earthPoems
Environment, British Columbia and the PunjabArchive for Wild Life
The Gulf of Mexico – 2010
These images are a selection from the Gulf of Mexico in June 2010. The impact of the spill from deep water oil wells is devastating for all living beings who live, work or earn from the sea.
After this, we must question the wisdom of bringing Albertan Tar Sands to British Columbia.
A hard hat from an oil worker lies in oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on East Grand Terre Island, Louisiana June 8, 2010.
(REUTERS/Lee Celano)
Brown Pelicans, covered in oil from BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, huddle together in a cage at the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Buras, Louisiana June 6, 2010.
(REUTERS/Lee Celano)
Marine reef ecologist Scott Porter works to remove oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill from his hands on Monday, June 7, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico south of Venice, Louisiana.
(AP Photo/Eric Gay)
A dead turtle floats on a pool of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in Barataria Bay off the coast of Louisiana Monday, June, 7, 2010.
(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Hermit crabs struggle to cross a patch of oil from the the Deepwater Horizon spill on a barrier island near East Grand Terre Island, Louisiana on Sunday, June 6, 2010.
(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
A brown pelican coated in heavy oil wallows in the surf June 4, 2010 on East Grand Terre Island, Louisiana.
(Win McNamee/Getty Images)
From http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/scenes_from_the_gulf_of_mexico.html
Grandmothers to hold Water Prayers around the Globe on May 18
We, the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Ask you to join us:
MAY 18, 2010
CONSCIOUS PARTICIPATION IN HEALING OUR PLANETARY WATERS
OUR MOTHER EARTH NEEDS YOUR HELP!
Along with many peoples all around the globe, and many water prayers this spring, we are calling for a
MASSIVE GLOBAL EFFORT
Our main intention for this healing is to return the waters to their original pure crystalline blueprint, and to add to their abundance for the nourishment of ALL living things on the planet.
Pray in your local waterways, at the rivers or lakes or streams. Or pray with a bowl of water in the middle of the cities.
“We are Water Babies.
Do not to forget to say thank you every day for the water you drink,
the water you bathe in.
Without our Mother water we would not survive.”
Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim, Takelma Siletz, Oregon
The specific ceremonies being conducted on May 18, 2010:
Grandmothers will be holding Water Prayers in the following places:
African Rainforest, Gabon – Grandmother Bernadette Rebienot
Great Lakes, USA - Grandmother Rita Blumenstein
Mountains of Oaxaca, Huautla de Jimenez – Grandmother Julieta Casimiro
Desert of the American Southwest – Grandmother Mona Polacca
France - Grandmother Flordemayo
Black Hills of North America – Beatrice and Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance
Plains of North America, Montana – Grandmother Margaret Behan
Hood River, Oregon – Agnes Baker Pilgrim
Nepalese Himalayas – Aama Bombo
Brazilian Amazon - Grandmothers Maria Alice Freire and Clara Shinobu Iura
Tibetan Ceremonies in Canada – Tsering Dolma Gyaltong
Mahia, Aotearoa, New Zealand – Ambassador Pauline Tangiora
At the same time, people will be praying at
Nine specific bodies of water around the planet using crystalline energy
· Lake Tahoe, California
· Lake Titicaca, Peru
· Lake MacKay Australia
· Lake Chad, Africa
· Lake Bikkal, Russia
· Lake Kissyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan
· Lake Geneva, Switzerland
· Lake Superior, Minnesota
· Colorado River Complex (Healing and Purification Ceremonies for this vital USA waterway)
“Water reflects the human soul. If you say, ‘thank you’ to water, it will be reflected in the form of beautiful crystals overflowing with gratitude in return.”
Masuru Emoto, The Secret Life of Water
For more information:
www.goldeneagleceremonies.com
Information provided by Dharini Abeyesekera
Keep the promise to protect the Great Bear Rainforest
Keep the promise to protect the Great Bear Rainforest! That’s what you need to tell British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell. It’s the world’s largest temperate rainforest and home to the ‘Spirit Bear,’ the rarely seen white form of the black bear, as well as the forest-nesting marbled murrelet sea bird and salmon-eating coastal wolves.
A couple of years ago, Premier Campbell made a very specific commitment to preserve this precious rainforest. The final countdown is on for the BC government to make their promise a reality by the March 31, 2009 deadline. Premier Campbell needs to hear from you.
We are down to the wire. Unless all elements of the promise are kept, the ecological health of the rainforest will be in jeopardy once again. We’ve come so far towards the rare success of having a vast unspoiled forest safeguarded, let’s not undermine all this good work by not reaching the finish line.
Help us tell the BC government that a promise is a promise. Send your message to BC Premier Gordon Campbell today! (Copied to Environment Minister Barry Penner, Agriculture & Lands Minister Stan Hagen, and Forests & Range Minister Pat Bell).
Thank you for voicing your support for the Great Bear Rainforest at this critical time.
A case against arsenic-based pesticides
North America now has restrictions on harmful arsenic-based pesticides, thanks in part to four years of intensive research by a team led by Environment Canada.
The effects of these chemicals on human health, birds and insects only started to come to light after they were used to fight off an epidemic of mountain pine beetles in British Columbia’s forests.
The team was led by Dr. John Elliott, an EC research scientist who focuses on the study of ecotoxicology. Other members of the team included Dr. Christy Morrissey, a post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Bill Cullen, an international expert on the chemistry of arsenic, and other highly qualified biologists, chemists, summer students and interns from the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University.
The use of Monosodium Methanearsonate in BC
Monosodium Methanearsonate (MSMA) is an arsenic-based pesticide that was applied to treat trees affected by the worsening mountain pine beetle (MPB) epidemic in 2001. Frills were cut into the tree bark, and MSMA was injected underneath the bark to target the beetles. With this form of treatment, the beetles are killed — but so are the trees. The fatally infested tree is sacrificed in order to prevent further spread of beetles.
The pine forests of British Columbia’s central and southern interior have been devastated by the mountain pine beetle epidemic. To date, the area of pine trees that have been affected stands at 13.5 million hectares — about four times the size of Vancouver Island. The B.C. Ministry of Forests and Range projects that by 2013, 80 per cent of the pine trees in the affected area could be dead.
It is estimated that in B.C., during a 10-year period from 1995 to 2004, approximately 5080 kilograms of MSMA was applied to some 500,000 trees.
Investigating the impact of MSMA
In a research first, Dr. Elliott’s team found that woodpeckers feeding on the beetles had a significantly higher concentration of arsenic in their bloodstream. Prior to this project, a database allowing scientists to compare their findings did not exist.
The research took place during the 2004-2005 breeding seasons (April to July). The study evaluated the exposure of MSMA to woodpeckers, such as the Three-Toed and Hairy woodpeckers and other forest birds that lived within one linear kilometre of trees that had been treated with MSMA within the previous two years. The research team captured a total of 23 birds whose diets included a large component of beetles.
All beetles and bird blood samples were tested for arsenic. Beetle samples from MSMA treated trees contained high concentrations of arsenic. The blood samples collected revealed moderate but widespread exposure to MSMA.
The team concluded that under current environmental conditions, woodpeckers and other insect-eating species were being exposed to arsenic was occurring with the potential for significant consequences, such as weight loss and higher mortality rates.
While it was initially believed that MSMA was over 90 per cent effective at killing the beetles, the Environment Canada-led team found the success rate to be only about 60 per cent. Some beetles and larvae were still alive despite the application of the pesticide.
MSMA use in B.C. during the mountain pine beetle epidemic can be far-reaching. For example, carpenter ants feeding on dead trees can also serve as food for other species. As a result, the policy calls for ongoing research to determine the presence of arsenic in secondary insects.
