Chasing Clean Air

Your Atomic Self: The Invisible Elements that Connect You to Everything Else in the Universe

Chasing clean air in remote areas means walking, public transportation, and observing how we're interconnected from world-wide traffic jams and melting glaciers, which includes the continent of Greenland unleashing carbon and methane. Author Curt Stager takes my casual observations to a scientific level with his fascinating new book, which I loved, Your Atomic Self: The Invisible Elements that Connect You to Everything Else in the Universe.

The DVD "MOBILIZE" Explores Potential Long-Term Health Impacts from Cell Phone Use

I'm interested in what can and can not be seen in our air, including cell phone radiation and microwaves. In 2011, the World Health Organization stated,

"The electromagnetic fields produced by mobile phones are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as possibly carcinogenic to humans."

If you're interested in the potential health impacts of cell phone use, check out the DVD, Mobilize, which was just released by film maker Kevin Kunze. A bright young man with an impressive line-up of associate producers (Devra Davis and Ellie Marks), he conducted expert interviews on all sides of the $200 billion US wireless industry.

Did you know the majority of cell phone manuals tell consumers to keep the phone about an inch away from the body at all times? 

This DVD shares leading thinkers on the cell phone/health impact debate from Harvard, Yale, The World Health Organization and National Cancer Institute, as well as testimonies from leaders in the cell phone industry. Mobilize illuminates how the cell phone industry's economic and political influence impact lives. To learn more click here. 

Related story on protecting yourself from laptop radiation here.

Journey to the Wild on Alaska Railroad! Anchorage to Seward

Horned Puffin

It started with a puffin. 

Up-close and personal! I wanted to see the orange-billed, webb-footed horned and tufted puffins of Alaska's Kenai Fjords National Park, a marine wildlife sanctuary so beautiful it made me wonder why anyone would build a place of worship when natural beauty like this exists! 

Tufted Puffin

 

I am an amateur birder with close-up bird photos and National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America and Field Guide to Trees books on my shelf. When I wake early on Sunday mornings, I go on Audubon hikes though I no longer bring my lightweight Nikon binoculars, opting to save the laughter from serious birders, who can barely lift theirs. I own a 70-300 Nikon lens to photograph birds, which naturally I brought to Alaska in the hope of photographing the colorful horned and tufted puffins - nomadic birds from the Alcid family that mate for life. 

In this blog post, I’ll share highlights from my September 2014 train journey from Anchorage to Seward - gateway community to Kenai Fjords National Park - leaving one my favorite Kenai stories (sorry!) for an upcoming newspaper article to be published March 2015. 

Did you know Alaska has hundreds of thousands of glaciers, abundant wildlife and conservationists to ensure that the wilderness stays wild? The heart of Alaska is accessible on one of my favorite public transportation options, The Alaska Railroad! 

Let's go!