Jazz - One of the Human Inventions the Universe will Mourn the Loss Of

Found at Bouphonia, a curious and diverting blog, whose motto is, "A confused stile, and a disturbed method, is fittest to discourse of our miserie." which is lifted, I don't know for sure, from A Mirror for Magistrates? A convoluted search led to this collection of antique cautionary tales, couched in poetry that includes some floriferous word salads that would make Sarah Palin weep with envy...if only she could read or, at the very least, see medieval England from her porch....

Dead Lawn Close to Home - updated with Tiger

Yesterday when we were in a southerly direction we stopped for dinner with middle daughter Sophie, and Chuck. It's amazing luck that Chuck's car and house escaped serious damage from a storm this week, but still very sad to lose the aesthetic appeal and shade over his deck.

I had just come across this page at the membrane website, which has a couple of interesting links that are new to me.

The first is a report from the year 2000, that advocated support for adding ethanol to gasoline and repeatedly asserts that adverse health impacts of ozone are "trivial" - but nevertheless reveals:

"To make the transition from MTBE to ethanol in the most rapid and least disruptive manner possible, ethanol blends could be allowed a volatility waiver. Many in the environmental community vigorously oppose this. They fear that increased hydrocarbon emissions lead to increased ozone levels and adverse public health impacts. Their position seems to be that the adverse impact of these increased emissions is so damaging that it outweighs the many undisputed environmental benefits of ethanol."

It appears that debate was quashed - and much basic research ceased - at the beginning of this century when the government mandated that ethanol be used (in a pretense of being cleaner)...while simultaneously underfunding the EPA as described in that NYTimes analysis today - rendering the government agency charged with defending the public safety from environmental threats wretchedly impotent as far as setting standards and regulating air pollution.

So naturally I wrote the Editor first thing, and complained that the effects of ethanol on vegetation are being overlooked at our peril.

Go to Basic Premise for links to scientific research if you don't already know why!! No doubt the NYT, which subsists on fossil and biofuel industry advertising, won't be publishing that letter any time soon. (Prove me wrong, NYT!)

Sophie describes to big sister Alice the violent winds that knocked down the trees.

Earlier yesterday, at Significant Other's suggestion (itself a mind-boggling event worthy of deep contemplation) we went to Point Pleasant,

to join the nearest Hands Across the Sand event, in opposition of offshore oil drilling, which had been organized by this charming pair.

So we got to feel kind of useful, and had a mini-vacation day on the Jersey shore.

This was the relaxing view from our lunch table.

But the rest of what was to be seen was quite grim.

Grass is dying back much, much faster here than at home. It's not all this bad, but it's heading that way, and a very ominous portent of harvest, I fear. It's just a bit warmer there, and along the route to Delaware we took for dinner - which made me think of two things. Warmer temperatures = both faster evaporation of rainwater & and higher levels of ozone.

The trees in towns are in the expected bad condition.

But there are so many completely dead trees lining Highway 70 it was overwhelming. I was in such shock I only took a few pictures. I am thinking I should go back with a video camera.

There is mile after mile after mile of proximate, completely dead trees - mostly oaks but some conifers - lining the shoulder and deep into the state park.

There is glaring evidence of recent wildfires. The obvious idiocy of building housing in woods prone to burn didn't deter our enterprising New Jersey developers! The acquisition program by government to prevent such sprawl has been a notable failure.

Of course now that you can add ozone damage to drier, acidified soils to a natural tendency to burn, on top of the scorching temperatures we are already experiencing... I would not want to be in charge of fire-fighting there this summer - of course, there is rampant, nitrogen-loving lichen.

I have already mentioned the terrible observation that unlike last year, now even flowers themselves, not just their foliage, are stunted, deformed, thin and wilted.

And I found that to be reflected in the gardens near the beach.

This is typical of hydrangeas in Point Pleasant as well as here at home.

In addition to symptoms of external damage to normal leaves, ozone entering the plant causes genetic mutation, which could explain leaves and petals emerging misshapen.

General decline and impacts on the cellular structure could both account for a depletion in nutritional value of plant products.

Next to the video I linked to earlier this morning about the terrible death of an infant due to a falling tree limb in Central Park, I saw this story on the Huffington Post about a young girl attacked by coyotes in Westchester. The local police postulated that the coyotes must be rabid, because that is aberrant behavior and otherwise inexplicable.

I don't want to get too carried away speculating that other peoples' personal tragedies have potential significance in the grander scheme of things - but I would like to point out that the bottom of the food chain is collapsing.

Certainly this chard does not possess all the vitamins and minerals it normally would.

In addition to possessing lowered nutritional value, leaves, nuts, berries, fruits, and seeds are simply scarcer for wildlife to eat, and consequently the top predators have less to prey upon. It grieves me to be labeled an "alarmist" for expounding a logical and inevitable extrapolation. I question whether those coyote were sick, or perhaps just hungry. And I will not be surprised if such incidents increase in frequency in the future, with coyote and even bear...just as the number of people killed and injured by falling trees and branches is already indubitably mounting up.

I was overjoyed Friday to get these photographs, the first decent ones I've had a chance to take, of a neighboring fox. I hope he can find food!!!

Update: Unbelievable, but I just checked DesdemonaDespair and read two (possibly) related stories:

1. lawns dying in Britain (blamed on drought, not ozone) and

2. tigers attacking people (blamed on "mystery disease" causing loss of ability to hunt prey, rather than lack of prey)

!!!!

"Freak Accident" Blamed on Mother Nature

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life!

Yesterday I made a quick stop at the grocery store.

Above is the best tree in the parking lot. It goes downhill from there.

You would think with the expense involved in replacing so many dead trees, somebody would notice and wonder why.

And you would be correct.

Once again there is an article in a Massachusetts paper about trees dying. I was really excited when I first read about this story almost two months ago, because I thought, even though the cause was being attributed to leaking natural gas lines, at least somewhere there is recognition that a large problem with tree health exists - always the first step towards a solution.

It was a relief to head back to Wit's End after all those rows of dead trees at the store, but unfortunately even in the undeveloped countryside, trees are dying. This view overlooks a golf course - the part that is tended is sort of green, but the rest of the grass is shockingly yellow.

These are all close-ups of the trees that surround the open fields, taken from the same position.

There are many bare trees mixed in with the ones that still have leaves.

But back to Massachusetts. Initially I was hopeful that I would find some allies in my effort to warn the world that we must transition to clean energy before the ecosystem suffers a total collapse. I learned that a couple of guys - Bob Ackley, a former gas company employee and Jan Schlichtmann, a lawyer - had founded the "public" Massachusetts Shade Tree Trust in 2007. That sounds like a charitable organization but is actually just the two of them, who are peddling the notion to municipalities that by joining the trust they can recover millions of dollars each from National Grid, the major local utility, for damages.

I was a bit surprised to see that they are still at it since I wrote to both of them after I first read the article in the Patriot Ledger and saw the Boston.com television report, to inform them that trees are dying everywhere, not just in proximity to gas lines...because the ozone that forms from toxic greenhouse gas emissions interferes with the ability of leaves to photosynthesize and produce chlorophyll.

Ackley called me within an hour after I emailed him that message, and I realized then that he wasn't involved out of some altruistic love for trees. He was quoted as saying "Statewide, there could be somewhere between $15 billion - $30 billion in damages." Hmmm...according to the terms of the Trust, it (it being Ackley and Schlichtmann, remember) retains 40% of anything they help the towns to recover from National Grid. So, if they held National Grid fully accountable that means a potential of billions in legal fees for the "Trust". Billions!!

No wonder they don't want to hear that ozone - from a variety of sources - is the principle culprit! Of course, it is possible that gas leaks from pipes do damage root systems as well, so when Ackley called I asked if he had any scientific research that indicated gas leaks from pipes are killing trees on a massive scale, and he assured me it was available on the trust website. Guess what I found? ONE pdf from the "Journal of Arboriculture" written in 1977. Yes, that is Nineteen Seventy-seven AND it is based on research done in the '60's! Compare that to the peer-reviewed publications about ozone killing trees compiled on this page!

I also wrote to State Rep. Lori Ehrlich, was was reported to be sponsoring legislation to force National Grid to repair all leaks within six months, but of course I never heard back from her either. Another curiosity I just noticed: the website says, "With a team of certified and highly regarded arborists, professionally trained gas leak inspectors...the Trust is already delivering valuable services...". As far as I can tell, there IS no "team" and only one "inspector." And on their "newsroom" page, exactly one link out of twelve media stories actually connected to an article about the Trust, all the rest are expired or error pages. The amazing thing is that a number of towns have signed onto this ridiculous sham. I guess the local governments are blinded by the dollar signs.

There are some wildflowers blooming on the perimeter of the golf course, like the milkweed, above, and asclepias.

I chased this butterfly around for a while.

This picture isn't in very good focus but I am fascinated by the position of his wings as he lands on the clover.

The daisies look terrible.

They are small, puckered, and their petals are deformed.

Last summer I discovered the macro setting on my camera and derived a modicum of comfort from taking pictures of flowers.

Focussing on their luscious details was a great way to forget - or perhaps more like just suspend - the awful knowledge that ozone is killing trees and plants.

Last summer, when the foliage of most perennials exhibited symptoms of exposure to toxic gases, the plants were using all their reserves of energy to reproduce and the flowers were, for the most part, stunning.

I cannot say the same this year and until today have been consciously avoiding the sad fact that the flowers no longer offer the respite they provided last summer.

They are misshapen and thin, their veins are prominent just as in the leaves.

These native, wild daylilies are washed out in color.

And the cultivated, ruffled varieties are no better.

They look battered, as though they have been pummeled by hail - but they haven't.

The petals are twisted and wrinkled, even when they are fresh and young.

It is really very depressing and it also makes me angry. I have been trying so hard to get people to pay attention before it is too late, to no avail.

Of course the daylily leaves are singed.

I cannot bear to look at my suffering flower beds, let alone weed, and so the entire garden at Wit's End is being engulfed by Canadian thistle, a particularly nasty, spiky invasive.

I did see a hummingbird feeding on them, which made me feel better - but for all I know it was desperate.

On the other hand, the leaves show the same damage as everything else so I do not expect it to thrive very long either.

I spoke to an editor yesterday about the Boston.com story, and it was kind of funny.

He started to say something about the reason the trees are dying, but he only got as far as "trees..." and then he sort of gagged and went silent. I waited. He finally uttered "...deteriorating".

Afterwards I thought, that's analogous to describing the turtles, porpoises, and birds in the Gulf as "deteriorating".

Here's a slideshow of last year's flowers that I put together for Valentine's Day, for anyone who missed it.

I have often been accused by those I love most of being too doomy, gloomy, and negative - and so here is a cheery riposte...I like to think all those propped up fellows represent trees.