People are starting to notice there is a problem with the leaves - they just don't understand why.
There's a bit of a a logical fallacy there, since the nurseryman variously describes the trees as suffering from heat, then compares their condition to thirst. Doesn't he water them?
I called the reporter, Adam Rodriguez, to explain that last year in New Jersey the leaves turned fall color and fell off early too, and not from heat - it was a cool, wet summer - but because they are losing chlorophyll due to damage from exposure to toxic greenhouse gas emissions. I hope he does a follow-up!
I called the reporter, Adam Rodriguez, to explain that last year in New Jersey the leaves turned fall color and fell off early too, and not from heat - it was a cool, wet summer - but because they are losing chlorophyll due to damage from exposure to toxic greenhouse gas emissions. I hope he does a follow-up!
From the EPA: "Higher levels of ground level ozone limit the growth of crops."
Well I guess it doesn't get any simpler than that!
More on the rapidly accelerating loss of life in the oceans, which grieves me endlessly... oysters are dying from warming waters. A new and virulent strain of herpes proliferates when temperatures exceed 60 degrees F, and is such an efficient killer it can wipe out more than 80% of an infected bed in a week. Which seems rather silly and shortsighted of those germs, because they are destroying their host so quickly it will ensure they themselves die off too, in short order - but then, they are just stupid viruses...oh, wait...
Your observations remind me of a comment made by James Lovelock in one of his books. From his holiday home in Ireland he noted a continuous decline in atmospheric clarity over a period of years, due to pollution. At the time he was apparently the only person to alert the public of this. Of course this decline is widely acknowledged today.
ReplyDeleteSo it took a single determined & inquisitive observer to record what thousands of scientists & others seemed to miss or chose not to widely advertise. I suspect you are on the right track with your observations, & the lack of feedback you receive should not be taken as in any way disproving your case.
Having said that, here in New`Zealand I have not, as an amateur observer, seen any systematic decline in tree growth over the past decade. This might be explained by the overall cleanliness of the air, which carries fewer aerosols & has less tropospheric ozone etc - Lovelock had also noted the dramatic increase in air clarity on crossing the equator into the Southern hemisphere. Apparently there is quite a lot of decoupling of atmospheric circulation between the hemispheres, although the CO2 level is the same everywhere I think.
This might reinforce your arguments about the effects of ozone &/or acid rain - these will be elevated in the Northern mid-latitudes due to the pollution from Europe, the US, China etc. See http://www.niwa.co.nz/our-science/climate/news/all/ozone-recovery-a-good-news-and-bad (this links to some useful maps of world ozone distribution).
Thank you so much for your encouragement and the terrific link! It's amazing to me how matter-of-factly scientists will state that ozone harms human health, harms vegetation, and lowers agricultural crop productivity. It seems we are willing to accept a certain amount of collateral damage in order to buy more stuff, and refuse to make the obvious connections between the industrial lifestyle and, say, childhood cancer.
ReplyDeleteThat is very interesting about climate change making stratospheric ozone descend, I had not seen that before. Also the norther/southern latitude difference.
Enjoy your clear skies!!
Noticed your comment at http://scienceblogs.com/builtonfacts/2009/09/wifi_and_radiation.php led to from a comment at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/barrie-parents-demand-schools-turn-off-wi-fi/article1673535/ where i as "deever" am engaged in an almost one-man stand against all comers re the dangers of wireless.
ReplyDeleteDo you know about Volkrodt's et al warnings about 20 years ago, esp. based on radar effects? On my very property at est. 200m from a newly broadcasting 2.1 something gHz cell mast half a Norway is dead, half just fine, latter leeside to that mast. This kind of thing is occurring all over Toronto where I am. A limit has been reached for pulsed microwave tolerance for some species, and we're in big trouble.
So much to share with perceptive people like you -- how many have even clued in to what you are noticing? Feel free to email me at ck872 AT sympatico.ca . I have been in contact with umpteen Ontario foresters -- the problem is just as Volkrodt had it, there is an aversion to looking into physics for descriptions, they all incline to biochemistry & climate reference.
I have photos as well. Deformed leaf tips on grape & pear, dying otherwise robust rose. All in plume of the new cell mast. It is hard to map out because of varying susceptibilities,just as for people. I could show you an oak grove decimated to leaflessness, and a stand of red maple where every other tree seems fine (for now).
In the middle of so much online activity at this moment to to continue here just now, but we need to compare notes.