Below you will find the words of Sharon McErlane with an important invitation to gather in a collective healing circle on behalf of the planet from wherever you are on January 25th:
“SAVE THE DATE FOR WORKING WITH THE TREES ON JANUARY 25TH!
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There’s a big difference between cultural burning and the destructive clearing fires largely promoted by the Forest Service.
When Phil Sheppard was evacuated from his home due to the fires raging through his area in Hunter Valley, he watched in horror from a safe distance. Upon his return home, he was amazed to see his hut was still standing. The only property in the general area which did not have the protection of cultural burning (performed 3 years ago) was completely destroyed.
“Unlike hazard reduction burning, cultural burns are cooler and slower moving, usually no taller than knee height, leaving tree canopies untouched and allowing animals to take refuge from the flames. Small fires are lit with matches, instead of drip torches, and burn in a circular pattern.”
Learn more by reading the full article here.
If you’re not surprised, we totally understand the fatigue with all this bad news. It’s getting to the point where waking up is accompanied by thoughts like “what nightmares await us today…”
Thing is, we’ve got to stay on top of what’s happening and RESIST.
If we don’t speak up, if we don’t disrupt the complacent “lawmakers” of our country, we miss the chance to make a difference on behalf of the future.
“Since taking office Mr. Trump has proposed nearly 100 environmental rollbacks, including weakening protections for endangered species, relaxing rules that limit emissions from coal plants and blocking the phaseout of older incandescent light bulbs. Hundreds of thousands of public comments against the president’s moves have flowed in. Scientists have spoken out in opposition. Democrats have vowed to stop him, all with little effect.”
Read the rest of the NY Times coverage on Trump’s latest disregard for our only home here.
ABC’s The Science Show featured a recent, short interview demonstrating what Australia has learned about prescribed burns in light of the current disaster of rampant forest fires in the country.
In short, they’ve done more harm than good.
You can learn more and listen to this 4 minute talk here.
While it cannot replace a desperate need to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases, ETH-Zürich Professor Tom Crowther reported to the BBC how much our survival is connected to planting trees.
“Even if tree planting began today, it would take 50 to 100 years for the new trees to soak up those 200 gigatonnes of carbon, he told The Guardian. And, as National Geographic pointed out, the researchers found that potential tree-planting land could shrink by one-fifth by 2050 even if global temperature rise is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as some tropical areas could grow too hot to support forests.”
Read the whole article on EcoWatch.
