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100 nature images for Earth Day



Biodiversity – from tigers in Bhutan to gila monsters in the United States to Horned beetles in Africa to tube worms in hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean to sea cucumbers living on the coral reefs of Madagascar to the mites on your cheese – is makes life on Earth livable for our species. By extinguishing hotbeds of biodiversity – rainforests, wetlands, coral reefs, and grasslands – we are destroying a part of ourselves. Biodiversity will recover after humanity is gone, but in the meantime, the continuing loss of our fellow species will make Earth an awfully crowded, but lonely place.



Past extinctions have shown it takes at least 5 million years to restore biodiversity to the level equal to that prior of the extinction event event. Our actions today will determine whether Earth will be biologically impoverished for the 500 trillion or more humans that will inhabit the earth during that future period.



The extinction event that is occurring as you read these words rivals the extinctions caused by natural disasters of global ice ages, planetary collisions, atmospheric poisoning, and variations in solar radiation. The difference is that this extinction was conceived by humans and subject to human decisions. We are the last, best hope for life as we prefer it on this planet.



The lesson of mongabay.com is we may not have to accept this future. A lot can still be done. Using our intelligence and ingenuity, the human species can preserve biodiversity and unique places for future generations, without compromising the quality of life for present populations.



These pictures represent a celebration and a reminder of life that surrounds us.



Gmelin’s Bronzeback snake (Dendrelaphis pictus) eating a frog in Malaysia



Colorado River, Grand Canyon



Mountains near Muzagata Peak, China



Panther chameleon, Madagascar


Black-handed Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) in Beilze



White-faced capuchin in Hacienda Baru



Stick Mantid, Madagascar



Male ostrich defending chicks, Tanzania



Blue-and-yellow macaws flying toward clay lick, Peru



Great Barrier Reef, Australia



Tenrec, Madagascar



Pair of plains zebra, Kenya



Baby caiman, Costa Rica



Red Leaf-monkey (Presbytis rubicunda) in Borneo



Pitcher plant, Nepenthes reinwardtiana, in rain forest of Borneo, Indonesia



Tomato frog, Madagascar



Sunset in Roatan, Honduras



Ring-tailed lemurs, Madagascar



Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah



Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah



Little Colorado River, Grand Canyon



Clear-wing butterfly (Pseudohaeterea hypaesia, Colombia



Lion cubs, Tanzania



Sunset on the Mekong near Luang Prabang, Laos



Young lowland gorilla, Gabon



Sunset over the Pacific Ocean, Maui



Sunrise near Hana on the island of Maui, Hawaii.



Swordplants in the Pantanal, Brazil



Cabybara, Brazil



Tree climbing lion, Uganda



Cancun sunset, Mexico



The cryptic short-tailed Nighthawk (Lurocalis semitorquatus) in Costa Rica



Danum river in Malaysia



Moth on the underside of a leaf caught by the sun, Costa Rica



Rhea in the Pantanal, Brazil



Jaguar in Brazil



Humpback whales breaching, Alaska



Jabiru stork, Brazil



Hatchling Olive Ridley sea turtle near Hacienda Baru, Costa Rica



Black Caiman, Brazil



Baobabs, Madagascar



Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) in flight over crashing surf, Costa Rica



Ranomafana, Madagascar



Adult Male Orangutan, Indonesia



Blueberry poison arrow frog, Panama



Big Sur, Big Sur



Reefs off Cancun, Mexico



Swarms of lake flies in a garden near Lake Victoria, Uganda



Ring-tailed lemurs, Madagascar



Praying mantis in Brownsberg National Park, Suriname



Metallic green, yellow, and copper colored beetle in Malaysia



Rainbow racerunner, Honduras



Two young brown bears on a rocky beach in Alaska, Alaska



Olive Ridley sea turtle headed out to see near Dominical, Costa Rica



Female lion with wildebeest kill, Tanzania



Entrance to St. Herman’s Cave in Belize



Red frog in Las Cruces, Costa Rica



Tree frog in Costa Rica



Automeris moth caterpillar displaying its neon green but venemous spines, Colombia



Hatchling Olive ridley sea turtles headed out to sea



Mountains in Utah, United States



Virgin River in Zion National Park, Utah



Sunset over Tarangire National Park, Tanzania



African elephant, Uganda



Blue and yellow macaw, Colombia



Canyon des Singes in Isalo, Madagascar



Blue insect in Borneo



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