Climate change portends grim future for forests. At a recent conference on
trees, US Forest Service workers and other experts gave unsettling reports on
the health of US forests and how quickly they are declining due to climate
change. Citing major tree die offs that have already occurred in the western USA
for species such as the aspen, Dr. Jim Worrall, plant pathologist and leading
top expert on Sudden Aspen Decline estimated that some 11 million acres of the
current 16 million that currently populate hills and mountainsides could be
gone, destroyed by rising temperatures and drought.
Meanwhile, climate
change could prove even more devastating to a species like the white pine, whose
vulnerability to mountain pine beetles is causing it to disappear. As
temperatures have warmed, the beetles are moving further north, with large
stands of trees in Montana and parts of Wyoming that have disappeared in just
the past three years.
According to a study of 76 old-growth forests by
the US Geological Survey, increasing mortality rates are being seen in 87% of
all tree stands, with tree deaths that have doubled over the past 18 years.
Speaking at the conference, former US Vice President Al Gore stated, “If you
love the forests and you care about what's happening to them, the number-one
connection … is warmer temperatures.”
Your Excellency and all other
scientists, our sincere thanks for this information about global warming's
effect on our vital forests. May the trees of the US and worldwide thrive once
more as humans adopt ecological lifestyles that support a wealth of biodiversity
on our planet.
During a 2008 videoconference in Canada, Supreme Master
Ching Hai discussed the core solution to the plight of the life-giving forests
in the face of climate change.
Supreme Master
Ching Hai : Even if we plant more trees, there will
be something else happening, maybe wildfire, or the beetle will be more in
abundance, and then they will also begin to eat away all the forest.
So
this is a really terrible situation. The only thing is we have to be morally
fit. And have to be virtuous. Otherwise, there's no getting away from the bad
karma, meaning the retribution, for whatever we do.
We have to be
compassionate again. We have to look into our heart to live the noble way that
Heaven intended us to live. So, planting trees alone is not the absolute
solution. We have to be vegan.
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20110219/NEWS/110219812/1077&ParentProfile=1058,
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/145343Extra NewsFacing rising oil
prices, Spain's cabinet approves 20 fuel-saving measures, including lowering
speed limits, reducing prices on commuter and medium-distance trains, and
implementing more energy-efficient light bulbs, to help reduce consumption.
http://www.france24.com/en/20110304-spain-approves-energy-saving-measures-offset-oil-hike
Newspaper “The Times of India” reports that
after nearby ponds dried up due to prolonged drought conditions, residents of
Hazaribag form an Eco Club, pledging to provide water for thousands of rare bird
species in the region.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ranchi/Bird-lovers-form-Eco-Club-to-save-rare-species/articleshow/7622544.cms