BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: CarolC
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 03:16 PM

The best way to prevent the kind of forest fires that kill trees is to allow frequent fires that clear out the underbrush and leaf litter while there's not enough of it to make a fire big enough to kill trees. That's how nature took care of it before humans started intervening. It's the human intervention that has caused underbrush and leaf litter to build up to an amount that would cause the kinds of massively destructive fires we see today. Old growth trees survived a long, long time because nature was doing a good job on its own.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: GUEST,Chief Chaos
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 03:22 PM

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: Peace
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 04:23 PM

The native peoples of Canada's western plains used a 'burn' technology. Ares of treed land would be burned thus creating open fields and meadows. When the new growth began at the edge of the burn area, it attracted game like deer, antelope, moose, fox, wolf, etc. It made hunting easier and also made it easier to harvest the new plants that grew there. These included the wild rose (the hips of which contain fantastic amounts of vitamin C). It made harvesting both animals and plants that much easier. (Try hunting in thick brush. It is difficult, noisy and bloody hard work.) Thus, they learned to control that part of their environment and make living somewhat easier. However, the highest estimate I know of for native population in North America at the time Europeans arrived in substantial numbers is about 5-6 MILLION. They did not tax the land's carrying capacity. The numbers of people we have today (350 million in the US and 32 million in Canada--these numbers are approximate) do tax the land's carrying capacity. Our engineering of dams to create electricity (James Bay Project for example), permanently alter the face of our country. Similar things in the US do the same teher. And much of this stuff destroys habitat big time. We have to get this shit under control or we'll be leaving a friggin' mess for the next generations. It's a serious issue, and one that people have to come together about.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: GUEST,Chongo Chimp
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 04:41 PM

It ain't me. I even compost my banana peels.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: Peace
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 04:48 PM

What do ya do with the bones? I have never understood why people buy those things. Ya skin 'em, throw away the bone and what the hell is left to eat?

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: GUEST,Chongo Chimp
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 04:51 PM

You've led a sheltered life haven't ya, Brucie?

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: Ed.
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 05:14 PM

Don and CarolC,

You (no doubt unintentionally) missed my point. That's the nature of online discussion, I think.

Caring about what you care about is a good thing!

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: Once Famous
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 05:57 PM

The #1 environmental disaster is Don Firth's underwear.

Bush won't let him change it.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: GUEST,Chongo Chimp
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 06:00 PM

I never figured you for that kind of fetishism, Martin.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: Don Firth
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 06:01 PM

It must be some kind of convergence.

Today, as I was sitting here at the computer, with the radio on my desk turned to KUOW-FM, the University of Washington's radio station (which is also one of the local NPR affiliates), David Suzuki was a guest on "Weekday," a discussion program about issues of the day He talked some about a new book he has written, entitled Tree: A Life, which describes the life-cycle of a tree (a Douglas fir, I believe he said) and how it fulfills its niche in the environment.

The program took off and expanded greatly from there, as the host, Steve Scher, and David Suzuki discussed environmental matters, including how the salmon depends on healthy forests (NOT the Bush version!) for their survival (clean rivers and streams in which they can spawn), and how the forests, in turn, depend on the salmon for some of their nutrients to keep them healthy. After spawning, the salmon die. Their dead carcasses lying in the stream beds break down and return nitrogen (fertilizer) to the forest, actually distributed (as Suzuki put it) "by various animals—bears and such—feasting on this bonanza of protein, dragging the dead salmon into the forest and eating them, leaving scraps to decay, pooping in the forests. . . ." Thus the cycle of mutual dependency continues. And that cycle includes humans.

"Who is David Suzuki," you ask?

Officially, he is geneticist and Professor Emeritus of The University of British Columbia, Sustainable Development Research Institute. But like Carl Sagan, he is probably best known for the science programs he has hosted on television. I imagine he's been seen more in Canada than the United States, but our local PBS affiliate, KCTS-TV broadcasts his programs. I've see him a lot, and he is brilliantly informative. And he is both gentle and passionate about his subjects. He is also chair of the David Suzuki Foundation. There is some great stuff on this web site. Browse!

The link to the specific program on KUOW may not last, but KUOW generally archives these programs, so it may be available in a day or so. You should be able to reach it by going to http://www.kuow.org/. Click on "Search Archives" in the column on the left of the screen and from the pull-down menus, select "Weekday" in the Show box, "Steve Scher" in the Host/Reporter box, and "Dec 02 2004" in the date boxes. Well worth listening to.

Don Firth

P. S.: I didn't think so, Ed, but apparently, I guess. What exactly was your point?

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: GUEST,Chongo Chimp
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 06:06 PM

David Suzuki is a good guy. He's popular with primates.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: Peace
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 06:08 PM

And they with him, Chongo.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: Metchosin
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 12:49 AM

Mankind

As today is the 20th anniversary, it seems fitting to include the Bhopal Disaster on this thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: Metchosin
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 12:51 AM

well its still December 2, 2004 on the west coast of Canada.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: dianavan
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 01:29 AM

Who's the #1 environmental disaster? We are.

Subject: RE: BS: Who's the #1 Environmental Disaster??
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 03:44 AM

Yup