Category: Ecology

Ecology is the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.

Calamity Politics Vlog: 11/1/2020 “The Wall”

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Calamity Politics Vlog: 11/1/2020 “The Wall”
Dave is back with more paranoid environmental theories. The southern wall is actually being built to stop a new type of refugee. A caravan of misery is coming from South America to escape the consequences of climate change. The real intent of Trump’s wall is to keep the huge number of victims of climate change stopped at the southern border. But, Dave’s theory doesn’t end there. He in fact believes we are in a battle for the soul of the gas pump. Comments welcome.

“FIRE” by Jack Babcock

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fire

the red sun

peers thru the smoke

the news is near doom

I haven’t had asparagus in years

or a banana split

the president waves a flag

I hope for one last good meal

Red Alert Level 3.

 

Thanks Jack for the great poem. Jack Babcock is an old friend of Calamity News and Politics.com. Jack is a prolific writer. Please look for him on Amazon. Jack lives in NE Portland, Oregon. His neighborhood has recently been on a standing Fire Evacuation Alert (Red Alert Level 3).

Pretty scary times here on the west coast. The sky is a sallow yellow and the smoke is blinding. Totally unprecedented devastation. Calamity will be featuring some of Jack’s poetry in an upcoming post. Watch for it.

Thought you might enjoy Jack’s quirky take on a very dangerous situation.

D. S. Mitchell/Calamity

Create a Back Yard Sanctuary

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Creating a back yard sanctuary start with a bird feeder. feeder to your back yard.

To create a backyard sanctuary you might want to start by hanging a bird feeder.

                                                             

Create A Backyard Sanctuary

By D. S. Mitchell

Start With Bird Feeders

No matter how small your yard there are things that you can do that will turn your property into a wildlife sanctuary. With COVID-19 having many of us confined to our homes, it might be just the right time to get out in the yard and make a difference for a bevy of creatures. Biologists say habitat loss is the biggest threat to wildlife. Take some of your extra time and pent-up energy to build half a dozen bird feeders. If you are not good with hammer and nail, just order them on-line. One of the easiest things you can do is hang up bird feeders. Remember to place the feeders at different height levels, in different areas of the yard. Offer a variety of seeds in separate feeders. Don’t offer suet in warm weather.

Use Poisons Cautiously

Often people reach for rodenticides at the first signs of  mouse activity, without thinking of the potential danger to wildlife. A California study found rat poison in 90% of mountain lions and 88% of bobcats, and 25 other animal species, including the endangered northern spotted owl and the San Joaquin kit fox. For wildlife friendly alternatives visit www.saferodentcontrol.org.  Consider installing nesting boxes for barn owls. A family of barn owls can eat as many as 3,000 rodents a year. For information on the owl boxes please visit www.hungryowl.org.

Say No To Weedkillers

Stop using dangerous pesticides.

Stop using dangerous pesticides. Some stay in the soil for a decade. Weeds can be beautiful.

People need to expand their world vision. Amazingly, people take extreme measures to eat organic, yet go full-bore on weed killers. It is clearly time to say no to weed killers. Before buying young starter plants, seed packets and saplings, read the fine print, making sure you do not buy chemically pre-treated products. Make sure there are no neonicotinoids on labels. Half of the plants sold in the U.S. and Canada are treated with neonicotinoids before shipment to stores.

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Environmental Benefits of COVID-19

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COVID-19 is the scariest health risk since the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic

Environmental Benefits of COVID-19

By Sonnet Gomes

State of War

Viruses and humanity have been in a “state-of-war” from the beginning of time. A variety of  infectious diseases have been responsible for every pandemic in world history. We only need to remember our high school history books coverage of the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu.  It is estimated that the Spanish Flu was responsible for more than 50,000,000 worldwide deaths. Behind all modern-day pandemics, the primary culprits have been viruses.

Coronaviruses are Well-Known

Coronaviruses are well-known to us. In fact, you probably are a unknowing host to millions of them at this very moment. Coronaviruses cause a variety of illnesses ranging from the common cold to severe and often deadly respiratory infections. This new strain, COVID-19, is short for coronavirus disease-2019.  This novel coronavirus is responsible for the current global outbreak. Although coronaviruses  are well-known this new strain has no cure or prevention. This fact has jeopardized millions of human beings worldwide, particularly the elderly or immune suppressed.

Origins of Outbreak

The outbreak started in November 2019 in the City of Wuhan, China. Wuhan is a city of over 11,000,000 people. A busy center of industry. The source of this novel strain is not known for certain, but a credible source has been identified. In China, there are many open markets where wild animals including rats and bats are butchered in proximity to vegetables, domestic meats and customers. The COVID-19 is thought to have started in one of these huge open markets. Bats are the primary transmission suspect. Wild animals, including bats have been regularly butchered and sold as meat in China. Bats are known carriers of multiple strains of coronaviruses.

Non-Symptomatic but Contagious

The COVID-19 is Zoonotic, meaning it can transfer from animal to man.  Similar to SARS, it can stay in the host body undetected for up to 14 days. The difference seems to be that with COVID-19 the person may be non-symptomatic but contagious. SARS, on the other hand,  is not communicable until patient develops symptoms. Both SARS and MERS were transmitted from the civet cat and camels, respectively. Thus, it is clear, the chain of infection often starts with a animal to man transfer. All wildlife trade in China, including bat meat, was banned in January 2020. This was a direct response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Coronavirus Map Expands

As of this writing, around 81,000 people have been infected in China. Out of those patients, the death toll is more than 3,100. Yet, many thousands are recovering. Italy, Iran, and South Korea now face the grim reality of a COVID-19 outbreak. Every day, new countries are added to the coronavirus map. The United States is now part of the pandemic.  The World Health Organization has identified the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.

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Mother Earth Is Begging For Help

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Mother Earth, Protect Her

By D. S. Mitchell

No Planet B, For Me

Calamity Politics is pro-environment. I hope all our readers are pro-environment. Earth is the only planet I’m ever going to set foot on.  I see her as a nurturing, caring, loving place that needs reciprocal love and care. We need to get this right; for the grandchildren, and the great-grandchildren. I want to make climate change and environmental protection a priority. We  are in the middle of the Democratic 2020 primaries. Biden and Sanders are still battling it out. Recent primaries do appear to have Biden overwhelming the Vermont senator. Whoever wins the nomination must make Climate Change and environmental protection a top national issue.

Four More Years Could Seal Mom’s Fate

The Trump environmental wrecking crew is at the gates. As each day passes, I become more agitated. I am afraid that we will not be able to mount a sufficient defense against their heavy-handed onslaught against the environment. The agency that is most responsible for that protection, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has been decimated by Trump and his Fossil Fuel allies.

In the Courts

The Sierra Club’s donations are up. The World Wildlife Fund donations are also reportedly, up. I think we will need every environmental organization on the planet to stop the assault on the planet.  Hopefully their resistance will be both through lawsuits in the courts and active street protests against Trump’s dangerous agenda.  It is important to recognize that U.S. politics effect policy worldwide, not just nationwide. We are an example to the world. What we do, other countries do.

Embrace the Future

Clean energy is better for the economy and it is better for Mother Earth. Time to wrestle control of environmental policy and legislation from the fossil fuel industry and their army of lobbyists. The  remnants of the dirty Industrial Revolution must come to an end. Let’s look forward,  and embrace the future.  We are moving into the Technological Era.  Parts of the transition will be painful, acceptance is the first step.  If you are affected by a changing industry, change yourself, change your skills. Become part of the future, not a useless relic of the past.

From Australia to the Amazon

Whether it is the wild fires in California, or the Amazon; millions of animals are being killed or displaced  by wildfires. Many of the fires are set by humans as a quick means to clear land for cattle grazing or palm oil production. In Australia recent fires were also caused intentionally by man. The Australian fires have caused the death of an estimated one million animals. At the other extreme, the polar ice caps are melting at an incredible rate. This loss of ice is creating big trouble for animals who depend on the ice for hunting and nesting. These emergencies must be addressed quickly, we don’t have much time.

The Orange Whore

President Trump and environmental corruption are center stage in the 2020 election. Whoring with fossil fuel barons, erasing climate change regulations, abandoning the Paris Climate Agreement, increasing offshore oil leases, supporting coal mining has made it clear, Donald Trump is no friend of Mother Earth. He has revealed his true heart, and it is nothing more than a dollar sign.  Trump and the greedy fossil fuel abusers would kill Mom and dance at her funeral. It is up to us, to stop the war on our planet. Time to elect Democrats, from the state houses to the White House. Mom’s life is at stake.

Join the Resistance

 

Poachers Kill 20,000 Elephants Every Year

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Poachers Kill 20,000 Elephants Every Year

ELEPHANT CATASTROPHE

By D.S. Mitchell

Every Ivory Trinket Represents A Dead Elephant.

Poachers kill 20,000 wild elephants every year. These heartless poachers don’t just shoot the poor animals;  instead the desperate creatures are often left injured and dying. Whether by gunshot wounds, poisoning, mutilation or snare traps 50 animals are killed daily. Make no mistake there is a war on elephants. Poachers will kill any elephant with tusks-even a mother nursing her baby.

Into Deadly Ambush

Sadly, often poachers will attack and injure baby elephants because the baby’s pitiful cries will then lure their mothers into a deadly ambush. These poacher’s will stop at nothing to get their hands on the ivory. The poachers use assault rifles and even poison arrows. Unimaginably, they even pour cyanide into elephant watering holes. All this needless suffering so the ivory can be carved into useless trinkets and jewelry to be sold in Asian markets, particularly in China.

Orphans Left To Wander Helpless

Elephants are highly social and deeply emotional creatures. After the poachers kill their mothers, the young orphans are left, to wander helplessly in the bush, until they die, or are rescued by humanitarians.  In one recent case a young orphan elephant was found missing part of her trunk and her tail, likely the victim of a lion attack since she had no protection without her mother. In fact, if the slaughter is not stopped soon certain elephant populations risk extinction.

Orphans Cry For Their Mothers

After a baby elephant is orphaned they will often sit, weeping for hours, tears rolling down their cheeks. Some will wake up in the middle of the night, squealing in terror from nightmares.  Although physically healthy some will refuse to eat or drink because they have been so traumatized by the loss of their mother they die of what seems to be a broken heart.

Groups Work To Stop The Slaughter

More than 50 elephants are slaughtered every day from poaching, hunting and other clashes with humans. There are groups working to protect elephants but it is a huge undertaking. On the front lines are several international wildlife preservation groups, such as IFAW (International Fund for Wildlife),  African Wildlife Foundation and World Wild Life Fund. These groups are using a multi-phase approaches, changing laws and educating the public to end the ivory trade forever.

Building A Neighborhood Watch

Every year multiple game wardens and rangers are murdered by poachers because they tried to stop the killing. One recent project in Africa, known as tenBoma is showing some early success. tenBoma is basically “neighborhood watch.” In Kenya tenBoma is a traditional philosophy that encourages each community to work together to protect the entire region.

A Protective Shield

This same philosophy is being used by activist groups to engage local communities, the people, the police, the scouts and rangers-to share information on suspected poacher movements and other dangerous activity, especially around known elephant migration routes.  The goal of such projects is to form a protective shield around wild places where elephants live.

Miles And Miles Away

So many of us, live thousands of miles from the center of this tragedy.  The distance between the epicenter of the disaster does not need to stop people from helping end the ivory trade, protect elephants and lovingly raise traumatized orphaned baby elephants. Hopefully, hearing the need and seeing the pain created by poachers will encourage people to give generously and repeatedly to organizations devoted to saving these incredible animals. I’ve listed three highly respected organizations fighting to save the elephants. Please donate if you can.

TO DONATE:

International Fund For Animal Welfare: www.ifaw.org

World Wildlife Fund: www.worldwildlifefund.org

African Wildlife Foundation: www.awf.org

 

 

Resolutions For The Next Decade

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Resolutions For The Next Decade

By Anna Hessel

Resolving for the New Decade

Happy 2020!  This start of a new decade makes me ponder the tradition of New Year’s resolutions.  Hopefully, we are all resolving to show peace to all, abolish intolerance, and offer acceptance to those who are different from us.  I realize many of us have personal resolutions to enrich and better our own lives, but I think there are times when we must be resolute in our compassion to pray and work to fulfill the needs of others.

Where We’ve Been

In the latter half of the past decade, we have regressed from working to provide health care for all Americans, to legislation designed to repeal the Affordable Care Act. We’ve gone from sanctuary cities to children in cages at our southern border. We’ve gone from the establishment of affordable housing to the greatest percentage of homelessness in American history.

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ENERGY SAVING TIPS: Season Specific Ideas

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ENERGY SAVING TIPS:

Season Specific Ideas

This article is a continuation of www.calamitypolitics.com 10/16/19 article, “ENERGY SAVING TIPS THAT COST NOTHING.

ENERGY SAVING TIPS: Season Specific

By D. S. Mitchell

FALL AND WINTER SPECIFIC OPTIONS

Saving energy and money is a great dual purpose. As the weather begins to cool it is important to take control of your energy use. Check out the following energy saving tips to start today. Most of these tips are referred to in Part One of this article.

  • Add or repair weatherstripping on windows and doors to reduce heat loss and drafts.
  • Reverse the direction of your ceiling fan in colder weather. Running the fan in reverse pulls the warm air off the ceiling and disperses it throughout the room.
  • Check your air filters every month to improve air quality, reduce heating costs, and improve the efficiency of your heating system. Be sure to change the filters regularly to keep the system running properly.
  • If you have a programmable thermostat, program it to automatically change to the temperature at set times for each day. Temperature is a personal/household decision, but the U.S. Department of Energy suggests setting your thermostat to 68 degrees F while you are awake and at home and lower it while you’re asleep or away from home.
  • Take advantage of winter sunlight by opening your shades, allowing for natural light and capturing the warmth from the sun.
  • Keep furniture, drapes, carpets, and other objects from blocking the vents or registers.  Blocked wall/baseboard heaters or register vents prevent heated air from circulating freely around the room and may cause your heating system to work harder and prevents rooms from warming up to the set temperature on the thermostat.
  • Lower your thermostat when using your fireplace and close the damper when not in use.
  • Holiday lighting can increase your energy bill, so consider using LED holiday lighting instead of standard incandescent bulbs. They use less energy, stay cooler to reduce the risk of fire and injury, and last longer.

SPRING AND SUMMER SPECIFIC OPTIONS

As spring and summer months start heating up, many of us look for ways to keep cool without breaking the bank. Consider adopting some of these tips to increase your comfort while saving.

  • Block heat from entering your home in the warmer months by keeping your shades closed. Sunlight passing through windows heats your home and makes your air conditioner work harder.
  • Consider installing shade screens, awnings, or window film or blinds to prevent solar heat gain.
  • Hang laundry outside when weather permits. Not only does it save energy, but reduces the wear and tear on your clothes to help them last longer.
  • Switch to LED light bulbs. They use a fifth of the energy used by regular bulbs and keep your home cooler on warm days.
  • Well-placed trees and landscaping can help reduce heat gain and increase your comfort on warm days.
  • If you need to replace your window air conditioning unit, consider investing in an efficient Energy Star certified unit. They typically use about 10% less energy than conventional models.  (1) Make sure the unit you purchase is the right size for the area you are cooling; a unit that is too large will operate less efficiently. (2) Before cold weather hits, make sure to remove your unit from the window to help it last longer.
  • Use fans instead of air conditioning to stay cool on warm days. This can be more cost effective than cooling your entire home because they target a specific area. It’s important to have the blades spinning in the right direction to improve cooling.

ENERGY SAVING TIPS THAT COST NOTHING

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ENERGY SAVING TIPS THAT COST NOTHING

By D. S. Mitchell

My PUD

I was on my local PUD (Public Utility District) website to make my monthly electric service payment, when for the first time I noticed they had a tab for Energy Saving Tips. Whoopee! So, without hesitation I opened the tab and found a treasure trove of no cost to moderate cost energy-saving tips. I was so impressed I printed it off for later reference. Hopefully you will find it helpful and will share all your new knowledge with friends and family.

No Cost Options

Saving money and addressing environmental issues are both good things.  Some of the tips may be familiar and obvious while others are not. Take a look and see if you can’t find something that will help you save energy and benefit the environment. An energy-efficient home will be a pleasure to come home to while saving you money.

Jump Start Energy Saving Now

  • Lower your thermostat when you go to bed or when you are away from home. Use a programmable thermostat, so it is automatic. Every degree lowered can decrease the heating portion of your energy bill by 2%.
  • Get in the habit of shutting off lights as you leave a room. Don’t forget to shut of PC’s and other devices when not in use.
  • Close your fireplace damper when there is no fire. Leaving it open is like having a 48 inch square hole in your house.
  • Set your water heater to 120 degrees F. (which is comfortable for most people). When going away for any length of time set it to vacation mode, or simply turn it down.
  • When washing cloths or dishes, wash only full loads and those in cold water.
  • Air-dry your dishes or use air-dry feature on the dishwasher. When weather permits, hang your clothes outside on a clothesline to dry.
  • Use kitchen and bathroom fans to cut moisture, as needed.
  • Set your refrigerator between 36-39 degrees F.
  • In the winter, open south-facing drapes/blinds during the day to let heat in and close all window drapes and blinds at night.
  • Unplug laptop or cell phone battery chargers when not in use. Most draw power continuously, even when there are no devices plugged into the charger.
  • Vacuum refrigerator coils of lint and clean the lint from clothes dryer often to increase efficiency.
  • Use a toaster over or microwave for cooking and heating small portions.
  • Use zonal-heat (baseboard, ceiling or wall heat) to your advantage by only heating rooms that are in use.
  • Consider using jugs of water to occupy the space in your refrigerator. It takes more energy to cool an empty fridge than a full one.

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Environmental Armageddon

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ENVIRONMENTAL ARMAGEDDON:

THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE

By Trevor McNeil

Opposition

Conservatives and Liberals rarely agree. Which only stands to reason given the nature of the partisan system.  Candidates will often speak on the same issues, but this is usually because the issue is one that has identified as being of concern to voters. As the old joke goes, if you want to know a politician’s principles, look at the polls. One issue in which Conservatives and Liberals disagree is that of the environment, and by extension, environmental policy, particularly in terms of carbon emissions and CO2.

Attack And Discount

A primary mode of attack Conservatives use when going after Liberals is to say that Liberals are elitists with no idea how “normal” people live. A notion which all but discounts the existence of Eco-Futurists.

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