Oceans Rising....

As oceans rise due to climate change, entire countries are threatened by the increasing of high tide lines. Here in the Marshall Islands where the total height above sea level averages no more than three (3) feet every part of the nation is threatened. This photo is not a storm, its a by-monthly tide...

The thing that impacts increased tidal lines the most is not, surprisingly, the return of ice and glacial run off to the seas... its the increase in ocean volume due to expansion caused by an increase in ocean temperature. Raise the average temperature of the ocean by just 1 or 2 degrees and it will expand a corresponding 1%+...that's an extra 1000 gallons or more for every million gallons experienced today.

Raise the seas three feet and the Marshalls are gone... but so are parts of the Bahamas, sections of Florida, Australia, Russia ...flooding in London, Tokyo, Baltimore... heck, New Orleans is already below sea level...raise the oceans and the water will find a way into our cities, increase brackish water in rivers, corrupt our aquifers...world wide...and this isn't a guess...its happening now.

The question isn't if it is going to happen...it is when it will happen to you. Ask yourself "What will we do when we have 100-Million tidal refuges looking for a new place to live the world over?"

And after that?
Well we better have a plan....

Where did the moon come from?

The moon, 1/4 of the diameter of the earth, non-rotating and only 1/80th of
the density of the Earth, circles the earth in less than 24 hours and, along with the
gravitational force of the sun, influences tides and winds worldwide.

But where did our moon come from, and why is it less dense and absent an iron core like that of Earth? There are several theories that have been proposed… but most have no explanation for the lack of iron nor for the lack of water … both components that would be expected on a planet developed in conjunction with ours. Here are some ideas proposed:

- The molten earth, continuing in its formative rotation, developed massive waves,
not merely hundreds of feet high, but potentially thousands of feet high causing a literal separation of billions of tons of surface matter, spun off from the surface that excluded the already densely formed iron core…too heavy to break free. Both bodies continued to form for billions of years…the moon, absent a rotating core and nearly no atmosphere, cooled and formed, while the earth continued to rotate and evolve (Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us).

- Others once believed the Moon came from another part of the Universe with little iron, strayed near the Earth’s gravitational field, and was drawn into orbit. This, too, failed for three main reasons. This is called the Capture Hypothesis. One was due to the fact that the isotope composition of Moon rocks is very similar to that of rocks from our planet. Second is the
necessity for a very small (thus, highly unlikely) encounter velocity. And third, is the absence of a very thick atmosphere that should have been present to provide a so-called gas drag that would have helped in the capture process.

- Co-Formation Hypothesis proposes that both the Moon and the Earth were formed at practically the same time and in the same region in the solar nebula, drawing materials to each other from the dust around them. While this hypothesis is consistent with the proximity of the two bodies, it is difficult to explain why they the Moon doesn’t have as much iron as the Earth.

- Of all of these hypotheses that strive to explain the Moon’s origin, it is the Giant Impact that has received the widest acceptance. In this hypothesis, the Moon is believed to have been originally a part of the Earth’s crust, whacked out by a collision between the Earth and another body bearing
the size of Mars. As we consider the Giant Impact Hypothesis note that since the whacked-out
piece may have certainly come from the outer layer of the Earth (the crust), then this explains the lack of iron in the Moon. Furthermore, computer simulations also show how this theory is also consistent with angular momentum measurements.

Water just about everywhere...but only 1% to drink!

We find water the world over ... 96% of which is salt water in our oceans and seas. 3%...an amazing quantity really, is in our ice and snow...and 1% is fresh water in our aquifers, rivers, lakes and streams. Only 1%! and with that 1% we need to sustain life of all animals...pretty difficult when we now have a human population of 7Billion...going to 10Billion within view...

But what if we loose our ice? (Will we loose our ice?)... in 1951 Rachel Carson published The Sea Around Us in which she noted that we are in a cycle on the cooler to warmer track that has both long range cyclic impact (about 100,000 years) and inside of this there are shorter cycles ranging from 2000 to 3000 years...cold to warm and back to cold. She suggested back in the early 50s that we were on a warming leg of a short cycle...the long cycle being the ice age maker... and that we should expect ice to continue to recede, glaciers to vanish, and temperatures to go up.

We began exploring the Antarctic Continent in the 1800s...mapping its frozen coasts...landing infrequently until 1900 or so...when Shackleton and Scott lead their explorations into this hostile and treacherous land. Today about 45,000 tourists visit Antarctica each year to see what appears to be a vanishing land of ice.

In many ways the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica resemble the rubbled plains of Mars...so it was surprising to find extremophiles sustaining themselves in this frozen wasteland who remain dormant for decades awaiting temperatures warm enough and water pools ready to sustain their life forms. Yet if the globe continues to warm we may yield an even wider variety of unique life forms in this mysterious land (E. Willson, The Future of Life).

Today (Nov 2nd, 2011) we know that the Antarctice ice sheet is shedding a potential iceberg...with a fissure 165 feet deep, 18 miles long and increasing in width by 6 to 8 feet per day... this 300 square mile berg will be huge. Changes in patterns however are not necessarily part of global warming...ice is mobile and breaches in active sheets and glaciers are not indications that they are failing... it is the warming of the oceans ...by 2 or 3 degrees that should alert us, for that is an amazing amount of stored energy and represents a game-changing potential that could erase ice and snow from our poles and raise the oceans by hundreds of feet.

Not anytime soon however... in human years anyway. Though we are on Carson's warming trend we should expect this to take hundreds of years, if not longer...and if we are acting to solve the technical problems necessary to survive then man has a chance to make it...assuming that we don't overpopulate too much, and figure out the other issues necessary to sustain life. I guess time will tell...and it really is an adventure, isn't it.

So we should be setting goals to address sustainable issues for future generations, those in the crunch before the cold, and find a way to solve the enviornmental, economic, and equity questions that all of this change (real and potential) are raising.

W.H. Hudson

As each environ is overcome by man...on an island such as Hawaii or the Pampas of Argentina...his lament holds true... "The beautiful has vanished and returns not."

We need to find a way to slow our destruction and begin the ongoing process of creating sustainable realities in our urban and rural communities.

One more look...

Author, Biologist, speaker...

Saundra Steingraber

60 Carcinogens in our air...66 Carcinogens in our water...

even rain water is contaminated

"We should become Carcinogen Abolitionists!"

www.livingdownstream.com

http://youtu.be/z2UsmBqYpwo

What is the impact?

As we humans continue to expand...more than 6.5 billion of us on earth today...to our anticipated 10 billion by the year 2060 we continue to use resources way outside of the projected deletion rate. And as we continue to pack ourselves in around rivers and on coasts...we are eliminating the food stocks that only decades ago seemed to abound!

Edward O. Wilson…Perhaps Americas's finest Biologist of this century has said in comments on biodiversity and sustainability...

“A civilization able to envision God and to embark on the colonization of space will surely find the way to save the integrity of this planet and the magnificent life it harbors.”

He is hopeful that we can stop killing all life and move to make the earth sustain...if not renew...its habitats and food sources for all living things.

But can we? If industry here in the US and abroad are working to grow...tearing down forests, eliminating wetlands...destroying natural resources ...even those that were thought to be recoverable... and creating deserts out of our grasslands... If that is who we continue to be, how will we be able to feed half again as many people on the earth as there are today?

It is time that we stop! Time that we stop and make dramatic change to ensure we can survive our "Humanity" without loosing our way. It will take planning...it will take committment, and it will take both trust and truth if we are going to make it.

I wish us luck.

Water...the world over...needs our attention now.

Water is something that we all want to have...and theat tens of millions don't have... If we don't solve the water problem in Northern Africa where draught and over use are part of the tragedy of lost life; or in China where over use has dried more than one of their rivers...along the east coast for instance, droughts have reduced the Yangtze River to its lowest
water levels in 50 years.

Officials from the Yangtze River Waterway Bureau said Wednesday that they have closed a 185-kilometer (115-mile)
stretch of river from Wuhan to Yueyang to oceangoing vessels.

The river near Wuhan is down to only about 10 feet. The river, normally
almost 500 feet wide, has shriveled to only about 160 feet at its narrowest.

Since April 30, more than 700 ships have been stranded in the shrunken
waterway in Huzhou, Xinhua News Agency reported. Officials believe the shallow
water will continue hindering shipping until June.

Pollution, the other deadly water issue, must be addressed as well...for if climate change and over use are reducing our surface supplies...then we have to reduce the toxins we push into our water to keep our supplies at acceptabel levels...even in the US were we seem to think we are safe.

What can you do? Stop waste! Reduce your watering habbits ...it does not return to the aquifer, stop taking 20 minute showers...or running the water while you brush your teeth. Cut your use by 1/5th...that's 20%...and it will yield savings on your bills...and if a million of us did it...that's .3% of our population...we would save 50 million gallons a day....a day!

8%

The Earth is covered by a wondrous body of water...80%+ of the surface of the earth is covered by it... but of all that water less than 8% can be easily used by nature to sustain the fauna and flora... and man seems to take all of that water, including the 8% absolutely for granted!

I am a diver, and yes I love the water...and so when Dr. Sylvia Earle came to speak at the Winter Park Institute at Rollins College, here in Florida, I found myself sitting in a packed auditorium with students, faculty, and interested individuals like myself to hear her speak on the sustainability of our oceans.

Like many, I knew of Dr. Earle. I knew she was a marine biologist, author, lecturer... but I did not know that she was formerly the chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Nor did I know that Sylvia Earle is an explorer-in-residence at National Geographic...or that her presence there has created and gathered funding for the Sustainable Seas Expedition which explores and researches 12 National Marine Sanctuaries that surround the North American continent which is working to increase US and international recognition and caring for the oceans by the public, policy-makers, and institutions.

I have heard of the SSE and I know that working with other organizations it has, in a very short time, managed to increase the global populaiton of North Atlantic Haddock by creating a safe breeding area (tens of thousands of protected hectare' where no fishing is allowed) which has resulted in huge increases in stock along the Georges Banks.

The main focus of Dr Earle's talk was the impact that man has had on the oceans...and she stressed that as we threaten the 27000 species found in the seas...we threaten all life on earth! Quoting Edward Wilson... she said..."We are letting Nature slip through out fingers..." and that by allowing our earth to slowly die we are sealing our own destiny.

Yet Sylvia Earle is 'Endowed' with Hope... and I agree. If we have the strength to stand against the industrial tide...and make our voice be heard we can halt the destruction of our environment, and as seen by the actions of the SSE it can be done within controlled limits that support sustainable environment and sustainable economies...economies that can help us to overcome the impact of our growing population and reverses our impact on habitability for all of Nature, not just man...

Beauty from Ruin...

More than 100 years ago a quaryman on Vancouver Island near Victoria, BC. honored his wife's request and turned his massive granite quary into a wonderful garden. Today the family continues the tradition with one of the most beautiful gardens in North America...where they continue to demonstrate that you can create beauty from ruin... Buchart Gardens...

Governor Perry denies Global Warming

In recent years, global warming has been the subject of a great deal of political controversy. As scientific knowledge has grown, this debate is moving away from whether humans are causing warming and toward questions of how best to respond.

The facts are, however, that signs of a warming Earth are recorded all over the globe. The easiest way to see increasing temperatures is through the thermometer records kept over the past century and a half. Around the world, the Earth's average temperature has risen more than 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.8 degrees Celsius) over the last century, and about twice that in parts of the Arctic.


This doesn’t mean that temperatures haven't fluctuated among regions of the globe or between seasons
and times of day. But if you average out the temperature all over the world over the course of a year, you
see that temperatures have been creeping
upward.


Now we find that Rick Perry, a Presidential Candidate from the Republican Party, has taken it on himself to state that there is no such thing as global warming, thus returning it to the Political arena as an issue. The Texas governor was appearing at a New Hampshire breakfast event with business leaders November
17th when he said "there are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects."


Perry said scientists are coming forward almost daily to question "the original idea that man-made global warming is what is causing the climate to change." He said the climate is changing but that it has been changing "ever since the earth was formed."


Perry added that "the issue of global warming has been politicized," and argued that America should not spend billions of dollars addressing "a scientific theory that has not been proven, and from my perspective is more and more being put into question."


There is wide consensus among climate scientists that global warming is taking place and that the actions of human beings have contributed to the increasing temperatures.


To circumvent this political argument we should simply view it as an issue of Pollution...and take steps to address the pollution that we dump into our air and water…or correct the nutrient imbalance we till into our soils…or the pesticides we spray upon our crops. And we should be on the lookout for Climate Change solutions to help those who are being subjected to the impact of our changing planet...be it warming or cooling trends...as this is the only place we have and it as to last.

The Ground Water Up Project

A new documentary film, tracing Delhi’s water from source to tap to sewer. . . and right back to tap.

The Groundwater Up Project explores “Delhi’s water crisis” and looks at the sources of Delhi’s water and its consumption. If you enjoy drinking, swimming, bathing, flushing the toilet, or washing your clothes, this is the film for you.

People often ask if we are going to tell them how to solve Delhi’s water crisis through this film. We usually decide that they’re being slightly- if not completely- sarcastic, but choose to respond with: no, this film is a learning process that we will try to share with you in a way that isn’t boring.

While we may not know or tell you what “the solutions” to Delhi’s water crisis are, we will tell you why dams and large scale sewage treatment plants aren’t working, and introduce you to people who are pursuing other solutions – like rainwater harvesting, restoring old water bodies, and cleaning up rivers.

Maybe we don’t need to wait for some “experts” to give us one big SOLUTION.

Maybe Delhiites already have the many little solutions that, if spread, can cure Delhi’s thirst.

See the Trailer: http://youtu.be/wwVSh76svy4

Strangler Fig ...living bridge in the Mekong

The rivers of the world are engangered by each of us... and we need to find a way to understand these resources and then to become shepards who will protect and improve them. Consider that survival, like the living bridge, is more than a lifetime's work.

The Khone Falls on the Mekong River in Southeast Asia have more water flowing over them then any other falls in the world, an important fact in meeting the needs of this high population region. The average discharge of the Mekong at this point is nearly 3 million U.S. gallons per second, though the highest volume on record was reached at over 13 million U.S. gallons per second.

As those of us who are committed to sustainability know, we need to find a way to make the earth's limited water survive the imprint of man...

Watch http://youtu.be/x6R0LaZtxis BBC: Human Planet ep. 7 of 8

The End of an Era

Some friends of mine have noted that in this austere period Americans can put our money to better use than to space flights and other non-social programs that NASA runs. Let's put that aside for now, though NASA does a great deal more than space flights. But the Hundreds of Millions spent on Shuttle Flights is clearly a targeted expense... one that many feel we should forgo.

Me, I don't agree. NASA has opened doors with the flights of our shuttle fleet. And Americans are adventurers... and space offers that human adventure. Add to that the advancements in technology and the knowledge expansion achieved for all human kind.

Our galactic focus needs to now go to the International Space Station (ISS) and finding ways to advance our understanding of Science, Math, Technology and Engineering... to make this happen demands our continued focus on NASA and, from my perspective, increased commitment to manned space flight on a new NASA space vehicle.

No matter your position on continuing NASA funding, I would ask that you join me in thanking the men and women who have flown...and those thousands of men and women who have made their flights possible. Congratulations NASA... mission accomplished.

Whose World is it Anyway?

Take a moment to consider...

If you look back to older tribal cultures and philosophies
you will find that the concept of ownership was limited to the things that the
individuals made, but not necessarily to real property. We agree with that
somewhat today when we look at our coastal planes and shore lines. Generally if
tidal rise and fall, extending even to surge, reaches an area the laws of many
countries (including the USA) prevent title or ownership…as this is considered
part of the sea… But it is more than that.

Our Native American Cultures did not consider that they
owned the land; instead they were committed to the idea that they were part of
the land.

In reviewing other nomadic societies, even today, we find that many are
less committed to individual ownership and more to the concept that Spirit, or
Nature (mother if you wish), or the Universe is all things…and that it is
foolish to believe that we own things like land…after all, we will be long gone
and the rocks, and sands, and soil will still be…

Hindus have a presence that they call Atman… or the
in-dwelling God, or God within…which is acknowledged and awakened when we put
ego aside and discover the one Truth. It is the attainment of this truth, the
recognition that ego is counter to peace, and that service to others is the way
of truth that leads us to understand that working to cleanse the world, improve
our planet, and ensure sustainability is central to Life’s Purpose.

The world, after all, belongs to all …not to a privileged
few…and we all, if we believe what our ancient cultures believed, belong to the
world.

Ten Worst! Time to make a difference... or loose it all.

The ten most endangered rivers emerge as: the Salween, La Plata, Danube, Rio Grande, Ganges, Murray-Darling, Indus, Nile,

Yangtze and Mekong. These represent some of the most polluted, but also some of the most endangered by growing populations, industries and farm contamination.

The ten most polluted cities in the world are Linfen, China; Tianying, China; Sukinda, India; Vapi, India; La Oroya, Peru; Dzerzhinsk, Russia; Norilsk, Russia; Chernobyl, Ukraine; Sumgayit, Azerbaijan; and Kabwe, Zambia.

This doesn't leave others out... the most polluted river in the US is the Mississippi... and Canada has one of the worst cities due to mining tilings that are both toxic and radioactive...

We need to focus world wide...or loose the fight to poisonous and cancerous materials that will kill our food chain from the bottom to the top!

Let's Talk Hemp!

Is hemp a valuable industrial product... is it a drug...is it both?

A friend of mine has suggested that Hemp has the potential to be one of our best future products if we can just get it out of the courtroom and into the production facility.

Here is what she has to say... Big business, including DuPont who had just developed a chemical process for pulping paper and others prevented the production of Hemp in the US...first in the 1930s when it was considered a drug, in competition with alcohol, then repealed its abolition for world war II production (1940) of hemp based products, but reinstated in 1957 and held to today due to DEA promoted laws against Cannabis.


It turns out that industrial Hemp... though from the Cannabis family...is not Marijuana...and has a very low level of THC, the drug found in the Cannabis used for marijuana.


One advocate of the 1930s argued that there were more than 25000 products that could be made... Good intentions aside...what industrial hemp can not be used for is the production of
'Joints' for the drug using crowd...it is not the same plant.

But, really, what can it be used for that we would immediately want?
1) fiber for improved production of paper...in fact the paper industry is actively petitioning for its growth...they have already proven its worth using imported Hemp from Canada...you see the fibers are not the issue...so hemp fiber is allowed, but you can't grow it...so it is imported from places like Canada and Indonesia...

hemp fiber

You see, industrial hemp does not have a high level of THC (less than 1%) in industrial the strain ( Cannabis Sativa plant).

So...paper first...then just the boon to the farm industry...it grows quickly, can yield two or more crops a year...and it does not need much attention...less herbicides and pesticides, less fertilizer too.

And a second industry...that's two of 25000... would be for the production of Biomass for fuel. It turns out it can be used in this form for several things...including low carbon burning (reduced or no greenhouse gasses) with little or no smoke residue. And it can be used to create alcohol for fuel as well... replacing the demand on corn and releasing these grains back to the food industry.

So, there you have some if it...what do you think?

take a shot and write in on this one...

Pesticide link to Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson's Disease is a very limiting, and yet to be fully explained problem...one that may be linked to petrochemical contamination.

People exposed to pesticides at workplace are at a greater risk of suffering from Parkinson’s disease, a brain disorder among the aged, a study by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) school of public health said Saturday.

“The researchers have found that the combined exposure to ziram, maneb and paraquat (types of pesticides) near any workplace increased the risk of Parkinson’s disease (PD) threefold, while combined exposure to ziram and paraquat alone was associated with an 80 percent increase in risk,” the study, published in the Science Daily, said.”

Parkinson’s disease, a brain disorder common after the age of 50, leads to shaking and difficulty with walking, movement and coordination.

The research comes as a follow-up to the study conducted by UCLA researchers that established a link between the disease and two chemicals commonly sprayed on crops to fight pests.

As one example, Dieldrin... a follow on to DDT that was invented in the 1930s and came into wide use in the US and Europe in the 1950s has been linked to Parkinsons and with Breast Cancer. Its use was stopped by US and EU authorities in the 70s and 80s... but it is not gone!

Dieldrin takes a very long time to break down when in soil and is still found in the leaves of plants in both markets today. Worse, Dieldrin does not break down in water either, in fact it finds its way into silt and mud and is now found in deep water and aquifers world wide.

One example of recently discovered Dieldrin was in Deland Florida in May of 2011... 40+ years after it was banned from use. It was found in more than 20 wells in neighborhoods where cancer rates are above the local norm... is there a link? Historically we would say yes...but of course the state and county health departments are suggesting that there is no connection.

I do agree...

do your best to clean the stream!

Thank you...Rachel Carson...for your gifts

'The "control of nature" is a phrase conceived in arrogance, born of the Neanderthal age of bioloby and philosophy, when it was supposed that anture exists for the convenience of man. The concepts and practices of applied entomology for the most part date from that Stone Age of science. It is our alarming misfortune that so primitive a science has armed itself with the most modern and terrible weapons, and that in turning them against the insects it has also turned them against the earth.'

So concludes Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring" ... her most noted book of several exceptional environmental works. This book, first published in 1962, set the stage for environmental movements throughout the world and still rings true today... man is part of nature, not excluded from it, nor exempt from the outcomes that we create in our attempt to over come natural trends and realities.

In my work, meger in compaison, I have looked at her efforts and tried to see if we have come to our senses ... and sadly I find that for many we have not. Ask if you would use DDT or its derivitives in your garden and you would probably say no, yet DDT is not gone...it is simply used in far away fields and its toxins are still in our food chain even today from past applications here in North America.

Rachel Carson died of cancer at the age of 56 in 1964, sad that we lost her so young...but you can still find power in her words and answers to how we need to proceed today to create a sustainable world in which to live and as an appropriate legacy for future generations.

What’s the impact of mixing chemicals together?

Tell me, what happens when you mix raspberry sauce into chocolate pudding? Well, if you like chocolate desserts…you may find the blending of flavors quite wonderful. Same thing with coffee and sugar… and say cream…not bad, right.

The point I am trying to make is that when things are mixed they act on each other. In these cases…with reasonable impact. But, what about adding vodka to orange juice? Different impact, and somewhat dangerous. Okay, so the real point… when we mix chemicals together in our water or on our crops…or even inside of our bodies, well…they have the potential to act upon each other and create new chemical compounds that may be dangerous.

This is especially true if these chemicals are toxins to start with… say different insecticides or pesticides used on or around those raspberries and the Cocoa … Consider that if these are broad spectrum pesticides that can kill the bugs and weeds, they probably can hurt us too. And if these dangerous chemicals are building up in our bodies they have the potential to combine and become even more toxic over time.

It is time to stop ignoring what we all should understand… toxins will impact all living things, we are not immune to them…only our size and the limits on the dosage help to reduce effects on us…and the more we accumulate over the years, the more damage they will do to us.

Oh, and we should be demanding that chemical combinations, not just isolated chemicals be tested for the toxic impact that they may cause.

How dirty is our air?

This photo of a North American city sums up much of what we deal with everyday. Our air, though some of the best in the world, is not always clean. In fact many cities are cautioned on an ever changing basis to watch their exposure to their air.

http://www.enviroflash.info/

In fact there are many State, National and International bodies who watch the ever changing environment and find the indicators of quality variation that define Air Quality and help us to understand why we must reduce pollution throughout the world for the sake of ensuring a sustainable planet for ourselves and for future generations to come.

Do a pesticide audit of your home...you will be surprised what you find!

Do you have dogs, cats, kids, birds… fish?

Do you use pesticides and herbicides around them?

It might be time to rethink your approach to pest control… or at least to read the labels! If you don’t read the label you will not know the proper process for use. Normally, we just take the bottle and spray away…when we should be reading every word as if our life depended on it…which it just might. Some place on the label is a list of active ingredients used in these pesticides.

I have Round Up for use on my yard, now Round Up uses a Monsanto developed synthetic, Glyphosate Intermediate (GI), for its herbicides…in fact it is one of the most used herbicides worldwide. Finding the name of this active ingredient on the spray bottle I had took me minutes…as it did on the Bengal Roach killer I had too… You see, they want you to be impressed with their marketing statements… how well it works to kill a broad spectrum of plants or insects… and not on the toxins in the product. Some of these products are pre-diluted to the appropriate dose rate, others are concentrated and you have to add water.

Commercial grade RoundUp is shipped at a 50% concentration when the application by sprayer calls for a .5% dose rate…and if done by air it is not to be more than .12%. This is an example of how it gets over used… hey what would your water mix be to reduce a 48-gallon barrel of herbicide at 50% concentration to .5% concentration or less? What you are tasked with doing is making a shift to ensure that 1% of your application is from the barrel and 99 gallons of water are added to that 1 gallon of concentrate. Most farmers don’t read the fine print… but more of them do than homeowners… we never read the details.

The same is true with the insecticides… in my house I had a fungicide, a roach designated pesticide…which kills a broad spectrum of insects, and a broad spectrum flea, ant, and roach pump spray… all with side effects that I had to
look up using the chemical name, not the product name… And I had to dig to find out that the Bengal spray and the broad spectrum spray could kill my cat and make young kids sick…

By the way, the toxins will seek out the fat and marrow in all animals…and it will stay there for a very long time. As it turned out…Round Up, which says it breaks down right away… really doesn’t. In fact the Monsanto company says it breaks down in 60 to 90 days on land and faster in water…but studies showed that in water it stays measurable for up to 6 months, and in a Michigan State study it was detectable a year after it washed off the field and into the stream where the testing sample was drawn.

And every one of the products in my house was deadly toxic to fish… and once the fish get dosed…these products develop follow on chemicals due to oxidation known as epoxides…which were 10 times more toxic than the original toxin. So…don’t let your cat eat your fish if you are using these toxins in your home! Birds too…though a little less…

How would these products get into your fish tank?

Easy…you used a spray, now the chemicals are airborne…you smelled them… and they settle into the fish tank. Bengal Bug Spray… Bug Be Gone hand pump… or that Raid spray or the house ‘Bug Bomb’ you used to kill the flies and fleas. It all becomes airborne and it all settles down and enters your pet’s food dish or the fish tank…or the bird cage…and there goes ‘Goldie’ … she didn’t die of old age, she died of bug spray…and every other animal in the home…kids and adults included…are exposed to these toxins and they are accumulating an increasing dose rate with every exposure.

Fast way to kill your cat!!!

Cat's have a unique nervous system and nuroanatomy... so they respond differently to nurotoxins than other four legged creatures. One fast way to eliminate all nine of their lives is to use a DOG anti-flea and tick treatment on them. DON'T MIX THEM UP!!!

Oh, and by the way... Cat nervous systems are very close to Human nervous systems... and we respond badly to Dog Anti-flea chemicals too. So don't let your children do the application on any of your pets (cats or dogs). In fact you need to wear gloves and you should let the biggest person (man) apply these chemicals if you must use them... the bigger you are the lower the retained dose... inhaled or skin absorped... recieved.

Is NASA doing an important job?

NASA's Galileo spacecraft photographed this asteroid on its way to orbit Jupiter and its moons for its mission from 1995 to 2003. The spacecraft may have died in the Jovian atmosphere but the data it sent back is still being examined and new findings are being uncovered.

Most recent is the discovery of a subsurface ocean of molten or partially molten magma beneath the surface of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io according to a new study by scientists at UCLA, the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of Michigan.

The voyager spacecraft project with Voyager I and II has been in operational for more than 35 years... these two vessels have left our solar system and are entering deep space...and though their primary mission eneded in the 1980's, these spacecraft are currently in extended mission status, tasked with locating and studying the boundaries of the Solar System, including the Kuiper belt, the heliosphere and interstellar space.

Do we need to do this type of science? It represents hundreds of millions of dollars per launch, billions and billions annually... should we be using our limited national resources on these types of experiments, or should we be closing down the space adventure for the sake of solving our domestic and international problems here on earth?

What;s On Our Blueberries?

I love Blueberries...and it is reported that they love us... high in many things...and antioxidents.

But one example of whats on them is Phosmet, a general purpose toxic used as a herbicide and pesticide... also used to kill rats, mice and more.

Phosmet is a moderately toxic compound by ingestion but requires the signal word WARNING on the label because it is more highly toxic by other routes of exposure. It has a moderately high toxicity through the skin and a very high
toxicity through inhalation.

Typical of other organophosphates, phosmet is an inhibitor of the enzyme cholinesterase. Symptoms of acute phosmet poisoning include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. Acute exposure at high levels may result in muscle spasms, loss of muscle coordination, mental confusion and drowsiness. The insecticide may also adversely affect breathing and salivation.

It is a neurotoxin, possible carcinogen, and highly toxic to polinators (bees) that is present in more than 11% of tests on blueberries. Another example is the fugicide Boscalid...which is found in 34% of Blueberries tested. Not identified as a toxic source for humans... but it kills birds, fish, and rodents... not much of a reach to find it as an influencer in damaging humans in some way.

And what about mixing with other chemicals? While there are some studies on how these pesticides impact plants and animals, almost no testing is done to determine the Crossover-impact of these chemicals when mixed together and given the opportunity to restructure themselves into new compounds.

These are only two examples of the dozens of pesticides use don Blueberries... wow...the magic of modern chemistry.

Promote increased natural solutions by talking with your government representatives at Local, State, and National levels... don't just stand by and ignore the consiquences of our actions, and then hold our chemical manufacturers and the AgriGiants accountalbe for what they are putting out there. Remember if it is on a plant that you eat...like blueberries...it is in your body and will probably lodge itself in your soft tissue...and remain there for decades to come.

http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/

Higher milage per gallon...is that the answer?

One of the demands of the EPA is the auto manufacturers develop plans to increase the mileage of the autos that they sell us. Honda is currently advertising a 40-MPG Civic ...not a Hybrid... but a standard auto that is getting 40 MPG. Ford is on track to deliver the same thing with some of its models as well.

But is higher mileage per gallon the right answer?

There is a debate over this, and the oil giants and auto makers are all for staying the course. Increase mileage and we will continue to purchase gas at its increasing price...even though the demand will fall off with the shift away from gas guzzlers. Keep in mind that the oil industry knows...or at least I hope they know, that oil reserves are falling as we are past Peak Oil...and if they don't do something they will go from being the top companies in the world to oblivion...just like saddle and harness manufacturers of past days. Oil is on its way out...plain and simple, its just a matter of time.

So again, is higher mileage the right answer...well, Yes and No...both at the same time. We will not transition to alternative vehicles and different fuels instantly. We know that we have had alternative options for decades, but industry and the consuming public have not fought for the change. In fact General Motors started a production run of electric vehicles in 1990 with its prototype EV1, which went into production in 1996 and was leased out until 1999, but they cancelled its test program in 2002... explained by them as due to low public interest.

Now we have electric vehicles with up to 400 mile driving distance, and Hybrids with potentially unlimited range...but due to delays in entering into this the costs are high...the Tesla will run over $90,000.00... and the others don't dip below $25,000.00. The public may want EVs, but they can't yet afford them.

So, Higher gas mileage is a short term solution that we can all adopt willingly, but zero emmisions alternative vehicles are the future. These are not just electric, by the way. They could be fuel cell systems producing electric charges for the power train, or H2 vehicles using Hydrogen to fuel their turbins, or we could and should shift to Natural Gas...where we can produce excellent motivational energy and not yeild any Greenhouse Gasses... or perhaps some other applicaiton of energy that we have yet to devise, like magnetism.

Within our lifetime however we will be off of the gas powered internal combustion engine and onto other things.

Me... my bicycle is tuned and gets me to the shops just fine...following the prime examples set in the Neatherlands, and here in Orlando where many find the bicycle lanes a faster way to cruise the town.

Natural Beauty... throughout America and the world.

Perhaps a reasonable perspective is important... Our nation is truly beautiful, and we as the stewards of its resources are accountable for maintaining it for all of time... one generation after the other.

Our obligation, under the terms presented by local, national, and international credos on sustainability demand that we preserve the earth in a meaningful way that works for man today and for future generations to come.

As an example, the mission of the ICLEI, an international consortium of Local Governments for sustainability, is to build and serve a worldwide movement of local governments to achieve tangible improvements in global sustainability with special focus on environmental conditions through cumulative local actions.

Ensuring our future... during our lifetime and that of our children and all of the children to come, marks the importance of our efforts for this process.

Take a moment and enjoy the beauty of America...these photos are recent shots of North Carolina from along the Blue Ridge Parkway... Beauty and clean resources for all to share and enjoy.

Adopting a Precautionary Approach...Sustainability At Its Best

The world around us depends on our understanding ... and on our ability to gauge reasonable and acceptable steps when it comes to our actions as the Shepard of our environment.

When we pollute we need to recognize our impact on the earth and act to correct our mistakes. When we create new science, be that chemical applications for use in agriculture, or construction, or energy, or for the elimination of pests...we need to think our steps through and act with reason before we deploy our inventions to 'solve' our perceived problems.

We are, after all, accountable to the earth and to all of the creatures on the earth for our actions. We need to preserve all life, for we are part of a biosphere...not set apart from it. We need to undertake a Precautionary approach to the introduction of chemicals, or to the Genetic Modification of animal species or plants... coming to understand what we have created before we blindly enter into an irreversible campaign which, once undertaken, may change our planet forever.

The three E's of Sustainability call for us to understand this and to raise it as one of our primary banners...Environment, Economy, and Equity... done effectively calls for society to demand a precautionary approach to all of our solutions to all of our issues and problems.

Places where we need to immediately apply this:

• Pesticides (weed and insects)... because chemicals that kill simple fungi (example) may also attach themselves to the food chain and kill all along the chain at each link.
• Geological exploration to improve the recovery of resources may threaten our air and water...through the release of toxins in any number of ways
• Development of current energy resources may leak...if preventive systems are not tested fully and backed up as needed
• Nuclear incidents due to natural or human disasters may out weigh the use of reactors for the production of energy
• GMO programs ... have no history to tell us what synthetic modifications produce long term...say 20...or 40...or 100 years down the road. Assuming we get that far after a GMO incident modifies our world around us.
• Or the over use of nutrients or application of newly developed nutrients on crops...may poison our waters beyond recovery, saturate them with nitrates and kill all the fish, or poison the birds and wild life that depend on that part of the food chain.

We need to take a precautionary approach to ensure sustainability of a safe environment, a healthy economy, and equity on a global and generational basis.

Worst Polluter in the US...

In operation since 1989, the Red Dog open pit mine operations is located in Northwest Alaska in the DeLong Mountains of the Brooks Range, 82 miles north of Kotzebue, 55 miles from the Chukchi Sea, and 106 miles above the Arctic Circle. It is situated within the Northwest Arctic Borough. The mine is self-reliant, with power generation, an airport, worker housing and ocean shipping facilities.

The Red Dog pit-mine generates air and water pollution in the hundreds of millions of pounds of carcinogens and toxicants (481,578,816 lbs *) annually. They are dumping these into the air and water...and though they may be located hundreds or even thousands of miles away from our general population the pollutants are carried to us and to the rest of the globe through routine circulation of water and air currents.

Red Dog is one example...and they are not acting to clean up their operations...not to the degree needed to make them safe for humankind. Raise the alarm... Don't weaken the EPA by unfunding its budget and thus preventing its ability to hold the line against corporations who view our clean air and water as a needless expense.

(*source data taken from the EPA Toxics Release Inventory Program 2002 data release)

recognized
carcSuspected
Cardiovascular or Blood Toxicantsinogens

There are a million things happening...Billions really.

There are several companies around the world... Dupont, GE, EXXON-Mobile, Koch Chemical as examples... companies who pollute our world... fight the logic of the EPA's rules to keep our water and air clean...argue against Climate Change...cause if the truth comes out that they are causing it...well they might just be held accountable.

Then we give subsidies to the Oil Industry; 4-Billion dollars in 2010...this is just plain unbelievable. The cumulative industry profits for oil companies has doubled in 2010, over 40 Billion Dollars for one year, and 2011 will be higher. This isn't because we are using more. Not even close. The Petrochemical and fuel companies are making increased profits on decreasing consumption through the recession of 2010. They make their profit as a percentage of the cost of crude...and though they purchase oil for refining in advance...that speculation thing...they bill it out as a part of their 'last in' pricing scheme.

Here we are giving them Corporate Welfare and they are raking in the ever increasing profits. It does not make sense...but what are our alternatives? Oh, wait a moment...Simple... Alternative Energy and increased use of energy resources that we can harness... specifically Natural Gas. We have an amazing reserve of Natural Gas and as we are past Peak Oil we need to understand that even with reduced consumption we will find that oil continues to increase in price. The only way to lower that cost is to drastically reduce the consumption which will ground the speculation to a halt.

Oh, and we need to stop funding the cleanup of their waste... companies that pollute should have to fund the cleanup. We don't do that... we clean it up using tax dollars...social solutions that should be corporate solutions...hold them accountable and they will find the solutions that will make sense now and into the future and help to meet that Sustainable goal that we have for our world to come.

Attack on the EPA...

Back in
February (2011) congressional Republicans vowed to curb the authority and the
budget of the Environmental Protection Agency. And since that point they have
been attacking the agency to a degree not seen since President Richard Nixon
created it 40 years ago.

The EPA's effort to tackle the latest and perhaps most challenging
environmental problem - global warming - has made it a central target of the
new Republican leadership's antiregulatory agenda. In fact it appears that the
‘Political Hot-Potato’ …Global Warming is the issue. Having failed last year to
enact new legislation to curb global warming, the Obama administration is left
to use existing law - the Clean Air Act - to start reducing the pollution
causing the planet's temperature to rise. The Republicans however are not
committed to the concept of Global Warming…denying that it is even an issue,
and they have declared as a party that such actions would only raise
electricity prices and penalize industries that otherwise could be creating
jobs.

"Congress intends to reassert itself in the
statutory and regulatory process at EPA, and specifically the Clean Air
Act," said Rep. Ed Whitfield (R., Ky.), chairman of the subcommittee on
energy and power. He is a sponsor of a draft bill that would block the EPA from
using the law to control heat-trapping pollution.

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson told the panel
that the legislation "would eliminate portions of the landmark law that
all American children and adults rely on to protect them from harmful air
pollution."

During more than two hours of testimony, Jackson
said the law and overwhelming scientific evidence on global warming compelled
the EPA to act.

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R.,
Mich.), the author of the draft bill, denied that it would limit the federal
government's ability to monitor and reduce health-damaging pollution.

A follow on attack on the EPA came from Newt Gingrich, the former House
speaker and a possible 2012 GOP presidential candidate. He called for
abolishing the EPA and replacing it with an organization more friendly to
business. The problem is that at the heart of business is the desire to make
profits…which I agree it should be…and regulations that require business to pay
for the pollution that they are generating reduces those profits.

Who should shoulder the cost of air and water cleanup? For instance if
business uses water in their production process…taking in clean water and
discharging dirty post production water…should the community have to suffer the
pollution, or even clean it up without the ability to recover their expenses
from the businesses at fault? The same question goes to air quality. If an
industry, like power generation which predominantly exists on coal fired
systems, pollutes the air in excess of current standards set by the EPA under
the past approval of our Government should the community suffer the pollution,
including the impact it may have on global warming…let’s call it climate change
(both hot and cold, storm and drought) …or pay to clean up the pollution
created by the responsible industry? When put in that light most would say no.

The EPA has a purpose, and the USA…has a responsibility to reduce
pollution in a meaningful way for the sake of all of our citizens, not only for
industries…especially those responsible for the pollution of our air, water,
and soil…who should be held accountable for the expense of meeting our
environmental standards during production or cleaning up the pollution that
they generate in their ‘for profit’ enterprise.

The PetroChemical Magic…may be dark magic…

If we use synthetic chemicals… often called ‘organic’ due to their carbon based structure, not due to their healthful nature… as herbicides and insecticides, should we assume that they will only track to the task at hand of killing a specific weed or insect? Or should we recognize that if thousands of pounds of these chemicals are sprayed into our air…to settle on crops, as well as the surrounding fields and streams… or lift up as an evaporate into the clouds to rain down onto some unsuspecting community meters or miles away?

Chemical treatment poses many interesting challenges. Our goal seems to be to eliminate one or two types of ‘pests’ that are attracted to our corps or plants (perhaps cucumbers, tomatoes, lilies, or roses), yet our method of application is often mass spraying or dusting that indiscriminately covers acres of land, including the streams and rivers that flow by and the communities in which we live.

If we look back to the point where chemists discovered these chemical weapons… for that was most often what they were developed for…to kill animals or to use on fellow man…we find that they were considered too deadly to use. Many of these chemicals were found as early as the 1870s… and were brought into full use in the first world war and used again in the second world war. It wasn’t until after World War II that corporations in Europe and the US began to create these chemicals in a form that was usable against “Pests” and not man… though many in the production and application industries were made ill and some died due to exposure.

What is amazing is that while the FDA may control what drugs and food we can use or put on our table, these herbicides and pesticides are not controlled on release… and only truly controlled if there is evidence that they cause health issues for man… say liver failure, or reproductive issues, or cancer… we actively engage these chemicals as part of our food chain…after all we are placing them into our soil or onto our food…and they spend weeks or months being taken into these plants and ultimately becoming part of them… later to become part of us… suspended in our organs, the fatty structures in our bodies, or altering the development of our bodies…and the bodies of our children… even infants who are the most susceptible to the impact that they promote.

Since the 1970s many pesticides have been banned due to demonstrated links to failing health in humans… but it may not stop with the termination of use, after all we have sprayed these chemicals for decades into our air, our water and onto our soil. It has had years to build up… compounding the problem especially where these chemicals don’t readily dissolve and break down.

Here is just one example of a chemical insecticide still in use in the USA. It is Endosulfan, which is an off-patent organochlorine insecticide and acaricide. This colorless solid has emerged as a highly controversial agrichemical due to its acute toxicity, potential for bioaccumulation, and role as an endocrine disruptor. Banned in more than 63 countries, including the European Union, Australia and New Zealand, and other Asian and West African nations, and being phased out in the United States, Brazil and Canada. It is still used extensively in many other countries including India and China. It is produced by Bayer CropScience, Makhteshim Agan, and Government-of-India–owned Hindustan Insecticides Limited among others. Because of its threats to the environment, a global ban on the use and manufacture of endosulfan is being considered under the Stockholm Convention.

In 2007, the EPA announced it was rereviewing the safety of endosulfan. The following year, Pesticide Action Network and NRDC petitioned the EPA to ban endosulfan, and a coalition of environmental and labor groups sued the EPA seeking to overturn its 2002 decision to not ban endosulfan. In June 2010, the EPA announced it was negotiating a phaseout of all uses with the sole U.S. manufacturer, Makhteshim Agan and a complete ban on the compound. As it turns out Endosulfan has the ability to persist in soil for decades…tens and tens of years… and it will continue to be taken into our bodies as we eat the wheat and corn…and all the other fields that it is used on… from the day it is removed from use in the USA…some five years from now.

The only manufacture of this pesticide for the US market is Makhteshim-Agan (mentioned above), a Global Petrochemical lab headquartered in Israel which has the largest generic distribution network in the world, comprising 43 marketing firms throughout the companies' markets in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.

Even after Endosulfan is banned in the US it will continue to be used and its airborne and waterborne toxins will continue to cover our world…and due to the nature of fluid mass distribution…it will continue to rain down on use for years to come.

From a related tale...

You may or may not have
seen the story on 60 minutes (Sunday, 21st March) in regards to the use of
Carbendazim, Atrazine and Endosulfan on crops in Australia…http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/stories/1029050/poisoned .

The story was very concerning as a Fish Farmer ‘Gwen Gilson’ located in Noosa, QLD
gave her firsthand experience of the effects these chemicals, due to spray
drift, were having on her life….her neighbor is a Conventional Macadamia Nut
farmer….

These issues are not just concerns for the huge agribusinesses established and running crop production worldwide…but concerns for each of us small users as well. When you use those chemicals from Ace Depot …the ones you got yourself, or have them applied by a service company… you are often told that these pest products, when applied per the supplied rules, contain less than 0.5% active ingredient and are considered practically non-toxic at these dilutions.

The problem is that "non-toxic" isn’t necessarily true for these levels may far exceed the toxic levels for both good and bad insects alike. In fact .5% or one half of one percent would be equal to 5000 parts per million (ppm) in an industry where chemical toxicity is measured in less than 10ppm!Now you know why they put the little signs around your yard… toxic levels for your cats, dogs…and kids are near these application levels…and you are going to be effected if exposed.