Go Green » Climate Change

Cut Flowers Cause Climate Change

Michelle — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:08:12 +0000

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “the earth laughs in flowers” but that was before the cut flower business came into being.

If you’re living in North America, chances are the cut flowers you are looking at come from Colombia, one of the major exporters. Three out of every four freshly cut flowers sold in the United States are grown in Colombia. Multinational companies such as Dole Food Company are major owners. These flowers are grown in high concentrations of pesticides including: mancozeb, methylbromide, captan, carbofuran, malathion, and diazinon with toxic effects on workers who know little about the risks to their health. Vast amounts of groundwater is piped in to grow the flowers while chemicals continually leach out. The workers, mainly women, cut the flowers, then dip them in fungicide before placing them in containers to be trucked out.

Every day, flowers are cut and make the long journey by truck and then airplane to distribution centres around North America. Typically, cut flowers are packaged in cellophane and placed in plastic buckets with water and preservatives, arriving “fresh” and put on display. At the most, cut flowers are for sale 7 days, after which they are discounted or thrown into the garbage.

Is this the kind of industry you want to support? Think of all the water, pesticides, plastics and fuel that gets used for one bouquet of soon to be wilty flowers. Is this a wise use of resources?

There are two organizations that are attempting to change the cut flower industry: Sierra Eco and Veriflora. Both organizations certify growers that are fair trade and whose flowers are grown sustainably. Try to support them if you really must buy flowers.

Climate Change and the Mountain Pine Beetle

Michelle — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:05:37 +0000

Here is a really good video that talks about the effects of climate change on the mountain pine beetle population. These tiny little beetles normally are killed off during cold winters but British Columbia hasn’t seen cold weather for over ten years now. As a result, the mountain pine beetles are multiplying at an exponential rate, killing pine trees with the potential to spread to Canada’s boreal forest.

Ship Logs a vital source of ocean climate data

Michelle — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:15:11 +0000

Dr. Dennis Wheeler

Captain Cook and Lord Nelson may be known for their dramatic sea voyages and their victorious battles, but who could have predicted that their ships log books would the most important part of their legacies?

Environmental History is gaining ground as a new field of study. There are several centres in Europe where researchers are going over ships logs to find out what the earth was like as it was recorded.

Dennis Wheeler is one such researcher. Together with a team of scientists at the University of Sunderland, he spent the last few years going over ships log books to see what the weather was like over 200 years ago and how the climate has changed.

“What happens in the oceans controls what happens in the atmosphere – so we absolutely need to comprehend the oceans to understand future weather patterns.”

A fully searchable version of the logbooks will be available on The National Archives’ website in 2010.

International Day of Climate Action – October 24

Michelle — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:00:25 +0000

This Saturday, October 24th, is the International Day of Climate Action. 350.0rg is helping to launch this global initiative to raise awareness of the state of the Earth. 350 is the level of greenhouse gases that is the uppermost limit for ecosystems. As of 2009, we have now gone into the red zone of 387; as a result ecosystems are being radically altered (see my post on yellow cedar as an example) and rainfall has diminished (witness the droughts in Australia, Africa and southern U.S.).

However you wish to participate on the October 24, know that others around the block and around the world echo your same thoughts; for a future that is still hopeful and bright with nature’s beauty to inspire us.

350.org: Because the world needs to know from 350.org on Vimeo.

Protect your home against climate change

Michelle — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 20:04:12 +0000

How can you protect your house from fire, floods, heat waves, tornadoes and other extreme weather patterns brought on or exacerbated by climate change? John Banta has written a book titled “Extreme Weather Hits Home: Protecting Your Buildings from Climate Change” and he has a chapter on every type of disaster you could possibly face and what you can do to protect your biggest investment.

He also has a helpful blog http://1510365blog.wordpress.com