Edible Forest Garden Workshop

The folks from Terra Commons will be giving a slide show presentation on edible forest gardens on Friday March 7th, 7pm at the Co-op Connections Building, 1200 N. Forest. This will be the kick-off to the edible forest garden workshop, March 8th-9th, starting 9am each morning. Please come and find out more about edible forest gardens and see some highlights of what can be done. The Co-op asks us not to park in their lot for the event, so if you can car-pool, bike or walk that would be great.

Also, we are in need of a digital projection system to plug in to a lap top for the presentation on March 7th, if anyone has a source for this please contact Dan Martin.
Here is an update from Michael and Pat at Terra Commons, on what they feel is realistic for our workshop. They believe we could do this workshop with 12-15 people, working a four hour morning shift and evening shift, each of the two days, March 8th -9th. It would look like: Day 1 (Morning) Digging, (Evening) Planting; Day 2 (Morning) Sheet mulching, (Evening) Woodchipping.


Dan Martin
Sustainable Bellingham Events Team
360-420-1468, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Click here for more info

Jeff Westcott, will be leading a Sustainability Bike Tour around Bellingham on Sunday March 23rd, visiting several sites demonstrating steps that have been taken to make Bellingham more sustainable. Those interested in the tour please talk with Jeff: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Sustainable Bellingham is now a proud Village Books affiliate

Buying books through links from our website and emails will not only "Support your local independent bookseller," but Sustainable Bellingham will benefit as well with a small commission. Take the link below, or check out some recommended books at the bottom of this email.
http://villagebooks.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp?affiliateId=vb0045

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Our World In Crisis Support Group

New Location: Bellingham Senior Center (Halleck near Cornwall)
Room #1
March 1st
10:15am--12:30am

Recommended Donation $5

This Support Group is co-sponsored by Sustainable Bellingham and the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center. Contact Cyndy Sheldon for more info:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Quote of the Week
"People say that I am hard core about some of this stuff but I know because I have been to Davos, and I’ve sat with Bill Clinton and I’ve sat with Bill Gates and I’ve sat with Tony Blair and I’ve sat with Nancy Pelosi. I’ve sat with all these people who we think are in charge, and they don’t know what to do. Take that in: they don’t know what to do! You think you’re scared? You think you’re terrified? They have the Pentagon’s intelligence, they have every major corporation’s input; Shell Oil that has done this survey and study around the peak oil problem. You think we’ve got to get on the Internet and say, “Peak oil!” because the system doesn’t know about it? They know, and they don’t know what to do. And they are terrified that if they do anything they’ll loose their positions. So they keep juggling chickens and chainsaws and hope it works out just like most of us everyday at work. That’s real, that’s real.

And so I’m hard on people, I try to tell a few jokes, you know, to make it go down easier, but I’m hard on people. But I will tell you why I am hard on people. This is real ball, this is the last chance, this is it. I’m not telling you that; Tracy’s not telling you that. You go to places like I go, and the Pentagon will tell you that. This is real ball and people, for whatever reason, need sometimes a little encouragement. You walk up to that limit of yourself and you want that limit, ‘cause that wasn’t your limit yesterday and you go Whooo! I made it, now let me start telling everybody else what to do. But the goal is over there and every step hurts and every step is challenging and every step is humbling but every step has to be taken or we’re not going to be here."
- Van Jones
http://www.hopedance.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=337&Itemid=98


Draft Environmental Impact Statement for City of Bellingham Waterfront Redevelopment
February 20th; 1pm and 6pm Public Hearing: Bellingham Cruise Terminal

March 10th: Deadline for public comment

Wendy Steffensen, RE Sources North Sound Baykeeper
On January 9th the Port of Bellingham released a draft environmental study of the possible impacts of the 220-acre waterfront redevelopment that will span at least 20 years. This study is an essential step as the port and City of Bellingham consider rezoning and redeveloping the property.

This environmental analysis will be used by the port and City of Bellingham in the coming months as they develop a master plan and development agreement that will guide long-term redevelopment of the project site. Based upon preliminary DEIS findings -- particularly those regarding traffic impacts -- the port and city will recommend modifications to the Draft Framework Plan, which was adopted by the Port Commission and City Council in 2006 as the basis for preliminary site planning.

Formal public hearings on the Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS) will be from 1-4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. until closing on Wednesday, February 20th, at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal, 355 Harris Avenue.

In addition to the public hearings, people can submit written comments by March 10th, to the port's designated State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) official Andrew Maron via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by regular mail to:
Andrew Maron
SEPA Responsible Official
Port of Bellingham
PO Box 1677
1801 Roeder Avenue
Bellingham , WA 98227-1677


Copies of the draft environmental study are available for review at the following locations: Bellingham Central Library, 210 Central Ave. ; Port of Bellingham , 1801 Roeder Ave. ; and, City of Bellingham , Planning Office, 210 Lottie St .,

Persons interested in receiving a copy of the DEIS on CD (no charge) should contact Brenda Tate at 360-676-2500 or by e-mail at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

RELATED:

Waterfront Planning Group Master Planning Meetings, open to the public
February 29th; 1-4pm: Mount Baker Theatre encore room
March 28th; 1-4pm: Location To Be Announced

Waterfront Advisory Group Meeting
Mar 12th; 6pm: Location To Be Announced


''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Bellingham IONS Video Presentation: THE COLOR OF FEAR
Directed by Lee Mun Wah.
February 21, 2008, 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Wise Awakening Orca Room, 314 E. Holly St., Bellingham

"The Pachamama Alliance's Awakening the Dreamer, the BIONS theme for this year, focuses on three concerns enviornmental sustainability, spiritual fulfilment and social justice. This month's video presentation, The Color of Fear, shows how a group of men, dedicated to reaching across racial barriers in an open and honest way, can work through the eons of social injustice that has happened in their lives and histories.

Eight North American men - two African American, two Latinos, two Asian American and two Caucasian were gathered by director Lee Mun Wah for a dialog about the state of race relations in America as seen through their eyes. The exchanges are sometimes dramatic, and put in plain light the pain caused by racism in North America. -F. Guerini

http://www.cnn.com/US/9512/racial_reality/

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Circle of Women: Positive Transitions
New Thursday afternoon group starts Feb.21st.

Process: Using Appreciative Inquiry, we focus on values and strengths we have brought to the best times of our lives. From that awareness, we will look at our future & begin to design proactive possibilities. See the full flyer and comments from previous participants at: www.BarbaraGilday.com or contact Barbara Gilday, 676-0765

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Open Space Conversational Salon
2nd & 4th Saturdays of each month
Next one: Saturday, February 23rd
10:00am - 12:30pm

Fantasia Espresso and Tea
1324 Cornwall Ave.

Cindi Landreth will be facilitating the first conversational salon structured as Open Space. (More about this structure style will be covered at the first meeting for those not familiar with it.) The specific topics covered will be as creative as the attendees but will be based on Climate Change, Social Justice and Spiritual Fulfillment.

The objectives are to

1. Fulfill the requests made by attendees of the Oct. 27th Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium;
2. Create a 'birthing center' for people who want to meet others that are passionate about similar issues;
3. Awaken ourselves to unexamined assumptions;
4. Foster and strengthen a new emerging dream: a stable culture of living systems of which we are a part

Who is invited: anyone who has seen the movie What a Way to Go! Life at the End of Empire (www.whatawaytogomovie.com) or has attended an Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium (www.awakeningthedreamer.org )- we may not all be on the same page but I would like it if we were all at least 'reading the same book', so to speak.

The hope is that by choosing this location, taking the bus, walking and biking will work well for many of you - please consider making an effort to lighten your footprint.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Breaking the Trance: Quantum Jumping Workgroup Creativity with Collective Intelligence
A workshop introducing Question Driven Leadership™
Monday, February 25, 2008, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
In the Garden Street Family Center (The Brigid Collins House)
East Holly and Garden St ., Bellingham

Led by Robert Bystrom and Hamilton Hayes. Improve your workgroup and team performance using Question Driven Leadership™ and Collective Intelligence. This workshop will give you new tools and understanding for solving communication, collaboration and creativity problems using the latest group dynamic technology.

To illustrate the use of Question Driven Leadership™, the workshop will use a topic of local community interest, “Triple Bottom Line - How to Measure the Sustainability of Bellingham’s Waterfront Redevelopment.”

Who the workshop is for

Leaders and team members in business, government or community service who need to solve complex problems and meet new challenges. If your team is experiencing a loss of effectiveness and creativity due to unresolved internal conflicts, confusion of purpose or mixed agendas, then plan to learn about and experience a new method to move past these obstacles to a higher level of performance and creativity.


Cost: $20 if pre-registered, $30 at the door
Pre-register at www.CollectiveIntelligenceSolutions.com or call 319-1936

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Northwest Earth Institute discussion courses
February 26th

Starting in Baring, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mount Vernon, Bellingham, Monroe, Snohomish, Granite Falls, Everett and Arlington. If you have a desire to join a group that is just starting, please contact Marilene right away. Topics vary from Global Warming and Voluntary Simplicity to Deep Ecology. Check them out at http://www.nwei.org.

Alicia Willis is the organizer for the course starting in Bellingham. The information gathering is on Feb. 26th. They will decide on the date and time to gather for future discussions. Her phone number is 360-715-1259.

There is also a course starting at the Skagit Valley Natural Food Co-op in Mt. Vernon. The topic is Healthy Children Healthy Planet. The introductory meeting will be on March 7th at 4 p.m. at the coop.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Putting Food On The Table - A Permaculture Workshop
Local Food Producing Systems for the New Millenium
March 1-2, 2008
9:00 am Saturday to 5:00 pm Sunday

Sahale Retreat Center, near Belfair, Washington (Location of Belfair)

The purpose of the workshop is to show people the permaculture approach to growing food on small plots of land. Since time, resources, land and water are limited commodities, people need to get the most bang for their buck. "The most effect for the least effort" is one of permaculture's mottos. We want to maximize production, but at the same time do it sustainably.

Both individuals and organizations will derive significant benefit from this short, intensive course:

* Individuals will receive hands-on training that they can use in their own environment, immediately, to begin or increase their own food production efforts
* Organization employees and/or members will experience successful solutions to the upcoming peak oil/peak food/recession/global warming challenges

Please join us for this quick, inexpensive and vibrant demonstration. Together, each of us we can be 'part of the solution' for ourselves, our families, our region and our world!

Instructed by Michael Pilarski and Laura Sweany

Workshop Fees: $75 - $125, For more information please contact
Laura Sweany, Terra Flora Farm, 206-369-7590

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Holistic Education Workshop on Orcas Island
Saturday, March 1, 9:00-4:00

Salmonberry Elementary School, Eastsound, WA (on Orcas Island)
Co-sponsors Goddard College & Salmonberry School, bringing you Dr. David Marshak, on: "21st Century Education for Sustainability and Evolution," Dr. Brent Cameron, on: "Systems Thinking and Education for Passion." Dr. Gus Lyn Piluso on: "Emancipatory Relationships" and "Engaged Pedagogy." Paul Freedman on: "Postmodern Theory and its Practical Implications for Elementary Holistic Education."
For more info, contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

First Gear
Monday March 3, 7-9PM, Community Food Co-op Healty Connections

Free event, registration requested. Get the tips and secrets that make bicycling safe, comfortable, and fun for getting around town. Learn communication and ositioning skills that make traffic or trail riding easy and stress free. First Gear, part one of the four-part Full Cycle course, is a great introduction for getting back on your bike or a refresher for those already biking.
Taught by Jennifer Karchmer. For more info, contact Kevin at 734-8158, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .


''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
WA state is embarking in a major, multimillion dollar effort to restore and protect Puget Sound
March 6 . Bellingham

The Puget Sound Partnership is scheduling public meetings while creating the "roadmap" for Puget Sound restoration and protection efforts. If we want to restore wild fish and fisheries, protect forage fish habitat, and bring attention to the impacts of industrial activities that have allies in high places, we need to be at the meetings that set agendas and priorities.

Some industries are gearing up for expansion, without environmental impact studies or adequate public input. If you haven't seen NOAA's plan for increased aquaculture in Washington state, the attachment clearly shows this is a target zone for increased salmon, steelhead and geoduck farming, new finfish species such as blackcod, "open ocean aquaculture in the Strait of Juan de Fuca", etc.

We need to be part of the discussions about "what is the status of the health of Puget Sound and what are the greatest threats to it?" If we do not participate at this level, then millions and millions of dollars and sacrifices by businesses, property owners and others to clean up our waters will not be successful if certain polluting, privately owned companies expand their use of our public waters for feedlot operations.

Workshops will take place from 1 to 5 p.m., followed by an open community conversation about Puget Sound health from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

For more information, please visit: http://www.psp.wa.gov and http://www.psp.wa.gov/actionagenda3.html

Anne Mosness, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Go Wild Campaign, 1081 Sudden Valley, Bellingham, Washington 98229
Home: 360-671-6478, Cell: 360-224-4100


''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Appalachian Treasures: Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
March 7, presented by Appalachian Voices

In the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky , West Virginia , Virginia & Tennessee, there is a ticking time-bomb that threatens a rural population with enormous tragedy as a result of mountaintop removal coal mining.

The Whatcom Human Rights Task Force, RE Sources, the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship Green Sanctuary Program, and the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship Social Justice Committee, are pleased to co-sponsor a free presentation on mountaintop removal coal mining. This free multi-media presentation on mountaintop removal and its critical social & environmental justice impacts, called Appalachian Treasures, will be featured at 7pm on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, 1708 I St.

Appalachian Treasures will be presented by members of Appalachian Voices, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing people together to solve the environmental problems having the greatest impact on the central and southern Appalachian Mountains. As energy issues become increasingly pressing in America, it is crucial to realize how our neighbors in Appalachia suffer to supply the energy needs of the rest of the nation and to seek alternatives that do not destroy communities and cultures.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Director of Community to Community Development is guest speaker at Community Food Co-op Annual Meeting and Party

The Community Food Co-op is hosting its Annual Meeting and Party at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, March 15, at the Bellingham Ferry Terminal.

Rosalinda Guillen, Executive Director of Bellingham’s Community to Community Development, will address the evening’s theme of “Fair Trade – Bringing it all Back Home.” Rosalinda is recognized on a local and national level for her advocacy on behalf of farm workers. Raised in a farm worker family in Skagit County she is a passionate speaker on fair trade issues and will address how we can work together to ensure a just and sustainable local food system.

In addition to Guillen’s talk, which begins at 6:25 p.m., Co-op supporters are welcome to partake in appetizers provided by Robert Fong Catering beginning at 5:30 p.m. when the doors open. The Co-op will hold its annual meeting at 6:50 p.m. Dancing to local band Yambique begins at 8 p.m.

Free event.
For further information, contact Jean Rogers or Kit Hughes at 360-734-8158.
Community Food Co-op, celebrating 37 years of local roots and connecting Whatcom County to local, sustainable, and organically produced food. Community Food Co-op is a full service natural foods supermarket located at 1220 Forest Street in Downtown Bellingham and on line at www.communityfood.coop.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

WHATCOM CONSERVATION DISTRICT
15th ANNUAL NATIVE PLANT SALE & EXPO
March 22, 2008 from 9am-4pm
Community Food Co-op second store site
315 Westerly Road and Cordata Parkway

The Whatcom Conservation District is partnering with the Community Food Co-op to expand the 15th Annual Native Plant Sale into the 1st Native Plant Expo, including a variety of fun, earth-friendly activities, educational demonstrations, and environmental exhibits. 40 species of low-cost, conservation grade native seedling trees and shrubs, plus native wildflower seed mix will be available from the WCD. Also look for many other trees and plants from a variety of local nurseries.
Plant descriptions are available on the WCD’s website www.whatcomcd.org.
CONTACT: David Pike, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 360-354-2035 ext. 119


''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Recommended Reading, Listening & Watching

Achieving a Wise Future
by Rick Dubrow, On the Level, Cascadia Weekly
Wow! Did you get to read the February 10, 2008 Bellingham Herald editorial board column entitled “Growth debates must center around saving agriculture”? [http://www.bellinghamherald.com/315/story/317035.html] What a great job! I could hardly have written more wisdom into so few words. So I won’t try. Allow me, instead, to quote their editorial board directly: “Farms must be protected. And in the rural areas home to rich soils but not currently farmed, we ought to be preserving our options. Few places in Western Washington have had the foresight to do so. In King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, for example, many of the areas that were once home to working farms, places like Enumclaw and Puyallup, are now covered with suburbs...."
http://www.a1builders.ws/rss/cascadia_weekly_038.pdf

The Arrogance of Living on Occupied Land
by Mara Mitchell, Whatcom Independent
As many people are aware, but do not often enough discuss, in the mid-1980s, humanity began using more resources than the planet produces on a renewable basis, according to the Web site by Global Footprint Network. We accomplished this through the use of fossil fuels to supplement agriculture, transportation and building. This resulted in the ability to feed and house populations that would otherwise collapse, creating a temporary increase in Earth’s ability to support human life.

What is less well known is that Americans had surpassed the carrying capacity of the United States by1939, according to ecologist William Catton.
http://www.whatcomindy.com/oped_story.php?subaction=showfull&id=1203009198&archive=&start_from=&ucat=22&
[David's note: see a William Catton article, Dependence on Phantom Carrying Capacity here:
http://www.energybulletin.net/6069.html]

Peak Oil Production Discussed Locally
"It's great to see the issue of peak oil production issue being discussed locally. The more people that are aware of the issue, the greater the chance of a gradual transition. While Bellingham is on the forefront of this issue, we still have much work to do. Thankfully we have people like John Rawlins helping to get the word out." - Rich Taylor, Sustainable Bellingham

From the article by John Stark, The Bellingham Herald:

Nuclear physicist John Rawlins has presented a grim vision of a world that could suddenly run out of oil and food, leaving billions to starve. “In the near term, what’s going to bother us is food price escalation, and ultimately, food availability decline,” Rawlins said Monday during a lecture at Whatcom Community College. “Oil is a big input to food production.”

Rawlins is a WCC instructor who formerly worked for Westinghouse Hanford Co. He argued that because oil supplies are drying up, Western civilization has no choice but to start a painful transition from oilfueled agriculture to a future much like the distant past, in which much larger numbers of people till the soil by hand to raise food. In Whatcom County, he said, that would likely mean 30,000 people tilling small plots to feed the rest of the population...
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/102/story/305111.html

Fossil Fuels at Peak, Part 8: Portland, Oregon, First U.S. City to Plan for Oil Decline
by John Rawlins, May 2007, Whatcom Watch
...Many cities and towns around the world are in the early phases of planning for energy descent. Bellingham and Whatcom County need to get in on this process, which has been made very simple if we follow the Portland model. That model is the result of considerable community input as well as courage on the part of their political leaders. We could use their report as a template, insert our local facts and figures, make the rather minor adjustments to their recommendations to suit ourselves, and probably complete the entire process in half the time it took for Portland.
...If we are to survive through the 21st century, we must make strong moves toward sustainability ...
http://www.whatcomwatch.org/php/WW_open.php?id=820

Responding to Peak Oil and Global Warming: Beyond Power Hierarchies and Economic Growth
by Dave Ewoldt, Natural Systems Solutions
"We must reconnect the human soul to its home in the soul of the Earth. This is the intellectual and spiritual challenge of the 21st Century. This is the promise of relocalization, which also supplies the antidote to corporate globalization and centralized control. That we continue allowing exploitation and destruction of our life support system by pinning the blame on a lack of political courage is both a distraction and a cop-out." - Dave Ewoldt
http://naturalsystems.blogspot.com/2008/02/responding-to-peak-oil-and-global.html

Hierarchy must grow, and is therefore unsustainable
by Jeff Vail, rhizome
This first essay in a five-part series, The Problem of Growth, looks at hierarchal human systems and explains why their structures fundamentally demand continuous growth. The second installment will investigate what causes and sustains hierarchy. The third, fourth, and fifth installments will formulate an alternative to hierarchy that addresses its cause, not merely its symptoms, along with proposals to apply this alternative at both the personal and societal levels.
http://www.jeffvail.net/2008/02/hierarchy-must-grow-and-is-therefore.html

Hierarchy is the Result of Dependency
by Jeff Vail, rhizome
This second essay in a five-part series, The Problem of Growth, attempts to identify what causes and sustains hierarchies. Humanity has long been trapped in a cycle of treating the symptoms of hierarchy—here we will attempt to discern its cause in order to treat it directly.
http://www.jeffvail.net/

Relocalization in Rural British Columbia: A Guide for Communities Before the Long Emergency
Rural Futures website
Will the post-peak oil world be a time when we North American’s rediscover our spiritual, inter-human roots, when we shed the materialism that has deflected us from real values like some store-bought narcotic, when children learn again to make a game with a stick and a ball? Or will it be a time when even the United States fractures into pieces along lines of energy haves and have nots, cities and suburbs become unliveable and hordes of shivering, hungry former accountants and dock workers roam the countryside in search of something to eat and a place where they have a chance to survive?

Those are the extreme views offered by thoughtful, researched voices...
http://www.ruralfutures.ca/extremescenarios.htm

Dead zones off Oregon and Washington likely tied to global warming, study says
February 15, 2008 - Kenneth R. Weiss, Los Angeles Times
Peering into the murky depths, Jane Lubchenco searched for sea life, but all she saw were signs of death..."We couldn't believe our eyes," Lubchenco said, recalling her initial impression of the carnage brought about by oxygen-starved waters. "It was so overwhelming and depressing. It appeared that everything that couldn't swim or scuttle away had died."
Upon further study, Lubchenco and other marine ecologists at Oregon State University concluded that that the undersea plague appears to be a symptom of global warming. In a study released today in the journal Science, the researchers note how these low-oxygen waters have expanded north into Washington and crept south as far as the California state line. And, they appear to be as regular as the tides, a lethal cycle that has repeated itself every summer and fall since 2002.
"We seem to have crossed a tipping point," Lubchenco said. "Low-oxygen zones off the Northwest coast appear to be the new normal."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-deadzone15feb15,1,1102676.story

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Events and recommended reading compiled by David MacLeod
contact us: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
website: http://www.sustainablebellingham.org
unsubscribe: send email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or go here:
http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/sbannounce

 

---

Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.