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When my kids joined the PINE Project, they came home with stories of dead rabbits in trees, Salmon spawning and pineapple weed.
And this all happened within Toronto's densely populated (3M+) downtown core.
The program is run by my old friend and kayaking buddy Andrew, who believes that:
When kids start to see edible wilds not only in the forest, but also their front lawn, they begin to understand how deeply connected they are to our planet and - in turn - they will want to protect it... naturally.
So with that in mind, I looked up a bunch of interesting, funny and surprising facts about nature that may help you do the same.
7 Interesting, fun and surprising FACTS about nature
1. A long, long time ago, there was no bacteria / microbes to decompose the trees that existed at that time, and because those trees were tall with shallow roots, they could easily fall and pile up. Jump ahead 300 Million years and those trees have now turned into... coal. Who knew? Not me.
2. "If you measure the kinetic energy of its wind velocity alone, a single mature hurricane can equal about half of our entire planet's capability of producing electricity. If you measure it in terms of rainfall, though, a hurricane releases the force of 10,000 atomic bombs over an area about 413 miles wide."
3. Coconuts kill more people than sharks... Sharks kill an average of 10 people per year while coconuts kill 150. In contrast, Humans kill about 100 million sharks per year! I know this in part thanks to Rob Stewart (who actually went to my highschool), a diver, Shark activist and film-maker behind SHARK WATER.
4. "When a Texas man pulled out his .38 revolver and fired three shots at an armadillo, the bullet wound up hitting the man in the face, resulting in him needing to have his jaw wired shut."
5. There are 12 times more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way! Scientists estimate there are between 200 – 400 billion stars in our galaxy while there are an estimated 1 trillion trees on Earth.
6. Scientists say that homosexual activity among male giraffes is more common than heterosexual activity. In one study from Tanzania published in Biological Exuberance, 94 percent of all observed mounting activity was same-sex.
7. Bats are so good at keeping pests away from our food crops that they save U.S. farmers alone at least $3.7 billion on pesticides every year.
BONUS FACT: The ocean produces up to 85 percent of the Earth's oxygen. You may already know this, but I think it's a good reminder!
Thanks always for reading and listening.
