Saturday, April 22, 2017

Earth Day


Day 191: Happy Earth Day, and it could hardly be more typically "Pacific Northwest" than what's blustering outside my windows at the moment. The wind has already begun and rain is to follow; I'll be marching for science despite the weather. After all, little fellers like these Stream Violets (Viola glabella) need someone to stand up for them. It's not just about polar bears and shrinking glaciers, the big things which make the news. There are thousands...yes, I said thousands...of species of plants, animals, insects, etc. which are on the verge of extinction. Certainly it can be argued that extinction is part of the natural process and I will not debate that, but for it to occur over such a wide range of species in so short a period of time indicates that there is more going on than can be laid to natural order. Whether the process can be slowed is debatable, but we can take steps to keep it from accelerating. The choice rests with us: do we want our children's children to choke and starve on a sick and dying world, or do we want to sacrifice a few creature-comforts so that our own species can survive?

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