might harden that species, improve it’s resilience to threats like climate change or make it more amenable to various medical approaches so as to ensure there’s a reduction of harm. And it can also be used in plants, for example, to speed up the growth pace and otherwise to provide ways to help harden the species or improve a species contribution to the response to climate change. So many aspects of society have been transformed by technology breakthroughs in the last couple of decades. And I would argue that the environmental arena broadly and climate change in particular had seen very little of that brought to bear despite an urgent need. And I do think suddenly that’s changing. We now have a number of people that are looking at various aspects of the technology world and saying how might this help us achieve a sustainable future. And that is very much a focus of the Better Planet book with a number of authors putting forward both technologies and frames of thinking that might move us towards a climate change answer. One of the most important aspects of this in my mind is the concept of genomics, of thinking about how we do genetic modification as a strategy for improving sustainability. And the chapter in our Better Planet book that lays this out offers examples both in terms of human exposure to public health threats broadly and to climate change in particular and understanding how we might well be able to address individual exposures that differ from the general public with genomic intervention in the future sparing people pain and suffering they might otherwise face. And perhaps even more interesting there are very significant ways that we might see genomic progress in addressing the plant and animal world. I’m thinking in particular of forests which could be a critical sink for carbon dioxide and I do think there are ways that we can make forests grow faster and perhaps serve more successfully as a sink for those greenhouse gases ensuring a better response to the problem and getting us to think about both mitigation, reducing emissions, but also the ability to set up nature as part of the solution absorbing those carbon emissions.

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Join host Jeff Corwin on an adventure in his home state of Massachusetts. Jeff returns to his roots to help conservationists save a collection of iconic New England wildlife, including an owl ready

Join host Jeff Corwin on an adventure in his home state of Massachusetts. Jeff returns to his roots to help conservationists save a collection of iconic New England wildlife, including an owl ready to be released. To learn more about the wildlife featured in the episode, visit www.defenders.org/wildlifenation Video Transcript: Jeff Corwin: Today, we're in my home state of Massachusetts and we're heading to the New England Wildlife Center. The center provides veterinary care to sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife from raccoons to opossums to owls, squirrels, and hawks. The dedicated staff put a lot of time and caring to rehabilitating each animal that comes through their doors. Jeff Corwin: For me, what I love about New England, specifically Massachusetts is that, Lindsay, when it comes to nature, there's so many surprises. I don't think a lot of people give New England the credit it deserves when it comes to amazing wildlife and habitat. Dr. Lindsay Rosa: They don't, Jeff and in fact, growing up here, I always thought it was wonderful I didn't have to go far across the country to a national park to see wildlife. I had bear and bobcat in my backyard.  Jeff Corwin: This is Lindsay Rosa. She's the senior conservation officer with Defenders of Wildlife, and I'm bringing her to one of my most favorite wildlife conservation centers on the planet. It is called the New England Wildlife Center. And I have worked with the New England Wildlife Center since I was about 13 or 14 years old and it has been such a joy for me to watch them grow and thrive. And their success is largely the result of the challenges that they face. Why are we having so many challenges in protecting species today? Dr. Lindsay Rosa:  The more that we continue to grow and spread from cities like Boston, the more we're encroaching into these habitats, which is why conservation comes in so many shapes and sizes and colors now from protecting a plot of land for species to doing some of the great rehabilitation work that's going on at the center. Jeff Corwin: Well, speaking of great rehabilitation work, I think you're going to love what these folks are doing. They're good friends of mine. It's going to be an amazing experience. You ready?  Dr. Lindsay Rosa: I'm ready.  Jeff Corwin: All right, let's go do it. Zachary Mertz: This guy came in about three weeks ago. He was really debilitated, just pretty dazed, stumbling from side to side, which are all hallmarks of lead poisoning.  Jeff Corwin: Did it eat the lead or was it shot?  Zachary Mertz: Very often it's trying to get a meal at the bottom of a pond, at the bottom of a lake and they accidentally eat a fishing sinker, accidentally eat an old shotgun shell. Gregory Mertz: When lead goes in the body, it circulates in the blood and it attaches to the different nerve endings  and as a result causes neurological disease.  Jeff Corwin: Lead poisoning from pollution or contamination, but especially from shotgun shell shot that has lead has had a powerful impact in wildlife, hasn't it? Dr. Lindsay Rosa:  Yeah. In fact, Jeff millions of birds every year are poisoned with lead and it's a big problem to the point that, various countries and states are now taking action and we've noticed changes and even recovery. Jeff Corwin:  So the good news is there are viable alternatives-  Dr. Lindsay Rosa: There are.  Jeff Corwin: ... that work. So what do we need to do today?  Gregory Mertz: What we want to do is get that lead to release. So we add something called calcium EDTA, and that is fairly reactive with lead itself. It will pick it up and allow it to be washed out of the body. Jeff Corwin: In order to continue the healing process the swan gets an injection of calcium EDTA. Swans, they are incredibly resilient. They can survive a dose of lead poisoning that would kill a human being, which is kind of amazing. Jeff Corwin: And finally, after making a full recovery, the swan is released back into the same lake where it was found. We've had an incredible time helping out at the New England Wildlife Center. There's one final animal ready to be released back into the wild, this beautiful barn owl. Lindsay, Greg and I are releasing it into a protected habitat. Jeff Corwin:  Lindsay, why do you think a moment like this is important?  Dr. Lindsay Rosa: This habitat as well as most across the nation, we share it with our wildlife neighbors and really we have to be mindful about what we're doing. We know that lead and rodenticide are poisonous. We all have to keep our wildlife neighbors safe.  Jeff Corwin: You can't protect what you do not love, and you'll never love it if you don't get to meet it and that's why we go in these journeys. So are you ready, Lindsay, to do this? Dr. Lindsay Rosa: I'm ready, Jeff. Jeff Corwin: 3, 2, 1. Oh, there it goes... We hit our character limit. Leave us a comment for the rest of the transcript!

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A DREAM - Get Ready by Dave Courchene I had this dream last night. I was speaking to this man and telling him what I was told by the Grandfather. I told him, “The Grandfather spoke directly to

A DREAM - Get Ready by Dave Courchene I had this dream last night. I was speaking to this man and telling him what I was told by the Grandfather. I told him, “The Grandfather spoke directly to me and said: ‘You were told many years ago that there would be great changes coming to the Earth. As you were told, we prepared you with the spiritual teachings of your ancestors.’ ‘We were preparing you so you could live on the land. To live on the land you have to live from the spirit. Well that time is very close and there is no time to waste. Get the things you will need to survive on the land. Get axes, and the other things and tools you know you will need to live the most simple life, away from the technology that is destroying the water and the land.” I see many changes happening already, and I wondered how severe these changes are going to be in relation to the current lifestyle we are living. I realize that the current path we are on is not one that treats all life in sacredness. The Earth continues to feel the brunt of our selfishness and greed. When we reflect on the current world conditions, there is no doubt of a need for a major change – the need to change our current attitudes, to values that support life. A change is needed to be more kind, more compassionate, more giving and sharing. We were told of a time that is coming where the Earth would give birth to a New Life. The Earth would go through pains of labour while the vision of the New Life, brought by the Great Spirit, was growing in her womb. We were told long before the arrival of the newcomers in our homeland that there would be people coming from the many different lands of the Earth. They were brought here by the Great Spirit to come and learn, and be reminded of their true spiritual identity and purpose as human beings, which is to love and take care of each other and the Earth. All human beings were given original instructions, complete with values, duties and responsibilities that we are supposed to fulfill. There are those amongst our Nations as the Original People who have stayed faithful and true to our original instructions. It would be these few who would be propelled into the forefront of a movement, offering a leadership of sharing that knowledge. We are living in a time that we need a vision of hope based on values and teachings that can set the foundation for a change of heart. It is the spirit of these seven animals that we call upon to teach and remind us of the Seven Sacred Laws, beginning with the law of Respect – to be a giving and sharing people, following the example of the buffalo who gave its whole being for the life of the people. Love – is about loving the Great Spirit, loving the land, loving ourselves in the way we were created, and loving each other in the highest way, as the eagle brings vision that is always based on love. The essence of love is understanding, with empathy and compassion. Through the unconditional love of the Great Spirit, we have all been given the ability to have vision, and to make our visions come true. Courage – is living from the heart, and having the courage to be ourselves. It takes courage to do the right thing for the sake of the children, the way a mother bear would die before seeing harm come to her cub. Honesty – is being honest with ourselves, speaking and living our truth from the heart. Honesty is refusing to lie or engage in gossip about others. Honesty is being true to our words. Honesty is never judging or condemning others, but to speak well of others, honouring their uniqueness within the human family. Wisdom – is about using the gift the Great Spirit gave each of us to serve, and to build a strong family, community and Nation. Our gifts do not belong to us as individuals, but belong to all the people, to serve the good of the Nation. If the beaver did not use his gift to build, his teeth would grow long and he would die. Similarly if we do not use our gifts in a good way for the benefit of the Earth and the brothers and sisters of our nations, we too would die spiritually. Humility – is about showing gratitude for life received, never overstepping the natural laws of Mother Earth. Humility is to know that not one of us is ever above or below our fellow human beings. We are all equal in the eyes of the Great Spirit. There is so much we can learn from the wolf. The teaching of humility is especially important for the leaders of our Nations. Our motherland is referred to as Turtle Island. To know and live truth is to walk and live all the Seven Sacred Laws. Living truth means living in the spirit of Respect, Love, Courage, Honesty, Wisdom, Humility and Truth. It is when we live truth that we will know peace and find the truth of our humanity. When one is able to walk the spirit of these Seven Sacred Laws is when one becomes truly free, it is then that one receives the full support of the universe, and the forces of the Earth itself.

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CONGRATULATIONS ERICA MARIE DANIELS FROM THE TURTLE LODGE! 2021 Young Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Award Erica Daniels, Founder & Owner, Kejic Productions The Turtle Lodge is so very proud and

CONGRATULATIONS ERICA MARIE DANIELS FROM THE TURTLE LODGE! 2021 Young Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Award Erica Daniels, Founder & Owner, Kejic Productions The Turtle Lodge is so very proud and honoured to share that Erica Marie Daniels, Cree filmmaker from Peguis First Nation, who has worked with the Turtle Lodge since 2011, is the recipient of the 2021 Youth Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Award from the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB). Erica Marie Daniels (Animki Mukwa Ikwe – Thunder Bear Woman) Youth Leader, Cree Nation. Erica Daniels is a young entrepreneur specializing in Video Production, Photography, and Graphic Design from Peguis First Nation but resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She began her journey through Just TV, a multimedia program for at-risk youth in the inner city of Winnipeg. Today, she is an award-winning director and producer and, at just 29 years old, owner of her own media company Kejic Productions. Elder Dr. Dave Courchene Jr. named her company Kejic, meaning "The Sky" in Anishinabemowin, symbolizing that there are no limits to our dreams and what we can achieve. Erica won the first-ever Indigenous Film Award presented at the 2019 Indigenous Music Awards. Her latest film, Run As One – The Journey of the Front Runners (Watch here), won two Golden Sheaf Awards and was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award and the Banff World Media Festival Award. She shares a message of hope to encourage Aboriginal Youth to pursue ­their full potential and follow their dreams. Erica is a graduate from the National Screen Institute’s New Voices Program and has been recognized for her work in the visual arts by receiving the 2012 City of Winnipeg Youth Role Model Award, 2013 Manitoba Aboriginal Youth Achievement Award, and as a National Youth Panelist at the 2014 Cando Business Conference. She has been nominated for a YWCA Young Women of Distinction Award and was a keynote speaker for the UpStarts Youth Entrepreneur Conference in Whitehorse, Yukon in May 2015. Erica has a passion for working with Youth in her community by connecting them with their identity as First Nations people of their homeland. She became connected to her culture and identity in 2011 when she attended her first ceremony at the Turtle Lodge in Sagkeeng First Nation and has been learning from her Indigenous elders ever since. She currently runs a cultural program at the Broadway Neighbourhood Centre and mentors youth in video production and graphic design through Kejic Productions and the Just TV Program. Erica completed a documentary entitled Mikinakay – Trail of the Turtle (Watch here) which follows the story of two Indigenous youth and their journey to heal from the effects of intergenerational trauma. Erica is currently co-directing The Seven Sacred Laws, an 8-part vignette series, along with Peg City Pictures Inc. and Nüman Films in partnership with the Turtle Lodge, Investors Group, and the Manitoba 150.

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Aimee Delach, our Senior Policy Analyst, Climate Adaptation breaks down how climate change is already affecting humans, biodiveristy, and natural communities. You can learn more by visiting:

Aimee Delach, our Senior Policy Analyst, Climate Adaptation breaks down how climate change is already affecting humans, biodiveristy, and natural communities. You can learn more by visiting: dfnd.us/climatechange Video Transcript: Why should you care about climate change? Because climate change is already having devastating effects on both human and natural communities. Climate change is among the greatest threats to biodiversity on our planet. Triggered by our warming climate, extreme weather events – like intense heat waves, strong storms and prolonged droughts – are all on the rise, taking human and wildlife lives each year, and costing billions of dollars in damage. Habitats around the world are beginning to shift, shrink, melt and even disappear entirely due to climate change. Oceans are changing rapidly with higher temperatures and more acidic conditions affecting migration patterns, breeding, food sources and shelter for marine species. Rapid warming and melting ice in the Arctic could be devastating for the animals that depend on it - such as polar bear, walrus, seals, whales, and seabirds. Species like moose, pika and desert tortoise are also facing increased extreme heat and other threats to their survival. And the human costs are huge as well. In 2020 alone, the U.S. suffered 22 weather and climate disasters that cost over $1 billion each. We must act quickly to expand renewable energy and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to keep the planet from warming any more. But since the effects of climate change are already here now and already impacting wildlife and habitat we must also use the best available science to understand and reduce the specific threats that wildlife and ecosystems are expected to face. Defenders is: 1. Developing and implementing adaptive conservation and management plans 2. We're advocating on Capitol Hill for increased funding for programs combating climate change 3. And we're advising that renewable energy projects are responsibly sited and operated so that they don't threaten wildlife. You can learn more by clicking the link: dfnd.us/climatechange

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As a high school student in drought stricken Reno, Nevada, Celeste Tinajero couldn’t bear to sit idly by as her school’s outdated toilets and faucets leaked water day in and day out. So in her

As a high school student in drought stricken Reno, Nevada, Celeste Tinajero couldn’t bear to sit idly by as her school’s outdated toilets and faucets leaked water day in and day out. So in her sophomore year Tinajero — who from an early age had been deeply influenced by her mother’s waste conscious and socially responsible values — rallied her peers to send a $12,000 grant proposal to the nonprofit GREENevada (Growing Resources for Environmental Education in Nevada) seeking to renovate Reed High School’s bathrooms. Tinajero and Reed High School were awarded the grant in 2011 to install new technology in the school’s bathrooms, including low flush toilets, auto-sensor lights, and automatic hand dryers and faucets. Motivated by the victory, Tinajero tackled another issue plaguing her school — single use plastic bottles. In 2012, her high school was awarded another $3,500 grant to cover the cost of installing a “hydration station” where students could refill their water bottles. However, the school building was old and its walls contained asbestos which needed to be removed before the hydration station could be installed. To cover the cost of this involved, Tinajero and her schoolmates raised funds by selling reusable water bottles at the school’s annual “Reedstock” festival. Tinajero graduated from Reed in 2013, leaving behind a legacy of driven change-making. Today she continues to help create positive change in Reno by designing curriculum on sustainable living for local schools and by working as a lead researcher for the Reno “Bag the Ban” campaign against plastic bags.

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What was Arizona like during the Ice Age? The glacial environment was cool and moist, and nothing like the hot, dry desert climate experienced in parts of the state today. It was so much wetter

What was Arizona like during the Ice Age? The glacial environment was cool and moist, and nothing like the hot, dry desert climate experienced in parts of the state today. It was so much wetter that Meteor Crater held a deep, permanent freshwater lake for 40,000 years. Ice Age Arizona was home to an array of animals now referred to as the Rancholabrean megafauna, named after the Rancho La Brea fossil site, AKA the La Brea tar pits. The most awesome predator of this time was not a big cat, it was a giant Ice Age bear, Arctodus simus. Early humans occurred alongside the Ice Age animals. In fact, Arizona has six sites where the remains of the Columbian Mammoth - an extinct Ice Age elephant - are associated with human artifacts. Join NHI and archaeologist Dick Ryan to learn about Arizona's glacial environment, as well as the animals and humans it supported during the Ice Age. Dick Ryan worked as a field archaeologist in the American Southwest for ten years. He received a Master’s in Archaeology from NAU in 1983, at age 39. As an archaeologist, he worked for Desert Research Institute, the Museum of Northern Arizona, contracted with a number of archaeology companies, and was a government archaeologist with Prescott National Forest in 1987 and 1988. His main area of interest is Ice Age mammoth hunters of the Paleoindian Period. Dick has published in The Journal of the Southwest, The Nevada Archaeologist, Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, and Current Research in the Pleistocene. Recently, Dick has become one of the major promoters of Mata Ortiz Pottery in the U.S., while maintaining an active interest in archaeology.

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This fuzzy teddy bear of a bee 🐝 is the American bumblebee. This highly adaptable insect once thrived from coast to coast, providing essential pollination service to wild plants and crops across

This fuzzy teddy bear of a bee 🐝 is the American bumblebee. This highly adaptable insect once thrived from coast to coast, providing essential pollination service to wild plants and crops across 47 states. But due to threats including habitat loss, widespread pesticide use, climate change and disease, it has disappeared from eight states and declined throughout nearly all of its range. The decline of this once-common native pollinator is alarming and heartbreaking — and a harbinger of massive biodiversity loss across the country. ----- About the Center: The Center for Biological Diversity is a 501c3 nonprofit headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. At the Center, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive. We want those who come after us to inherit a world where the wild is still alive. Where to find us: WEBSITE: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/CenterForBioDiv FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/CenterforBio... INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/centerforbi... TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@centerforbiodiv TAKE ACTION: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/a... For questions or media inquiries, email us at [email protected].

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Un ours surgit de la forêt et fait sursauter le garçon pour lui enseigner la loi du courage. Écrites par l’aîné anishinabe David Courchene, réalisées par la cinéaste autochtone Erica

Un ours surgit de la forêt et fait sursauter le garçon pour lui enseigner la loi du courage. Écrites par l’aîné anishinabe David Courchene, réalisées par la cinéaste autochtone Erica Daniels de la Première Nation Peguis et produites par la société manitobaine Peg City Pictures inc., Les sept enseignements sacrés est une websérie animée haute en couleur et pleine d’imagination. On y suit un jeune garçon autochtone dans un rite de passage autochtone, soit la quête de la vision. Durant son cheminement spirituel, il rencontre sept animaux sacrés qui lui enseignent comment les humains devraient vivre leur vie sur la Terre mère. En partenariat avec le Turtle Lodge, un centre international pour l’éducation et le bien-être des Autochtones situé dans la réserve de la Première Nation Sagkeeng et IG Gestion de patrimoine, Manitoba 150 est fier de présenter une série de courts métrages d’animation sur les sept enseignements sacrés. Le Turtle Lodge est reconnu internationalement comme un lieu de partage de connaissances universelles et anciennes, de reconnexion à la terre et à la nature et de partage entre les personnes de toutes les ethnies. Vous trouverez de plus amples informations sur le Turtle Lodge sur le site theturtlelodge.org

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