|
|
|
Clean Wisconsin provides easy tips on how to stay Green during the holidays
Kermit the Frog might think it's only natural to be green during
the holiday season, and maybe you can too by making a couple of
easy changes to reduce spending and waste. For many people the
holidays signify stress and over-spending. This year...
Easy Ways to Save Energy
With this fall's spike in oil and natural gas prices and the
further impact Hurricane Katrina will have on this winter's
heating oil supplies, it's become more important than ever to
make sure our homes are as energy-efficient as possible.
...
Eliminating Allergenic Mold Spores in Your Gardens
Eliminating Allergenic Mold Spores in Your Gardens
ÓThomas Leo Ogren
Tiny mold spores cause plenty of allergies. Often our gardens are full of molds but luckily there are many things we can do to eliminate allergy-causing mold spores. All...
Learning about Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds are a joy for a birdwatcher to observe. They are
found only in the Western Hemisphere, from as far north as
Southeastern Alaska and the Maritimes of Canada and as far south
as Southern Chile. There are approximately 350 species...
Saving Energy in the Kitchen
Saving Energy in the Kitchen (312 words) The kitchen, with all its appliances, gadgets and heat, is a real hotspot for potential energy saving. As the oven uses the most energy and creates a vast amount of heat while cooking foods, it is a good...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Since Katrina, the Environment Is Front-Page News
Ever since the end of August, when Hurricane Katrina devastated
the major American city of New Orleans and the coastlines of
Louisiana, Mississippi, and parts of Alabama, the consequences
of environmental degradation have been front-page news.
Politicians and ordinary citizens are openly discussing what
scientists have believed for years: that the widespread
destruction of wetlands along the Gulf coast eliminated a
natural buffer zone which in the past had served to slow down
powerful hurricanes before they hit dense population areas.
The manmade levee systems in New Orleans and along the
Mississippi River also came in for some blame. The levees
disrupted natural processes which in the past had expanded the
fertile farmlands of the Mississippi delta. Instead, the
diversion of water caused subsidence which actually lowered
major parts of New Orleans below sea level - making them a prime
target for flooding, even without the breach of the levees.
Katrina and other recent natural disasters have become grim
lessons in the consequences of failing to protect the earth's
natural environment. Floods on the Malibu, California coast
periodically wash away million dollar estates - a result of the
soil on hillsides being weakened by clear cutting which
eliminated the root systems of trees that had served to hold the
soil in place. High priced residential communities encroach into
previously virgin old growth forests, and then are destroyed as
wildfires, often a natural result of lightning storms, wreak
havoc on the forests. Antiquated coal burning plants in the
Midwest cause air pollution that travels to the Northeast,
resulting in mercury pollution that kills rivers, lakes, and
streams and ends up in the human food supply via fresh-water and
ocean
fish.
If there's a silver lining to the Katrina disaster, it's this:
Mother Nature has finally, dramatically, gotten our attention.
Proposals in the U.S. Congress to begin a wetlands reclamation
project along the Gulf coast are being taken seriously, and even
the issue of global warming is center stage again as scientists,
politicians, and pundits debate the effect of the phenomenon on
increasingly powerful and frequent hurricanes.
So What Now?
The awful destruction of Katrina, with its human and
environmental costs, presents a unique opportunity - to rebuild
a major American city from the ground up. Imagine a city
re-created in a way that functions with the natural forces of
the area, instead of against them. Imagine ruined homes replaced
with sustainable housing, a city running completely on
alternative sources of energy - wind and solar power, biodiesel,
energy harnessed from the tides. Imagine a city with broad
social reforms, universal health care, a superlative educational
system, and training for the jobs which will be created in the
new sustainable economy.
Katrina has gotten our attention. Now we need environmentalists,
experts in alternative energy and sustainable housing, and
politicians to come together to be a powerful force for the
future. There will be no better time to make the earth's
environment the number-one priority.
About the author:
Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern
New Hampshire and frequently contributes to Tips and
Topics. She may be reached at amfredenburg@yahoo.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
