What's the Missing Link in Emotional Intelligence to Reduce Nature's Climate Change?

 

What’s the Missing Link in Emotional Intelligence to Reduce Nature’s Climate Change?

How is it possible that the most intellectual creature to ever walk the planet Earth is destroying its only home? – Jane Goodall

As a teacher, student of nature, and new eco-fiction writer let me try and make a case that emotional intelligence may be a missing link to help bring attention to nature’s climate change. There is no disagreement that climate change is impacting the environment and human communities in many ways and only our action can reverse its acceleration and maintain some normalcy within our biosphere. The main question is how many ways can we react to this crisis to retrain our behavior and focus on long term results with simple things we can today.

To keep things simple, I will make my case with 2 contenders:

1. Intelligence Quotient (IQ) or how to learn thoughts to understand self-awareness, logic, reasoning, creative and critical thinking and problem solving.

2. Emotional Quotient (EQ)  or how to use emotions to guide thinking, adjust and manage environments to achieve one’s goals.

There are so many reports where high degrees of intelligence are needed with backgrounds in biological and engineering sciences that would be helpful. The few scientific literate get it, but as a lay person how do I begin to understand these various topics of greenhouse effects, permafrost methane, advent of green economy, sequestration and carbon sinks, a personal carbon footprint calculator, and ecosystem integrity? What does it mean to limit global warming to less than 2ºC by reducing or capping greenhouse gas emissions?

A recent suggestion noted that the term climate change night be a marketing problem because people don’t have the long-term psychology to relate to the big picture over many years of incremental changes. They can deal concretely with personal daily changes and react within reason but how can you worry and make plans for decades from now?

The dilemma asked recently is how can we surpass intellect and appeal more to values to showcase imminent climate change.  My suggestion is to embrace emotional experiences to form long term memories but how can we do that?  Think about this: who easily forgets a story that touches your soul or a powerful movie?

Teachers know that many concepts (cognitive development) are formed based on our perceptions (visual input), our language and psychology of what is right or wrong and all the inferences in between.  The brain is uniquely organized where the emotional relay center (the amygdala) is in the middle which manages all emotions between signals from the back sensory visual cortex to the associative frontal cortex for reasoning and planning.

So, the question needs to be pondered: How can we stimulate the emotional amygdala to relate to climate changes for long term memory retention?

Quickly, here is how I changed my emotional IQ to nature versus cognitive awareness. Nature means the world to me as a living process. Seeing a bumblebee in early spring brings  feelings of joy and belonging. Nature is my friend, I will seek to respect its cycles and challenge any threats of climate change.    

In the beginning  there was a natural affinity raised on a farm within a woods by a creek and marsh where my childhood was filled with sights and sounds of Nature’s incessant activity.

Then I grew up and moved to the city to work where the practicalities of career overtook other different busy directions.  Even then, I read articles as many people do, but who had time to worry about species becoming extinct or warmer temperatures as long as our lifestyles remained normal.  

Then I retired and returned to my roots in the country to the splendor of my mountain valley when I started my pursuit of writing about nature. A deeper emotion started to develop with more research even at a basic level of understanding.  There were so many ecosystems, alive and  functioning well at four levels of interaction, each particular to its species and surroundings all encompassed by the subject called ecology. The ecological principles were the most profound too important not to share. If Nature could have all living things work together, without ego, with adaptations, in great diversity, even democracy, why couldn’t human societies learn some principles to also survive in balance?

This was not a lesson plan but a job for imagination to personify Nature as a living thing with feelings, connections, fears and hopes.  Nature’s first-person narrative could foster more emotions, to correlate the unexpected with the science and personalize new experiences with the reader. The emotions would undoubtedly beget friendships with fascinating ecological characters each with an important role to play.

Perhaps  good storytelling with imagination based on science would help children and others to become more curious about the significance of the Big Picture of Nature working its splendid synergy. Even better yet, a movie with sights, sounds and music would stimulate the amygdala for many years of  thoughtful recollection. 

What if you could share the emotions of a water sprite on his water cycle journey as he discovers other cycles to maintain live on Earth?

What if a tree could talk about his spirit, families, communities, future and sad interaction with humans and his succession long after he falls?

In conclusion, how do you develop emotional intelligence for cognitive bonding … I believe the missing link may be found in one's vibrant imagination discovering the wonders of the ecosystem. Even Albert Einstein once said: 

 "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution."

Do you have any emotional encounters with Nature that you think about again and again that give you peace of mind and reflection? 

Comments are always appreciated. Please leave a convenient time to chat 833 471 4661 

Annemarie

amarie10@gmail.com

https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com

PS: In the spirit of believing that the Universe receives what is put into it, please note this blog: In Praise of Walt Disney’s Nature Advocacy and What May Be Missing with 4 Questions

Could It Be This Simple … Choose the Right Toilet Paper to Save the Forests … a World Challenge!

 

Could It Be This Simple … Choose the Right Toilet Paper to Save the Forests … a World Challenge!

Who recalls the panicked run on toilet paper a few months ago when a virus became a psychological thriller to ensure your private indoor plumbing was never empty of toilet paper?

As an eco-fiction writer and keen researcher about all ecological matters, once in a while I come across an article that changed my mindset with a new implication that HEMP could save the world because toilet paper is an area that can be improved.  Read the article yourself. 

Here is what I learned that I didn’t know before which made me appreciate even more the wonder of nature itself and worry about human development of business models misaligned with Nature’s ecology’s long term consequences.  

Why Hemp makes an excellent toilet paper...

The fibers are softer than trees, naturally odorless, resistant to mold and several other fungi, have antibacterial and anti-fungal properties which ensure healthy skin. It is both durable and absorbent, absorbing four times its weight!

It is more biodegradable than any other toilet paper.

Why Hemp is better than toilet paper from a trees...

Hemp toilet paper is cheaper to make using less energy and chemicals in the process. To create paper, you only need the cellulose part of the plant. The trees contain 30% cellulose and harsh chemicals are needed to break down the plant to recover the 30%. Hemp contains up to 85% cellulose, almost three times more than trees.

Hemp produces four times more material (cellulose fibers) per acre than trees. Ten tons of hemp can be grown on an acre, making it the best biomass in the world.

Trees need 50 to 100 years before they can be harvested and turned into toilet paper. Hemp production is ready in 70 days

Hemp pulp paper can be made without any chemicals. 

Why is Hemp Better for Earth’s environment?

It can reduce landfill where a quarter of all solid waste comes from pulp and paper mills. One ton of paper pollutes 76 liters of water. (I know, I live near to a town that produces pulp and paper.)

It can also reduce recycled paper waste in landfills or incinerators … even in a digital environment, offices continue to use vast amounts of paper where paper consumption has increased by 400% in 40 years.

It can reduce toxic air waste ... if the average person uses an average of 22 kilos of toilet paper a year, then the production of pulp and paper is responsible for 20% of all toxic air waste. 

It can reduce massive deforestation to make paper, including toilet paper where 35% of trees felled are used for paper making 

Always remember that trees absorb carbon dioxide thus help to mitigate greenhouse gases produced by human activity. They play an important role in carbon sequestration, or the capture and storage of excess carbon dioxide including the soil. It is estimated that a mature tree can consume 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year and releases enough oxygen to breathe for two years!

Sometimes a historical perspective can show the intersection between nature and business marketplace development. Before mass production, the story of toilet paper began with a variety of plants that sufficed…often dependent on status … hemp, leaves, hay, or the nearby stream.

In 1857 the first invented commercial toilet paper in the US was made from Manila hemp leaves moistened with aloe and sold as medicated toilet paper versus tearing pages from the catalog.

In 1867, the Scott brothers started making dry toilet paper from wood chips pulp that was chemically bleached with chlorine dioxide. This relatively cheap convenience soon dominated the world market and the brand Scott Paper Company remains the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of sanitary tissue products with operations in 22 countries.

Try and imagine the vast tracts of trees that were cut down for both lumber for commerce and to make toilet paper for a few cents.

Today farmers and business know that an acre of hemp can make four times as much paper as a single acre of forest in 70 days versus 50 years. 

Could it be this simple … choose the right toilet paper to save the forests

 … a world challenge!

Surely, everybody can see the logic along with environmentalists why to use hemp products as an alternative. Facts prove the logic that hemp toilet paper would save millions of trees, move towards a greener future  and help save our planet!

In fact, toilet paper, made from the industrial hemp plant, has been sold in other countries for some time. Consumers have always been the best regulators of marketplaces. Perhaps it is our turn to take the toilet paper challenge and check out hemp products’ suppliers on the internet. A small step can be as simple as replacing your regular toilet paper with hemp-based toilet paper.  

I certainly have done my due diligence and will try some Hempies!

In conclusion, the question to ask yourself is: 

If you could help save a third of the world's forests and their ecological benefits to the 

Earth, would you consider changing your sanitation habits to hemp toilet paper?

I look forward to your answers and comments. Please leave a convenient time to chat:       833 471 4661

Sincerely,

Annemarie

amarie10@gmail.com

https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com 

PS: Another interesting side note about the roles of business and government in using our natural environment for their personal justifications:

Who will ever know the quirk of nature that allows hemp to contain the compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which can produces psychoactive effects in humans?  However, hemp has a variety of cannabis that has only small amounts of THC relative to that grown for the production of marijuana. 

In the 1930’s hemp was poised to be a billion-dollar crop with Henry Ford a big supporter, and marijuana was a common ingredient in medical products until the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 killed the growth of the industry. In 1970, President Nixon classified hemp with no current medical use and high potential for abuse in Schedules of the Controlled Substances Act and hemp  became illegal along with drugs like cocaine, heroin, and marijuana (cannabis).

In 1998, the Canadian government made marijuana legal, both in terms of recreational use and medical applications. I believe it is so important to pursue scientific studies for medical cannabis use and learn all we can about this miracle plant from Nature. 

In the meantime, long live Hempies!

 

Nature's World Cries Out for More Eco-Fiction Writers to Save Our Planet

 

Nature's World Cries Out for More Eco-Fiction Writers to Save Our Planet

"To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known…On a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam." Carl Sagan

Ecology entered a broader cultural attitude in the 1960's and 1970's when people became more interested in natural environmental issues and species within human connections.

A variety of eco-fiction literature developed many branches and styles to be found in many genres such as mainstream, westerns, mystery, romance, realism, science fiction and fantasy.

This collaborative genre could be any fictional landscape that was based on ecological principles which became the setting, the plot and the theme of the story. The nebulae of Nature from the smallest cells to the largest lifeforms became alive as talking, feeling characters with human attributes and emotions. Their message was to set the right standards of respecting natural order, conservation and sustainability.

So what kind of ecological principles can be embedded into eco-fiction story? 

You can talk about Nature in terms of redundancy without ego, diversity with connections, and adaptations for survival. You can express amazement at nature’s master plan of organization from the nematodes to the nimbus clouds. Without this two-hydrogen-one-oxygen molecule, any Earth life process wouldn’t exist.  You can talk about responsibility to common goals, a democratic pattern of individualism and cooperation played out in ecological terms. What about the human factors of intervention, exploration or exploitation?   

In fact, you can become more specific and talk about the reality of 4 levels in an ecosystem with plants and animals you see; but you must also involve nonliving elements (air and water) and microorganisms. Microorganisms include the bacteria, algae, fungi, and protozoa that are usually seen only with a microscope, but they must not be ignored because of their vital roles in decomposition, oxygen production and symbiotic relationships with plants so they can grow to serve as food for animals and humans.

For example, nitrogen gas (N2) makes up 80% of the Earth’s atmosphere and is one of the primary nutrients critical for the survival of all living organisms. It is required for DNA, proteins and chlorophyll. But nitrogen gas is largely inaccessible to most organisms, and must be converted into ammonia (NH3) and nitrates (NH4) before it can be used by plants as food.

Enter the nitrifying bacteria which transform nitrogen into an oxidative state for plant roots  to absorb...the essential nitrification cycle.

Now, on one hand, you can read a complex scientific treatise about this transformation or you can meet a nitrifying bacteria who explains his actions and his roles in the ecosystem. Fiction, yes, but science based as well with far reaching implications.

Or, you can read a scientific volume or two about the carbon cycle and how carbon compounds can make a series of conversions in the environment, from incorporating carbon dioxide gas into living plant cells by photosynthesis, and returning as a gas through respiration, or decaying dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels. 

Or, your story line can introduce a hydrocarbon molecule composed from the elements carbon and hydrogen who can explain his role from coal and crude oil to making natural gas, plastics, pesticides, even cosmetics and medicines.  His experience shows how the burning of hydrocarbons produces greenhouse gases which in turn depletes the ozone layer and cause climate change. Fictional character simplified, yes, but with a huge convoluted impact on the environment and ecosystems.

In summary, we need more eco-fiction stories that can talk about the relationship between natural settings and human communities.

 Their characters need to inhabit an ecosystem based on ecological principles that call attention to act responsibly to be good ethical stewards of the Earth. 

They need to share the reality of microorganisms, photosynthesis, food webs, carbon dominance, pollution, and changing weather patterns as first-person experiences. 

We must hear their joys, fears and hopes. We must pay heed to their warnings of dangers and not ignore their messages.

Also, most importantly, we need stories that show what happens when anti-ecological principles are followed; such as, believing the only bond to nature is based on cash exchanges or using nature’s bounty as individual gifts, not for common purpose. There are ecological threats everywhere from tropical forest to coral reefs to extinction of animals, once gone, forever.

People need more first-hand stories about global warming, culture diaspora, survival of the weakest links, advocacy to protect our unique natural world and create a mythology we are all connected…what happens to one of us, happens to all of us.

It’s strange to say that the term eco-fiction has never been a media sensation and therefore has not become “com-modified or capitalizable, lending to its wildness.” 

Maybe its time to change that to help save our planet.

What kind of nature story would you like to hear or write? What are your fears about our planet?

Comments and questions are always appreciated. Please leave a message for a time to chat...1 833 471 4661

Annemarie

amarie10@gmail.com

https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com

PS: Interested in writing a paper about eco-fiction, or even teaching it? Check resources here. 

Note this blog about Disney making a movie based on an eco-fiction character and story line ... in fact, the most important superhero essential to our planet's survival.

 

 

In Praise of Walt Disney’s Nature Advocacy and What May Be Missing with 4 Questions

 

In Praise of Walt Disney’s Nature Advocacy ... What May Be Missing with 4 Questions

“How could this Earth of ours, which is only a speck in the heavens, have so much variety of life, so many curious and exciting creatures.” Walt Disney

There is no doubt that Walt Disney was an advocate of nature and conservation. Even at the beginning, he brought live deer into the studio so Bambi could be characterized correctly. He brought to life animals, birds and fish photographed in living color to capture every move and emotion. He helped us to walk with elephants, hunt with jungle cats, swarm with dolphins and wait patiently as penguins survived another blizzard. There is no doubt through his nature documentaries and feature films, we were educated, affiliated, bonded and even protective of our wildlife neighbors.

Perhaps more than anyone he highlighted the meaning of Anthropomorphism which attributes human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things including objects, plants, and supernatural beings.  Who hasn’t watched the Lion King and shared the emotions of youthful exuberance and curiosity,  angry and jealous family tensions, unknown overwhelming dangers, and the redemption of the circle of life? My 5-year-old niece cried inconsolably, but so did I share a few tears of joy. The spark of sublimity was lit for lions for all time.

No doubt his cartoons of Mickey Mouse brought to life a walking talking mouse with his family, friends, adversaries, a nice home with everyday problems. He was cute with big round eyes, button nose, normal  tail, an outlined plump body dressed in red shorts and wearing large yellow gumboots. As onlookers we could relate to everyday people problems but may not look as kindly at a real mouse occupying our own house.

But a mouse is not a human character who worries about shopping, driving or partying. The cartoon did not help to explain how a mouse lives and struggles in the real field … his burrows, food supply and food web, his numerous offspring, his lifespan and purpose in the environment. Only a basic understanding of ecology could validate his existence and worth to his true community.

Perhaps, too many Disney fairy tale characters are flawlessly pictured that may imply to children that a perfect face and body can live happily ever after.  Perhaps, too many of the fire-bolting, muscular exaggerations of mighty superheroes may imply that supernatural powers are needed for success...the bigger the better.

The timeless power of nature in its collective multidimensional forms is the strongest of all forces that dominate our Earth’s life support without which we couldn’t survive.

The more you learn, the more you understand the good news that Nature follows ecological principles which means that its real power is not about might, disorganization or destruction,  but about managing connections and restoring balance and unity.

Only interactions with humans disrupt these cycles. Could it be because they just don’t know enough synchronicity from the soil up to the clouds? Or how the missing link of a small honeybee could seriously limit the world’s food supply?

We need to hear this message loudly and clearly because ecological emergencies must be reduced all around the planet before natural cycles can’t redeem the imbalances or mediate the suffering of all living beings. Only a diversified communication mass media conglomerate like Disney can share the information creatively with facts and fantasy … combining science with creative art.   

What may be missing is a character from an eco-fiction source. Imagine if water could talk about its survival or a tree celebrate its partnerships and succession?  

Eco-fiction is a story that talks about the relationship between natural settings and human communities. The characters inhabit an ecosystem based on ecological principles that call attention to act responsibly to be good ethical stewards of the Earth. They share the reality of microorganisms, photosynthesis, food webs, carbon dominance, pollution, and changing weather patterns as first-person experiences. They share their joys, fears and hopes. They give warnings of dangers to ignore their messages.

A good eco-fiction asks 4 key questions:

1. Can storytelling help to change societal norms and feelings about conservation and sustainability?
2. Why is biological diversity so important to environmental sustainability?
3. Why are cycles the language of nature from nitrogen to carbon to nutrients to pollutants to greenhouse gases and more?
4. Why look at the environment as a work in process … not a given constant or photograph?

So, here is an eco-fiction idea for consideration called The Incredible Journey of a Water Sprite with Roots.

In a culture where fantastical superheroes and Mickey Mouse abound, maybe it’s time to meet a real superhero whose live is essential to sustain all life on Earth.  His mission is to discover Earth’s Cyclical Truths with natural affinity as both a water element and plant that makes him a primary consumer in the ecosystem.  He narrates his personal journey as he walks and talks through his  many experiences with lifeforms essential to ecology and shares his amazement at several natural cycles. He falls in love twice ... the impossible and the probable. It is only when he encounters humankind that he feels a loss of self; and learns consciously, and sometimes painfully, the truth for the need for preservation of balance in nature. 

What is more important to Earth’s survival than fresh clean water?

What is more important than a fresh, clean water cycle?

Disney is a natural fit to produce a movie like this but there may be other production companies who may be interested in an eco-fiction movie to help educate the masses and preserve our fresh water supply?

"No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced."  Sir David Attenborough

Please comment about your favorite Disney movie or documentary. 

Questions and comments are always welcome.

Annemarie

amarie10@gmail.com

833 4471 4661 (please leave your best time to talk)

Excerpt... the water sprite returns to the pond now polluted...

Then I stop, unblinking and unthinking in shock. What I see is more frightening than the strangest invasion of any alien beings, I'm sure.

A new colony has appeared on the bottom sludge. A series of finger-like tubes are projecting out of the mud with long bluish grey worms twisting and turning their way to the top. Moving through and around the tube worms are other blood red worms, wriggling and waving back and forth with lapping tongues clearly seen in their open mouths picking up any food particles on the currents. Is that saliva dribbles I see floating by?

.

 

...these are actual biological changes in polluted water with less oxygen

Podcast Interview Answer #5: How Does a Forest Fire Show the Basics of Ecological Succession?

Podcast Interview Answer #5: How Does a Forest Fire Show the Basics of Ecological Succession?

"Ecological succession is the process of gradual change in a community over time. It is based on order that can predict the sense of a new development in any habitat. In some ways, nothing can remain the same except adapting to change itself." 

Excerpt: Ecological Succession of Birchum Birch

Anybody who works side by side with nature understands that Ecological Succession is a force of nature.

Anybody who tills a piece of ground and plans to grow a garden will understand this force of nature very well. So, you plant your seeds and soon enough the young bean plants emerge with their bright open leaves eager for nutrients, water and open dirt to grow toward their bountiful vegetable. 

Now, within the same short time, other plants called weeds will start to compete for nutrients and space. In fact, these weeds are such avid competitors, if left unattended, may easily take over the seedling beets. In fact, the garden will quickly turn into a robust productive weed patch overcoming the weaker yet-to-be established beets. A  gardener's only course of action is to spend a great deal of time and energy weeding the garden to try and tame this inherent energy or force of ecological succession.

There seems to be an inherent law in nature that open soil will not stay bare for too long. Nature will take her hand and seed it prolifically but always within a predictable  organization that allows for primary growth to support secondary development.

Succession is nature’s process to adapt to whatever conditions befall it … to continue to live, grow and gradually change the habitat to adapt to these new conditions. The species that adapt better will exist longer. 

Again, with Nature’s infinite organization, a forest fire can best show how a disaster is followed by gradual change based on predictable development.

First, different grasses and weeds appear starting the microbial communities and nutrient      capture. 

Soon, the spectacular fireweed or great willow herb arrives with amazing adaptations to      survive as a pioneer in disturbed areas.

• Its seeds can lie dormant for many years, awaiting the warmth necessary for germination. 
• It can rapidly spread its rhizomes or creeping roots that grow a few inches horizontally underground from buds that produce new shoots growing upwards. 
• It can grow 1 to 6 feet, even as tall as 9 feet with tapers of flowers. 
• Pink colored flowers produce seeds as fine wispy tufts for easy wind dispersal. 
• Soon enough, roots and seeds proliferate everywhere accumulating more humus. 
• As it grows, it is a supermarket for insects, birds and animals.  Young shoots are especially tasty to rabbits, sheep and deer.  Muskrats, chipmunks and even marmots, moose, elk make a diet. 
• It is especially beneficial to butterflies who feed from its nectar and pollen during the day, and the moths at night. 
• A variety of bees drink the early spring nectar to make honey and help to pollinate the plant further. It can also attract hummingbirds and other birds to feed on the bugs.

A few years later they are replaced by bushes and trees like the aspen, white birch, and jack pine. More nutrients are released into the soil, competing species are overgrown and eliminated as the amount of sunlight varies.

 

            In other words, a fully functioning ecosystem is alive and well. 

In summary, ecological succession is the process of change in the species of an ecological community over time. It begins with a  few pioneering plants and animals and develops into a stable or self-perpetuating community. 

  

Several key words emerge when considering how to change in nature’s way … adaptations, whole society, diversity, balance, maturity and survival. The consequence of change or adaptation is how organisms impact their own environment, often as a symbiotic relationship. Change is never black and white for immediate gratification. Between any two extremes, there is gradual change with function as purpose and more tolerance. 

Two other interesting facts can apply to forest fires and ecological succession:

1. Climate change can play a major role in which kind of plants or trees will return to the landscape. Even years later, higher temperatures and decreased precipitation can compromise a forest’s chances of full recovery.
2. Forest fires can be considered a natural and necessary part of the ecosystem. It is an opportunity to remove clutter like dead trees, old logs, dense undergrowth, and hardened decayed plant matter to return as ashes and add more nutrients to make more fertile soil for new plants.

Back on the farm, I remember my father, doing controlled burns on the hay fields as a way to remove old decayed grass to increase soil fertility. 

In fact, I am so impressed by nature's ecological succession and what it can teach humanity's social succession, I wrote an e-book called 

The Ecological Succession of Birchum Birch ... a love story for all ages who care about family, community and environment.

Questions and comments are always welcome and important.

Annemarie

amarie10@gmail.com

1 833 471 4661 (please note a time for a call-back)

https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com

"Succession involves the whole community. You have seen it in slow action with plants in the destruction of the forest fire. The first plants appear along with humus, micro-organisms, and fungi followed by insects and birds. As plants change, different animals will appear to feed;  first the plant eaters, then the meat eaters.  Trees start to grow, changing the physical and nutrient environment again for more variety of species." 

excerpt from Ecological Succession of Birchum Birchum 

Also available as Kindle edition.

..FIREWEED: magnificent all-purpose plant pioneer

HELP ME Talk to Facebook Reviewers who Rejected my Ecological Ad for Political Reasons

HELP ME Talk to Facebook Reviewers who Rejected my Ecological Ad for Political Reasons

  

I am shocked that a children's educational e-book needs to be authorized as socially acceptable.

Why are institutions allowed a voice, but not Mother Nature? 

On Earth Day I posted this video on a few social sites including Facebook. It suggested I boost the post which I did for 5 days. It ran for two days and then got rejected. 

Watch video:   

                                            

Here is the reason stated:  Your ad isn't running because it doesn't comply with our Advertising Policies. Your ad may have been rejected if it mentions politicians, topics that could influence the outcome of an election, or existing or proposed legislation.  You can request a review if you think your ad was incorrectly disabled.

If you watch this video do you think this is about politics or influencing government?

You will see these words: environment,  ecology,  ecosystem,  pollute, moral obligation,  responsibility

Whatever your answer, my only message is that water conservation and natural ecology is the right of every person, young and old to protect their environment.  

There is no invitation here for elections or government; although, it can also be stated that political action may be needed to preserve our Earth’s sustainability.

But politics is not my purpose to research, educate and show respect how Nature and our planet are connected … “what’s good for one of us is good for all of us; what hurts one of us, hurts us all.”

As a teacher, I offer two ecology books that give voice to Mother Nature as real characters, plots, and resolutions with the simple theme:

“Nature is full of rules to help sustain each other but there is one great law whether written or not. The greatest law of nature is we are all connected … when we change our seeds, we change out biology …when we pollute our food, we pollute ourselves. It is impossible to alter one strand without changing the others.”   

The Incredible Journey of a Water Sprite with Roots …. on his mission to discover Cyclical Truths

The Ecological Succession of Birchum Birch … a love story for all ages who care about family, community, environment and Nature  

So how can Facebook, in the hands of a media mogul, allow for this serious voice of concerned people and nature itself? Of course, I would appreciate using its advertising platform.

How can I make my case without rejection?  Who do I talk to help re-edit this ad to meet their specifics?

Your comments are appreciated on my legacy website or email a-marie10@gmail.com. 

833 471 4661

Wishing you a happy Earth's Day now and tomorrow. Stay safe.

Sincerely,

Annemarie Berukoff

HelpfulMindstreamforChanges.com

GOOD NEWS: I have completed an identification check to verify my address...received confirmation by regular mail...so now I am allowed to post about social issues. This means my Mother Nature stories are now acceptable social issues ...do I dare think, one small step to political interest. 

Check out new e-book...Ecology tab...scroll down

The Ecological Succession of Birchum Birch .. a love story for all ages who value family, community and environment in Nature.

Check out Kindle

Overview of Podcast Shows about Ecology's Cyclical Truths with this One-of-a-Kind Special Water Character

Overview of Podcast Shows about Ecology's Cyclical Truths with this One-and-Only Special Water Character

If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”– Albert Einstein

Who doesn’t want to hold our beautiful blue planet in protective hands, symbolically? Who doesn’t like a walk in sunshine, breathe fresh air, feel a splatter of rain or eat a fresh salad, baked potato with chives-up sour cream and a cool glass of clean fresh water? That’s a nice package with a bow of gratitude, but how many parts are inside this package that need assembly to make sure that nature works as programmed? 

Bottom line, if we can’t negotiate with nature, then we better relate to the interdependent parts and functions; so we can pass Earth's priceless gifts to future generations. 

To that effect, a Facebook ad or video, does not do justice below the surface. I am looking for podcast shows interested in discussing important questions about ecosystems, natural cycles and how to resolve disruptive problems.

On one side, I believe that the audience may be amazed at the many functions of  a water cycle or ecosystems in general. I know I certainly am, learning so much through research; especially feeling, that an elementary knowledge of basic facts is not good enough to visualize the depth, co-dependence and intricacy of natural systems.

On the other side, why me as a podcast guest? You might think I lack expertise because I’m not a trained scientist with years of study. But I am a serious, respectful Earthling human being concerned enough to educate and protect our future within Earth's finite resources. Also, I am a retired teacher with an inborn DNA to value education and share more learning in an organized, open-ended way. 

To that motivation,  I wrote a one-of-a-kind e-book about a water sprite with roots based on scientific realities. Below, note the previous blogs that address ten possible podcast questions and answers.

Here are two more questions with references to the e-book and possible podcast shows.

Why does the water sprite hero have roots ... doesn’t this make him immobile?

Can scientific facts be understood better through an imaginative creative license as a first person experience?

First, it’s no wonder that dominant water forces have also played important roles in the realm of imagination, folklore and mythology. The theme of water becomes the flowchart by which people can explore, understand and integrate their cultural values based on living together whether philosophical, social or even ecological, constantly responding to change.

• It’s very interesting to note the number of deities, named by the thousands in Greek and Roman mythology, who were ascribed powers to control the elements of all water. Their names were associated with seas, storms, waves, currents, sea-creatures, lakes, springs, rivers, fountains, marshes and ground waters. The most common was Poseidon as the king of the seas and lord of the sea-gods living in a golden palace on the seabed with his queen and son Triton who looked like a merman with the upper body of man and tail of a fish, calming the waves by blowing his conch shell horn.
• Folklore from Western Native American tribes talked about water babies as mysterious and dangerous water spirits living in ponds and streams whose cries could signal distress or fore-warnings.
• Modern aquatic superheroes display supernatural powers to champion a return to justice with extravagant cinematic powers that may momentarily dazzle without facts. 

But there has never been a character quite like this water sprite with roots. He is small, kind, sensitive, vulnerable as he is curious, speaks the language of Earth’s biological citizens. He personifies the total water cycle: he is the cloud, the dewdrop, the snowflake, the currents in a pond, the sap, the saliva, the solvent for synthetic pollutants. He is given the chance to pick his own name: Corddo-mont the Sixteen-Hundred-Billionth, the Variable, the Life-Giver, the Earth Sustainer or Cordd for short.

Why does the water sprite hero have roots ... doesn’t this make him immobile?

This water sprite is a highly specialized organism whose body composition is 96% pure water surrounded by two elastic cell layers, an inner one composed of cellulose and an outer one of protein fibers. Three characteristics:

• his brain is found in his stomach where it can better regulate his complicated respiration; sometimes inhaling oxygen or carbon dioxide, depending on the role of plant or animal he  happens to be in. 
• his heart is found in his head, directly connected to his eye spots so he can both see things and have feelings without others' observations and opinions. 
• for protection, he has a typical encyst button like a belly button in his chest, which can shrink him into a state of dormancy until a more favorable time for re-emergence.

One unusual characteristic is that he can be classified as both animal and plant for two reasons:

• first, he can also anchor himself into the ground by special root-retractors between his toes. Like any other root, he can absorb minerals from the soil and digest them as necessary vitamins, proteins and carbohydrates.
• second, his outer cell layer contains chloroplasts cells which are visible like green freckles. Because these cells contain chlorophyll, he can directly convert the sunlight's energy into food energy, namely sugar, just like a plant can.

Most importantly, he can communicate with any other organic life form because they share carbon as well as hydrogen molecules.Therefore, he can express their stories, their dangers, imbalances, fears, and hopes from their realities about cyclical truths essential to ecology.    

Hopefully, people will feel a special bonding with this water character; thereby, making an emotional connection through his trials, tribulations and inclusions of all lives in a balanced natural environment. As the water sprite falls in love, so will the readers in kinship and motivational affinity to protect Nature at its best.

Can scientific facts be understood better through an imaginative creative license as a first person experience?

There is a unique power in figurative language known as personification when you can give human characteristics to non-living things or ideas. Associations help to better relate to the object or idea and have a sense of empathy that it matters. 

What more precious bonding can there be than to consider water as a valuable friend, as a person and necessity for survival? You wouldn't hurt or bully a good friend, right? 

  

Here are a  few situations where I feel personification helps to focus on water as a real entity in its own right for sustainability and protection:

• how else can you describe evaporation from the ocean as frolicking with friendly air molecules, rising higher into snowstorms and freezing into a glacier?
• how else can you describe the joy of a plant bathed in sunlight and drinking nutrients though it roots, feeling its body structure becoming stronger cell by cell?
• what better way to show the family and community life of microorganisms, like rotifers, and their special bonding to fresh water except by developing mutual feelings of respect for each other?
• who can better describe the microscopic food chain than a microorganism called Stentor as part of the Great Ecological Cycle?  He teaches his class, “This is one of the great Cyclical Truths … if one part lives, then the other part lives; if one part is destroyed then the other part will be destroyed in time? Isn't co-operation wonderful, a true democracy through diversity?"
• how else can the horror of pollution be experienced except at a personal level and loss of a personal community with a forewarning of larger systems?
• what better way to personify people as a block called humankinds which contains their inquiry, progress and power; however, the onus is left to the individual person to be responsible to make a difference outside the block?

In the end, science and imagination synchronize and weave a fascinating story that only a water sprite with roots can tell; that in order to survive, we need to balance our Earth’s ‘Cyclical Truths’  and protect its ecological ecosystems. Most importantly, the hope is for children of all ages can accompany him and respect our natural environment even more around every chapter. At the end, we should all  care deeply for his manners, fears and hopes. 

What an amazing friend especially for children to get to know!

Your questions, comments and referrals are always welcome.
What are some questions you wonder about the Earth's biology?
What are some solutions you think might help to fix imbalances?

Sincerely,
Annnemarie
amarie10@gmail.com
833 471 4661
https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com

This list outlines answers to previous questions:

BLOG:  Why is environmental sustainability based on biological diversity?
             What are some amazing Cyclical Truths discovered in a water cycle journey that                   may be less known?

BLOG:  What are the relationships between Earth’s biosphere, ecology, ecosystem and                     environment and us?

             What is the interesting relationship between a water molecule and a hydrocarbon?

BLOG:  How climate change disrupts the water cycle via the Hydro-logical Express - Cause               and Effect?   

BLOG:  How is pollution related to the water cycle...the worst pollutant of all

BLOG:  How does water teach us morality?  Does ecology have an ethical base?

  

              Cordd...the water sprite                             Roti...his best friend

Questions about Ecology, Diversity, Sustainability Make for an Excellent Podcast Interview

Questions about Ecology, Diversity, Sustainability Make for an Excellent Podcast Interview

How is it possible that the most intellectual creature to ever walk the planet Earth is destroying its only home? – Jane Goodall

How would you define the effect of these important words on you and your family? Do they warrant more discussion about common environmental problems, denial of ecosystems, loss of species, too much waste pollution, material over-consumption, not to mention global warming.  

MISSION STATEMENT:  As a society, we must have an affinity for our finite planet and  must never diminish the Big Picture of survival in our limited biosphere without having a personal relationship to the diversity and symbiosis of all living and non-living things on Earth.

Ongoing research has opened new personal windows of understanding and appreciation. Nature ripples in her streams, languishes in her lakes, whispers in her wind, wavers fathoms deep into oceans, holds the baby bird, watches the green caterpillar on a cabbage leave, entertains families on a beach … and embraces the only life we have on Earth. But who will speak on behalf of Nature as a living, breathing entity unto herself for future generations? 

I look forward to podcast shows which may be interested in discussing ecology from Nature’s perspective. A previous blog outlined 10 questions with two given answers:

 Why is it important to know the similarity between biosphere. ecology, ecosystem and environment?

What is the interesting relationship between water molecule and a hydrocarbon?

Here are two more questions to answer on a podcast interview:

1. Why is environmental sustainability based on biological diversity?
2. What are some amazing Cyclical Truths discovered in a water cycle journey that may be less known?

1. Why is environmental sustainability based on biological diversity?

Every ecosystem has four parts or levels ... if one is missing, then the other parts will be unbalanced ... first rule of all ecosystems:

 1. Non living elements the sun, air, water  2. primary food producers 3. secondary consumers 4. decomposers to return the nutrients as well as release gases for breathing.

 

What is biodiversity: defined as all variety of living species of plants, animals, bacteria and fungi, and human beings. Their survival is based on their diversity, interactions and co-dependence in any given ecosystem to maintain balance and support life with food, clean water, medicine and shelter.

However, some reports (Global Assessment -2019 and WWF - 2018) have noted an average 60% decline in global population of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians where many species may even face extinction. 

The reasons are population growth requiring one third of land mass and 75% fresh water for crops or livestock production.

Other human infractions are over fishing the ocean, clear cutting forests, depleting natural resources,  polluting our water and worsening a climate crisis. 

What is environmental sustainability? defined as maintaining and protecting biodiversity  that allows humans to satisfy their needs without exceeding the capacity of its supporting ecosystems to regenerate the services necessary to meet the long-term needs of future generations. 

We must realize as both individuals and corporate citizens, no matter how small or large, that we must help to maintain our environment with every positive action as part of a larger cycle. We can check out "green teams," improve eco-friendly supply chains, and reduce harmful or excessive waste. Our planet, society, and economy must sustain our future generations.

For example, if you cut down trees, make a plan to reforest. 

If you have a manufacturing factory, make sure your emissions are up to code.

If you run an industrialized agricultural operation, improve crop rotation, use less fertilizers or pesticides.

2. What are some of the less known but amazing Cyclical Truths discovered in a water cycle?

Each ecosystem has its own energy cycle which contains all of the living species and all non-living elements in any particular environment, whether as a single tree, a forest or even a puddle. This energy flows from the sun through plants, primary food producers, secondary consumers like animals and humans, and microorganisms which ends with decomposition in order to recycle the process again. 

In fact, numerous interdependent cycles are required for ecology to balance and sustain these many lifeforms and systems in an inclusive, cooperative biosphere. 

• food chain starts with sun’s energy for producer organisms  (such as grass or trees) to make their own food, for consumers (such as animals and humans), to decomposing species. Energy and nutrients pass from one link to another.  For example, if you eat a hamburger for lunch, you are part of a food chain that started with grass to cow to human.
• pesticide cycle are chemicals like insecticides, fungicides, or herbicides. They can be absorbed by insects, fish and other organisms, blow away to non-sprayed areas, flow with rain water into streams or seep through the soil into ground water and remain in the environment for years. Pesticides damage ecosystems by disrupting food chains as part of food webs, or decrease biodiversity through loss of populations, even cause extinction of species. Also note that the higher up in a food chain, the more concentration of chemicals at the top.  For example, from a grasshopper to a shrew to an owl who gets sick is called  bioamplification.
• nitrogen cycle is the circulation of nitrogen in various forms through nature. Nitrogen is essential to life because it makes proteins and nucleic acids.  Most of the atmosphere is nitrogen gas, but this gas can only be used by plants and animals if first transformed by microbes called nitrogen fixation or nitrification.
• carbon cycle is probably the most important cycle as explained in a previous blog about the relationship between a water molecule and a hydrocarbon. Bottom line ... if too much carbon dioxide is returned to the atmosphere, an imbalance of greenhouse gases will influence global warming.Just think, a tree will use 48 pounds of carbon dioxide in year and supply enough oxygen for up to 4 people daily.

And so, this special story about an incredible journey to discover Cyclical Truths was written to combine imagination, fantasy with scientific reality. The water sprite with roots is personified as a friend who experiences many encounters, imbalances, fears and hopes in his natural ecological journey. Because he shares an affinity with any organic life form derived from carbon and hydrogen, he can communicate with other beings and express their stories from their realities. Most importantly, he talks the walk through his mission of discovering cyclical truths from the sun to water to nutrients to plants to animals to decomposing bacteria to respecting the biodiversity essential for all life. 

Who do you know in the podcast sphere of influencers who may be interested in talking about our one and only blue planet, it's biodiversity and cry out for environmental  sustainability? Once again you can check out the other 10 questions for podcast interview on previous blog link above.

What questions do you have about our earth's biology and how to maintain and respect it?
What actions or changes do you see that may help or harm our future generations?

Sincerely,
Annemarie
amarie10@gmail.com
833 471 4661 (leave message and the best time to talk)
https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com

Excerpt from The Incredible Journey of a Water Sprite with Roots

      Stentor stretches his long neck as long as he can.

"This is termed the food chain and it is part of the great ecological cycle.  This is one of the great Cyclical Truths … if one part lives, then the other part lives; if one part is destroyed then the other part will be destroyed in time.

Who gave Mother Nature such divine plans, how to look after even the smallest, to even the largest. Isn't ecology wonderful how it makes plants, animals and humankinds can stay living in co-operation? Isn't co-operation wonderful, a true democracy through diversity?"

Co-operation … co-operation … so many heads are now reciting the same word and thought..