"Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads."  - Henry David Thoreau

Pollution is dulling the scent of flowers and impeding some of the most basic processes of nature, disrupting insect life and imperiling food supplies, a new study suggests.

The potentially hugely significant research - funded by the blue-chip US National Science Foundation - has found that gases mainly formed from the emission of car exhausts prevent flowers from attracting bees and other insects in order to pollinate them.  And the scientists who have conducted the study fear that insects' ability to repel enemies and attract mates may also be impeded.

The researchers - at the University of Virginia - say that pollution is dramatically cutting the distance traveled by the scent of flowers.  Professor Jose Fuentes, who led the study said: "Scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment could travel for roughly 1,000 to 2,000 meters.  But today they may travel only 200-300 meters. This makes it increasingly difficult for bees and other insects to locate the flowers." 

The researchers, who worked on the scent given off by snapdragons, found that the molecules are volatile and quickly bond with pollutants such as ozone and nitrate radicals, mainly formed from vehicle emissions.  This chemically alters the molecules so that they no longer smell like flowers. A vicious cycle is therefore set up where insects struggle to get enough food and the plants do not get pollinated enough to proliferate.

Already bees - which pollinate most of the world's crops - are in unprecedented decline in Britain and across much of the globe.  At least a quarter of America's 2.5 million honey bee colonies have been mysteriously wiped out by colony collapse disorder (CCD) where hives are found suddenly deserted.

The crisis has now spread to Europe.  Politicians insist that CCD has not yet been found in Britain, but the insects have been declining here too, and the agriculture minister Lord Rooker has warned that "the honey bee population could be wiped out in 10 years."

The researchers do not believe that they have found the cause of CCD, but say that pollution is making life more difficult for bees and other insects in many ways.

(Source: Geoffrey Lean, The Independent/UK, April 20, 2008)

Here in North Carolina we are also seeing CCD in our hives with great concern.  Unfortunately there are no answers yet, although time is running out.   Hopefully we can put all our heads together and come up with a solution to this pressing problem soon.  I will be presenting more on this critical topic in future posts so please come back soon!  Thanks.  e

        

"The cultivation of trees is the cultivation of the good, the beautiful and the ennobling in man."              -J Sterling Morton

As you may remember, if you're a long-time reader of this blog - we were brutally introduced to the barbaric practice of clear cutting behind our home in North Carolina last October.  Things haven't gotten all that much better since then, despite our putting in several thousand dollars worth of landscaping this winter.  All those plants take time to grow. 

The debris field of dead tree carcasses is still there and visible from every window in our house.  There ...<< MORE >>

"...What you can do or think you can do, begin it.  For boldness has Magic, Power & Genius in it." - Goethe

I recently came across a fascinating article by Rona Fried, PhD  (president of SustainableBusiness.com) in the May 08 issue of Solar Today Magazine.  It  asks the question:  What if we could turn airborne greenhouse gas (ie CO2) into fuel?  A Tucson firm says they can do it in five years!  Here's what they propose.

Although many scientists believe we have let global warming go too far to stop it even with radical reductions in emissions, ...<< MORE >>

"Real generosity toward the future consists in giving all to what is present."  Albert Camus

Good news: Hybrid vehicle sales increased 38% in 2007!  A growing number of buyers feel the need to get a car that depends less on foreign oil these days.  "My decision is a very political one," says Kim Fenske, 48, an attorney by training who has also worked as a forest ranger and was an environmentalist long before hybrid cars like the Prius hit the market.

US registrations of new hybrid vehicles rose to a record 350,289, according to data released this week by RL Polk and ...<< MORE >>

"There are many wonderful things that will not be done if you do not do them."  -Charles D. Gill

Last time I wrote about the exciting influx of women into the world of agriculture and I mentioned "heirloom plants."  I want to continue the discussion by explaining what these are and what they can offer us in flavor, color and variety in our own little vegetable patch this year. 

"In general, heirloom means that the variety was around before 1940 when hybrids first started being grown," says Carolyn Male, author of 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for ...<< MORE >>

"Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it. "  - Confucius

A rising corp of women is putting a new face on American farming.  According to the US Department of Agriculture, the number of farms headed by women as primary operators grew 58 percent from 1975 to 1997.  As much as 75% of US farmland may be owned by women by 2014.

Whether they inherit the land, assume the job of a spouse forced to find work elsewhere or return to the farm where they grew up to support aging parents, these women are changing how food is grown and sold ...<< MORE >>

As my faithful readers know - I am a big fan of what Oprah's doing right now on the web every Monday night at 9 EST with author Eckhart Tolle.  His newest book, A New Earth, is being featured on Oprah's Book Club Selection over a 10-week period, with a live discussion between Oprah, Eckhart, and countless numbers of people all around the world who are Skypeing, emailing, and calling in their questions.

It's an amazing event in that so many people are participating simultaneously in this live event.  Every week they talk about another chapter and even if you missed ...<< MORE >>

It's simply amazing how the broad-tailed hummingbird can migrate over 2,000 miles between central Mexico to as far north as British Columbia, Canada on wings that aren't quite two-and-a-half inches long each.  The bird itself is only four inches.  To put that into perspective, take a look at the American dollar bill:  it's six inches long - bigger than every single hummingbird species in the United States!

When it's migrating, a hummingbird's heart can beat up to 1,260 times a minute and those tiny wings flap 15 to 80 times a second.  That's why their wings look like a blur in ...<< MORE >>

Last time I wrote about the effect of urban sprawl on the loss of nature (and indirectly on quality of life) to development.  The following news out of Germany demonstrates how a shift in consciousness is making a significant difference there.

Vauban, ("Fow-bun") a 2,000 home community on a former military base at the edge of the Black Forest, is Germany's best-known experiment in green urban living.  Its 4,700 residents show that it's possible to live day to day virtually car-free.  They're just 10 minutes by bike from the eco-friendly university town of Freiburg.  Families with kids here enjoy the same ...<< MORE >>

Recently I came across some information that gave me a "perspective adjustment" about the (mere) 50 acres that were clearcut behind my home last October here in North Carolina.  Not that I can condone the wasted environment any better than before, but it did make me realize how increasingly serious any additional loss of woodlands is, for whatever reason. 

According to a new study, it suggests that southwest North Carolina (I don't live there but in Central NC) has lost more than 100 acres daily for the past 30 years to urban development!  Researchers at the University of North Carolina ...<< MORE >>