The original Spiral Island was the talk of the world: a man-made floating island constructed from 250,000 plastic bottles that could drift and relocate as needed until it was destroyed by disaster. Now the new Spiral Island is slated to open to the public within the next few months in Laguna Makax near Isla Mujeres. The new island has drawn in donations, volunteers and visitors from all parts of the world and walks of life - people inspired by what may be one of the most impressive do-it-yourself projects of modern times.

(Above: the old Spiral Island, Below: The new one under construction)

The infamous island has been at the center of controversies with each step forward as any endeavor this industrious and unusual is likely to be. Some claim it is a brilliant environmental design - using almost exclusively recycled materials in its construction. Others note that when the last island was destroyed it resulted in the littering of its materials and is in many ways the work of a single insane architectural genius. Still, were it not for that catastrophe those materials would still be providing a home for some and destination for others with a minimal use of non-recycled parts and clearly its creators never intended for it to be demolished in such a fashion.

There is a variety of media available to people who want to learn more about spiral island. The Spiral Islanders site has forums, a blog, photo collections and videos related to the construction and history of the island as well as the stories and experiences of those who have worked on it and the areas in which they have done so. It is easy to see how, as people learn more and more about the project, they become increasingly intrigued and many ultimately end up visiting and helping with the island itself. The Ripley’s Believe-It-Or-Not video below and photo collection are also a great place to get a feel for the island.

Find more photos like this on Richie Sowa's Spiral Island

With all our problems down here on Earth most people don’t think about space junk very often, but there is more of it to think about than most people realize. An estimate 50,000 pieces exist that are large enough to do significant damage on collision with an operational space craft or satellite. Over 90% of the stuff we currently have in space is useless trash - with less than 10% being operational/useful.
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Extinction is nothing new … mass extinctions are part of the life cycle of the planet. Still, if we are indeed in the 6th great mass extinction then perhaps we should be worried that at least one such mass extinction took the planet 30 million years to recover from!

Some animals such as the Tasmanian Devils down under are threatened by diseases but many have humans to thank in some form or another for their extinction. Many of these species few people ever know about.

Perhaps even more troubling than increased animal extinctions are the disappearances of plants that we rely on (or might rely on in the future) to produce invaluable medicines.

Is global warming a myth or a fact? Or is the entire term misleading and should climate change by the phrase of choice instead? The site 42Explore provides a great introduction to the issue of global warming, both an ‘easy’ and a ‘hard’ version, as well as numerous reputable resources for further reading and discussion.

This website on global warming - fact or fiction is dedicated to a balanced discussion about global warming and the site is broken down into convenient categories relating to various pertinent environmental issues. The site has also been praised by the scientific community despite the author’s own limited professional background and formal education related to climate issues.

A student’s take on the issue is not always the most informed but can sometimes lend legible insight to complex questions. Whether successful or not this study looks at climate models in an attempt to produce a balanced perspective on the question of climate change

This fact or fiction article presents and then systematically debunks a number of typical arguments against man-made global climate change. Of course any article would be remiss not to include albeit tenuous counterarguments that suggest that the global climate changes we are experiencing aren’t tied to human activity.

It is no surprise that as land-dwellers we don’t think about the oceans as much as we should given that they cover over 2/3 of the planet. The water bodies of the world may be the key to progress for our species in more ways than one (such as underwater living shown above) and the oceans hold many mysteries yet to be discovered. Still, we are having a profound effect on our waters and need to be mindful of just how powerful our impact can be.

Amsterdam is perhaps a likely place to find proposed innovations in underwater living - a progressive place that continues to face challenges related to rising water levels. Why under the canals specifically? They can be drained, dug down and built into and then simply refilled - there would be no need to uproot existing dwellings to proceed with this process.

A mysterious compound known as chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) may be a key piece in the puzzle of ocean life. This material is thought to be vitally linked to the development and nature of ocean life as well as greenhouse gases and climate changed. This matter is simply the combined refuse from various plants and other debris that mix in the world’s oceans.

“Almost half of the world’s oceans have been seriously affected by over-fishing, pollution and climate change, according to a major study of man’s impact on marine life.” An alarming study shows that as much as 40% of marine life has been “significantly altered” by mankind while only 4% remains essentially untouched.