writeaboutwarming

September 4, 2017 - Wildfires are burning throughout the Pacific Northwest. Hurricane Harvey has decimated the greater Houston area and parts of Louisiana. Hurricane Irma glowers out in the Atlantic. In other words, forecasts made decades ago are proving accurate. Four hundred parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was regarded as a tipping point, the point at which climate change would take on a life of its own. If no one ever drove their car another block, if farmers never used another ounce of chemical fertilizer, if not so much as one more acre of land was cleared with fire, climate change would continue on its way, wreaking havoc. We passed four hundred ppm this year. I'm not sure where we stand right now; we were supposed to be at around 410 by spring. I'm not advocating giving up. Of course not. We must still - and at this point, will, whether we want to or not - consciously lower our standard of living, and stop enjoying the conveniences for which we ar...

March 16, 2013 – What’s the saying – expect the unexpected?   As a librarian, I don’t necessarily expect to find everything that comes across my desk interesting.   That’s hardly the point, is it: the point is that because someone will find it interesting, it belongs in the library.   Some items have broad appeal, others far less.   In my opinion, The Journal of Accountancy falls into the second group.   To be honest, just reading the title almost puts me to sleep.   Even so, the current issue features an article with great relevance for virtually all of us.   The article?   “Preparing for Disaster.” While that title may strike some as unnecessarily apocalyptic, I would ask that you try to see it differently.   It has been written with an eye toward learning from the experiences of others – in this case, three CPA firms in very different locations: the Jersey shore, New Orleans, and Joplin, Mo.   The firm in New Jersey struggled to...

June 11, 2012 - Do you ever play that game: which would be worse - a fire, or a flood?  Once something burns up, it's irretrievably lost.  With flooding, there's the possibility, however small, of saving things.  Fires are terribly polluting, and add a lot of carbon dioxide to the already overloaded atmosphere.  Dirty or polluted water could ruin a home or even a town. In the event that clean-up is possible, it's a labor intensive, dangerous job.  A home with smoke damage might be similarly hard work to clean up.  A home that's burned to the ground probably requires a bulldozer, once the surviving possessions have been sorted.  Insurance is available for both kinds of catastrophes.  In either case, nature is capable of repairing at least some of the local environmental damage.  The psychic, emotional, and physical toll on humans is another matter entirely. The cost of fires begins with the training of firefighters, and t...

May 31, 2011 – Hope everybody enjoyed their Memorial Day weekend. It was and is majorly hot and sticky here in southwest Ohio, so I spent a lot of time indoors reading over the weekend. Gardening has become an evening pastime, accompanied by a lot of perspiring and panting. My reading included the latest issue of Permaculture Activist. I always look forward to receiving PA, because it’s absolutely packed with highly relevant information. They outdid themselves this time, however: Designing for Disaster was this issue’s theme. If food storage is something you’re still just considering, take my advice and purchase this issue ( www.permacultureactivist.net ). There’s a lot you need to know about what, where, and how, and Matthew Stein’s article will give your confidence a huge boost. I intend to copy it, and post the copy on the basement closet door, close by my stocks. (Perhaps Stein’s most interesting suggestion? Don’t forget the mouse traps and rat poison!) Peter Bane makes a suggestio...