Help Wanted

This may be one of the few real growth industries in the near future.

Ha ha, it would be so SO funny except it's not.

Nowadays chipper trucks lurk every night, hiding on a dead end lane next to the freeway overpass, like hideous poltergeists, and then rummage around all day, cutting limbs in any proximity to power lines - because the trees are all dying, and the least wind or rainfall causes branches to break, in turn causing expensive power losses and repairs.

Following are pictures from a small suburban strip mall, from trees planted in islands, to the woods on the outskirts, shrubs and potted plants. I've already been criticized for posting photos of trees in "stressed" situations as adjacent to pavement. But this exercise has value for a couple of reasons. One, trees planted in parking lots have been just fine for 10 to 20 years or more - until now. And also, they are useful examples because when looking at trees in the wild, their leaves get blended into layers of others, so unless you walk up close and inspect them, it's not easy to depict in a picture how terribly thin they really are. When you look at an isolated specimen it becomes quite obvious.

This maple is showing fall color at least a month prematurely - a signal of distress.



























And here are the trees afar that are wild.

Plus, crazy weeds I can't identify are suffering.






My sign is up, courtesy of Romm'n'Legions!!

http://www.clf.org/blog/?p=23

ACID

http://www.clf.org/blog/?p=23

The concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide has skyrocketed from 280 parts per million (ppm) in the mid 18th century to 385 ppm at the beginning of the 21st century. As a result of a simple chemical reaction, the ocean has absorbed approximately one third of the carbon emissions that were released into the atmosphere. While scientists believe this has shielded the upper atmosphere from the full effects of our carbon dioxide emissions, they are also cautioning that the chemistry of the ocean has and will continue to change, having long-term, serious consequences for marine life.

Dire Emergency

We have no time to waste. So many leaves are fluttering through the air, it looks like snowfall. They litter the roads and sidewalks, and people just walk past as though it's natural for them to fall off in the very first days of September.

Every year at the end of October, the Far Hills Race Meet holds a steeple chase that has become so popular that more than 50,000 people pour into the little town by car and train to watch the competition. Elaborate tailgate parties are a large part of the attraction to the event at Moorland Farms, where the fields are ringed by hills in full autumn glory, the trees at their most brilliant scarlet and gold. Last year however, many were brown. This year, most will be bare. Will anyone notice?

Here's a link to an article about last year's race. Scrolling through the photos it is clear that even then, there were already many trees completely leafless at an event timed to occur at the peak of the colorful season.

http://www.nj.com/helpinghands/jamieduffy/index.ssf/2008/10/far_hills_race_meeting_a_nod_t.html

It's back to school time so when I drove second daughter back to UPenn in Philadelphia, it gave me a chance to take a look at the trees in an urban setting for a change.
And guess what. All I did was cross the street, and from the vantage of that random intersection I was able to photograph one dying specimen after another.

The apartment is in a row of charming Victorian houses, with just enough space around them for little gardens and ivy covered porches. What do you suppose it means when poisonous compounds infect the atmosphere to the point where, in the space of ONE YEAR, every species of tree is either dead or has obvious signs of irreversible damage? When even annual plants, like the sort we all eat for food, exhibit symptoms as well, it's time to pay attention.



The ivy leaves are discolored and dry as paper.




Overproduction of seed pods in a deciduous tree. When there are more seeds than leaves, there is a problem.














Somebody planted a butterfly border but the plants that attract butterflies are in sorry shape.

Monarda.






Autumn clematis blooming early everywhere.











Below are links to scientific research about ethanol for those inclined to slog through such studies.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/revsolglobwarmairpol.htm
http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/E85vWindSol

Exchange of Messages with the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

Dear Ms. Zawacki:

Thank you for your e-mail yesterday to staff of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Environment Program. I am the director of the DDCF Climate Change Initiative, which is the grant-making program most relevant to your comments and inquiries.

At the outset, I should emphasize that neither I nor other members of the Environment Program staff have expertise regarding topics such as ethanol and acetaldehyde. Instead, the focus of the Climate Change Initiative has been on greenhouse gases (GHG) and various GHG abatement options.

We share your desire for the rapid deployment of green energy. To that end, the foundation has made approximately $37 million in grants over the last three years to help build a clean energy economy. Specifically, the Climate Change Initiative supports analytical work that informs technology innovation policies. These are the domestic and international policies that are needed to help foster technological innovation in the energy sector and accelerate the emergence of new clean-energy technologies. More information on the Climate Change Initiative and our grants can be found here: http://www.ddcf.org/page.asp?pageId=675.

Although we have not made any grants specifically related to ethanol (pro or con), and we generally do not focus on the transportation sector or liquid fuels, I hope that you’ll see that DDCF has made a substantial commitment to de-carbonizing the economy.

Sincerely,

Andrew Bowman

here is the response I sent:

Dear Dr. Bowman,

Thank you very much for your response to my message. I do appreciate that DDCF has made a substantial commitment towards green energy which is, of course, the ultimate solution towards harmful greenhouse gas emissions, of which acetaldehyde is but one of many.

Your answer however begs a couple of questions. Of course I do not expect anyone in your organization to be cognizant of the effects of acetaldehyde, because very few people are. But now that it has been brought to your attention as quite possibly THE key component in an array of threats to trees and other vegetation, the first question is what can and should DDCF do about it?

Transitioning to a clean energy economy will mean very little if it takes so long that all the vegetation is destroyed and all the people and animals have starved to death. I understand that seems hyperbolic but if you looked at the pictures I took at Duke Farms, I think you would have to understand it is actually just factual.

The second question is, since SOMETHING is massacring the trees at Duke Farms (and the idea asserted earlier that Duke Farm trees are declining due to advanced age is frankly ludicrous - aside from the demonstrable fact that very young saplings are dying at the same rate as older trees, species such as maples and oaks and other such hardwood species are programmed to live for centuries, literally) what is the Board obligated to do to determine the cause of the widespread damage?

I maintain that the Board must actively seek out experts in atmospheric chemistry AND botany who have the expertise to determine what is killing the vegetation at Duke Farm, and everywhere else in the vicinity, in order to determine its next course of action and funding.

I apologize if I appear to be cranky on this subject and I assure you I am not targeting DDCF or singling out your organization. I have been writing letters to dozens of scientists, government agencies, and conservation groups over the past year, for the simple reason that I have children and I really don't want them to spend the rest of their lives in a hot barren desert scrounging for food and water.

Climate change is a vast subject and there are more aspects to it than most people care to think about. But given the particular mission of your foundation, and the condition of your property, I think you should give some serious consideration to the evidence I have put before you.

And I would be happy to help in any way I could. For instance, I have information about a rather new infrared camera developed in Europe that takes photos of trees and much like a CAT scan of people, reveals the flow of heat and can be used to diagnose problems before the condition is symptomatic and irreversible. I would very much like to see funding for a study using that camera to reveal the interior condition of trees.

De-carbonizing the economy is essential. But I doubt it will happen until people understand what they really face if we DON'T de-carbonize. Losing trees, birds, and butterflies, and apples and cherries, and shade and wood, might just do it. The sooner the public and policy makers figure out that pumping millions of tons of poison into the atmosphere has very bad consequences, the sooner we can go into warp speed to transition to carbon neutral (actually, carbon removal).

You at DDCF are in a position to lead this enlightenment - you have the basic understanding, the funding, and the mission.

I encourage you to deploy your resources because from what I have seen, the ethanol industry has no hesitation in going full throttle to expand their dominion, heedless of the health consequences to life, plant or animal.

Sincerely,

Gail

Wildfires

Look at all the trees with bare branches in this video!



Sure, California has always had wildfires, and it's having a drought. But if anyplace has ozone and acetaldahyde, it's got to be LA.