The post Witness to the Johnstown Flood appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aruQKXFRYnI

Jane Goodall and Michael Aufhauser remember how they brought chimpanzees in need of rescue to Aufhauser’s Animal Sanctuary in Austria. In a rare, unscripted moment, we see Goodall retain the dignity and eloquence of her copious public videos while laughing and joking candidly; in turn, we see Aufhauser’s admiration and warmth towards Goodall. He says he “never would have dared” hold chimpanzees in his sanctuary if it were not for Goodall believing in him. Goodall says that because of him, the chimps were rescued and allowed to stay in a German-speaking country, a language and culture that they recognized.

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Rare Candid Moment of Goodall and Fellow Conservationist appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj7FS_sJ5R8

The people that Jane Goodall once inspired speak on how they came to work for her. As Goodall’s program, Roots and Shoots, spreads into China, her message of conservation and peace spreads and the number of her followers increases. Tori Zwisler, chair of the board of the Shanghai Roots and Shoots program, explains how meeting Goodall changed her path in life. Roots and Shoots staff member Greg Maclsaac explains how he promised Goodall would visit all the schools that began the Roots and Shoots programs and Goodall decided to honor that promise. Goodall speaks throughout the video about her program as well.

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‘I Changed the Direction of My Life When I Met Her’ appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_feQFEDLIjs

Dave Sweeney works with a nuclear free campaign for the Australian Conservation Foundation. He gives a firsthand account on the tragic event, remembering the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown that devastated the north east coast of Japan. Sweeney acknowledges that the uranium used to create the Fukushima reactor was made in Australia and that it is time for a change.

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Change After Fukushima appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDl60prkRU8

On January 14, 2015, free-climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson completed their 19 day effort to become the first people to ever free-climb the sheer face of El Capitan’s Dawn Wall. The duo used safety ropes and harnesses to prevent falls, but did not use any climbing aids in reaching the top. This video shows reaction of loved ones once the pair had successfully completed their climb.

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Free-Climbing El Capitan appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq5GeJlBbIs

On December 28, 1973, The Endangered Species Act was passed in the United States and signed into law by President Richard Nixon. The act was created to protect species from extinction as a consequence of economic growth and development. The Endangered Species Act continues to be debated. In this video, Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) addresses why he believes the act needs continued support.

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Debating The Endangered Species Act appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdD42SBovfY

Chico Mendes was a Brazilian rubber tapper who became a trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon Rainforest as well as for human rights. As part of the Rubber Tappers Union, Mendes asked the Brazilian government to set up reserves to make sure that the forest was being used without being damaged. The union also effectively stopped the destruction of the forest by blocking the way to rubber reserves. Mendes believed that the rubber tappers needed to diversify their work, focusing on products such as nuts, fruit and oil in addition to rubber. On December 22, 1988, Mendes was assassinated by a rancher. He was the 19th rural activist to be killed in Brazil that year. This video shows a brief interview with Mendes, as well as first-hand footage of rubber tappers successfully attempting to stop ranchers from cutting down trees.

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Chico Mendes & The Brazilian Rainforest appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf7Z8ZWgAMk

Hear the final radio transmissions from the SS Edmund Fitzgerald which sank in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975. The ship sank along with its entire crew of 29. The wreck was immortalized in the Gordon Lightfoot song–”The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” When the ship launched on June 8, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America’s Great Lakes, and she remains the largest to have sunk there.

For seventeen years the Fitzgerald carried taconite iron ore from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Toledo, and other Great Lakes ports. As a “workhorse,” she set seasonal haul records six times, often breaking her own previous record.[5][6] Captain Peter Pulcer was known for piping music day or night over the ship’s intercom system while passing through the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers (between Lakes Huron and Erie), and entertaining spectators at the Soo Locks (between Lakes Superior and Huron) with a running commentary about the ship.[5] Her size, record-breaking performance, and “DJ captain” endeared the Fitzgerald to boat watchers.[7]

Carrying a full cargo of ore pellets with Captain Ernest M. McSorley in command, she embarked on her final voyage from Superior, Wisconsin, near Duluth, on the afternoon of November 9, 1975. En route to a steel mill near Detroit, Michigan, the Fitz joined a second freighter, the SS Arthur M. Anderson. By the next day, the two ships were caught in the midst of a severe winter storm on Lake Superior, with near hurricane-force winds and waves up to 35 feet (11 m) high. Shortly after 7:10 p.m., the Fitzgerald suddenly sank in Canadian waters 530 feet (160 m) deep, approximately 17 miles (15 nautical miles; 27 kilometers) from the entrance to Whitefish Bay near the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario—a distance the Fitzgerald could have covered in two hours at her top speed. Although the Fitzgerald had reported being in difficulty earlier, no distress signals were sent before she sank; Captain McSorley’s last message to the Anderson said, “We are holding our own.” Her crew of 29 all perished, and no bodies were recovered.

Many theories, books, studies and expeditions have examined the cause of the sinking. The Fitzgerald might have fallen victim to the high waves of the storm, suffered structural failure, been swamped with water entering through her cargo hatches or deck, experienced topside damage, or shoaled in a shallow part of Lake Superior. The sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald is one of the best-known disasters in the history of Great Lakes shipping. Gordon Lightfoot made it the subject of his 1976 hit song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” after reading an article on the event, titled “The Cruelest Month,” which Newsweek printed in its November 24, 1975 issue.

Investigations into the sinking led to changes in Great Lakes shipping regulations and practices that included mandatory survival suits, depth finders, positioning systems, increased freeboard, and more frequent inspection of vessels. (Source: Wikipedia)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysWpqKy424o

Hear the final radio transmissions from the SS Edmund Fitzgerald which sank in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975.  The ship sank along with its entire crew of 29.  The wreck was immortalized in the Gordon Lightfoot song–”The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”   When the ship launched on June 8, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America’s Great Lakes, and she remains the largest to have sunk there.

For seventeen years the Fitzgerald carried taconite iron ore from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Toledo, and other Great Lakes ports. As a “workhorse,” she set seasonal haul records six times, often breaking her own previous record.[5][6] Captain Peter Pulcer was known for piping music day or night over the ship’s intercom system while passing through the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers (between Lakes Huron and Erie), and entertaining spectators at the Soo Locks (between Lakes Superior and Huron) with a running commentary about the ship.[5] Her size, record-breaking performance, and “DJ captain” endeared the Fitzgerald to boat watchers.[7]

Carrying a full cargo of ore pellets with Captain Ernest M. McSorley in command, she embarked on her final voyage from Superior, Wisconsin, near Duluth, on the afternoon of November 9, 1975. En route to a steel mill near Detroit, Michigan, the Fitz joined a second freighter, the SS Arthur M. Anderson. By the next day, the two ships were caught in the midst of a severe winter storm on Lake Superior, with near hurricane-force winds and waves up to 35 feet (11 m) high. Shortly after 7:10 p.m., the Fitzgerald suddenly sank in Canadian waters 530 feet (160 m) deep, approximately 17 miles (15 nautical miles; 27 kilometers) from the entrance to Whitefish Bay near the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario—a distance the Fitzgerald could have covered in two hours at her top speed. Although the Fitzgerald had reported being in difficulty earlier, no distress signals were sent before she sank; Captain McSorley’s last message to the Anderson said, “We are holding our own.” Her crew of 29 all perished, and no bodies were recovered.

Many theories, books, studies and expeditions have examined the cause of the sinking. The Fitzgerald might have fallen victim to the high waves of the storm, suffered structural failure, been swamped with water entering through her cargo hatches or deck, experienced topside damage, or shoaled in a shallow part of Lake Superior. The sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald is one of the best-known disasters in the history of Great Lakes shipping. Gordon Lightfoot made it the subject of his 1976 hit song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” after reading an article on the event, titled “The Cruelest Month,” which Newsweek printed in its November 24, 1975 issue.

Investigations into the sinking led to changes in Great Lakes shipping regulations and practices that included mandatory survival suits, depth finders, positioning systems, increased freeboard, and more frequent inspection of vessels. (Source: Wikipedia)

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SS Edmund Fitzgerald’s Final Radio Transmissions appeared first on Witnify.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MlytL6JSik

On November 4, 1960, Dr. Jane Goodall became the first person to observe chimpanzees creating tools. This was the first-ever observation of tool creation in non-human animals. Dr. Goodall is considered to be the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees, having studied them in Tanzania for over 45 years. In this video, Goodall recalls her mindset on the day she first observed chimpanzees using tools, saying: “I was walking though the vegetation one day and it had been raining and the first six months money I had, which was all I had, was running out. And I knew if I didn’t see something exciting before that money ran out, that would be the end.”

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Dr. Jane Goodall Observes Chimpanzees Using Tools appeared first on Witnify.