Our World and Everything in It

I happened to turn on The Weather Channel the other night to check on upcoming weather and I stayed on that station awhile. I ended up watching about an hours worth of fascinating travel, weather, climate, and interesting information about the big island of Hawaii. Did you know that the Big Island sports 10 of the world’s 13 climates?

There was beautiful video coverage of the island, all types of info about the wind currents, the climates, and the terrain. It showed the 13 observatories on top of Moana Kea, the highest place to look at the stars. It is the tallest mountain on earth if you consider the part of it under the ocean.  And up there it is a sub arctic climate on this tropical island.

The program showed the Parker Ranch of about 150,000 acres with 50,000 head of cattle and how they’ve managed to be ecological about furnishing water to their cattle. They have diverted fresh mountain water through 75 miles of pipeline to 650 troughs located around the ranch.

Since then I’ve been trying to catch all that The Weather Channel has to offer. There is a program called “Forecast Earth,” “Weather Ventures” like the one about the Big Island, and “It Could Happen Tomorrow” about disasters waiting to happen that are as good as many presented on the Discovery Channel.

I’m telling you about The Weather Channel because many people no longer have premium channels. I know I’ve had people ask me where I saw many of the latest green business innovations on Eco Tech and when I reported it was on The Science Channel, they simply did not have access to it.

Unfortunately people with growing families are watching their expenses and have cut back to basic subscription channels. They don’t get to see all the latest environmental programs out there on premium channels. This is where The Weather Channel is invaluable. It’s a great place for the whole family to view places all around the country and world with all types of info about the climate, wind, animals, plants, and not to mention great cinematography. When I was done watching about the Big Island I wanted to visit there. We’ve been to many of the islands but not the Big Island and that program was my incentive. It was an informational, environmental, travelogue.

To catch the times and days to view some of the programs I’ve mentioned goto:

http://www.weather.com/aboutus/television/programming/?from=secondarynav.

You won’t be disappointed. I just watched part of the feature tonight about the Grand Canyon. Happy viewing.
 

Today, June 5, is World Environment Day. The theme is “Melting Ice – a Hot Topic” in support of International Polar Year, which runs from 2007 to 2008 according to the website Environment news Service, http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2007/2007-06-05-03.asp. Tromso, Norway will host the event this year.

Melting polar ice is worse than we think. The article went on to say that the actual melt rate of glaciers into the Gulf of Alaska has nearly doubled since 1995. We should all be concerned, very concerned. Its effects will be felt by people in the tropics, temperate climates and large cities around the globe not only people living in Artic or ice capped mountainous regions because an estimated 1.5 billion people are dependent on water from rivers impacted by melting snow and ice. That would be our Northwestern states. The ice caps in Glacier National Park are disappearing at an alarming rate. The flow of water from yearly spring melts is what sustains the tributaries that maintain the water supplies of many cities out West. The increased rate of melting will eventually see the last of the water from those mountaintops and then what?

About 300 million people are dependent on snow and ice melting in periods with low precipitation. In Central Asia, Peru and Chile, large land areas are completely reliant on melting water from snow and glaciers. And melting snow and glaciers on the mountains of Asia alone could affect about 40 percent of Earth’s population, the report warns. The Norwegian Minister of the Environment said that we have started an accelerating process and do not know its outcome. Norway is one of the countries in an area that will see the first results of ocean levels rising and gobbling up shorelines.

As the ice and snow melt, avalanches occur that dump into glacial lakes causing the water to stir up and levels to rise. Many of these lakes are unstable with large areas of methane gas at the bottom. The report explains that rising temperatures, coupled with the thawing of frozen land or permafrost, are leading to the creation of new lakes and the expansion of existing lakes in places like Siberia, which are releasing bubbles of methane, estimated to be 43,000 years old.

The first global warming event that scientists have been able to reliably trace, took place 40 million years ago and was caused by the release of too much methane gas when the earth was still unstable. I looked into this quite a while ago and the most frightening aspect was that the climate temperature only rose a ½ degree and slowly over a period of a thousand years compared to what we are experiencing now with a rapid change of possibly 1 degree in a little over a hundred years. The event caused the earth to incinerate.

Make no mistake. This is not the same temperature change we experience on a daily basis where a few days ago it was 85 degrees and today it is 66 degrees. This is about over all climate change across the entire world that drastically affects everything. So the next time you hear someone like Regis Philbin say, “One degree, I’m really scared” and make fun of it on TV, don’t rely on his or her common logic or should I say stupidity. It does not apply here and is not about the temperature fluctuation we experience seasonally or on a daily basis.

With less snow and sea ice the surrounding land will absorb more heat from the sun and polar oceans that will speed up the process even more. Anyone that skis the slopes in the winter knows about the reflected sunlight off the snow. With no snow the sunlight is simply absorbed. Sunglasses are a necessity and is it just me or is the sun getting to be sickening in strength? I can remember when I was young; it was possible to look directly at the sun for at least a few seconds. Now the glare is simply too strong to forego sunglasses when it’s a sunny day. Is this an effect from the loss of the reflective layer in our artic poles that protected us for so long? I do know that pets that are outside all of the time suffer cataracts earlier than pets kept indoors. I don’t doubt that in the future there may be warnings about keeping your animals outdoors at all as the ice and polar caps melt and the reflective process decreases. After that it may not be long before we are asked to stay indoors as much as possible. What kind of life will that be?
 

Happy holidays. For many it’s a season of faith for their God. And the faithful attend services. The main theme of which is peace on earth. Do we really mean what we pray, or is it just a recital?  Christians say heaven on earth amen, and world without end amen.  The bible begins with the creation of earth.  The word “earth” is in there almost 700 times, and the word “world” over 200 times. Yet, I don’t see the faithful embrace environmental issues with the same fervor as other moral issues. The disconnect is evident. Our lifestyle does not include a conscience for the environment. “Earth” has become a monotonous repetition at the end of prayer. And like so many things we are closest to, we neglect.

So in this our most earnest time of year, when we reflect on the events behind us and look to those ahead, be more aware that while the Lord sustains our spirit, the earth sustains our life. As the faithful, adopt a moral conscience for the earth above all. It is our first gift from our Maker. It is our inheritance and the origin of man.

The Lord named Adam. It is Hebrew for “adamah” or “the earth.”  Islam and Judaism both share the prayer “ha’ adamah.” It is a blessing for the food from the “earth.” Our Maker makes it clear. Peace everyone. 

Last minute shopping for Christmas? If you have someone concerned about the environment or their energy bills, or bills in general here are some stocking stuffers to give:

• Five CFL light bulbs, (the twisted looking kind), and offer to change them out from regular bulbs.

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  • If every household in America switched just 5 light bulbs to CFL’s it would be the same as taking 100,000 CO2 emitting cars off the road for a year!

• A Pur or Brita water filter for the tap and offer to install it.

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  • Think of sparing the trash dump all those plastic water bottles.

• A set of solar lights for outside and offer to change them out.

• A programmable thermostat and offer to install it.

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  • Dialing down just 2 degrees will spare us 9% of overall CO2 emissions.

• A gift card to Lowe’s or a hardware store.

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  • Urge the recipient to use the card to purchase new furnace filters.

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  • A hot water blanket can spare our air 4-½ % of overall CO2 emissions.

• Finally, only buy Energy Star appliances if you’re in the market.

These stocking stuffers not only save the environment extra abuse, they also save the homeowner money. The solar outdoor lights operate for free. CFL bulbs will lower your electric bill.  They come in 3-way. I even bought a CFL outdoor floodlight to shine on my wreath for the holidays.

The money we spend on bottled water is ridiculous and a waste. I’m talking experience here. I quit drinking tap water over 25 years ago, so I’m ahead of everyone with this clean water thing. I’ve never purchased 8 packs ever. I would buy 2 ½ gallon containers of water with their own spigot. Those jugs were much easier to take to a recycling center. When Pur and Brita came out with a tap filter, I ran to buy one. I’ve used them ever since. The obsession with bottled water is an ironic act. We’re afraid our tap water isn’t safe to drink because of pollution, so we buy non-recyclable bottled water and pollute the ground with plastic instead.

Dialing down the thermostat is a no brainer for savings as are furnace filters. The hot water blanket acts like a cozy cover. It takes less energy to keep that water hot. And if the power goes out, the water stays hot much longer.

Notice I didn’t suggest we simply buy the products but also offer to install them. Many of us know older people or someone who can’t change their light bulbs can’t install a tap filter, or a programmable thermostat. Giving someone a gift is not always a good measure of love or kindness. Buying is easy. We’re a nation of shoppers. Investing time and patience to do something for someone is a better measure of our true feelings. Time is something we never have enough of. To share it is a real act of giving.