What is Missing

How can we spread awareness about the present mass extinction in a way that doesn't stun us into depression but instead energizes us into action? One bold and impressive
attempt has recently been completed by Maya Lin, the artist who was responsible for the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. She has created an interactive memorial for many species and aspects of our natural world and combined it with some moving short films for the project, What is Missing. The project was created initially as a Times Square Billboard for Earth Day 2010 and
now here it is on the Internet.

What is missing from our world? Species are going missing. Peace and quiet in the wilderness is going missing. The natural sound of the ocean is going missing. Topsoil is going missing. Huge swaths of forest are going missing. Really, our entire natural world is going missing.

I particularly recommend the short video Unchopping a Tree.

This is a site to explore and ponder. And it's a wake-up call to all of us that we need to start acting now. Registration for the Ecolympics begins tomorrow. We're looking forward to seeing how you challenge yourself and your friends. Maybe in ten years we can memorialize what we've saved or restored...