Yaicha » Environment

Jellyfish Invasions

Ted Hopton — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:04:17 +0000

I remember being terrified of jellyfish when I was a small child, but I don’t think I ever actually was stung by one. This NYT article about the dramatic increase in jellyfish along shorelines around the world is worrisome not just from a tourism standpoint. When nature sends us a message as loud as this one, we’d better listen. There’s no simple answer, of course — there never is to big problems.

Let’s just add it to the long list of daunting challenges we are facing these days…

clipped from www.nytimes.com

“These jellyfish near shore are a message the sea is sending us saying, ‘Look how badly you are treating me,’” said Dr. Josep-Mara Gili, a leading jellyfish expert, who has studied them at the Institute of Marine Sciences of the Spanish National Research Council in Barcelona for more than 20 years.

The explosion of jellyfish populations, scientists say, reflects a combination of severe overfishing of natural predators, like tuna, sharks and swordfish; rising sea temperatures caused in part by global warming; and pollution that has depleted oxygen levels in coastal shallows.

The Worst Way of Farming

Ted Hopton — Sat, 31 May 2008 16:04:47 +0000

I got my first detailed, in-depth look at the problems of the industrial farming complex when I read Michael Pollan’s eye-opening book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma (which I highly recommend). This NYT editorial cites two reports, one by the Pew Charitable Trust and one by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

As new reports make it clear, the efficiency of industrial animal production is an illusion, made possible by prisonlike confinement systems.

Not only is the efficiency an illusion, it’s actually a disaster all around.

In short, animal husbandry has been turned into animal abuse. Manure — traditionally a source of fertilizer — has been turned into toxic waste that fouls the air and adjacent water bodies. Crowding creates health problems, resulting in the chronic overuse of antibiotics. And, because the modest profits in confinement operations require the lowest possible labor costs, including automated feeding, watering and manure-handling systems, these operations have helped empty and impoverish rural America.

What is it going to take to change this heavily-entrenched, politically-supported and publicly-financed system?
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Change We Can Stomach

Ted Hopton — Sun, 11 May 2008 14:55:46 +0000

Farming has the potential to go through the greatest upheaval since the Green Revolution, bringing harvests that are more healthful, sustainable and flavorful.

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Expert Support For Gas Tax Holiday Appears Nonexistant

Ted Hopton — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:23:09 +0000

It’s pretty funny that this reporter for the Huffington Post tried contacting all kinds of different experts to find anyone who would say the gas holiday proposed by McCain and Clinton is a good idea. He got no takers!

Over the past several days, some of the nation’s leading economic and political pundits have weighed in critically on the proposal of both Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain to institute a gas tax holiday this summer.

Frankly, you only need to understand Economics 101′s fundamental concept, supply and demand, to understand why the gas holiday won’t do anything constructive. And you just have to do the math to figure out how little extra money you might possibly have in your pocket, anyway, to realize that the benefits promised to consumers are minimal.

But if you understand American Politicians 101 even a little, it’s easy to see why McCain and Clinton have proposed this plan. It’s politics as usual.
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Can We Be as Smart as Bats?

Ted Hopton — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:06:46 +0000

This column by Nicholas Kristof is not so much about bats as it is about ways to approach rain forest conservation.

Instead of living in harmony with the rain forest — or only as parasitically as, say, a vampire bat — we’re destroying the jungle in ways that contribute hugely to global warming.

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Humans nearly wiped out 70,000 years ago

Ted Hopton — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:36:19 +0000

Fascinating! First, because it’s amazing to consider how close “we” came to extinction and second, that such understanding can be achieved through studying the human genome.

The human population at that time was reduced to small isolated groups in Africa, apparently because of drought, according to an analysis released Thursday.

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Why Bother Dealing with Climate Change? – Michael Pollan

Ted Hopton — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:03:59 +0000

As a rule, you should always read NYT Magazine articles by Michael Pollan. They are long but worth it.

There are so many stories we can tell ourselves to justify doing nothing, but perhaps the most insidious is that, whatever we do manage to do, it will be too little too late. Climate change is upon us, and it has arrived well ahead of schedule.

(Photo: Thomas Hannich)
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Ewok Style Sustainable Rainforest Community

Ted Hopton — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:11:45 +0000

If you been dreaming of picking up roots, living on the edge, or literally going out on a limb in terms of eco-lifestyle possibilities, then Finca Bellavista: A Sustainable Rainforest Community might be just the thing for you.

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Preserving a Forest and a Philosophy

Ted Hopton — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:55:41 +0000

A Costa Rican trek served as a metaphor for the difficulty many executives are having as they transition from niche marketers to big-business men.

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My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables)

Ted Hopton — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:53:23 +0000

Ultimately, it is the consumer who will pay the greatest price if the federal government continues to prevent the local food movement from expanding.

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