A Day for the Earth to Observe Peace Together!
HOPE LOVE PEACE GRATITUDE
Make Peace A Choice
Be Thankful we live where we live, and do something positive for the world today!
Read about the International Day of Peace here.
Taiwan has been struck by three typhoons in the past month. A few weeks ago Taiwan was pummeled by Typhoon Meranti with winds of 186 MPH. In July they were struck by Typhoon Nepartak. As the earth warms, most of this warming is in the oceans causing instability. Global warming is making typhoons worse.
Earlier this year I was able to travel around the island of Taiwan with my husband. The people we met were so gracious and happy, and the food fabulous. This rugged mountainous country is beautiful.
Because of storms hitting the east side of the island, the Pacific Ocean side, most of the people live on the west side of the island. Map of Taiwan here. My thoughts and best wishes go out to the charming people and marvelous landscapes of Taiwan. I wish Taiwan a quick recovery, and I recommend Taiwan as an interesting place to travel.
Butterflies migrate from the southern part of Taiwan over the mountains to northern Taiwan. This was a butterfly festival celebrating migration.
I am at the Minnesota State Fair talking to individuals about rain gardens and native deep-rooted plants. Native plants help absorb pollutants, keep rain water in our yards, save on watering, and are loved by bees, butterflies and birds.
Plant deep-rooted plants for pollinators and clean water.
My not so funny joke for Water Wednesday. A conversation I had this past week!
Friend: I hear Donald Trump has invested lots of money in bottle water.
Me: Why would he do that?
Friend: He wants to get rid of all regulation to protect our drinking water.
In contrast, Minnesota Governor Dayton has called for a Year of Water Action. He encourages all Minnesotans to take a role in protecting our state’s most precious resource for future generations. Read more about it here.
What are you doing to protect our water resources? Reduce chemicals, sweep sidewalks and streets, install rain gardens, plant deep-rooted plants, stop building campfires, recycle and compost, clean off boats and equipment, What else?
A beautiful picture from Climate Reality reminding us to protect the only home we have!
Have you been caught in a record rain storm and flooding this summer? Chances are that most of us in the United States and Europe have experienced a heavier than normal rainfall. My travel this summer has brought me to see displaced people following storms (nothing like Louisiana or California). I have seen lakes created from heavy rain submerging homes, closed roads and bridges, yards with 20 uprooted trees, and experienced power outages.
What is going on with these storms? July 2016 was the hottest ever recorded since records started in 1880. As the earth warms, some places get dryer, but in other places the atmosphere is able to hold more moisture dumping larger amounts back to earth. Places in Louisiana received 31 inches of rain, unbelievable! I feel sad for everyone displaced from everything they own.
PBS had an interesting conversation about our weather extremes here. Is this all part of climate change?
There are consequences to our warming earth according to meteorologist Paul Douglas, “More moisture in the air, higher dew points and heat indexes, more thousand-year rains, wet basements with greater regularity, and more expensive insurance policies.”
Magnificent Lake Superior has over 300 rivers and streams that drain into it. Last week it was a brown lake because of mega rainfall in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan where many rivers dumped sediment from the storms. I am on a road trip from Duluth, Minnesota along the south shore of Lake Superior to Sault Ste Marie and the St. Mary’s River. Canada is on the other side of the lake and across the St. Mary’s River.
An ore boat leaves Lake Superior on the St Mary’s. River headed toward Lake Huron
Even though 300 streams drain into the big lake only one, the St. Mary’s River, carries boats and water away from Lake Superior. The St. Mary’s River carries about 42 billion gallons of water from Lake Superior daily.
Lake Superior, looks browner than this picture below appears. I think the sun makes it look bluer than it is.
“Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the people of the earth.” Chief Seattle
If Everyone Does a Little It Can Add up to A Lot!
Have you noticed how few butterflies are flittering around this summer? Researchers find that butterfly species throughout the world are disappearing because of pollution, pesticides, and habitat loss. A newly released study says many butterflies are vanishing.
The author suggests we remove some of our lawn, and plant more flowers. Yes, we should plant more flowers, but beside planting more flowers we need to reduce the use of the chemicals we put on our lawns, in our gardens and on our agricultural fields.
Reducing chemicals and planting host plants for butterflies can make a big difference. Many of us are actively working on planting milkweed for monarchs, but there are many other butterfly species. Besides milkweed I have pearly everlasting for the American painted lady, turtlehead for the checkerspot butterfly, and golden Alexander for the black swallow-tail. Violets are great for the fritillary butterflies. This is one of the best charts I have seen on plants for butterflies from Bringing Nature Home And some ideas from the University of Minnesota for plants that are favored for butterflies an moths. Please let me know what your best plants for butterflies are?
More information of pollinators: http://www.xerces.org/
Minnesota, the land of “Sky Blue Waters” is adding more than 300 lakes, rivers and streams to its list of lakes and streams that are impaired. The story from MPR is here.
About two-thirds of Minnesota watersheds have been tested and 40 percent of Minnesota rivers and lakes have been found to be impaired by farm runoff, bacteria, mercury or other pollutants.
The below ideas for protecting our lakes is from the Superiorforum.org , Sigurd Olson Institute, Northland college, and the EPA, and Great Lakes Restoration Initiative:
1 .Be conservative with your water use.
2. Recycle as much as you can with the 4 Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle and repair. And….NEVER burn trash.
3. Curb Yard Pollution. Put your lawn on a chemical-free diet!!
4. Stop aquatic invasives by cleaning plants and animals off your boat.
5. Plant native plants, and reduce turf grass.
6. Plant native trees According to Audubon, oak trees are the best for attracting insects and birds.
7. Install a rain barrel
8. Create an energy-efficient home.
9. Bring hazardous waste to waste collection sites.
10. Love our lakes!
I would add several more:
1. Rain gardens are excellent for capturing harmful water runoff.
2. Keep leaves and trash out of streets and storm drains-Adopt a storm drain!
Love our lakes, rivers and streams. Take care of them!
3. Never use cleaning products or hand sanitizer with triclosan.
4. Reduce all plastic use–If you must use plastic bags and bottles, be sure you recycle them. 5. Pick up all liter.
Today my yard is teaming with pollinators. The bees are in abundance, house finch and hummingbirds are loving the fresh blooming plants, and I am thrilled. Butterflies have been slow to appear, but today I had a giant swallowtail, several red admirals, a painted lady, and a monarch!
The Giant Swallowtail Butterfly. Photo credit: Brian Gratwicke
Bee balm, cone flowers, and milkweed will bring butterflies, bees and butterflies.
Try this link to research and look up butterflies
Health4earth 