News and Views

• Check out the latest environment and ecology news. If you see a headline of interest below, click on it to read the full news story (opens in a new window). The news headlines are updated several times a day.

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• Speaking to local residents and tourists near Les Combes, Benedict XVI said: "In contact with nature, people can again find their true dimension. They rediscover themselves as creatures, small but at the same time unique" (BBC News 18 July 2005).

• A poll of 2,000 adults has found stress is a problem for 30% of the population. However, 84% said being in contact with the natural elements made them feel more relaxed instantly. The sight of the sea is the quickest and most effective way to reduce high stress levels for many people. Other popular stress busters include a walk in the park, the smell of cut grass and the sound of birds singing. Christine Webber, who worked on the report, said the fact that people in urban areas seldom interacted with the natural environment had led to rising stress levels. Dr George Fieldman, a cognitive therapist and evolutionary psychologist, states that it is possible that communing with nature helps to relieve stress by repeating the long-engrained behaviours of our distant ancestors. (BBC News 19 July 2005).

• Swimming with dolphins appears to help depression. Leicester University researchers say dolphins' æsthetic value and the emotions raised by interaction with them may have healing properties. Some have speculated that the ultrasound emitted by dolphins as part of their echolocation system may have a beneficial effect. Prof. Michael Reveley says, "We need to remember that we are part of the natural world, and interacting with it can have a beneficial effect on us." (BBC News 25 November 2005).

• Nature can have a direct effect on our state of mind. Researchers say the presence of large numbers of negative ions - negatively charged particles - in the air we breathe can lighten our mood. For the believers, the best place to be is where there is moving water or on mountains. (BBC News 19 July 2006).

Environment news

Courtesy of Rustle the Leaf ™

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