Category Archives: Oceans

Carbon Footprint Reduction, Oceans

The Ocean’s Promise

Many of you know about reducing your carbon footprints to help mitigate climate change. Some people eat less meat, others work for companies which plant trees and re-build biodiverse forests. As we move forward in time it is also important to think about the oceans, as they absorb as much as 30% of our annual carbon emissions every year. Scientists in Florida recently tried an experiment, adding lime to the Apalachicola Bay, off Florida’s panhandle, in an effort to reduce the acidity level of the water. While the experiment did cut carbon levels and acidity, more work, on larger scales, has to be done. Increasing the oceans’ levels of carbon storage represents hope and promise as carbon levels throughout the world continue to increase.

Animals, Climate Change, Oceans

Marine Life

According to new research, global warming is causing such a drastic change to the world’s oceans that it risks a mass extinction event of marine species that rivals anything that’s happened in the Earth’s history over tens of millions of years.

“The future of life in the oceans rests strongly on what we decide to do with greenhouse gases today. There are two vastly different oceans we could be seeing, one devoid of a lot of life we see today, depending on what we see with CO2 emissions moving forward,” said Justin Penn, a climate scientist at Princeton University who co-authored new research published in “Science”.

So what can you do?  Reduce your carbon footprint, eat less meat, avoid using or purchasing items that are wrapped in plastic, and plant native trees.  Trees are one of the best ways to take carbon out of the atmosphere.  Thank you!

Leadership, Oceans

Truth and the Gift of Rachel Carson

I just watched a beautiful television program (link below) about the life of Rachel Carson.  Carson was born in 1907 and died in 1964.  She was a marine biologist, conservationist and gifted writer who is credited with advancing the environmental movement.  Her books, “The Sea Around Us”, “The Edge of the Sea” and “The Silent Spring” inspire us with their beauty, courage and insight.  She wrote, “To understand the shore, it is not enough to catalog its life.  Understanding comes only when, standing on a beach, we can sense the long rhythms of earth and sea that sculptured its land-forms and produced the rock and sand of which it is composed; when we can sense with the eye and ear of the mind the surge of life beating always at its shores – blindly, inexorably pressing for a foothold. ”

With those words in mind, I wonder, how we live in a world where fake news proliferates and people feel it is okay to lie and treat others poorly.  I wonder if we will bequeath a frightening future to our children because many feel it is okay to destroy the planet for profit.  It is time to speak the truth.  And it is time to protect our precious environment.

Sadly, Carson’s words are still appropriate today. “We still talk in terms of conquest. We still haven’t become mature enough to think of ourselves as only a tiny part of a vast and incredible universe. Man’s attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we have now acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature. But man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.”

Rachel Carson was not afraid to speak up.  We can do the same and also make one of her wishes come true.  It was, “If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.”

Program link:  http://www.pbs.org/video/2365935530/

Oceans, Sea lions

Sea Lions – update

Sea_Lion_PupI am sharing some of the words from a blog I wrote last year because I just heard some news about the sea lions off the coast of California.

A couple of years ago I had the chance to sit at the Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco and watch the sea lions. They made me laugh with their antics. They bark very loud if one invades the other’s space yet don’t seem to mind sitting all squished in alongside one another. And they appear to delight in the attention of the humans watching them. Did you know? Approximately 300,000 sea lions live between the Mexican border and the state of Washington.

Young starving and dying sea lions are again turning up on the shores of California and it looks like the numbers will be similar to last year’s total which was quite bleak.

Normally, sea lions eat squid and sardines. Yet the warmer ocean is pushing those prey deeper beneath the ocean’s surface. In fact, the ocean is up to five degrees hotter. This means sea lion mothers must go further for food. And it means their pups are left alone for longer periods of time than usual. Weakened and devoid of sustenance, the pups wash ashore.

Animal rescue shelter employees and volunteers are rushing to save the sea lions. Unfortunately, they cannot save all of them. Often, they must leave some sea lions on the beach because they do not have space to take them. It is like leaving injured patients at an accident scene because there is not enough room at the hospital.

This is the fourth year in a row for a high number of sea lion pups to die or be stranded. The death number was so high in 2013 that experts declared it an “unusual mortality event” for the species. 2015 was also high. Perhaps you would like to donate money to a marine mammal rescue center or volunteer to help the sea lions. You can also help by reducing your carbon footprint. Make a difference, time is running out.

Carbon Footprint Reduction, Dolphins, Oceans, Seals

An Ocean Full of Plastic?

plasticoceans.net
plasticoceans.net

Plastics, they are everywhere –we type on keyboards made from them , we drink and eat out of bottles and plates made from them and we use them for cars and all sorts of things. Gone are the days where people like my grandparents used glass bottles and plates, and where cars were composed mostly of metal.

The use of plastic has increased by twenty times in the last 50 years and is expected to double again in the next 20 years. That is staggering. What saddens me the most is that our oceans, by 2050, will contain more plastic in terms of weight, than fish. Whales, dolphins, seals, and sea-birds end up eating the plastic and then die from intestinal blockages, choking or starvation. I once met a beautiful seal at an animal hospital. Her stomach was so full of plastic things that 22 days went by before all of it was out. Fortunately, she was one of the lucky seals, she was saved before it was too late.

Is there any good news? We can work together to produce less waste and slow climate change. Plus, we can make sure we recycle our plastics. Almost one-third of all plastic never gets collected and ends up in our oceans. We can also change how we manufacture things. Instead of plastic we can use hemp. It can be used to make containers and in car production. As I wrote in an earlier blog, hemp is also biodegradable.

Let’s get together and stop using plastics. Our oceans will thank you and so will the animals in them.

Life, Oceans, Trees

A Poem….

“I am Earth” by Sheryl Lee

I am Earth
and from my body
grow the trees
you chop down
with you careless acts

I am ocean
for from my womb
all beings are birthed

I am desert
my long, voluptuous dunes
now burnt to drought
by August sun

my blood
the dyeing rivers
you pollute
with discarded greed
and selfish denial

my breasts
are sacred mountains
climbed for your egos sake of reaching the top
your summit
my nipple
without soft, tenderness of touch
that is required for such a holy journey

you, who call me home
I am not something to be bought or sold

I am alive
and in the eyes of every living creature
you will find me
their mother
mirrored back to you

do you dare look?
can you hold my gaze?

while you run your fingers through my sunlit hair of wheat at harvest?
that same nourishing grain you paint with poison for your benefit?

and do you care?
when you stain the path of this delicate wrist as you wind your way along my enchanted forest of pine?

you, my child,
who call yourself king
have scratched my skin raw
etching your name across virgin land

dark bruises mark my thighs
as you drill into the deepest marrow of these bones
searching for more gold
more silver
more of my life giving waters
you continue to ask for more
more of my precious milk
more of my cherished stone
you always want more

and I give it
again and again and again
I give

but now, my pets
I have run dry

I crack, I moan and I quake
I break open in pain
I am rain

I burn, I flame, I heat
I erupt with the force of my grief

and then
I cry
for days and days and days
I cry

and you, my dears
still look to my husband’s heavens
asking why

Carbon Footprint Reduction, Kindness, Oceans

Carry Your Garbage?

TrashThe other week I gave the college students in my sustainability class a homework project. They had to carry their garbage, in a plastic or paper, bag with them for 48 consecutive hours. If they bought a plastic water bottle or can of soda they had to take that empty or half-full container and put it in their bag when they were done with it. If they went to a fast-food restaurant they had to take all of the wrappers and containers and put them in the bag too. If they cooked dinner and had zucchini scrapes and chicken fat that had to go into the bag too. At first they were shocked when I gave them the assignment. After a few minutes it started to sink in and they, as individuals, were going to see how much trash they created. Since I could not monitor each student they were on an honor system and had to report, with color photos, how they had done.

Most of my students thanked me for giving them this assignment. They had not realized how much plastic they used or how much garbage they were responsible for. Some even stopped using throw away plates and utensils and started using washable ones to cut down on the amount of trash they created. And many realized how much money they were wasting on buying water in plastic bottles instead of drinking from a re-usable container. A couple of students remembered that too much trash goes into the oceans and kills dolphins, turtles, and seals. And for every pound of trash we put into a landfill we put 40 pounds of carbon pollution into the atmosphere. So now I challenge you. How little trash can your produce? Why not try the homework assignment for 48 hours?

Bears, Life, Oceans, Tigers, Trees

Are you Superwoman or Superman?

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Beach

Life can be so fragile and fleeting. Yet I think most of us feel we are Supermen or Superwomen. We go around with an invincible feeling and tell ourselves nothing can harm us or stand in our way. But then something happens like the death of a beloved pet or friend or parent. And we realize we cannot control or fix everything. And we realize that circumstances are not always the way we want them to be. Eventually, we come face to face with sadness and some pain in our heart.

I have found the best remedy for sadness is a walk in a forest or on the beach. I like to listen to the sway of the tree leaves and the roar of ocean waves. For me, nature is a tonic. It soothes me when I am nervous and brings me to the point where I can be my best self in difficult situations. Instead of making a poor decision out of frustration I can make a better decision from a place of center and calm.

We really do need to take very good care of our planet. It nurtures us yet we often take it for granted or do not notice it. The Earth and nature are always “there” for us. We live on a beautiful planet with magnificent oceans, rivers, and trees, and a stunning variety of tigers, lions and bears. And it is amazing that we can plant seeds in the soil and reap fruits, vegetables and all sorts of food.

I urge you to do your part; teach your children to garden and protect wild places and the animals in them. Nature nurtures us, now it is time for us nurture nature.

Dolphins, Oceans, Seals

The beach report –what did you find?

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Plastic Beach Garbage

I had the chance to spend some time in Canada recently and am always amazed by its beauty and the friendliness of its inhabitants. I was also impressed by the lack of population density. It felt like there was room to breathe and open space all around me. In fact, Canada has 27.5% more wooded and forested land than the United States. And it has a lot more land per head.

One of my favorite things to do in Canada is watch the seals. They swim north in the summer months, fatten up on fish, and get ready for the winter months yet to come. Yet, I was saddened by all of the garbage that had washed up on the shores. I spent a lot of time picking up Pepsi soda cans, plastic water bottles, Clorox bleach bottles, plastic fishing rope, rubber bands, plastic garbage bags, candy wrappers and huge plastic fishing bins. I found garbage all over beautiful beaches which are normally free of litter. I found garbage in places that I adore. I picked up crates full of garbage, hauled them off the beach, and disposed of the items in trash cans. I even reported my findings to the appropriate authorities. And I suggested community groups be organized to do volunteer beach clean-ups.

I thought about a lot of things in Canada. My grandparents did not live with all of the plastic that we do. They had glass containers and maybe a few paper cartons. They never bought water in plastic bottles. They lived in a different time but they knew how to conserve and recycle. It is time for us to be more like our grandparents. Can you imagine swimming in an ocean filled with plastic? That is what we oblige the seals and dolphins to do. It is time to stop using so much plastic. Write me and tell me about your beach finds.