Green World

Hello! Today we thought it would be good to explain exactly how metamorphosis works. It's a term that we often use when talking about frogs, butterflies or other animals, but we've never actually explained what it is or how it works. What is metamorphosis? Metamorphosis is the term used to describe the changes that some animals undergo when turning into adults. It is a physical change that happens after birth/hatching. There is a brilliant quote from the website a-z animals that I just couldn't put any better:  unlike the typical subtle developments in animals, metamorphosis is dramatic. It’s controlled by a release of hormones in the cells. Mammals usually move from adolescence to adulthood and old age gradually, maintaining their form and shape. However, in metamorphosis, an animal moves through those stages and changes from one form or shape to another. How does metamorphosis work? Let's take the classic butterfly example./d

Hi, Today, I'm going to talk about a young naturalist from Northern Ireland. We haven't had one of these for quite a while (the last one was Wangari Matthai in late August 2021 ), so I'm really excited to write this new one about the inspirational naturalist Dara McAnulty! General information Dara McAnulty was born in 2004. He comes from Northern Ireland, where he lives with his parents and siblings. He is a writer, blogger, activist and naturalist. Dara, his mum and his siblings are all autistic and Dara says that this is the reason he sees the natural world as he does. Books and blogs Dara wrote his blog ' Naturalist Dara '. His first book ' Dairy of a Young Naturalist ' (which we reviewed here ) was published in 2020. It documents a year in his life and how he connects with nature. His second book, ' Wild Child ': A Journey Through Nature' came out in 2021, it again describes nature, this time 'go

Hi everyone, You've probably heard about the new IPCC report that was released earlier this year. In this post, we wanted to talk about what it is and how it could affect us. We haven't read the whole 3000+ page document, surprisingly, but people on the internet have so we have used information from reliable sources, including the IPCC website. What is the IPCC? IPCC stands for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It is governments and scientists from all over the world work together to produce reports about the effects of climate change. When did that new report come out? 4th April 2022 What does the new report say and what does it mean for us? The report states that average annual global greenhouse gas emissions were at their highest levels in human history between 2010 to 2019, but the rate of growth of emissions has since slowed. Emissions must peak by 2025 and then must fall drastically (43% by 2030) if we are to limit the d

Hi Everyone! I hope this post finds you all well, I'm just coming on the blog today to chat with you about how I almost killed Mr Darcy and how you should keep the faith when looking after your own plants. So...It's true. I almost killed Mr Darcy. Before you imagine my diving into Pride and Prejudice and brandishing a knife to Mr Darcy's throat, let me clarify that Mr Darcy is indeed one of my house plants. Mr Darcy looked healthy a few months back...        He is a Soleirolia, more commonly called 'mind your own business'. He requires a lot of water, as I have now learnt and I, unfortunately, let him become too dry, which caused him to shrivel up. It felt very bad and we were on the verge of chucking him out when we thought we could give him a second chance. Thank goodness we did because although he still looks a bit like like a dry, shrivelled mess, he has som

Hi, This month we will be talking about how to eat in a more environmentally way! Food is a very important part of many cultures, however unfortunately its production and transport can have consquences for the environment. So let's talk about how to aviod that. 1. Avoid palm oil We've mentioned this before but basically palm oil is very bad for the environment and its production often violates human rights. Workers are paid far less than they should be and deforestation is almost always part of the process of producing palm oil . It isn't easy to avoid but it is possible. All you need to do is check the packaging. Often it says that it is 'responsibly sourced' or 'eco friendly'; that normally means that less harm is done but sadly, it sometimes means that the producers don't allow inspection. 2. Eat less meat Eating animals is bad for the environment and bad for your health. For instance, cows produce