Our Spring Points to Global Warming!

     It is the end of March, almost Easter and it is eighty degrees today here in North Carolina.  This has been another roller coaster weather year.  We had an exceptionally warm December and a colder than average January and February.  The end result is a warmer than average winter for this area.  We have already had several very violent masses of storms pass through the state causing wind and tornado damage. 
     This is not only true for here in central North Carolina, as it turns out.  It is also true for the world.  The World Meteorological Organization announced recently that 2015 was a record hot year.  Both world ground surface and ocean bottoms have been measured as having increased in temperature.  This week NASA announced the February 2016 was on average 2.43 degrees warmer.  This was attributed in part to global warming (1.44 degrees) and in part to El Nino (0.45 degrees) as well as some warming due to unexplained causes (0.54 degrees).  The country has been rocked by several massive fronts that generated violent weather and dramatic changes.  Just this week Colorado experienced weather in the seventies and than a day later two feet of snow.

Daffodils photographed on Feb. 16, 2013.  These same bulbs had not even emerged on Feb. 16, 2016

     What does this really mean to us?  I have kept photo and written records of the advances of the season in my area for years.  Here it seems to have translated to an accelerated advance of the season.  In this area the red maples are typically the first obvious trees to bloom.  That usually happens toward the end of January.  On the ground, daffodils normally begin to bloom in mid February.  By mid April we have obvious leaf emergence and azaleas are in bloom.  This year the red maples began blooming in early February, nearly two weeks late.  Daffodils were also an average of two weeks late beginning.  Once they started blooming, however, the length of time that they were in bloom was extremely short with many bulbs only lasting a couple of days.  This was because we had cold below freezing temperatures until the end of February and then the first week of March we suddenly heated up - hitting the eighties by March 8.  This weekend, the leaf emergence is significant and the azaleas are in bloom.  They are three week earlier than they would be for a normal year.  Thus we have compressed seven to eight weeks of a normal spring into three to four weeks.

Azaleas photographed on April 19, 2009.  This same shrub is currently in bloom - March 25, 2016

     We have all heard about the terrible consequences of global warming on a global scale.  Ocean levels are predicted to rise, ice caps to melt, animals to be pushed out of their normal territory, plants and animals to be pressured and even to be pushed to extinction.  What few people are even considering is what does this do to the human population.
     As ocean levels rise, people are going to be forced to move to higher ground.  This is going to exacerbate an already volatile over-population problem world wide.  We have also experienced more violent and more frequent storms.  On a human level, this is likely not only to create issues of food shortage and health problem increases, it is also likely to exacerbate issues of violence and terrorism.  This has hit home to me this week as I have listened to reports of the bombings in Belgium.
     People who deal with global and local land planning know that two things increase the incidence of violence among the population.  The first is an increase in temperature.  People have a hard time dealing with warmer temperatures.  The higher the temperature the more aggressive people tend to become.  This is an issue that has been receiving a great deal of scientific study over the past several years.  The second issue that leads to greater violence has to do with density.  The closer that people are packed into a place the greater the amount of violence.  We need our space as living creatures or we tend to get on each others nerves. 
     Global warming is having a lot of odd effects on our lives.  We all are beginning to experience it whether we as humans are willing to admit that the problem exists or not.  We all have experienced more erratic weather with obvious changes of our seasons.  That weather has become increasingly more violent.  These changes serve as a subtle reminder of other effects that we also are all being subjected to experience, namely increased violence.  This is a problem we have all contributed to and a problem that we all need to work to fix.  It will not go away by itself and our abbreviated spring is a local subtle reminder of this problem.

Help Fight Global Warming!

     "Why should I care about global warming?  It doesn't effect me."  This was a question that was recently posed to me by a friend.  Granted, the fact that he is actually acknowledging global warming is a huge step for him, still the question left me sputtering.  "You have a home that you heat and cool, and you own land.  You are trying to grow things on your land.  You eat food and complain about the high prices of food and fuel and yet you don't think that global warming effects you?" was my reply.  This was actually pretty nice and controlled.  I had some much stronger things running around in my head, but they would have offended without getting the point across.  They might have made me feel better but not him.
     Global warming is an all pervasive problem.  It is already effecting the weather both in terms of temperature extremes (higher highs and lower lows) and in precipitation amounts.  Some parts of the world are seeing greater amounts of rain than they have ever experienced and others have had five or more years of deficit - enough to lower their permanent water tables.  If you are trying to grow plants on your land, these things seriously effect you.  If you even remotely care for the wildlife of the world, this translates to animals that cannot get enough food at the right times of the year to survive, exposure to greater temperature extremes the cause greater stress, and exposure to more violent weather that puts them in peril.  Ignoring the problem or waiting for the other guy to solve it is really no longer an option for any of us.  We all have to do our part!
     To that end, there are a couple of things that are currently available to anyone who cares to try them.  Although they are very small in their impact, they are a start and a lot of tiny efforts can easily lead to a noticeable change in the right direction.
     The first thing that you can do is to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count.  Although this count is over for this year - it happened last week - it is an ongoing effort.  This count tracks birds throughout the world to get a better idea of the numbers and species of birds inhabiting locations around the world.  It is backyard amateur science with some very real results for the collective world scientific body of knowledge.  It is also easy and fun.  To participate, you simply go to the website:  www.ebird.org and sign up.  During the appointed week, you take a little bit of time out of your day to record the birds that you see in your location over a specific period of time (in fifteen minute intervals).  Then you post that information on the website.  This does not help reduce global warming, but it does help scientists work to help wildlife through the changes that they will need to make.
     The next thing that you can do will help slow global warming.  You can work to use less energy and to ensure that at least some of the energy you use is renewable.  We all can find ways to save energy, from switching our incandescent light bulbs to less consumptive ones to walking instead of taking short car trips.  Be creative.  To help you in this effort, National Geographic has put together an energy calculator.  This lets you see how you measure up against others in your area and the world.  It's easy and informative.  This can be accessed by going to the following website:  http://environment.nationalgeographic.com and selecting energy.  You will be directed to take the energy challenge.  By the way, I scored in at 65% less than the average energy usage for this area.  It helps to live in a passive solar house!  I challenge you to beat my score.
     Finally, I challenge you to participate in Earth Hour.  This is the World Wildlife effort to make people more aware of their energy use.  This year it will occur on March 23 and as always is only an hour of your day.  For one hour WWF asks people around the world to turn off the lights and electricity and go dark.  This is not such a hard task and it has some real impacts.  For information on this event go to:  http://worldwildlife.org/pages/earth-hour .
     Global warming is real and it is effecting everyone whether they are willing to admit it or not.  Fight back.  Do your part to help solve the problem.

Save Your Soil and the Planet

    Global warming is a complicated problem with many different aspects to be considered.  A number of the aspects involve things related to the site.  Planting trees, for instance, can help to capture excess carbon that has been released into the atmosphere.  Soil is another major factor in the complicated issues of carbon.
     Soil contains huge amounts of carbon.  In a natural state, carbon builds up in the soil from the deposit of plant material on the soil surface from natural functions like leaf and stem drop and tree fall.  This organic matter is broken down and carried into the upper layer of the soil, otherwise known as the topsoil, through the activities of soil macrobes and microbes.  In fact, the top couple of feet of soil contains three times the amount of carbon that is held in the atmosphere.  In the soil, this carbon helps to enhance plant growth.
     Unfortunately, this carbon is easily disturbed and released causing increases in the atmosphere.  Disturb the soil and/or remove the permanent cover and the organic matter that holds this carbon is more accessible to breakdown by soil macrobes and microbes. They then release the excess carbon into the air in the form of carbon dioxide.
     This phenomenon has been observed for centuries.  The great cedars of Lebanon that were so highly prized by the Phoenicians were massively harvested and hauled away.  The land did not recover and regrow.  Instead, places that were denuded very quickly lost soil fertility and the ability to support regrowth.  The same phenomenon has been observed in Central and South America.  Areas that are cleared of trees for agriculture or other uses very quickly become barren and incapable of supporting regrowth.  The carbon in the soil is rapidly broken down and then lost to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.  The soil becomes hard and devoid of fertility.  Reforestation becomes a slow and difficult process that requires a good deal of outside organic matter because it is no longer available naturally on the site.
     Soil erosion is an even greater problem.  Not only is the organic matter more exposed to breakdown, but what might remain is easily lost to downstream flowing water and spread into areas where it is least needed.  Soil left behind is often that layer below the topsoil layer.  This layer is devoid of carbon and does not easily support plant growth.  Thus, stabilizing the soil again requires the import of organic matter onto the site.
     Unfortunately, people disturb the soil in a number of ways.  They remove trees in order to harvest the lumber, clear land in order to farm and raise livestock and clear land for urban growth.  All of these activities act to release carbon into the atmosphere.  All of there activities also act to render the soil incapable of easily supporting plant growth which is a major way to capture carbon released into the atmosphere.  A vicious cycle of carbon loss ensues.
     Planting a tree, or grass or some other cover for the soil is a major defense against global warming.  Obviously, not producing greenhouse gasses is the primary defense, but not allowing them to be lost to the atmosphere from the soil is also a big part of the picture.  Those plants that cover and protect the soil not only help to capture carbon from the air; they also work to help prevent it from being removed from the soil into the air.  So, if you want to help reduce global warming go out and protect your soil.  Plant it with something!  Better still, add compost (which contains lots of carbon) and then plant it with something!