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Hi All,
In spite of all of the baloney in circulation these days not all is
gloom and doom. And where there is a glimmer of light I think it helps
to spread it.
I was impressed by a talk which can (I hope) still be found
here---Allan Savory How to green the world's deserts and reverse climate
change. You-tube.com.
In a nutshell, he has devised a practical way to reverse soil
degradation. And points out that huge areas are not suitable for
cultivated crops but are ideal for grazing animals.
Closer to home it is unfortunate that Naturalists fail to condemn
the permanent clearcuts and environmental havoc which are generated in
the name of progress. New Minas is a good example with typically huge
areas of paved parking lot with no provision for water infiltration or
shade to lessen the massive heat buildup which naturally increases the
power used in commercial outlets for air conditioning. And when it rains
much water goes directly to storm drains with lots of salt tar etc for
the plankton to feed on.
There is no excuse for any of this, If parking lots had trees and
adequate entry points for water one would have an environment which was
less hostile one site and downstream. And in the few cases where there
are trees and entry points for water they become runts because; duh;
water does not move sideways in soil until it encounters an impermeable
barrier. So these little 3' diam. holes in pavement can support only
runt trees. And so on---
Dave Webster, Kentville
On 6/18/2019 1:57 PM, John Kearney wrote:
>
> A really good question Richard. I would like to share a personal
> experience about this. I was asked to attend the Earth Summit in 2002
> in South Africa as part of a delegation of artisanal fishing people,
> many of whom earn about $1 US per day. One of the main themes of the
> summit was the need for wealth alleviation. Given the limited, finite
> resources of the planet, the situation of the poor could not be
> improved without a massive transfer of wealth from the small
> percentage of people who control most of the world’s resources to the
> large percentage of people who have no control over or ability to use
> those resources. Without such a re-balancing, we would see ever
> increasing deterioration and depletion of our natural world as the
> poor struggled to survive or improve their economic situation while
> the rich tried to increase their wealth even further. Of course, this
> transfer of wealth never occurred in the intervening 17 years, at
> least not to any extent to make a significant difference, and we are
> now experiencing the predicted result.
>
> The forces leading to the extinction of animals and plants are the
> same forces leading to the extinction of indigenous cultures around
> the world, to the continued impoverishment of unthinkable numbers of
> people, and to a massive exodus of climate and economic refugees to
> places where they have some chance of survival. It is not surprizing
> that the populist movements we see in different parts of the world
> today are not led by grassroots community organizers but by rich
> industrialists, military generals, or political elites. They make
> promises to their people to improve their economic well-being while
> their main purpose is to stop the refugees, silence the poor, and
> obstruct efforts to reverse climate change, knowing full well that
> climate improvement would necessarily reverse the flow of wealth to
> them. Unfortunately, this is a point of view that is difficult to
> accept, especially since it places most of us on the wealth side of
> the equation. But also, unfortunately, it is the answer that I would
> give to your friend in Brazil.
>
> John K.
>
> *From:*naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca <naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
> *On Behalf Of *Richard Stern
> *Sent:* Tuesday, June 18, 2019 11:02
> *To:* NatureNS <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
> *Subject:* Re: [NatureNS] Bird Habitats
>
> Preaching to the choir ......... I'm sure everyone in this and similar
> groups already feel as I do, that habitat is vital to migratory birds
> all along their migration route, and that I enjoy birds because
> they're interesting, beautiful, challenging to ID and photograph, are
> harbingers of environmental change, etc. etc., and that enjoying the
> great outdoors is pleasurable to middle class people like myself. So
> how do you justify/ explain their value in these terms to somebody
> whose livelihood and that of their family depends on working in a pulp
> mill, or an open pit mine, in NS, when there are no other jobs around,
> or engineering a condo block on the Gulf Coast, or growing his meagre
> crop of wild rice in Venezuela, etc. etc. - all of which are threats
> to the migratory birds that nest here in NS? I ask this because I
> recently had a conversation with someone who works in Brazil, and is a
> supporter of the new president (who is a worse environmentalist than
> Trump), but who told me that all his co-workers support him because he
> promises to improve their standard of living, and the long term
> environment somewhere else on the planet is not really relevant to
> their humdrum and poor quality daily lives, --- and I couldn't think
> of any convincing answers. How do others address this issue?
>
> Richard
>
> --
>
> #################
> Richard Stern,
> Port Williams, NS, Canada
> sternrichard@gmail.com <mailto:sternrichard@gmail.com>
> ###################
>
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<p>Hi All,</p>
<p> In spite of all of the baloney in circulation these days not
all is gloom and doom. And where there is a glimmer of light I
think it helps to spread it.</p>
<p> I was impressed by a talk which can (I hope) still be found
here---Allan Savory How to green the world's deserts and reverse
climate change. You-tube.com.</p>
<p> In a nutshell, he has devis