Earth Preservation: Oblivious to the obvious?

“The target for new forestation is approximately 22 million trees per year. Over the next 20 years, the target is to plant 440 million…” –Department of Communications Climate Action and Environment, Ireland

It’s easy to get mentally sucked into the deep hole our current administration is digging for our planet.  We currently have the federal government arguing with California over the limits we have wisely place over fuel emissions.  They are too strict!.  Ponder that.

We know the thinking here: gas infrastructure over life.  Status quo over our future quality of life.  Our national thinking reminds me of the worms that crawl out of the flooding garden onto a cement path in downtown New York City.  It’s hard to make cogent decisions when your eyes only go in one direction.

I am over 60, so I have observed many people throughout my life struggle with the obvious, only to find out eventually that they were misguided.  It seems that we humans are not much better than worms as we  hold onto the current logic, defying science and facts, particularly when money is involved.

So you can imagine how encouraged I was to see that Ireland is taking a bold step  to reforest its country, even as our man in the White House seeks to open our Tongass National Forest to “potential logging, energy and mining projects,” according to the Washington Post.

The data about an impending climate crises is clear, I believe.  When the Amazon burns, we all suffer.  It’s not hard to see, unless you happen to live on Pennsylvania Avenue, I suppose.

I wish we could stand as a principled world leader for the rest of the world.  We have always identified as such. I know that many fear the outcome of our abandonment of that role.

I choose to believe that our status in the world as a leader is less important that the totality of efforts around the world.  Maybe it’s time to step aside and let other countries demonstrate new kinds of leadership while we struggle in the American abyss.

Thank you, Ireland, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, and those South American countries that are binding together to counter the damage of burning the Amazon.

It seems obvious to me that we are one planet.  We need to look for leadership beyond our own borders, especially when our  leader and the people who are silently following him are oblivious to the obvious.

Climate change: Beyond the moon…

“When we decided to go to the moon, we solved innumerable technical challenges and we were proud of doing it. We did that together and we need to do it again.”–Dr. Lucy Jones

Lucy Jones was a curious kid, growing up in a family that respected knowledge and loved music.  She was my friend’s kid sister, a little blond bundle of energy.  Today, Dr. Lucy Jones is a Research Associate at the Seismological Laboratory of Caltech, a post she has held since 1984. Whenever California rumbles, “Dr. Lucy” is in the media to analyze the situation. She is a calm, comforting voice in what might be a catastrophic seismic event, and has been for  decades.

Her goal is to  “communicate where the greatest vulnerabilities lie and what actions can be taken to reduce the risks that are the most cost-effective..” according to her biography.

Today she explains our rising climatic conditions on earth:

“The speed with which we are changing the climate is unprecedented. The world is already warmer by almost 2°F.  Everywhere on Earth, ecosystems are experiencing a different climate than that in which they evolved. Within the lifetime of children now born, with no action, the climate could be 5-10 °F warmer.”

She goes on to describe what we are to see as this takes place:

• More disasters.
• More wildfires.
• Food shortages.
• Water availability crises.
• Climate refugees.

These changes, Dr. Jones explains, will require “social disruption”,  according to Dr. Jones, far beyond the choice of car or reusable grocery bags.  We can solve this problem, not by avoidance or denial, entreats Dr. Jones, but by the same American ingenuity that took us to the moon and beyond:

“Dealing with climate change means technological innovation to create a better world. It can be done. Solar energy is already much cheaper than it was a decade ago. When we decided to go to the moon, we solved innumerable technical challenges and we were proud of doing it. We did that together and we need to do it again.”

Some are stepping up to support what will need to be a sea change.    Musicians and philanthropists like Leonardo DiCaprio and Rocker David Gilmour, a member of Pink Floyd, are donating millions and creating foundations to support new technologies.

What can we common citizens do?  First of all, accept our situation.

Then, elect people who will fight for our world, not their pocketbooks.

The time is now.

To see Dr. Jones’s full post on Climate Change go to http://drlucyjones.com/the-music-of-climate-change/?fbclid=IwAR2weHOGcdf_mr-xMKgTuOD5Qfbmi6Tnb48S_BTw-Bnwa1Dd9DlrTDBYVlU

 

 

Today’s T-shirt Inspiration

” I think the world is going to be saved by millions of small things.”  –Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger.  A name from the distant past, still  as relevant today as he was protesting in the 1950’s.  As I pull today’s t-shirt out of the drawer, I am comforted by his words.

I see Pete Seeger not only as the father of a movement, but also as an archetypal father: one who cares for the world and everything in it.  This father-archetype is clearly etched in my soul.  I married a man like Pete, someone who loves the world and everything in it, even me!

Today we are reeling from masculinity of another kind, a toxic kind that fosters hate and destruction.  Pete is right. It’s the “millions of small things,” not the big terrifying things, over which we have power. Each day we can decide what small thing we will do.

Teachers, parents and other adults who are around children feel the power of small things each and every day.  We are fortunate to have these beings who remind us that each action counts.  Children provide us with a course in mindfulness if we let them into our hearts, souls, and attention.

In the ’50s there were icons like Pete , whose hearts were so full that they splashed their good everywhere.  You might think that good is hard to find today if you focus on the news, but it’s not.

Science is leading us.   “Social Emotional Education” is slowly percolating through our schools.  It’s shorthand for the idea that far more important than filling kids’ brains with facts and figures, we adults must fill their hearts with compassion and heads with dreams of how they will heal the world.

SEL, the shorthand version of “social emotional learning,” evolved out of  research that describes the basic functions of the brain in learning.  The pre-frontal cortex “leads the band” when our brains are in equilibrium, giving us space and time to choose our actions wisely.  The amygdala, a retrofitted part of the brain, alerted early humans to pay attention to the many dangers in their environment. The pre-frontal cortex does not work well when the amygdala is calling the shots.

Wise educators and other adults help children (and themselves) manage the amygdala and its functions to allow for best use of the pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain that takes in information and makes wise choices.

Nothing could be more important to building a kind and compassionate world.  Millions of actions each day, one by one.

 

 

 

Supporting young children’s behavior — Wendy Zacuto Educational Consulting

The most important thing a teacher or other adult can teach is the ability to healthfully interacting in relationship with others. Yet, as adults we often find ourselves frustrated with the behavior of young children. Deb Curtis, one of my most influential educators, describes a common response to why young children act the way they […]

via Supporting young children’s behavior — Wendy Zacuto Educational Consulting