rising seal levels

Washington (GGM) Analysis | April 3, 2021 by author and journalist Noreen Wise

Earth Month is finally here… again. Hurray! Let’s get our ducks in a row so that we can maximize the enthusiasm and excitement that comes from so many of us in our communities focused on making progress with the aggressive habitat restoration goals we’ve set for ourselves and our towns.

Earth Day began in 1970 when Nixon was President and our atmospheric carbon level was only 325.68 PPM. Imagine. It’s absolutely mind-bending that carbon levels could explode so significantly in 51 short years. Today the atmospheric carbon level is a staggering 420 PPM. An unfathomable number, especially when compared to the pre-Industrial Revolution carbon level of 280 which dates back to 1760. The accelerated pace of the rising carbon level is what has so many scientists concerned. One hundred and ninety years to climb approximately 46 points from 280 to 325.68. But only 51 years to skyrocket 94 points. If that’s not a huge wake-up call, then we have to get much more creative with public messaging so we can overcome the towering obstacle of willful ignorance.

The heart of the matter. The accelerated rise in atmospheric carbon levels cannot go unchecked. The impact of global warming on low lying areas acround the globe, that are now submerged, as well as agricultural regions that can no longer produce the necessary crop yields when plagued by the staggering heat and extended droughts, is life-disrupting. Migration to safe ground has already begun. We see this at our own southern border as families from Central America send their children to the United States border crossings in the hopes they will be allowed in and given hope for a brighter future.

Every single one of us has to do our individual part in reducing our carbon footprints so that we can get the atmospheric carbon level back down under 400 PPM — hopefully down to 375 — as quickly as we saw it rise. Blind indifference to the suffering we’re causing others is the reason why foreign countries have begun taking action against the US.

There are two sides of the coin to lowering our carbon footprints. Cutting carbon emissions on one side (solar energy, EV cars, circular economy), and storing more carbon in our yards and our communities, by boosting soil health and restoring our habitat, on the other.

What’s the solution? Healthy soil is Gallant Gold Media’s primary focus during Earth Month. Soil health will enable soil to be a massive carbon reservoir that can eliminate a significant amount of atmospheric carbon. But this level of carbon storage is only achievable if we each do our little bit.

Healthy soil is filled with life, with microbes, and is easy to spot due to its very dark, rich chocolate brown color. The healthier the soil, the more carbon it can store. Healthy soil has a high-water infiltration rate, and thus holds more water for a longer period of time, which is a great benefit during the long, hot, dry warm weather months. Healthy soil also maintains a cooler temperature which is equally as beneficial during our long, hot dry spells. Our food supply is threatened unless we can offset the negative impact of heat on our crops.

Compost and red wiggler composting worms are both vital in maintaining healthy soil in our communities. All homeowners and land owners should take advantage of these vital tools to improve the soil on our properties.

Next Steps during Earth Month:

Home composting is an absolute MUST. Your neighbors are composting, are you? Compost added to the soil in our yards and communities quickly boosts soil health.
Red wiggler worms are soil engineers. Their castings enrich soil health very efficiently, boosting soil microbes at a rapid pace, resulting in a positive impact above and below the surface. The can be easily purchased and sent to you at home. Red wigglers make awesome pets.
Keep the soil covered to lock in the moisture and carbon. If possible, plant a mix of diverse cover crops for the yard.
Never plow/till your yard. All the stored carbon will be released.
Plant diversity is critical. Not only does it contribute to soil health, but it blocks pests, which dramatically reduces the need for pesticides. (Pesticides kill microbes and diminishes soil health.)

Good luck. Have fun. And be sure to check back for more carbon sequestration tips.

Home composting boosts soil health, saves our food supply, our planet, and millions of lives. We all have to get on board!

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Washington (GGM) Analysis | March 25, 2021 by author and journalist Noreen Wise

For all of us climate warriors who are giving our 120 percent to educate the public on how to reduce our carbon footprints in our homes as well as our communities, which will result in lowering our atmospheric carbon level and curbing global warming, it seems as though we might know the ideal strategy that will help overcome the chronic border crossing challenge. After all, we’ve been posting and protesting about this for years.

Why is the media blaming Joe anyway? Has any president in the history of our country, (including George Washington and Abe Lincoln, who both had to transform our disunion of states following two divisive and destructive wars fought on our home soil), done more, in such a short period of time, all while in the midst of a global pandemic? Blaming Joe only makes the media look blind and disconnected.

The heart of the matter. Two-thirds of the unaccompanied children who’ve been streaming across the border since President Biden was inaugurated, are from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. These three countries clumped together just below the Mexican border, have extensive shorelines on both sides of the land bridge that connects North America to South America. Viewing the area on a map, it becomes crystal clear that the beautiful Caribbean Sea along the eastern Central American coast and the Pacific Ocean hugging the western coastline, are susceptible to rising ocean waters, particularly problematic in light of the flat coastal regions with all the farmland, are low-lying, making the area much more vulnerable to climate events, as well as flooding from heavy rains, which results in extensive soil erosion.

Seventy-eight percent of the land used for agriculture in Honduras though, is in the hills, with steep angles and eroded soil. Soil degradation, and high temperatures with little rain, makes the land useless for sustaining the country’s food supply. Soil instability has a cascading impact on jobs, food supply, and homes, potentially causing devastating mudslides when the skies eventually do open. Additionally, this fragile strip is affected much more extensively by the negative force of 28 trillion tons of ice melting into the sea in total since the 1990’s, 1.2 trillion tons per year, (this is a 60 percent increase since the 1990’s which saw an annual ice melt of only 760 billion tons per year). Rising sea levels, which have eroded millions of acres of farmland in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, have resulted in extensive job loss, with no way to replace the disappearing employment opportunities anytime soon. Additionally, thousands of homes have been destroyed by the rising water levels.

Thus, the border crisis is essentially a degraded soil crisis which is rooted in the climate crisis. Please note, that any time the soil becomes so degraded it can’t be used to farm, it takes years to regenerate.

What’s the solution? Most of the unaccompanied climate refugees are crossing the US border into Texas. Texas is where America’s largest carbon emitters are headquartered. It’s clear that the most effective and fair solutions are twofold. One, the corporate aggresors must step up and fund additional housing at the border for the climate refugees. And two, most importantly, the oil industry must fund soil regeneration back in the home countries. Soil health experts, Rattan Lal and Gabe Brown, have done extensive research and testing on how to regenerate denigrated soil like that found in Central America, brought about by the destructive heat and extended droughts caused by climate change. We simply must apply their techniques to the soil in the home countries. Vice President Kamala Harris is on her way to Central America to help stem the mass exodus, hopefully she can pull this off.

The border crisis is ultimately a financial crisis though, for both the US (in managing the massive influx of minors pouring in from those Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras) as well as the refugees who have lost their financial stability, homes, and occupations due to irresponsible corporate greed that has driven atmospheric carbon levels to staggering highs, hitting third world nations the hardest.

Please note, ExxonMobil had a net profit of $14.34 billion in 2019 and $20.84 billion in 2018. Let that sink in

There are approximately 9,000 independent oil and gas companies located in the United States. Their profit across the decades is staggering. They have the funds necessary to cover the costs required to expand the facilities at the border, while simultaneously covering the expense of regenerating the denigrated soil that’s causing the mass exodus back home. Corporate indifference and callous decision making by fossil fuel giants, dates back several decades. It’s time to require them to take stock and pay up. If anyone can convince these corporate offenders to do the right, and equitable, thing, it’s surely our new Vice President Kamala Harris. Good Luck, Kamala!