NATURAL PERSPECTIVES:Local fixes to global problems

A few weeks ago we asked our readers what they were doing to combat global warming. We received responses that covered a wide range of environmental topics. Here is a sampling of how our readers are acting locally to help save the world.

Daryl Drake writes that he took Paul Ehrlich’s 1960s warnings of the population explosion seriously and, like Vic, decided not to have children. Everything that Vic and I read says that the world won’t be able to sustainably support even one more population doubling.

If every couple has two children, the population will stabilize at the current 6.7 billion (which in our opinion is too many). But if every couple has four children, the world’s population will double in one more generation. The planet won’t be able to sustain that many people.

Drake has an insulated house, keeps the temperature at 65 degrees in the winter and 80 in the summer, and has replaced his water-thirsty lawn with water-thrifty native plants and gravel that allows recharge of the ground water.

Laura Holdenwhite writes that she has been a vegetarian for over 40 years. She grows vegetables in her yard and visits the Irvine farmers’ market nearly every week. She reports that the vegetables are fresher and less expensive than at the grocery store.

Buying locally grown food saves the fuel that is used to transport food long distances. Also, vegetarianism saves fuel and water because we can eat the grains directly instead of converting them to beef in feedlots.

Holdenwhite writes, “I have no illusion that droves of Americans will become vegetarians, but it would be huge for the environment, the oil reserves and our collective health if they would start with one meal a week.”

That’s good advice. We used to have a meatless meal only once in a while. But now we eat meat at only about three or four out of our 21 meals a week. We’re feeling healthier and fighting global warming at the same time.

Shelly Harris of Costa Mesa shops at Smith’s Farms in Fountain Valley and the local farmers’ markets. She grows some of her own vegetables and even keeps a few chickens for eggs. She gets between 16 and 20 eggs a week from her three chickens.

Harris uses the chicken droppings to make compost for her garden. I’ve been begging Vic for chickens ever since Harris wrote.

Other energy-saving steps Harris takes are opening a window instead of using air conditioning, and hanging out her laundry to dry, using the sun instead of natural gas or electricity.

But not everyone is a believer. Bill Borden wrote, “If it’s going to be 110 with waves lapping at my door, I’m getting a newer, larger SUV, souped-up air conditioning for my home, and a 50-foot deep-sea Sting Ray for shopping trips. However, at one degree increase every 100 years, I won’t be out shopping just yet.”

It’s this kind of attitude that got us into trouble in the first place. People who pooh-pooh the amount of warming that has occurred so far aren’t in touch with the natural world.

Naturally, a change of one degree on one day in our local weather wouldn’t amount to much. But a global average change of one degree corresponds to an enormous environmental change.

And the Arctic has warmed 10 degrees, not one. Studies of blooming plants, hatching insects, and nesting birds show that the Arctic spring has advanced by an average of two weeks and as much as a month for some species. Predictions now are that global temperatures will rise by an additional 3.6 to 11 degrees by the end of this century. That’s huge.

We’re facing a world where half the earth’s species may be threatened with extinction by the end of this century due to global climate change and the burgeoning human population. One of the most important things that we can do for the environment is to protect our last remaining open spaces.

Here’s some action that you can take to help save our little corner of the world.

A catch phrase of the late sixties and early seventies was “think globally, act locally.” There is still time, if you hurry, to get a comment to the California Coastal Commission urging them to support protection for the last bit of unprotected wetlands at Bolsa Chica.

The Coastal Commission will take action on Wednesday, July 11, regarding development on the Shea Company’s bean field along Graham Street. The commission staff has recently offered a very reasonable proposal that protects the identified wetlands while allowing the landowner development along the street frontage.

We encourage everyone who wants to protect our local wetlands to write in support of the most recent staff recommendation. Refer to item “W 8.5a” (agenda item 8.5a on Wednesday). Address your letter to California Coastal Commission, Attn: Meg Vaughn, 200 Oceangate, 10th Floor, Long Beach, CA 90802-4416. Since time is short, you might want to fax your letter to (562) 590-5084.