Could cyanobacteria eventually become a more popular biofuel than corn, sugarcane, or even algae? Quite possibly. According to Science Daily, cyanobacteria can convert up to 10 percent of the sun’s energy into biomass.

This is a drastic improvement over the 1 percent rate of crops like corn and sugarcane, as well as the 5 percent rate of algae. With such a high conversion rate, cyanobacteria could replace a hefty amount of fossil fuels without taking up too much land.

Sylvia Earle is a renowned deep sea diver, National Geographic explorer-in-residence, and former Chief Scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. When Earle spoke with EarthSky, she spoke on behalf of grasslands, streams, rivers — and especially for the sea.
- This is the time, as never before, that the systems that do safeguard and give us life are in trouble. And that means we’re in trouble.

Ocean explorer Robert Ballard takes us on a mindbending trip to hidden worlds underwater, where he and other researchers are finding unexpected life, resources, even new mountains. He makes a case for serious exploration and mapping. Google Ocean, anyone?

For 60 years the Cousteau family has been part of the greatest exploration of the ocean in all of history. Advancing his family's legacy, the mission of Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society is “to explore our global ocean, inspiring and educating people throughout the world to act responsibly for its protection, documenting the critical connection between humanity and nature, and celebrating the ocean's vital importance to the survival of all life on our planet.

Paul Watson doesn't stay on dry land very much. Last year the tireless eco-warrior was at sea for 50 weeks, and this year he has spent just one week at his home in Washington State. As he puts it: "There's no rest when you're on planetary duty."

In Al Gore's brand-new slideshow (premiering exclusively on TED.com), he presents evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists were recently predicting, and challenges us to act with a sense of "generational mission"