tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2717793935255434562024-03-13T20:15:35.433-04:00Greening the Blue Planet"Your work," said the Buddha, "is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-41101426585825296152018-05-12T10:15:00.000-04:002018-05-12T12:26:21.306-04:00Transformation needed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5WQyXpTVF0ktGxLy-KwIbgten1lX1UFtOuVEAhTWwGjoJAioDFr2G2xz1eayuAQetXjCysrbKw2wwzX3Xgvp9RJaA3tiCs6ngm5q4G84-M8r0zVjZqw20o_7PFjw-AIBp8It-hr0PCk/s1600/environmental-spirituality.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="690" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5WQyXpTVF0ktGxLy-KwIbgten1lX1UFtOuVEAhTWwGjoJAioDFr2G2xz1eayuAQetXjCysrbKw2wwzX3Xgvp9RJaA3tiCs6ngm5q4G84-M8r0zVjZqw20o_7PFjw-AIBp8It-hr0PCk/s400/environmental-spirituality.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed, and apathy ... and to deal with those, we need a spiritual and cultural transformation.<br />
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"I am beginning to realize that lack of a spiritual and cultural commitment in my life has added to this lack of empathy, compassion, and selfishness in the world," says my friend Donna Carey. "I need to find a regular place to practice my spirituality before I can be fully committed to the cultural transformation that Gus Speth talks about."<br />
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Cross-posted on my <a href="http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2018/05/transformation-needed.html">Bonnie's Books</a> blog.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-57071515480768795362013-02-21T21:00:00.000-05:002013-02-28T09:52:37.108-05:00Recycle in Peace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_fkjEB5lhVEI3bO_2_xTce7tPWO-VCHHprFfNFF-J9sch_k9EPSdNHR-aiBg2iQVn9YYWMVANyxIlNht0v4D3kx50Gv7OxNb01gz74C8lIOfcdUFuc6yG2v-NWNZOAS16gfF1Z8ln68/s1600/biodegradable-urn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_fkjEB5lhVEI3bO_2_xTce7tPWO-VCHHprFfNFF-J9sch_k9EPSdNHR-aiBg2iQVn9YYWMVANyxIlNht0v4D3kx50Gv7OxNb01gz74C8lIOfcdUFuc6yG2v-NWNZOAS16gfF1Z8ln68/s320/biodegradable-urn.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Once you might have been buried under a tree. Now you can <b>BE</b> the tree. How would you like to grow into a tree after you die? This is a Bios Urn, a completely biodegradable urn that contains a single tree seed. When planted, the tree seed is nourished by and absorbs the nutrients from the ashes. The urn itself is made from coconut shell and contains compacted peat and cellulose. The ashes are mixed with this, and the seed placed inside. Because ashes are a good source of phosphorus, cremated remains serve as good fertilization for trees. You can even choose which type of tree you'd like to grow! So which would you prefer — leaving behind a tree or a tombstone?<br />
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(Cross-posted on my <a href="http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2013/02/recycle-in-peace.html">Bonnie's Books</a> blog.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-48084728126465145532012-11-02T07:00:00.000-04:002012-11-02T07:00:17.144-04:00I was a tree<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiegQ7lcvVRBAWz4XTwTp-W_Ii10oadNB-FtrNoTwvAPaQDbYBFKfb-hG3umc3Sr67TraUHhCoXBgwceulCM5cBXd5UIZt_hF61mHwMVWteRZ1u4oT3W6Per-Dhd3Cvt7dooFxhEocz2hjn/s1600/tree-i-was.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiegQ7lcvVRBAWz4XTwTp-W_Ii10oadNB-FtrNoTwvAPaQDbYBFKfb-hG3umc3Sr67TraUHhCoXBgwceulCM5cBXd5UIZt_hF61mHwMVWteRZ1u4oT3W6Per-Dhd3Cvt7dooFxhEocz2hjn/s400/tree-i-was.jpg" width="306" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-59389008853066005222012-11-01T16:35:00.003-04:002012-11-01T16:35:58.235-04:00Flood waters after super-storm Sandy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiah7rgl2ERlJFS5dkiPOQd9ktiqBPUZyOm7vuAISMnCVlL-sI0OhcAZ9-73gJxXXdBjGwHqwWFpTkanbqFqKF2c5g9zK3sU_XkgbnM0JsTMCAEg8-JLoVg5cY9rsxAM7gl33tA14wKanLw/s1600/global-warming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiah7rgl2ERlJFS5dkiPOQd9ktiqBPUZyOm7vuAISMnCVlL-sI0OhcAZ9-73gJxXXdBjGwHqwWFpTkanbqFqKF2c5g9zK3sU_XkgbnM0JsTMCAEg8-JLoVg5cY9rsxAM7gl33tA14wKanLw/s400/global-warming.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-65535825273572232352012-01-24T16:06:00.000-05:002012-01-24T16:06:40.832-05:00Panda or polar bear?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsCEwLtVwVxoMf31xeGC-diXIMZBleaG0_RyXSxl2OMaJEc-YwBoOHxYtUtZSGvpdMwilNaSb_OaX0Yu7SATQqH3AWj7ulQC1si1ZEb95ixSmlFvJU7Mrf9ufNc9mAwJ78M4O7AF56ygrR/s1600/panda-polar-bear-change.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsCEwLtVwVxoMf31xeGC-diXIMZBleaG0_RyXSxl2OMaJEc-YwBoOHxYtUtZSGvpdMwilNaSb_OaX0Yu7SATQqH3AWj7ulQC1si1ZEb95ixSmlFvJU7Mrf9ufNc9mAwJ78M4O7AF56ygrR/s400/panda-polar-bear-change.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Having to "evolve"?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyX3O2ctwXIutTr0sEX-4qNj8UgxSWz_cZJZfbrewggC5WlzQMEMzviniM5z3VV1QOzG17WAThWFOJsSsqHQhYvb21Alr1JSkaPlc_kH-SSW637-BIT0Tc6QJW-xUy_d37sQzK7N53T8W/s1600/polar-bear-ice-chunk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyX3O2ctwXIutTr0sEX-4qNj8UgxSWz_cZJZfbrewggC5WlzQMEMzviniM5z3VV1QOzG17WAThWFOJsSsqHQhYvb21Alr1JSkaPlc_kH-SSW637-BIT0Tc6QJW-xUy_d37sQzK7N53T8W/s400/polar-bear-ice-chunk.jpg" width="277" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">What's the option?</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-77694211550915759012012-01-18T08:54:00.000-05:002012-04-30T13:10:44.473-04:00Winston of Churchill ~ a book review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicaE_pwS6mrUsYH1XSGJbm9atd5nJp5oQL_w6QCvvu-7leIcDj4fhMvrLFmWhyphenhyphendVpZPHCZdKiVsJthbAMADREOz5hcnq7KPF954-2NIw3aI1UO20NADmIiSr4ggeEJ_POsjrucYOZsGFhW/s1600/winston-of-churchill.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicaE_pwS6mrUsYH1XSGJbm9atd5nJp5oQL_w6QCvvu-7leIcDj4fhMvrLFmWhyphenhyphendVpZPHCZdKiVsJthbAMADREOz5hcnq7KPF954-2NIw3aI1UO20NADmIiSr4ggeEJ_POsjrucYOZsGFhW/s320/winston-of-churchill.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>Winston of Churchill: One Bear's Battle Against Global Warming</b> ~ by Jean Davies Okimoto, 2007, children's picture book<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Winston is worried because the ice of the Hudson Bay is melting sooner each year and he and his fellow polar bears have less time to hunt for food, but he comes up with an idea that will make the tourists who come to see the bears realize what is going on.</blockquote>
Winston wrote a book for the other polar bears. It includes this sentence: "People need to burn less gas, make less garbage, and plant more trees." Some polar bear asked, "But what can we do?" Winston's answer:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"We can't do anything ... We are bears. We don't drive cars or burn coal. We like it cold."</blockquote>
And then came the refrain, repeated often in the book:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Yes, ice is nice," everyone agreed.</blockquote>
So they must convince people to change, and that's what they proceed to do. Winston has a plan for a polar bear protest. Everyone said yes, except for one bear who said, "No." It was Winston's wife. Notice the bear is named "Winston," and these polar bears live near the town of "Churchill" in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Kids who "read" picture books won't make any connection when they hear Winston and Churchill, but their parents will. The book even quotes Winston Churchill's war rhetoric with the words, "We shall defend our island..." One cub (smart kid) speaks up: "We don't live on an island. We live in Manitoba." Winston tells him it was "just a figure of speech." Uh-huh, Churchill's speech.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq-2SXVXYfs9xGZM0H-OUQSanS2wTkSN0Dbg1bjeWz0C5WRf8sREq-Gie8zzNhVCksg-N83edOQQATVzgHe35Rqe1tnMckFpcEX8ifwyIsU8TUCnnuY_lM_pJezb-MpQDGelyUEDqOKUd_/s1600/winston-of-churchill-poster.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq-2SXVXYfs9xGZM0H-OUQSanS2wTkSN0Dbg1bjeWz0C5WRf8sREq-Gie8zzNhVCksg-N83edOQQATVzgHe35Rqe1tnMckFpcEX8ifwyIsU8TUCnnuY_lM_pJezb-MpQDGelyUEDqOKUd_/s400/winston-of-churchill-poster.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(click to enlarge)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Oh, yeah, Winston's wife, says she won't join the protest unless he quits smoking. Just like the man in England, he smokes a cigar. But his wife says,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"That thing in your mouth is an instrument of pollution." Then she adds, "No cigar or I'm not going."</blockquote>
The next morning, the bears marched across the tundra with signs saying, "Solar Power" and "Freeze Please" and "Save our Home." And Winston?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And the fierce, brave bear they were following ... was chewing a twig.</blockquote>
Find yourself a copy and read it to see what happens next, okay? This great story book rates 10 of 10 with me.<br />
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(Also posted on my book blog: <a href="http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2012/01/library-loot-january-18-24.html">Bonnie's Books</a>.) Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-299887459364435882010-04-22T00:29:00.001-04:002010-04-22T00:32:54.425-04:00Hug a tree ~ or plant oneI took part in the first Earth Day, back in April 1970. Wow, that's forty years ago! A few years ago I wrote about <a href="http://greeningtheblueplanet.blogspot.com/2007/04/earth-day-2007.html">what happened that day</a>, when I was a university student and went home to three young children.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXT6Jc61MnrUNetcdrEkPueMV7WB1k6jk7nPCtQ33gBD30Rz6qDo3vhbGNYlshoHa9_5ztfccGTHACP8c8EmGIXG5uTn5TqJzfUVqlLtP5odSjG4hVm-gEHyovIRVNqelCQRZrRGnW2xf/s1600/hug-a-tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXT6Jc61MnrUNetcdrEkPueMV7WB1k6jk7nPCtQ33gBD30Rz6qDo3vhbGNYlshoHa9_5ztfccGTHACP8c8EmGIXG5uTn5TqJzfUVqlLtP5odSjG4hVm-gEHyovIRVNqelCQRZrRGnW2xf/s400/hug-a-tree.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>Have you ever actually hugged a tree? I have had a favorite tree in every place I've ever lived, but hugging hasn't been part of my routine. One day, however, I ran out through a drizzly rain to get my mail and stood inside my garage reading a letter from a friend who had recently moved away. In her letter she asked me to hug the big tree in my yard that was her favorite tree -- and I ran through the drizzle and wrapped my arms around that tree. Her letter said she knew I would do it, and she was right. That would have been 1973, I believe.<br />
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On Earth Day in 2000 my seventh grandchild was born. I wrote about <a href="http://greeningtheblueplanet.blogspot.com/2007/04/i-got-mine.html">Cady's birthday party</a> a few years later. That was a day I spent mostly at the zoo, before attending her party.<br />
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Earth Day has usually been a very good day for me, though I don't have anything special planned to celebrate. Maybe I'll hug a tree. How will you spend the day this year?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-83582755707418376302010-02-19T13:55:00.000-05:002010-02-19T13:55:27.310-05:00What if it's a hoax?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoKAiq7ldAaIru1tezjxEhGURolNTDEKQL7iO3AzV8XoRmKRnir5dEF1zjrkuEm6aEEyJ8KhCEyahGUi9AH8D0QfmpwNQQnmS3jvVO1PiG7F7VdIS-YHBHo0xtjbXXxhheG5-1-frkP6YH/s1600-h/climate-summit.php" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoKAiq7ldAaIru1tezjxEhGURolNTDEKQL7iO3AzV8XoRmKRnir5dEF1zjrkuEm6aEEyJ8KhCEyahGUi9AH8D0QfmpwNQQnmS3jvVO1PiG7F7VdIS-YHBHo0xtjbXXxhheG5-1-frkP6YH/s400/climate-summit.php" width="400" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-9159242358998555162009-12-03T17:29:00.001-05:002009-12-03T17:30:30.418-05:00This butterfly has adapted to changes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33kl167usna9ZyAlN6faOXJw2zTJZOTMr3bZ_lUgkpV0OxCJovkAcYjpeIedVZ4sqp-RQ7QjXvZH9s2Z1Dsvyx_sLbBnHsn2RkIXpnRLFKG3ByOEHNsUfNYvyWV85lynePCJtnMA-Nui7/s1600-h/adonis-blue-butterfly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33kl167usna9ZyAlN6faOXJw2zTJZOTMr3bZ_lUgkpV0OxCJovkAcYjpeIedVZ4sqp-RQ7QjXvZH9s2Z1Dsvyx_sLbBnHsn2RkIXpnRLFKG3ByOEHNsUfNYvyWV85lynePCJtnMA-Nui7/s400/adonis-blue-butterfly.jpg" /></a><br />
</div>"Some biologists point to how nature has handled the changing climate. The rare Adonis blue butterfly of Britain looked as if it was going to disappear because it couldn't fly far and global warming was making its habitat unbearable. To biologists' surprise, it evolved longer thoraxes and wings, allowing it to fly farther to cooler locales." -- from <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091203/ap_on_sc/sci_climate_adapting">an AP article on global warming</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-22322376921690408352009-10-15T08:28:00.002-04:002013-08-30T05:43:13.981-04:00What sparked your interest?How did you become interested in global warming, climate change, energy efficiency, alternative energy, renewable energy, and such?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrGZVGLMMEbnltgffCFFc0RGSP_LBKz2ovPdb1jpCbZNBKOd5qfpgxB8WIeVStGLniIfUzN4k7sdH7KUP128kKqMBvG0DmFISLSXSW1-zK9X_WyrEznTBrrBXVeI-NCFMXCS4WbK8E93Jx/s1600-h/fenced-tree.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5058241417349668466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrGZVGLMMEbnltgffCFFc0RGSP_LBKz2ovPdb1jpCbZNBKOd5qfpgxB8WIeVStGLniIfUzN4k7sdH7KUP128kKqMBvG0DmFISLSXSW1-zK9X_WyrEznTBrrBXVeI-NCFMXCS4WbK8E93Jx/s400/fenced-tree.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; margin: 0 0 10px 10px;" /></a>When I was in elementary school, I learned about deforestation. I got the idea that we were losing all the trees in the world, and I love trees! So I decided then and there that I would have a tree of my very own. I'd put a fence around it so nobody could ever cut down "the last tree in the world."<br />
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Obviously, I had not yet learned that, without lots of trees, I wouldn't be there to save the last tree. Without trees, the world would be filled with carbon dioxide, lacking the oxygen I would need to breathe, to live. So now that I'm an adult, I want to save not one, but a world-full of trees. (Is "world-full" a word?) We need trees! While we breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, trees take in carbon dioxide and "exhale" oxygen. Pretty good system, huh? Your turn. What sparked your interest?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwIWprU8pWJj7-ZrQ4xNqLfMXVpeM0hyphenhyphenzDy2LcUfbC3T2PCQrtqeCcSKJK842RXf47OrsPQxvXV31P2CnP4DnN52fLqbWocX-2eFGgNjG70uWWu-Drc4PsQcb98KlIli2SZ-audJiQsjo/s1600/blog-action-day-2009-climate-change.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwIWprU8pWJj7-ZrQ4xNqLfMXVpeM0hyphenhyphenzDy2LcUfbC3T2PCQrtqeCcSKJK842RXf47OrsPQxvXV31P2CnP4DnN52fLqbWocX-2eFGgNjG70uWWu-Drc4PsQcb98KlIli2SZ-audJiQsjo/s200/blog-action-day-2009-climate-change.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
By the way, this post is part of <a href="http://www.blogactionday.org/">Blog Action Day</a>. There are more than 8,523 blogs in 148 countries taking part in this today, each posting something about climate change.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-74192122436349073242009-10-15T01:00:00.000-04:002009-10-15T01:01:40.316-04:00Blue-footed boobies<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXdMHSgUkojCt5w4OpbPb5ghyBx1DlyNgAN_8Q2bzwKNs7z7zHJ8Mqv0F-Ym5ImW5gZp6fl11JTwSuATxwiGCZwNHQy2rwkL-kWazi6GgXC9AlJwz-ZEgRPNstAgsA8Sh_nV_0dEFLCOk/s1600-h/blue-footed-booby.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXdMHSgUkojCt5w4OpbPb5ghyBx1DlyNgAN_8Q2bzwKNs7z7zHJ8Mqv0F-Ym5ImW5gZp6fl11JTwSuATxwiGCZwNHQy2rwkL-kWazi6GgXC9AlJwz-ZEgRPNstAgsA8Sh_nV_0dEFLCOk/s200/blue-footed-booby.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388781625114271666" /></a><blockquote>"Scientists say abrupt and frequent changes in sea temperatures and the death of coral reefs near the islands show that global warming is taking its toll on local sea life."</blockquote>I was looking for a hook, something to hang today's story on, when I found <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091001/sc_nm/us_climate_galapagos_1">this article</a> about how global warming is affecting the Galapagos. The first sentence gave me an image that appeals to me:<br /><blockquote>"Climate change could endanger the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands, and scientists are trying to figure out how to protect vulnerable species such as blue-footed boobies and Galapagos Penguins."</blockquote>Penguins are cute, but I know nothing about blue-footed boobies. So I searched for a photo and found these at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-footed_Booby">Wikipedia</a>. (Click to enlarge photos.) I am fascinated by the blue feet. The blueness of their beaks doesn't show up as well in the picture above, but it's my favorite, maybe because of the ocean in the background. Wikipedia says the feet of these boobies range from a pale turquoise to a deep aquamarine, and the males and younger birds have lighter feet than females do.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3yTLuEPQJkIRbIVyUJx1XNw854VNk6vjjHA6INuRQepkWM-gdmYq-AOZpcDXdjbTLZ3kuoXXP5oHZxmFEIydoPen9rlgjM2kNr32v2QoNky2TsN-JXbXLbBIudS15ERCpJZFUDa2pOO8/s1600-h/blue-footed-booby-displaying.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3yTLuEPQJkIRbIVyUJx1XNw854VNk6vjjHA6INuRQepkWM-gdmYq-AOZpcDXdjbTLZ3kuoXXP5oHZxmFEIydoPen9rlgjM2kNr32v2QoNky2TsN-JXbXLbBIudS15ERCpJZFUDa2pOO8/s320/blue-footed-booby-displaying.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388780103432472226" /></a><br />What big beautiful wings you have, sir! This fellow is displaying, or in other words, I'd say he's showing off. Actually, he's probably dancing.<br /><br /><blockquote><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9FpCiZoQo5vviOfsfWytew3mwIRy2EGkNjT4sAqnbqfylvOQR8nFFO9LtCTxcmyP6ebK9fL_LWi7497gk2-6AeE4hvL-PNW29UsmT6fd-4xGZHQzrSxMBrlUBMFAs-Kn-KwPQb38Nerk/s1600-h/blue-footed-booby-dancing.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9FpCiZoQo5vviOfsfWytew3mwIRy2EGkNjT4sAqnbqfylvOQR8nFFO9LtCTxcmyP6ebK9fL_LWi7497gk2-6AeE4hvL-PNW29UsmT6fd-4xGZHQzrSxMBrlUBMFAs-Kn-KwPQb38Nerk/s200/blue-footed-booby-dancing.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388785659902715618" /></a>"When mating, the female parades and the male points his head and tail high to the sky and his wings are back to show off to the female. The male blue-footed booby also makes a high-piping whistle noise. Males do a dance to attract the females. The dance includes the males lifting their blue feet high and throwing their heads up."</blockquote>So what's happening in the Galapagos?<br /><br />Home for these boobies is a volcanic archipelago, about 600 miles west of the Ecuadorean coast. Islands are particularly vulnerable to climate change, and these islands have coral reefs. "The coral reefs create a habitat; they are like a forest, like the Amazon. They are home to scores of species. ... If the corals die we lose thousands of species that are associated to the coral," said German marine biologist Judith Denkinger, who is based in the Galapagos.<br /><br />Everything is inter-related. Whatever affects one part of the eco-system affects all the other parts as well. I would hate for us to lose the blue-footed boobies. Or the Galapagos Penguins. Or any other species. Ultimately, that could mean us, the five-toed language-speaking species. We aren't above what happens to our world. We're part of it, and demise of a coral reef or two could affect us more than we now realize.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogactionday.org"><img src="http://www.blogactionday.org/imgs/badges/bad-125-125.jpg" border=0 /></a> By the way, this post is part of <a href="http://www.blogactionday.org/">Blog Action Day</a>. There are more than 7,777 blogs in 140 countries taking part in this today, each posting something about climate change.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">One more thing</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTePhCMBYSF_qO0y3pvvKvtp-nUBak9J-Ofu2td4aXtKQW_92FXA5JdDqKBHbDlJRojMC-Ed_WuAb3EtTgt6mm6UoqMj7cc1jLITPEzMjGCX90nFISwLlUzYDo1_8A_36wIdm1aI2e9OVr/s1600-h/350.org.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 84px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTePhCMBYSF_qO0y3pvvKvtp-nUBak9J-Ofu2td4aXtKQW_92FXA5JdDqKBHbDlJRojMC-Ed_WuAb3EtTgt6mm6UoqMj7cc1jLITPEzMjGCX90nFISwLlUzYDo1_8A_36wIdm1aI2e9OVr/s200/350.org.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392686890559182610" /></a>On October 24th ordinary folks like you and me will come together in a series of events designed to bring awareness to an important number -- 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide. That's the maximum safe level for carbon in the atmosphere, at least if we want to keep living on this planet. Here are three of those events:<br /><blockquote>On the melting slopes of Mt. Everest, Pemba Dorje Sherpa, who holds the record for the fastest ascent of the world's highest peak, will be spreading banners and signs.<br /><br />On the dying coral reefs of the Maldives, the government's entire cabinet will don scuba gear and hold an official underwater meeting to pass a 350 resolution to send to the Copenhagen summit.<br /><br />On the shores of the fast-drying Dead Sea, Israeli activists will form a giant human "3" on their beach, Palestinians a "5" on theirs, and Jordanians a "0" - reminding us we need to unite on this vital issue.</blockquote>Visit <a href="http://350.org">http://350.org</a> to find an event near you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-81595783505322503062009-10-14T15:20:00.004-04:002009-12-13T04:46:46.362-05:00Large Hadron Collider ~ stopped by the future?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmpprfn7Ti_PT4z9tXj96zdmbxbKin_cfI80BTLuKnoo_6nODSi_1Dg_6B6-LuVx6xZ1L7c8ca66ebS-itvoaj-asi0ilV-tf2YyfGg_yNSKTPusyWyWV9CTfntSx6zsMvQ7PeX0lsj13/s1600-h/large-hadron-collider-core.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392539534369206194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmpprfn7Ti_PT4z9tXj96zdmbxbKin_cfI80BTLuKnoo_6nODSi_1Dg_6B6-LuVx6xZ1L7c8ca66ebS-itvoaj-asi0ilV-tf2YyfGg_yNSKTPusyWyWV9CTfntSx6zsMvQ7PeX0lsj13/s200/large-hadron-collider-core.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 110px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>The folks at CERN are about to try again, <a href="http://greeningtheblueplanet.blogspot.com/2008/09/do-you-know-difference-between-proton.html">a year later</a>. But this time there's a notion floating around "that the troubled collider is being sabotaged by its own future. A pair of otherwise distinguished physicists have suggested that the hypothesized Higgs boson, which physicists hope to produce with the collider, might be so abhorrent to nature that its creation would ripple backward through time and stop the collider before it could make one, like a time traveler who goes back in time to kill his grandfather."<br />
<br />
Say what? Check out this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/science/space/13lhc.html?em">NYT article</a>. In an unpublished essay, Dr. Nielson [Holger Bech Nielsen of the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen] said of the theory, "Well, one could even almost say that we have a model for God." It is their guess, he went on, "that He rather hates Higgs particles, and attempts to avoid them."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-53945376194860610812009-09-23T16:59:00.000-04:002009-09-23T17:00:20.610-04:00Climate change<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3CnIJ19EVMo&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3CnIJ19EVMo&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Register now at <a href="http://www.blogactionday.org">http://www.blogactionday.org</a>.<br /><br />Then post something about CLIMATE CHANGE on October 15.<br />One issue, one day, thousands of voices.<br />Let's do it!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-13340524393851859782008-12-16T17:48:00.000-05:002008-12-16T17:49:25.946-05:00I'm moving<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilScuHc0vHBPoDU8BgtdUF7cQZwnG5C_xoJ8oURVFhrYRrnULUDz9gSPZvflZGolrGn5O-GPzvDQYYJnx-q2yLoJcNGytpZScOMlruXyKSHChPlqWUE9bJ9LRb37ua3-y10KlKyJBPShI/s1600-h/moving-day.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilScuHc0vHBPoDU8BgtdUF7cQZwnG5C_xoJ8oURVFhrYRrnULUDz9gSPZvflZGolrGn5O-GPzvDQYYJnx-q2yLoJcNGytpZScOMlruXyKSHChPlqWUE9bJ9LRb37ua3-y10KlKyJBPShI/s400/moving-day.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280511958579073010" /></a><br />No, not the blog. My cat and I are moving into a gated community for seniors, and it may take me some time to get settled in. Tomorrow I'll sign the lease and start moving boxes over there each time I go. I really am looking forward to this, so be glad for me, but moving (as most of you probably know) takes time and effort. Kiki, my cat, won't be happy to have to go in the car, but maybe she'll be happy when she realizes the other cat (Sammy is my roommate's cat) won't be living in the same apartment with us. They both grew up as only-cats and resent each other. Sammy and Donna will be moving into a different apartment next week. Here's Kiki among the boxes:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfNSpXak8ivFtdpGN6YIYTf1WnOpWFjk18O57HT_7Oe8xCv7Lg7-busaJVEFICmxZhVAY6RNY9IOzdRP-uoqIvksjBP8YBTXEJSl0smsjv7y8hOeGcr2VOJWnWhMwjdY0WWzpe64fR1uc/s1600-h/kiki-06-13-08.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfNSpXak8ivFtdpGN6YIYTf1WnOpWFjk18O57HT_7Oe8xCv7Lg7-busaJVEFICmxZhVAY6RNY9IOzdRP-uoqIvksjBP8YBTXEJSl0smsjv7y8hOeGcr2VOJWnWhMwjdY0WWzpe64fR1uc/s400/kiki-06-13-08.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280512255408929986" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-86274906848439048002008-09-12T11:30:00.000-04:002018-02-10T15:48:10.869-05:00The doomsday machineThe Origins of the Universe: A Crash Course
<br />
"Black holes have a reputation for rapacity. If a black hole is produced under Geneva, might it swallow Switzerland and continue on a ravenous rampage until the earth is devoured? It’s a reasonable question with a definite answer: no."
<br />
"...issues that flummoxed Einstein."
<br />
Brian Greene, a professor of math and physics at Columbia, is the author, most recently, of “Icarus at the Edge of Time.”
<br />
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/opinion/12greene.html?em
<br />
<br />
Chris of Canberra queried, "If the world does end, who will do the Wikipedia entry about it?"
<br />
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24320776-2,00.html
<br />
<br />
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/opinion/12krugman.html?ei=5070&emc=eta1<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
I last pondered these things on Sept. 12, 2008 at 11:30 a.m.,</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
but I posted the draft on Feb. 10, 2018, almost a decade later.</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
Now I'll have to do research to see what these links are about.</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
It's a NYT article about the Large Hadron Collider and Higgs Particles.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-17394449251811973722008-09-08T11:50:00.008-04:002018-05-10T21:59:19.170-04:00Do you know the difference between a proton and a crouton?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQBZQIypXDr8yZ_ZPvXn2uoT-H7c7zXvM0o0aequZk3Fi67j6P7OG1Hv_Zkq0E_YKHzL3xMmx4WPhDlqA-aR33JTy6oI405LVT4IIa7DycedAxkazSzc0mYRlDpApnLrCoGImmOj2LmTS/s1600-h/CERN-+particle-physics-lab.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243692907402949554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQBZQIypXDr8yZ_ZPvXn2uoT-H7c7zXvM0o0aequZk3Fi67j6P7OG1Hv_Zkq0E_YKHzL3xMmx4WPhDlqA-aR33JTy6oI405LVT4IIa7DycedAxkazSzc0mYRlDpApnLrCoGImmOj2LmTS/s400/CERN-+particle-physics-lab.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>On Wednesday, CERN will switch on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a massive underground laboratory that will smash protons together and analyse the sub-atomic debris that results. What's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CERN">CERN</a>, you ask? It's the European Organization for Nuclear Research, and the photo above is where they'll be sending a beam flying in one direction on Wednesday the 10th, then a few days later they'll circulate a beam in the other direction, and about six weeks from now they'll send beams in both directions so they can collide. The first high-energy collisions are to take place on October 21st. Recently the physicists have been cooling down the circular tunnel (pictured above), which is 27 km in circumference and is located 100 metres underground near Geneva, Switzerland.<br />
<br />
Believe it or not, the best way for many of us to begin to understand what they are doing is by watching a YouTube video called <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM">Large Hadron Rap</a>, which has had 1,256,540 hits in the countdown to this week's startup of the world's greatest atom-smasher. Oh, by the way, some folks think what they're doing may create a black hole that could ... ummm ... suck us all into it. Into the black hole, that is. So how much do YOU know about matter and anti-matter?<br />
__________<br />
<br />
Read more:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080910/ap_on_sc/big_bang">Scientists start world's largest particle collider</a><br />
<a href="http://www.cern.ch/">CERN</a><br />
<a href="http://www.uslhc.us/">The U.S. at the LHC</a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM">Large Hadron Rap</a>, which has had 1,759,033 hits as of September 10, 2008.<br />
Oh, my, the Large Hadron Rap has had 3,979,609 hits as of December 3, 2008!<br />
And on December 13, 2009, the Large Hadron Rap has had 5,492,617 views.<br />
Now it's March 30,2010 and the Large Hadron Rap has been viewed 5,688,524 times.<br />
As of May 10, 2018, the Large Hadron Rap has been viewed 8, 037, 662 times.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-14999560851440491482008-09-04T15:51:00.004-04:002008-09-04T16:03:13.814-04:00Shinrin-yoku<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI-L_fg4qgElCs-hjbmzM1LkhCi1BZqH86xTZdw9DRAfhc-J1P7GJdczdOAM3W-75hXAEFOwrb5r29gBWcuHfDeCGNBMJj4D9W0FBb7xbH_aCHP6ueMX5an12DzjsY4uRXVsNv6QwsAmLr/s1600-h/redwoods-forest.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI-L_fg4qgElCs-hjbmzM1LkhCi1BZqH86xTZdw9DRAfhc-J1P7GJdczdOAM3W-75hXAEFOwrb5r29gBWcuHfDeCGNBMJj4D9W0FBb7xbH_aCHP6ueMX5an12DzjsY4uRXVsNv6QwsAmLr/s200/redwoods-forest.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242258938649220626" /></a><br />Read more about <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B73H6-4M57H9D-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=eecacb4b19b9f12815aee5e52e88ac0a">shinrin-yoku</a>, a Japanese term that June called <a href="http://spatter.typepad.com/spatter/2007/11/friday-fact---f.html">Forest Air Bathing</a>. I wrote about it in my earlier post entitled <a href="http://greeningtheblueplanet.blogspot.com/2008/08/unusual-role-for-trees.html">Unusual role for trees</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-81661935176346680872008-08-12T17:42:00.008-04:002008-08-13T00:02:25.741-04:00Unusual role for trees<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWyB9k3cU9xlvhogB8h7EmU6qD__j92wfS1u4kOFX0gocSqr3B-Jmg-Hh_G9_8S58oUUfPhmMp7tOhJmAmt3opRSAIvaIYGwtdFHFHNT7Zrrjbcls1Qp-xACX46szAlhI1qLqTdScoJp_o/s1600-h/butternut-seed.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWyB9k3cU9xlvhogB8h7EmU6qD__j92wfS1u4kOFX0gocSqr3B-Jmg-Hh_G9_8S58oUUfPhmMp7tOhJmAmt3opRSAIvaIYGwtdFHFHNT7Zrrjbcls1Qp-xACX46szAlhI1qLqTdScoJp_o/s400/butternut-seed.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233766570503519090" /></a>Have you ever thought of a tree as a chemical factory? That's how Diana Beresford-Kroeger describes a tree. Today's New York Times has an article about this unusual scientist: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/science/12prof.html?em">Advocating an Unusual Role for Trees</a>.<br /><br />She has a bioplan for reforesting cities and rural areas with trees according to the medicinal, environmental, nutritional, pesticidal, and herbicidal properties she claims for them, which she calls ecofunctions. Black walnut and honey locusts could be planted along roads to absorb pollutants. A recent study by researchers at Columbia found that children in neighborhoods that are tree-lined have asthma rates a quarter less than in neighborhoods without trees. Through something called phytoremediation, trees remove mercury and other pollutants from the ground. And most of us know trees pull carbon dioxide out of the air and provide us with oxygen to breathe, making trees important in our attempt to stem global warming.<br /><br />Diana Beresford-Kroeger is a botanist, medical and agricultural researcher, lecturer, and self-defined "renegade scientist" in the fields of classical botany, medical biochemistry, organic chemistry, and nuclear chemistry. One of her books is <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Arboretum-America/Diana-Beresford-Kroeger/e/9780472068517/?itm=1">Arboretum America: A Philosophy of the Forest</a>.<br />_______<br /><strong>NOTE: </strong> June mentioned in a comment on this post that she had also posted something about this subject. You really should go read it: <a href="http://spatter.typepad.com/spatter/2007/11/friday-fact---f.html">Friday Fact - Forest Air Bathing</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-43407719038120528472008-08-08T17:28:00.000-04:002008-08-08T17:30:15.549-04:00Can you hear the trees?<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="400"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://current.com/e/88980035/"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://current.com/e/88980035/" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="400" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-10558146744606231052008-06-30T17:52:00.002-04:002008-12-08T17:36:28.933-05:00Blue-green algae<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibv5RMdkU_iNrosOQzCcZ9nJUjhqWkTEed1mhty1lKZ-e-vvZizhFFBuhB3dB4n0f0KdkGVBtypRBMBlBt9RBg5YPFiWSToam92CXe9S8oJJm-GdQB2SUdPKbHSc87bh8RBjVtybf5Oz8F/s1600-h/blue-green-algae-in-china.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibv5RMdkU_iNrosOQzCcZ9nJUjhqWkTEed1mhty1lKZ-e-vvZizhFFBuhB3dB4n0f0KdkGVBtypRBMBlBt9RBg5YPFiWSToam92CXe9S8oJJm-GdQB2SUdPKbHSc87bh8RBjVtybf5Oz8F/s400/blue-green-algae-in-china.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217796056008875010" /></a><br />An outbreak of blue-green algae is seen on the coastline of Qingdao, the host city for sailing events at the 2008 Olympic Games, in eastern China's Shandong province Tuesday June 24, 2008. The Qingdao government has organized 400 boats and 3000 people to help remove the algae after Olympic organizers ordered a cleanup. Experts say the algae is a result of climate change and recent heavy rains in southern China. (AP Photo/EyePress)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-16169695692746031422008-06-20T05:19:00.005-04:002008-12-08T17:36:29.094-05:00Yes, we will have no bananas<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqkpaRVmtX_YdkPbIQGu4ImEYb7H2lXwjCc5S8yfUx6RxOsqbqIlC8hU84Ynyh8O7QdKaZYWUEMmU1zKOiiap-xQXhDW3QQ0DFw2WgbSQfXcsHNLlraNWn4DDE_1I5efAvTpEDtart1Bo/s1600-h/bananas-cavendish.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213892805409755426" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqkpaRVmtX_YdkPbIQGu4ImEYb7H2lXwjCc5S8yfUx6RxOsqbqIlC8hU84Ynyh8O7QdKaZYWUEMmU1zKOiiap-xQXhDW3QQ0DFw2WgbSQfXcsHNLlraNWn4DDE_1I5efAvTpEDtart1Bo/s200/bananas-cavendish.jpg" border="0" /></a>Who knew? This is news to me:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/opinion/18koeppel.html?em&ex=1214107200&en=89ef8c4d78998612&ei=5087%0A">Yes, We Will Have No Bananas</a><br />a NYT article by Dan Koeppel, author of <em>Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World</em>.<br /><br /><br />Here's one paragraph:<br /><blockquote>That bananas have long been the cheapest fruit at the grocery store is astonishing. They’re grown thousands of miles away, they must be transported in cooled containers and even then they survive no more than two weeks after they’re cut off the tree. Apples, in contrast, are typically grown within a few hundred miles of the store and keep for months in a basket out in the garage. Yet apples traditionally have cost at least twice as much per pound as bananas.</blockquote>And another paragraph:<br /><blockquote>Once bananas had become widely popular, the companies kept costs low by exercising iron-fisted control over the Latin American countries where the fruit was grown. Workers could not be allowed such basic rights as health care, decent wages or the right to congregate. (In 1929, Colombian troops shot down banana workers and their families who were gathered in a town square after church.) Governments could not be anything but utterly pliable. Over and over, banana companies, aided by the American military, intervened whenever there was a chance that any “banana republic” might end its cooperation. (In 1954, United Fruit helped arrange the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Guatemala.) Labor is still cheap in these countries, and growers still resort to heavy-handed tactics.</blockquote>And a summary:<br /><blockquote>Perhaps it’s time we recognize bananas for what they are: an exotic fruit that, some day soon, may slip beyond our reach.</blockquote>You really ought to go read the whole article.<br />__________<br /><br />NOTE: The photo shows Cavendish bananas (from Wikipedia), "the only banana we see in our markets," according to this article. There used to be another variety that was tastier, until a fungus called Panama disease wiped it out. And ... it could happen again.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-16850129267105462042008-06-04T04:25:00.003-04:002008-06-05T03:14:32.099-04:00Dubya's denials have cost us<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/opinion/04wed2.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin">The Science of Denial</a> (a New York Times editorial published today), says:<br /><blockquote>The Bush administration has worked overtime to manipulate or conceal scientific evidence — and muzzled at least one prominent scientist — to justify its failure to address climate change.<br /><br />Its motives were transparent: the less people understood about the causes and consequences of global warming, the less they were likely to demand action from their leaders. And its strategy has been far too successful. Seven years later, Congress is only beginning to confront the challenge of global warming. <br /><br />The last week has brought further confirmation of the administration’s cynicism. An internal investigation by NASA’s inspector general concluded that political appointees in the agency’s public affairs office had tried to restrict reporters’ access to its leading climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen. He has warned about climate change for 20 years and has openly criticized the administration’s refusal to tackle the issue head-on.<br /><br />More broadly, the investigation said that politics played a heavy role in the office and that it had presented information about global warming “in a manner that reduced, marginalized or mischaracterized climate-change science made available to the general public.”<br /><br />Meanwhile, the administration finally agreed, under duress, to release a Congressionally mandated report on the effects of climate change on various regions of the United States. Some of the report’s predictions, like the inevitable loss of coastal areas to rising seas, were not new. Others were, including warnings of a potential increase in various food- and water-borne viruses. <br /><br />What was most noteworthy about the latter report was that it made it to the light of day. A 1990 law requires the president to give Congress every four years its best assessment of the likely effects of climate change. The last such assessment was undertaken by President Clinton and published in 2000. Mr. Bush not only missed the 2004 deadline but allowed the entire information-gathering process to wither. Only a court order handed down last August in response to a lawsuit by public interest groups forced him to deliver this month. <br /><br />This administration long ago secured a special place in history for bending science to its political ends. One costly result is that this nation has lost seven years in a struggle in which time is not on anyone’s side.</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-59302588151156994672008-05-30T16:59:00.003-04:002008-12-08T17:36:29.313-05:00Lightning displays above erupting volcano<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0K_rN-nZS2g2uaEwm62gKaUXNI7_8l-ayU2LPAKG7ebuuyHNjwI67vZPRok8DEgh6Qsio1pi8hO5xVY08OAyHMPACOmq_J-sD5Shuj31to8NwTmxkIqyBFvKB4oSaehRAKxBUCAEes9ZD/s1600-h/lightning-volcano-chile.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206277578411076962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0K_rN-nZS2g2uaEwm62gKaUXNI7_8l-ayU2LPAKG7ebuuyHNjwI67vZPRok8DEgh6Qsio1pi8hO5xVY08OAyHMPACOmq_J-sD5Shuj31to8NwTmxkIqyBFvKB4oSaehRAKxBUCAEes9ZD/s320/lightning-volcano-chile.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Lightning bolts appear above and around the Chaiten volcano as seen from Chana, some 30 kms (19 miles) north of the volcano, as it began its first eruption in thousands of years, in southern Chile on May 2, 2008. Cases of electrical storms breaking out directly above erupting volcanoes are well documented, although scientists differ on what causes them. (Pictures taken May 2, 2008. Carlos Gutierrez/Reuters)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlYHq70DbryGzwW0LccjHNhnThVMltlM9K_FeEBZcJRTRlKXRZHy_eB1fpmKVX_0Tworkd7v_hEq0z-Pwh_9PYOJu2NgtSmrfLHcMHrXmeKbScvyIMCKqk98IV4T_l0cXvBZONKY28cZs0/s1600-h/lightning-volcano-in-chile.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206277904828591474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlYHq70DbryGzwW0LccjHNhnThVMltlM9K_FeEBZcJRTRlKXRZHy_eB1fpmKVX_0Tworkd7v_hEq0z-Pwh_9PYOJu2NgtSmrfLHcMHrXmeKbScvyIMCKqk98IV4T_l0cXvBZONKY28cZs0/s320/lightning-volcano-in-chile.jpg" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-58715014221586935162008-05-18T13:05:00.004-04:002008-05-18T13:19:13.353-04:00For safety, please insert head in sandJune at <a href="http://spatter.typepad.com/spatter/2008/05/ostriches.html">Spatter</a> writes about "<a href="http://spatter.typepad.com/spatter/2008/05/ostriches.html">ostriches</a>" after discovering over 50% of the people surveyed about global warming are "not very concerned" (11.5%) or "not convinced it's true" (38.9%). Not convinced? Ask the dying polar bears, whose habitat is rapidly melting.<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vBBAOOJJiy0&hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vBBAOOJJiy0&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271779393525543456.post-7097072191639314112008-04-30T02:28:00.003-04:002008-12-08T17:36:29.467-05:00Oh, beautiful for smoggy skies<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCH_O7R5tPMizo0oZZiQ-yyQtnN_DHWKqBfHPSijJShHgnDkBCiIsKuxBlbYj6favBSl2Bl7OouYRpxoIK3JoJJRF1WKTC7QoAnPZ0t5UyPhCbJDKZsgEMCHX2QRSqIzbcch3lfwzEeNk/s1600-h/mountain-top-removal.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5194926216853566050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCH_O7R5tPMizo0oZZiQ-yyQtnN_DHWKqBfHPSijJShHgnDkBCiIsKuxBlbYj6favBSl2Bl7OouYRpxoIK3JoJJRF1WKTC7QoAnPZ0t5UyPhCbJDKZsgEMCHX2QRSqIzbcch3lfwzEeNk/s320/mountain-top-removal.jpg" border="0" /></a>Oh beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,<br />For strip-mined mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain.<br />America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,<br />And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.<br /><center>~~~ performed by George Carlin<br />around 1970, when environmental<br />issues were becoming<br />a hot political topic</center><br />(Many thanks to <a href="http://patchworkreflections.blogspot.com/2008/04/celebrating-earth.html">Susan</a> for this quote, which I hadn't heard before. Click to enlarge poster.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0