First published on January 23, 2021 in The Life Slant by Dr. Reese Halter The year 2020 set another horrible heat record in the oceans, which make up 99 percent of the planet’s biosphere, or, where life can exist. Many billions of our brethren and sistren, the animals, are already dead. It’s simply too hot. The ocean heat is in lockstep with burning fossil fuels and wood pellets. In 2020, the world’s oceans absorbed the equivalent heat to dropping 10 Hiroshima atom bombs every second of the year (20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 {sextillion} joules). Allow me to remind you that the oceans drive Earth’s climate. Hence we are amid a worsening man-made climate crisis. It is never just about humans though. We share this glorious blue planet with a couple of million other life forms. All life is interrelated and we need everything that is left, alive. Fossil fuel and wood pellet combustion heat is stoking the man-driven Sixth Mass Extinction. The Arctic is parboiling about three times faster than the rest of the planet. Gray whales that depend upon the Arctic sea ice to make a living are conspicuously wasting away. Gruesome. It’s a cry of survival and nothing is exempt!” Since 2019, along the west coast of North America more than 386 giant gray whales have washed ashore, emaciated and overwhelmed by whale lice. The actual number of dead grays could easily extend into the thousands since only 3.9 to 13 percent of grays that perish annually are found on land. Gargantuan filter feeding whales, like grays, blues, fins, seis, humpbacks and others, are invaluable. They shepherd the sea and provide us, and all life forms, with oxygen as well as sequestering immense amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide and burying it along the seafloor. See The Gen Z Emergency for splendid details. We need the whales alive and farming the sea. The fact that they are washing up skinny and dead is a terrifying omen. From the North Pole to the beleaguered Great Barrier Reef (GBR) nothing in the oceans escapes the deadly accumulating combustion heat. Three marine heatwaves over five years in the Coral Sea (NE Australia) have leveled the greatest collection of corals and all life therein. Aussie researchers now say that fossil fuel and wood pellet ocean heat causes epaulette shark pups to emerge from egg cases earlier, weaker, undernourished, smaller and exhausted. “Sharks are important predators because they take out the weak and impaired and keep the integrity of the population strong,” remarked oceanographer Dr Jodie Rummer, James Cook University, Australia. The GBR sharks are the gatekeepers of ~1,600 miles of exquisite shoreline sea grass meadows, salt marshes and mangroves, which, by the way, store mega amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The loss of the sharks is yet another horrendous blow to Earth’s hallowed living interconnected biosphere – including eight billion procreating humans. No sharks. No life. All hands on deck! Support the vital conservation work of SeaShepherdGlobal.org Each of us is required to lend a helping hand to save our only home.
Make no mistake, the whales and the sharks are climate victims and without immediate action the human race is next. Climate action, in fact, begins with governments ending their annual $5.3 trillion fossil fuel subsidies, and embracing a global plan to achieve a zero-combustion global economy by 2030. It’s a cry of survival and nothing is exempt! #LoveNature #LoveIsTheSolution #Empathy #Compassion #ConsumeLess #GrowFood #GoVegan #WalkMore #TheGreatForestCase #ZeroCombustionEconomy #ForThePlanet #GenZEmergency ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Dr Reese Halter is an award-winning broadcaster, distinguished conservation biologist and author. Dr Reese Halter’s latest book is now available! GenZ Emergency Tweet @RelentlessReese
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As we head into the new year, two Bolton lads are encouraging you to bring new life into your home. In August 2020, four months into the Covid-19 pandemic, Danny Roberts and John Maree set up Oxy-Plants.com. Based in a local mill, the lads are helping people across the UK to reconnect with nature and improve their wellbeing by inviting plants into their homes.
Oxy-Plants believes the perfect antidote to almost a year in lockdown is to start afresh – take a deep breath and take in your surroundings. Danny says: ‘The joy of seeing a new leaf on your plant, or seeing it grow over a long period of time, has been shown to help bring joy and a sense of wellbeing, acting as the perfect remedy to the current crisis we find ourselves in.’ In fact, 2020 was the first year that UK GPs actually prescribed plants to help battle anxiety, depression and loneliness. This worthwhile scheme was launched by Cornbrook Medical Practice in inner-city Hulme, where many patients live in flats and do not have access to gardens or greenery. Medical Secretary, Augusta Ward, says: ‘Having something to care for brings so many benefits to people – especially those who may not have a garden or be able to have pets. The plant is then a reason to come back to the surgery and get involved in all the other activities in our garden and make new friends.’ The idea is backed by the city’s health commissioners, who want to promote community support - or ‘social prescribing’ - as one of the holistic ways to improve well-being in the city. So, on a mission to encourage as many people as they can to make a ‘fresh start’ in 2021, Danny and John would like to offer all customers a 10% discount. Simply head to their website www.oxy-plants.com and enter the checkout promo code BOLTONNEWS. For every plant sold, the lads will also donate 50p to charities Woodland Trust and Mind UK. Website: www.oxy-plants.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oxyplantsltd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oxyplantsltd/ Email: [email protected] |
David c holroyd & tracy j holroydArchives
March 2023
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