Entries Tagged 'Nature and Science' ↓

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As covered in this post on World Biodiversity Day, the theme for this year’s celebration is “Biodiversity and Agriculture,” highlighting the role of biological diversity in keeping our people fed today and in the future. A high biodiversity is crucial to sustainable agriculture, the only kind of food production where we can be sure that everybody has enough to eat for generations.

Sustainable agriculture leads to food security and sovereignty. Security- contrary to popular belief, food is the most the third most important thing for humans (or most animals, for that matter), not sex :D, after air and water. When resources like food becomes scarce, social disturbances are not far behind.

Sovereignty? When a nation relies on another to feed its people, it won’t be able to shore up its social and political structure, succumbing to the ways of the countries feeding it. The most recent example of this was the former Soviet Union. When it imported wheat in great quantities from the U.S. in the ’80s rather than change its production and consumption pattern, it didn’t take long for the union to dissolve.

What’s happening with agricultural biodiversity right now? Modern agriculture, with its inclination to select the bestest (which is subjective) to produce the mostest, has managed to narrow down the list of food-producing species to a selected few. Not only that, it also defined what is “acceptable” food. Steak and burgers? Yummy! Bugs and crawly things? Gross!

What is wrong with developing a particular crop or animal to its full food-producing potential, we may ask. Nothing, except that “development” usually means putting all our eggs in one basket (pretty attractive for diseases and pests), massive use of chemicals to support high-yielding species and varieties, and killing the soil. In short, it is not sustainable and, sooner or later, we are going to run out of resources to keep this kind of agriculture going. It is ironic that the Green Revolution, whose aim is to produce more food, and globalization of the food system and marketing is threatening our future food supply.

Biodiversity in agriculture has the following benefits:

1. Ensure sustainable productivity.

Different species and varieties have different requirements so they will be able to utilize all available resources rather than relying on one. For example, if all of us love burgers, what will happen to natural resources that supports the production of beef?

2. Utilizes natural adaptation.

Indigenous species (plants and animals originally living in a specific environment) are already used to the pests and diseases within their locality and may have already developed immunity or tolerance. Introducing more “acceptable” food species in a new, and hostile environment, means we may have to support production with chemicals and hormones.

3. Produce other products for total ecosystem health.

Certain food species produces by-products that are needed for a healthy ecosystem. For instance, legumes are also nitrogen-fixers. They actively take nitrogen (a macro nutrient needed for plant growth) from the air and return it to the soil in a form that can be absorbed by other plants.

4. Potential future value.

Some species that doesn’t look very important now may actually be the key to something we will be looking for in the future. We haven’t mapped the gene code for every food species so rather than risk losing something that will be a life-saver later on, we can, instead, try to save and preserve as many as we can today.

Should we really try to impose our tastes and preferences on everybody else or should we be happy we have meat eaters, vegetarians, and fish lovers? Hey, there’s this study about blood types and nutrition here. Not sure how accurate it is but if its true then we have been programmed to be different in diet requirements to ensure survival of the species.

Biodiversity is the total number of species or life forms within any given ecosystem. The more varied the species, the healthier the earth is. Even cockroaches have their uses.

To celebrate a healthy Earth, the UN established International Day for Bilogical Biodiversity, which is celebrated every May 22, intending to bring biodiversity issues into focus. This is relevant to our times since global warming and climate change are likely to become the dominant and direct cause of biodiversity loss (wikipedia.org).

The theme for 2008 is “Biodiversity and Agriculture.” It seeks to “highlight the importance of sustainable agriculture not only to preserve biodiversity, but also to ensure that we will be able to feed the world, maintain agricultural livelihoods, and enhance human well being into the 21st century and beyond.”

Click here for a list of countries who have already scheduled and submitted activities. At the moment, they include Azerbaijan, Canada, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, the EU, Italy, Japan, Sri Lanka, and the UK. If your country is not on the list but celebrates biodiversity day in its own way, try to get the right officials to submit their participation to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Secretariat.

Canada, home to the CBD Secretariat, is inviting individuals and organizations to organize an event and submit a summary here. They also graciously provided a guide so we don’t have to wrack our brains for appropriate activities, click here for the list.

What can we do? Let’s help get the word out and promote awareness.

Need any help in introducing the concept of biodiversity to your kids? Try this books at Amazon:

1. Tree of Life: The Incredible Biodiversity of Life on Earth (Aspca Henry Bergh Children’s Book Awards)

Winner of the Aspca Henry Bergh Children’s Book Awards. The book offers an excellent introduction to biodiversity and how everything is related to one another in a great Tree of Life.

2. Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution

An introduction to evolution and Earth’s biodiversity for ages 4 to 8.  Atractive cover, typography, and illustrations.

3. Children of the Sea: Marine Diversity of Caribbean

Highlights of 2 teachers’ and their youthful students’ expeditions in the Bahamas and Caribbean. Hardcover and illustated with pictures.

The different views on global warming are all based on facts. If that is so, why are there so many conflicting claims? Because of 2 reasons: (1) like what we discussed in our global warming is fake! article, our scientists were like the blind men of Hindustan groping an elephant, each with his own interpretation of what the creature was depending on the part he was holding and (2) people tend to twist facts to serve their purpose.

That’s why, as the ones that will be duped if global warming is a scam or suffer if it’s not, we should not swallow global warming movies hook, line, and sinker. Take the global warming movie An Inconvenient Truth, critics didn’t exactly took it sitting down. The movie was supposedly for the good of humanity, right?

In all honesty, Al Gore + Documentary are not exactly the perfect ingredients for a blockbuster and I found the video doc a total snore. But it was a box office hit and it got 4 stars from over a thousand viewers at Amazon, not bad. To round off our view of global warming and make sure we see the elephant for what it really is, here’s a few other global warming movies I’m waiting to rent at our local DVD shop. They are all available at Amazon right now.

1. The Great Global Warming Swindle

Dubbed as the anti inconvenient-truth, The Great Global Warming Swindle got 4.5 stars from 42 viewers. A few but passionate supporters. However, the movies doesn’t say that there is no global warming, only that the causes are different as alleged in An Inconvenient Truth.

2. Global Warming or Global Governance?

I may be a bit paranoid but I always get the feeling that either big brother or big business or, simply, big jerk-o is always behind propaganda-type materials. The movie Global Warming or Global Governance? (DVD) takes that point of view too. Here’s a production description from Amazon:

Is there an agenda that motivates supporters of catastrophic man-made global warming? Are the leaders and advocates really a benevolent confederation of concerned scientists and citizens who simply desire to protect the environment and care for the poor? Or are they being used by others who have a political goal in mind?

In this eye opening documentary, Global Warming or Global Governance (DVD) you will not only hear from leading scientist and climatologist who refute the current crop of alarmists cries; but also congressman, economist, newscasters and sociologist who believe that something more sinister is involved.

What is the objective of global warming alarmist? They want the United States to give up her sovereignty and her rights surrendering them to the socialistic mandates of the United Nations. A global problem, so the Kyoto protocol proclaims, requires a global solution. This new non-elected governing body would place global institutions, which are not accountable to the American people, in control of even the smallest aspect of the U.S. and World economies; controlling how much fuel is sent to a region and doling out citations for violators.

Every American, every citizen of the world, needs to hear the other side of the global warming story.

3. National Geographic: Six Degrees Could Change the World

A non-fiction counterpoint to the 2004 movie The Day after Tomorrow. I’m expecting National Geographic to show us in all their graphic splendor the effects of each degree increase in global temperature. Like a visual counterpart of the book Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet.

4. Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series

Produced in 2007, the series Planet Earth is an intimate look at nature and its denizens. This video will give us a good look of what is at stake in the great global warming debate.

5. The 11th Hour

Touted as the An Inconvenient Truth for the younger set, this one is narrated by Leonardo de Caprio. Will his Titanic presence make a difference in selling global warming to the youth? The product description says we will actually see less of De Caprio and more of sevral international big guns like former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and Physicist Stephen Hawking.

Here’s the full product description from Amazon:

Environmental documentary 11th HOUR resides at the polar opposite of escapist summer fare its mission to firmly confront viewers about the indelible human footprint that humans have left on this planet and the catastrophic effects of environmental neglect and abuse. Produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and ably directed by Nadia Conners and Leila Conners Peterson the documentary doesn’t get much fancier than talking heads news footage and the occasional animated illustration but its message is potent and delivered effectively.

The first hour of the film is essentially a horror story recounting the myriad sins perpetrated against the environment (pollution deforestation over-mining resources) the reasons behind it (corporate greed faulty public policy bad leadership ignorance) and what it means for the human race. Thankfully the last third of the movie tilts the mood upward with a spirited discussion of solutions offered by a crack team of scientists designers and thinkers.

Stirring visions of alternate energy sources diversified transportation enlightened governmental agendas sustainable homes and cities and most importantly more conscious consumer choices leave viewers with the palpable feeling that change is both necessary and possible. If the “eleventh hour” for our planet is drawing near this admirable film points confidently towards a new dawn.

Five global warming movies, that should be enough to turn-up the heat this summer.

Our children are the future and it’s never too early to get them involved to ensure they will inherit a living earth. It’s a challenge to pique their interest without getting them mired in the political, business, and personality morass of global warming. While surfing Amazon, I came across various global warming books for kids and I selected ten (10) that seems to be just right (and I’m directly copying their descriptions).

1. The Sky’s Not Falling!: Why It’s Ok to Chill About Global Warming

“For parents sick of seeing their kids indoctrinated by has-been politicians and Hollywood stars. Unlike books written by would-be celebrities without any scientific or economics background, “The Sky’s Not Falling” is everything a book about the environment written for kids should be: fact-filled, apolitical, fun and optimistic about the future of our magnificent, ever-changing planet.”

For ages 8 and up. I purposely made it first on the list because I firmly believe that kids should not be made to fear the future or hate humanity.

2. Why Are the Ice Caps Melting?: The Dangers of Global Warming (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)

“The earth is getting hotter, and not just in the summer. The climate of your own hometown is changing. But why is this happening, and can we stop it? Read and find out!”

3. A Clean Sky: The Global Warming Story

“This book tells the story of the global warming challenge, the possible dramatic change to the Earth’s Climate, and some of the things we all can do to meet it, such as alternative means of generating electricity.”

For kids at an elementary level. Partly authored by a rocket scientist.

4. Gas Trees and Car Turds: Kids’ Guide to the Roots of Climate Change

“Gas Trees and Car Turds is a fun, fast read about the carbon cycle: trees are made of air and water, electricity is made from coal that is made from trees, gasoline is made from plankton, and all of these things are related to each other and to our climate through carbon dioxide. This colorfully illustrated book makes carbon dioxide, an invisible odorless gas responsible for global warming and plant growth, into something that can be imagined and understood by children.”

Author Kirk R. Johnson is vice president and chief curator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. I think kids whose reading level are a step up from Green Eggs and Ham can handle this book.

5. Rising Above Global Warming

“The air, the water, and the animals are all dying from the black heavy smoke that is covering the sky and killing everything. This a wonderful book for children that explains what Global Warming is, and what it is going to do unless it is stopped, and is already doing to the earth. It explains how to stop the catastrophe that no one thought about until now that it is here. A must read for every child, as they are the adults of the future and must understand what is necessary to save the earth and everything on it.”

For ages 4 to 8.

6. Who Says Kids Can’t FIght Global Warming

“Inspired by an incident which actually happened in the life of one of the authors, the book tells the story of how a young boy and his friends set out to help the boy’s father with his new business and end up creating the most active club in their school, one that involved students from every class and which created an important measure not only to fight Global Warming but reduce harmful, vehicle emissions by 30%.”

Elementary readers.

7. Weird Weather: Everything You Didn’t Want to Know About Climate Change But Probably Should Find Out

“One of England’s most talented young comic artists offers up a scathingly funny and carefully researched exploration of climate change, presenting it to readers through the eyes of an idealistic adolescent, a fat cat businessman, and a mad scientist. The book explains the science behind global warming, shows how it is progressing, and says what is being and not being done to stop the problem. Detailed references, suggestions for further reading, and lists of climate change organizations and websites open up possibilities for future exploration by readers, while the comic book format piques the interest of even the most reluctant.”

For ages 9-12.

8. What the Parrot Told Alice

“What the Parrot Told Alice is a remarkable story, founded on fact. It is destined to awaken the conscience of young people to crucial issues of our time, such as habitat destruction and exploitation of wildlife. It deserves to be read (and will be greatly enjoyed) by all thinking people from nine to 90. It is so much more than a children’s story — it is a cry from the heart of one of an increasing band of forward-looking individuals who understand the destruction of the world’s resources must be halted quickly, and that this can be done only by educating today’s young people.”

9. The Snows of Kilimanjaro (Robbie Readers) (Robbie Readers)

“Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest peak in Africa, rising 19,340 feet above the surrounding plains. For hundreds of years the mountain has been called the shining mountain by local people. They gave it this name because the top is covered with glittering glacier ice and snow. It is one of the most beautiful mountains in the world. In recent decades local people and tourists have noticed that there is less and less ice and snow on the mountain each year. Most scientists believe that the glaciers are disappearing because of changes in the weather of eastern Africa, and because of human actions. How is the ice disappearing? Who will be affected by the loss of the glaciers? What can you do to help? These questions are answered in the pages of this book.”

10. The Polar Bears’ Home: A Story About Global Warming

The book is unreleased yet and is very timely since we are hearing a lot about polar bears losing their habitat.

And here’s a bonus for parents:

Teach Yourself Green Parenting (Teach Yourself)

“Teach Yourself Green Parenting provides you with the means for raising your child to be an ethical, environmentally aware adult. It takes you beyond the basics of washable versus disposable diapers to issues involving pregnancy, childbirth, education, travel, clothing, toys, and much more.”

Is mankind cursed with an insatiable thirst for knowledge? The first man and woman feel for the trap and look where we are now. Anyway, I like to read and I believe we should be open to all possibilities when it comes to the environment and our future so I’ve assembled a list of ten (10) books touching on the topic of global warming I’d like to get my hands on.

They are, in no particular order of importance:

1. Earth: The Sequel: The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming

Capitalism for the environment, I like the sound of it. Well, I always liked stuff and folks with a positive and can-do attitude. This book was written by Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund and initiator of market-based solutions to environmental issues.

He has real-life examples there too, like fuel from coal-fired power plant emissions through the use of algae and Native Americans harnessing the power of the waves. I sure would like to read about how businesses can prosper in harmony with nature.

Click here for reviews of Earth: The Sequel at Amazon.

2. An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It

I’ve seen the movie or at least the parts where I didn’t doze off. Maybe it was Al Gore or because I already know most of the stuff presented there but I found it boring. As I know that good books are often misrepresented in movies, I still want to get cozy with a printed copy.

For those who haven’t seen the movie or heard of the book, the message is clear and emphatic — global warming is advancing at a rapid pace and we are responsible for it.

Click here for reviews of An Inconvenient Truth at Amazon.

3. Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years,Updated and Expanded Edition

Fred Singer, the author, is a Distinguished Research Professor at George Mason University and Professor Emeritus of environmental science at the University of Virginia. He’s also known as a firecracker in environmental circles. He believes that global warming is part of a 1,500-year cycle. Since I also have a similar idea, I’d like to read the scientific basis of the concept.

Click here for reviews of Unstoppable Global Warming at Amazon.

4. Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet

Mark Lynas, an environmental journalist, graphically outlines what will happen to the Earth and everything in it for every degree that global temperature will rise. An increase of six degree Celsius is projected to eliminate most life on this wonderful planet.

Click here for reviews of Six Degrees at Amazon.

5. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism)

This book sought to expose some of the most shameless pseudo-science used to shore-up the concept of human-accelerated global warming for political purposes. Since the author paints today’s environmentalists as “green on the outside, red to the core,” I’m really keeping an open mind about this book. Lest we think it is more a rightist propaganda than a serious read on global warming, the author does insist that human beings are not the enemy, to which I heartily agree.

Click here for reviews of Politically Incorrect Guide at Amazon.

6. Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future

Are we familiar with the Permian Mass Extinction or the Great Dying? It’s an extinction event that occurred 251.4 million years ago. The author writes about a stunning discovery: evidence of past greenhouse extinctions. Yes, past mass extinctions are tied to prehistoric global warming.

Click here for reviews of Under the Green Sky at Amazon.

7. The Discovery of Global Warming (New Histories of Science, Technology, and Medicine)

Written by a physicist, I like this book already even if I still have to see it for real. Why? Because the author laments the ways we are going about in uncovering the truth about global warming. This book supposedly offers us solutions to achieve our common goal.

Click here for reviews of The Discovery of Global Warming at Amazon.

8. The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth’s History

This one is close to my heart as I’m a forester by trade. It traces the huge influence plants have over our planet and our lives, a look at our climate-changing activities, and a peek of our climatic and ecological futures.

Click here for reviews of The Emerald Planet at Amazon.

9. The Carbon Buster’s Home Energy Handbook: Slowing Climate Change And Saving Money

There was a comment on our post How to Prevent Global Warming about how we can personally save money by helping the environment. Somebody has actually written a handbook on it. I’ll bet it’s filled with practical and useful ideas. Here’s peek I got in it’s review, “Is a $500 fridge that uses 800 kWh of power per year a good buy?”

Click here for reviews of The Carbon Buster’s Home Energy Handbook at Amazon.

10. 101 Funny Things About Global Warming

After watching and reading all those doomsday stuff about global warming, we can use a good laugh.  This book is by  acclaimed cartoonist Sidney Harris. View his online gallery here.

Got any books about global warming to share?    :D

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