From Animal Planet, something I like: an hour about Lake Baikal in Siberian Russia, the world's oldest deepest lake. This long crescent shaped lake is a mile deep in places. It is also the world's oldest lake, at 25 million years old. It formed as two tectonic plates separated, and is still separating at an inch a year. This lake holds more fresh water than all the Great Lakes combined--an astonishing 1/5 of all of fresh water on Earth.

In the Siberian winter, temperatures can drop to 95 degrees below zero. Biakal seals evolved into a separate species, and spend their time beneath thick ice sheets in winter to survive. Chipmunks store pounds of pine nuts to sustain them as they hibernate 5 months of every year. It is a beautiful, harsh, remote place which has saved it from development and pollution--so far.

Of course, human beings can leave nothing sacred alone, and even though Lake Biakal is a Unesco World Heiritage Site, the Russian government wants to build a uraniun enrichment plant at the site of a nuclear power plant near the lake. That makes me cringe at what could happen to this lake. But who cares? NOBODY.

susil