Elaine Meinel Supkis
We just had a very violent storm form right next to our farm on Saturday. Hail, a proto-tornado and then it rushed off after dumping nearly 2" of rain and lots of hail, we are seeing one storm system after another here, everything wet, while 60% of America is roasting in a terrible drought.
LOS ANGELES - British Prime Minister Tony Blair and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced an agreement Monday to bypass the Bush administration and work together to explore ways of fighting global warming.They agreed to collaborate on research into cleaner-burning fuels and technologies, and look into the possibility of setting up a system whereby polluters could buy and sell the right to emit greenhouse gases. The idea is to use market forces and market incentives to curb pollution.
What a fake, stupid, wretched idea. I saw pictures of London today and as always in summer, the horizon was pink with pollution. A thick haze laid like a blanket over that city, remarkably like LA. So, by giving money to people in wretched third world countries which pretty much prevents them from industrializing, we get to continue to pollute?
For that is what it is! Well, the pollution from the Congo isn't traveling across America and choking me here on the Atlantic coast! And if the people of Africa never industrialize, this still means the pollution from our own industries will still kill my poor trees and acidify my streams and kill all life in the oceans!!!
Much of America is withering away.
By JAMES MacPHERSON, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 21 minutes ago
STEELE, N.D. - More than 60 percent of the United States now has abnormally dry or drought conditions, stretching from Georgia to Arizona and across the north through the Dakotas, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin, said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist for the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.An area stretching from south central North Dakota to central South Dakota is the most drought-stricken region in the nation, Svoboda said.
"It's the epicenter," he said. "It's just like a wasteland in north central South Dakota."
I wrote about this earlier. Those idiots who want to turn corn into gasoline better understand, this whole process is going to end with the Sahara desert covering much of America. What doesn't burn up will wither away! Steele, ND, was founded by some wayward relatives of mine. We never sit still but mope around the planet, taking over whatever we can take. It is all so sad, seeing this whole 'let's turn the earth into one big farm!' end in such a nasty way. Instead of understanding Nature, we sought to dominate Her. And so She is going to crush us.
The problems of our increasingly acidic oceans have very dire consequences.
Although experts don't yet have a thorough understanding of all the implications of a more acidic ocean, they do know it has scary potential for all creatures that secrete calcium carbonate to build shells or skeletons, including corals, starfish, snails and many microscopic varieties of plankton. Should nothing be done to stop global warming, scientists predict that oceans could become acidic enough that the shells or skeletons of the most vulnerable marine animals may start to dissolve, possibly as early as 2050.This is a particular worry for coral reefs, which are viewed as the ocean's rain forests because of their amazing biological diversity. "What we're finding is that [acidification] decreases their ability to build their skeletons," says Chris Langdon, a coral-reef expert at the University of Miami. "We think this is important because one of the sure outcomes of this is going to be the loss of coral-reef framework around the world.
I remember when lake acidification was finally acknowledged. 'Well, they are small ponds,' turned into, 'OK, so it is the Great Lakes, the oceans are huge,' to 'Oh, we are destroying the ph balance of the oceans---we should sell the right to pollute to third world countries!' Great. So we continue to pump out the poison while keeping others living in straw huts and starving to death but with a dollup of dough for their rulers, sort of like it is now in Nigeria, for example.
Nuclear power isn't the magic carpet ride we dream of.
by Julio Godoy
PARIS - The extreme hot summer in Europe is restricting nuclear energy generation and showing up the limits of nuclear power, leading environmental activists and scientists say.The heat wave since mid-June has led authorities in France, Germany, Spain and elsewhere in Europe to override their own environmental norms on the maximum temperature of water drained from the plants' cooling systems.
The French government announced July 24 that nuclear power plants situated along rivers will be allowed to drain hot water into rivers at higher temperature. The measure is intended "to guarantee the provision of electricity for the country," according to an official note.
France has 58 nuclear power plants, which produce almost 80 percent of electricity generated in the country. Of these, 37 are situated near rivers, and use them as outlet for water from their cooling systems.
We live in an ecosystem. This is nearly impossible for most humans to accept. Just like evolution is always at work on our own bodies, our communities, all around us, so does the balance of nature work on us, disasterously, of course. Going to war or trying to finagle our way out of paying the price of pollution is just so many human schemes and tricks that make absolutely no impression on Her Majesty, the Queen of the Earth, Demeter. Praying to madcap male gods won't stop Her from snuffing us all out. The only thing we can do is live within Her iron laws.
It is hot everywhere, the heat is even rising here on my northern mountain.
By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer 11 minutes ago
CHICAGO - The blowtorch heat that blistered California last week gripped the Midwest on Monday, prompting communities to throw air-conditioned buildings open to the public and endangering millions of people with outdoor jobs — including NFL players in training camp.Temperatures throughout the Midwest and Plains were expected to reach at least 100 degrees. Forecasters said the heat index, a measure of temperature plus humidity, could climb as high as 110 in some places. The National Weather Service issued heat warnings for such cities as Chicago, Cincinnati, Dayton, Ohio, and Tulsa, Okla.
Last time we had a very bad, national heat wave, the power grid collapsed across the northern tier states and part of Canada. I sense the grid is on the verge of collapse right now. Various states struggle to keep up, when I was in NYC during my daughter's wedding, parts of Queens was suffering through a huge blackout that lasted for several days. And it is getting hotter, if it is 100 degrees here on my northern mountain, than what is going on below?
If every house had a solar array on their roofs, this won't matter! We can cool the air without pumping pollutants into it, acifying the oceans and destroying our precious atmosphere! Think of it! We could have taken that $300 billion we are wasting on war and spent it on this and today, voila! America would be able to live through heatwaves without blinking an eye and our oil reserves would be vastly improved.
Naw, it is too sane.
Yep, that's right. The vast sums spent on wars could radically change our country and our dependence on fossile fuels. For just a tiny fraction of that 300 billion, every home in my city could have solar panels on their roofs. Farms could be rebuilt and turned into sustainable organic farms near our cities. So many good things could be done so our children have a future, but it will never happen.
It is like fate has singled the human race out for early extinction. Even dinosaurs were not this dumb. It took them millions of years to eat up everything on the planet, assuming that is how they died.
Posted by: DeVaul | August 01, 2006 at 04:43 PM
i went to the same school as patrick. i remeber those girls from my school who wrote in. they were white trash...i always felt so bad for them.
Posted by: mulberry alexa | November 26, 2011 at 05:55 AM