Leila Conners's blog

Suzan Baptiste, as reported by CNN, witnessed the slaughter of the mighty leatherback turtle on her local beach.  Facing physical intimidate and threats, Suzan fought for many years to protect the turtles from poachers who kill the leatherbacks for the eggs and meat.  She prevailed, founding Nature Seekers, a group dedicated to protecting the turtles, and today, the UN recognizes the beaches that Suzan protects as one of the most important breeding grounds for the endangered leatherback turtle.

2 Events That Bring Up The Work of 2 Friends

"For the first time in human history," Britain's The Independent reports today, "ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year." This is unthinkable, and an event that climate scientists warned about, but had said was going to occur in the future, not today.   But it’s happening, and beyond reading the news, I have a first-hand, eye-witness account from my friend,  Sebastian Copeland, who just a few weeks ago, trekked to the North Pole on a pair of cross country skis with one other person.

His trip was arduous; but what made the trip exceedingly difficult was that the ice was so thin for so much of the trip; that he had to ski with a wet suit on in case he fell through the thinning ice.  Some thin ice was anticipated, but not so much.  He also encountered a swift ice drift … so at night, when he slept, the ice would drift and float in the opposite direction … sometimes in one night he’d lose 10 kilometers. All in all I think he lost 60 kilometers to the drifting of the sea ice.

To read up on his incredible journey, I include his website link below.  Sebastian is a direct witness to the rapid changes we are experiencing due to climate change.

The other event in the headlines of late is the HINI virus known as the Swine Flu.  When the outbreak first happened, our expert from The 11th Hour, Paul Stamets, emailed me that he was sending down some of his “Host Defense,” a spray made from mushroom mycelium that you can spray in your mouth that then defends you from bacterial or virus invasion, especially when you are travelling on airplanes or when you are in closed spaces.  And I thought that I should share this information with more people.  If you have not heard about the work of Paul Stamets, check out his website (link below). 

Paul for many years has researched mycelium and their ability to take apart/digest/deconstruct anything from toxic waste, nuclear waste, to pathogens in the body like viruses.  His work is being closely studied by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and his extracts have been seen to be successful against everything from the Bird flu to small pox to I think also HIV. 

The change toward our new, sustainable and just world is made up of all of us that follow our passion to make a difference as both Sebastian and Paul have done.

Links:
Sebastian Copeland’s Trek to the North Pole
http://www.myspace.com/sebastiancopeland
Paul Stamet’s Website of  Solutions Derived from Mycelium
http://www.fungi.com/
The Independent article on the disappearence of north sea ice
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-c...

Earth Day is Every Day, And For Adults,Too, Most of All

On Earth Day, as the world celebrates the miracle of Mother Earth and all that she provides, I also often hear the phrase“Earth Day is every day.” And I agree. While I appreciate and understand the need for a special day to heighten awareness around the earth’s biosystems that are currently on life support, because the state of the world IS so dire, our consciousness around environmental issues must remain at code red every day. 

While this may sound exhausting and perhaps impossible, I also want to up the ante. And my next point comes from the many 11th Hour panels and discussions that I have been fortunate enough to attend.  The discussions are always rewarding and it is so heartening to engage with people on the issues directly.  However, in almost every Q+A, there is someone in the audience who raises their hand somewhat solemnly and says something like: “Yes, I agree that the ecosystems are in trouble and this crisis is real, but, have you considered really targeting children? I mean, it’s really difficult for adults to change, and, really, the future belongs to children, so this message is really for them.  They can change, we can’t.”  And, usually, many in the audience nod in agreement, and there is a sensation that flows through the room that if I could put words to it, it would be something like “Whew, we are off the hook!!”

Hmmm…I pause and then reply: “Well, if we wait for our kids to get old enough to act on the information I give to them today, it WILL BE TOO LATE!” 

Really. It will be too late. 

Consider that almost every data point on the ice melt in the Arctic and Antarctic has been too conservative – it’s melting faster than predicted.  Consider that there are crises that the public at large still has not been hit with yet, like endocrine disruption and acidification of the oceans, both of which (and there are more) could need as much attention as climate change. (Google Theo Colborn for endocrine disruption and NOAA for ocean acidification as I don’t want to digress on those here).

So when that “Adults can’t change, but kids can” comment comes along, I have to suppress a growing anger at our, adults’, collective lack of responsibility for our lives and the lives of our children. (Much less the lives of the thousands of life forms that are going extinct every year due to our actions.) How dare we be comfortable with passing along a trashed planet because we couldn’t cure ourselves of our addiction to stuff fast enough?  And I count myself among those who are having a tough time changing. Even with all the things that I know, I still do not live a fully green lifestyle. Far from it.  So I acknowledge that this addiction to our way of life, even in the face of human extinction and massive die-off of life on our planet, for some reason is not hitting home to the degree that will cause all of us, adults, to make radical, personal change. 

So what is it going to take?  Well, I think that the first step is for all of us to stop counting on our kids and start counting on ourselves. And the second thing is that we must work together, in community, locally as well as further afield if you can. Yes, of course, educate our kids, but, please don’t count yourself out. YOU ARE IT. And yes there still is time – like a Hollywood ending, the odds are stacked against us, but we really do have the technology and the ideas “on the shelf” that can reduce the human footprint on planet earth by 90%.  So what we do today to make substantial change does matter, and it will give our kids the future we would want to live in ourselves, and if we don’t act, a dark future awaits us all, and yes, in our lifetimes. 

Leila is Director, Writer and Producer of The 11th Hour and President of Tree Media Group. http://www.treemedia.com 

Paul Stamets, the Mycologist, and 11th Hour Expert, is cleaning up the San Francisco Bay oil spill with one of his mushroom species. More information to follow.

 

 

The 11th Hour Soundtrack is on iTunes as of today and in stores.

Hear & download it at:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/...

The above satellite shot is of the smoke plumes originating from the tragic and massive fires that have blown through Southern California. These megafirestorms are unprecedented but not unpredicted. Climate models have long predicted massive brush fires in Southern California due to lack of rain and a very low humidity point over long periods of time. Trees are weakened, plant cover is dry, and when the seasonal Santa Ana winds blow, our whole region becomes a tinder box. (we had 3% humidity today!) Firefighters and firechiefs have said that the megafirestorms that they have to fight are just too big given the speed of winds (up to 100 mph!) and they fight bravely but are really helped only when the hurricane force winds subside.

There have been a few news stations who have had the wisdom of framing these fires within the climate change topic and that is good so that people can understand why these tragedies are happening. We had over one million people displaced which brought back memories of Hurricane Katrina as people went to live in a sports stadium. (Thankfully the experience there so far has not been like what happened in the SuperDome.) Meanwhile, out in the hills, hundreds of houses have been burned to the ground. We have a friend, who has lost everything and our office is gathering clothes and other items to give to our friends who are in need. We are also considering helping house people who are now homeless and have nowhere to go.

As we react and respond, we have to all recognize that this firestorm event and the million displaced people is the 2nd major climate change disaster in United States territory; the first one being Hurrican Katrina. It is even hard for me to really take that in and realize that we are all living the real consequences of climate change right here at home. As we all breath the toxic and dangerous air, I wonder how this region will do as we continue to experience drought and record temperatures. Climate Change is looking pretty tough already in my home town.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7052037.stm

Ships' CO2 'twice that of planes' By Matt McGrath
Environment reporter, BBC News
Global emissions of carbon dioxide from shipping are twice the level of aviation, one of the maritime industry's key bodies has said.

A report prepared by Intertanko, which represents the majority of the world's tanker operators, says emissions have risen sharply in the past six years.

Previous International Maritime Organisation estimates suggested levels were comparable with those of planes.

Some 90,000 ships from tankers to small freighters ply the world's oceans.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/09/25/deforme...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The growing number of deformed frogs in recent years is caused at least partly by runoff from farming and ranching, new research indicates.

Nitrogen and phosphorous in the runoff fuel a cycle that results in a parasitic infection of tadpoles, resulting in loss of legs, extra legs or other deformities, according to researchers led by Pieter Johnson of the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Their findings are being published in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The deformed frogs have been a puzzle for more than a decade, since a group of Minnesota schoolchildren discovered a pond where more than half of the leopard frogs had missing or extra limbs. Suggested causes have ranged from pesticides and increased ultraviolet radiation to parasitic infection.

While parasite infection is now recognized as a major cause of such deformities, the environmental factors responsible for increases in parasite abundance had largely remained a mystery, Johnson said in a statement.

Here's how the cycle works:

The parasites, called trematodes, have a series of host species.

They grow in snails and become infectious when released by the snails into ponds, where they can infect frog tadpoles, forming cysts in the developing limbs. Water birds eat the frogs and then excrete the parasites back into the ecosystem where they can infect the snails, he explained.

The increasing amount of runoff is fueling a boom in algae growth, the snails eat the algae and also undergo a population explosion, increasing the breeding places for the trematodes.

To test the idea, the researchers built 36 artificial ponds in central Wisconsin and introduced snails. Ponds with added runoff had a 50 percent increase in the snail population compared with those that did not have the extra nutrients.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=nation_w...

(9/11/07) - An area of Arctic sea ice the size of Florida has melted away in just the last six days as melting at the top of the planet continues at a record rate.

Currently, there are about 1.63 million square miles of Arctic ice, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. That is well below the record of 2.05 million square miles set two summers ago and could drop lower before the final numbers are in.

North Pole's Ice Disappears

In just the last six days, researchers say 69,000 square miles of Arctic ice has disappeared, roughly the size of the Sunshine State.

Scientists say the rate of melting in 2007 has been unprecedented, and veteran ice researchers worry the Arctic is on track to be completely ice-free much earlier than previous research and climate models have suggested.

"If you had asked me a few years ago about how fast the Arctic would be ice free in summer, I would have said somewhere between about 2070 and the turn of the century," said scientist Mark Serreze, polar ice expert at the NSIDC. "My view has changed. I think that an ice-free Arctic as early as 2030 is not unreasonable."

Sea ice melt will likely reach the absolute minimum in the next few days as temperatures at the North Pole cool and refreezing begins.