Landfills : Garbage filled in the lans can pollute the air worse than carbon dioxide

Landfills have a tendency to emit a host of toxic gases into the air, and by toxic gases we actually mean cytotoxic or carcinogenic gases, like benzene and vinyl chloride. They also leak into the surrounding soils and water sources.

Furthermore, landfills produce methane -- rather, microbes produce it as they devour anything they can and emit methane as a waste product. Being lighter than air, methane works its way out of the air and into the soils or the atmosphere. Methane has a very high global warming potential (GWP), about 12 times as high as carbon dioxide.

Garbage can stay long ...............

I got in the net while surfing about saving our green planet that The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates -

• glass bottles require a million years to fully break down in a landfill
• plastic foam cups require over 500 years
• aluminum cans between 200 and 500 years
• plastic bags as many as 20 years, and
• cigarette butts as many as five years.

African Buffalo

Africa's only cowlike mammal makes its home in a variety of habitats at altitudes up to 13,200 feet. Herds can be as large as 2,000 individuals, which are dominated by large males, when food is plentiful. When food is scare, African buffalo find it advantageous to split up into smaller groups. Members mutually groom each other and make noises to communicate.

Large males can weigh over 1,500 pounds and are usually twice the size of females. Males also carry a larger set of horns on top of their head, and have a thicker neck and a shoulder hump. A small fringe of hairs called a dewlap hangs from the throat. Both sexes are dark brown with hair-fringed ears, a hairless muzzle and a long tail.

Love Bird

Sundarban : World's Largest Mangrove Forest

Sundarban is the largest mangrove forest of the world, which is located southwestern costal area of Bangladesh. Sundarban means "Beautiful Forest" a unique combination of land, sea, forest, river, island, deer, colorful bird, and of course the Royal Bengal Tiger. Many island and with an approximate area of 10,000 sq-km forming the Sundarban. Around 60 % of this area is part of Bangladesh territory and the remaining 40 % is part of India.Geographical Details: - Longitude - 30 24' - 30 28' N - Latitude - 77 40' - 77 44' E- Altitudinal Range - 0-10 m above sea level- Average Rainfall - 175 cm- Temperature-Min. 2 C, Max. 38 CSpecies of Sunderban:- Over 40 mammal Species - 270 colorful bird species- 45 reptile species- 11 amphibian species - More than 120 fish species and- More than 330 plant speciesSeveral remarkable animal species of Sundarban: Royal Bengal Tiger, Estuarine Crocodile, Marsh Crocodile, Spotted Deer, Swamp Deer, Hog Deer, Dolphins, Water Buffalo, Rhesus Monkey, Pythons, King Cobra, Salvator lizards etc.Birds: Kingfishers (9 species), Raptors (38 species), Jungle Fowl, Woodpeckers, Fishing Engle, White Bellied Sea Eagle, Seagull etc.Migratory Birds:Whimprel, Black-tailed Godwit, Little Stint, Eastern Knot, Curlew, Sandpiper, Golden Plover, Pintail, White-eyed Pochard and also Whistling teal. Plants:Sundarban is also a habitat of more than 330 species of fresh-water, brakish-water plants. Including various kinds of algae, herb, tree etc.Sundri(Heritiera fomes), Gewa (Excoecaria agallocha), Goran (Ceriops decandra), Passur (Xylocarpus mekongensis), Kankara (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza), Dhundal (Xylocarpus granatum) are main trees of Sundarban.

Image on Google Search :

Details on Wiki :

Ice Baby : Mammoth

A near-perfect frozen mammoth resurfaces after 40,000 years, bearing clues to a great vanished species.

The mammoth herd approaches the rushing river. A calf ambles close to her mother's huge legs, brushing their long, glossy hair now and then with her trunk. The sky is brilliant blue, and a dry wind hisses through the grasses, which billow like oceanic swells across a steppe 1o,ooo miles wide, spanning the northern arc of the Ice Age world. The long winter is over; birdsong and the scent of damp loam fill the air.

For more feature and story Please visit National Geography Features and Photography

Biologists Discover Thriving Irrawaddy Dolphin Population

© Alice Rocco (via Wildlife Conservation Society)

The Irrawaddy dolphin is listed by the IUCN as vulnerable. But surveys conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society and Chittagong University in Bangladesh have given biologists hope. The surveys estimate that a population of 6000 live around the coast of Bangladesh – a number far higher than expected.

Still, scientists warn that there are still threats to the dolphins’ survival such as entanglement in fishing nets and changes in water flows due to damming the river.

For more info: New York Times

Cougar

Puma concolor

The cougar, which is also commonly referred to as a puma, mountain lion or panther, is the second largest cat in North America. Unlike other big cats, however, the cougar cannot roar. Instead, the large feline purrs like a house cat.

Cougars also have similar body types to house cats, only on a larger scale. They have slender bodies and round heads with pointed ears. They vary between 1.5-2.7 m (5-9 ft.) from head to tail. While males can weigh up to 68 kg (150 lb.), females weigh less, topping out at nearly 45 kg (100 lb.).

The coat of the cougar is a grayish tan to reddish color with lighter parts on the underside. The tail has a black spot on the end.

Atlantic Puffin

Fratercula arctica

Dubbed "sea parrots" as well as "clowns of the sea," Atlantic puffins sport large, brightly-colored beaks on their substantially-sized heads. Crisp black and white markings on their plumage, as well as superior diving capabilities, have led people to compare the northern seabirds to penguins. However, Atlantic puffins are actually not related to penguins at all. They are in fact small seabirds (about 25 cm, or 10 in., long) that belong to the Alcidae (auk) family.

For most of the year, Atlantic puffins live on the open ocean, with a range spanning from the eastern coast of Canada and the northern United States to the western coast of Europe and northern Russia. 60% of the world's puffins live near Iceland.

Puffins are specially adapted to living on the open sea. Waterproof feathers allow them stay warm as they float at the ocean's surface or swim underwater. Diving as deep as 60 m (200 ft.), they swim by flapping their wings as if flying through the water and use their feet to steer. There, they hunt herring, hake, capelin, and sand eels. They supplement their meals by drinking saltwater.