Earth Rivers Mountains Seas Forests Plants Air Animals and Us

'In all things of nature there is something of the marvellous.' Aristotle

"Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it." Genesis

We have certainly multiplied beyond what may be sustainable and we have definitely subdued the earth but have we replenished it as we should? The glories and beauty of our planet are the treasures which have moulded and comforted mankind since our time began. The contemplation of nature is a need that must be satisfied and maintained. Our literature, our dreams, our religions and our sciences are drawn from what we see about us.  Our life depends on what we preserve of our world. From a garden of Eden to Elysian fields, from beginning to end, man has contemplated a perfect earth, nature in bloom, clear and sparkling waters, green hills and warm aromatic air. We know this is good so we need to protect it. For the first two centuries of western civilisation in Australia the ever spreading population attempted to master and tame the land, but today a realisation has emerged that to nurture the land, as had been done for millennia before, is the only way to have the land provide for its children. In cultures throughout history there existed gods and spirits of the earth. The gods and goddesses of fertility, the rains and the seasons, the spirits of the forest, the great Earth Mother and even those that inhabited new life were recognised, worshipped or appeased to ensure the continuation of life for the peoples of the lands. Many disturbed little of what nature had provided, many discovered from nature the ways of regeneration, such as the Aborigine's burning of the grasses and forests to promote future growth. That was the wisdom of the past which became lost. But mistreatment of the land also began at the dawn of civilisation. In ancient Babylonia they made the land flourish by irrigation, but as states grew and negotiations of water control spread the lush garden of agriculture failed. Too much irrigation on a land too flat to have adequate drainage soon salted the soil, destroyed crops and the populations and power had to shift. This was 2000 years BC. Today we face many problems, but we know what we must do for this species to survive.

'The Goal of life is living in agreement with nature' Zeno 335-564 BC

A Journey to Peach-Blossom Spring

A story by the writer Yuan Hongdao 1568 - 1610 from Gongan County in the Hubei Province China.

'When I had bid farewell to the Long brothers and was about to weigh anchor. Long Xiang came suddenly to praise the fine sights around Peach-Blossom-Spring. I said "It's a famous historical site, well worth visiting even if it has no beautiful scenery" So I ordered the boat to sail upstream, while Long Xiang travelled by land. He joined me at Hefu Mountain that evening. The next day, the Double Ninth Festival, we climbed to the mountain top. The two coloured rocks by the brook served as beautiful foils to the green pool, so we went down to sit there, not leaving until nearly noon. Our boat moored at Peach-Blossom-Spring County that evening The mountain scenery delighted our eyes, and the stream lashed angrily at the fish enclosure as I strolled up to the Confucian Temple. A hundred feet of flagstones, as level and smooth as water, gleamed crystal clear in the moonlight. Pavilions and streets enveloped in smoke were another wonderful feature of the mountain country. That night, chatting with the monks, I told them I was born in a region of rivers and lakes where there was not a single rock within a hundred li so that it was a pleasure to see even what looked like a hillock. What good luck had endowed this county with such beautiful hills and gullies? Could it be that landscapes too were determined by Karma? When the monks could not answer this, I retired for the night.'

Egypt and Nature

In the establishment of civilisation Egypt was perhaps unique with the annual flooding of the Nile which spread a layer of rich black soil over the fields of the Nile Valley. Agriculture was sustained by this fertile gift of nature, but on occasions the floods failed and so did the life and harmony of the people. It is even suggested that the end of the Old Kingdom was brought about by civil upheaval sparked by an unusually long period of drought and the subsequent famine. The earth, the elements and all that existed and sustained, found expression in the gods and from there to the king,  who was the presence of the gods on earth. The gods and king were integral in the maintenance of life and all about. In a funerary poem Sehetepibre who served under King Amenemhet III of the 12th Dynasty around 1800 BCE gave advice to his children for a proper plan of life which reflects the elements from which life is made good and the role of the king in such basics of the natural world.

"Adore the king, (Amenemhet III), living forever, in the midst of your bodies:

Enthrone his majesty in your hearts.

He is Esye (wisdom) in the hearts:

His two eyes, they search every body.

He is the Sun, seeing with his rays:

He illuminates the Two Lands more than the sun-disk.

He makes the Two Lands green more than a great Nile:

He hath filled the Two lands with strength.

He is life, cooling the nostrils:....

The treasures which he gives are food for those who are in his following:

..... His mouth is increase....."

In many cultures the earth and it's elements were identified as worthy of deification as the life of mankind depends on the behaviour, whims and productivity of nature. As the wisdom of sustaining the world about us was immediately obvious to man as he developed, so it should continue to be obvious to us

The World Heritage List

582 cultural, 149 natural and 23 mixed properties in 129 States

AUSTRALIA'S NATURAL WONDERS FOR MANKIND TO ENJOY

The Great Barrier Reef

Kakadu National Park

Willandra Lakes Region

Tasmanian Wilderness

Lord Howe Island Group

Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park

Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves

Wet Tropics of Queensland

Shark Bay, Western Australia

Fraser Island Queensland

Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh/Naracoorte)

Heard and McDonald Islands

Macquarie Island

Greater Blue Mountains Area

Purnululu National Park 

 'World Heritage List' site with full details. 

Uluru, embedded in the centre of Australia is the world's largest monolith and one of the great natural wonders. The exposed tip rises 318m from the desert floor and it has a circumference of 9.4 km. It extends down over three and a half miles beneath the surface.  Approximately 500 million years ago it was part of the ocean floor at the centre of this continent and between 300 to 400 million years ago folding of the earth's surface caused it to rotate almost 90 degrees to its present position with the exposed surface worn over time. It is known for the different colours it appears to be throughout the day. Some Cave paintings on Uluru are considered to be ancient and indicate the length of time Aborigines have lived in the area. Traditional religious philosophy, Tjukurpa, provides an interpretation of the present landscape, flora, fauna and natural phenomenon in terms of the journeys and activities of ancestral beings and consequently binds the people socially, spiritually and historically to the land. Tjukurpa also acts as law and imposes a responsibility on the Aborigines to care for the natural environment. Of huge significance to the aboriginal inhabitants it has also become a great symbol for all Australians and for many as the spiritual heart of this country.       

Canticle of the Sun
St. Francis of Assisi, Patron of Ecology 

Most high, all-powerful, all good, Lord!
All praise is yours, all glory, all honour and all blessing.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong.
No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through all that you have made,
And first my lord Brother Sun, Who brings the day; and light you give to us through him.
How beautiful is he, how radiant in all his splendour!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Moon and Stars;
In the heavens you have made them, bright and precious and fair.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
And fair and stormy, all the weather's moods, by which you cherish all that you have made.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Water, so useful, lowly, precious, and pure.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you brighten up the night.
How beautiful he is, how joyful! Full of power and strength.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Earth, our mother, who feeds us in her sovereignty and produces
Various fruits and coloured flowers and herbs.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through those who grant pardon 

For love of you; through those who endure Sickness and trial.
Happy those who endure in peace, by you, Most High, they will be crowned.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Death, from whose embrace no mortal can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Happy those She finds doing your will!
The second death can do no harm to them.
Praise and bless my Lord, and give him thanks,
And serve him with great humility.

***********

Koran- Chapter 91 The Sun

In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

By the sun and his midday brightness; by the moon, which rises after him; by the day, which reveals his splendour; by the night which veils him!

By the heaven and Him that built it; by the earth and Him that spread it; by the soul and Him that moulded it and inspired it with knowledge of sin and piety: blessed shall be the man who has kept it pure, and ruined he that has corrupted it! 

"Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth!" Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

He spoke too soon

The Way of the Dodo

As we manage to pollute rivers, burn forests, divert rivers, poison soil and encroach into habitats, we are killing off the last of many species of animal. Evolution, natural selection, cosmic accidents and natural earth forces have impacted on every  life form on this planet. But, perhaps not since the great Asteroid impact some 65 million years ago has this planet seen more destruction than by the accelerating impact of man.

ENDANGERED ANIMALS OF OUR WORLD

The Seven Natural Wonders of the World

The total surface of the earth is - 196,950,000 square miles with 70% water

Click the receding ice below for Global Warming information.

Updated January 23, 2007