F*cking Florida

The great lake Okeechobee is so low that the dry lake bed is on fire.

This area is usually under water. Now it is on fire.

Yes, the drought is bad, terrible, very dry, extreme, yadda yadda. But let's look at what people have done to what was once one of the great lakes of the USA.

"decisions to lower the lake last year in anticipation of hurricanes that didn't materialize...to keep about half of the usual water flowing to canals that help restock South Florida's strained water supplies...cane, vegetable and other growers are struggling to get the lake water they need for irrigation..."

Even with this level of fucking devastation, they don't seem to get the point.

"Weldon says decisions to dump lake water last year worsened the drought's effect on his fishing grounds."Where the fish used to feed and eat, it's not there no more," Weldon said. "A lot of people ain't coming back. ... It's a sad situation."

Sadder for the fish, you ignorant turd.

Once more, Florida rapes the land until its dead, and then complains that it's not fun anymore.

Link to article

Climate change + flower shows = "unprecedented challenges"

"Last month's record temperatures mean that spring is up to a month in advance of its normal period over much of the country - and as a result, the flowers being carefully nurtured for Chelsea, which opens a week on Monday, have been blooming far too early.

A panoply of gardening tricks is having to be employed by growers to hold back the march of nature and keep prize specimens from "going over" before the Royal Horticultural Society's flagship annual event, one of the world's premier gardening festivals. Those tricks range from cold stores and dark tunnels, to constant movement of plants in and out of light and warmth, repeated deadheading - and even individual "straitjackets" for flower buds.

Another problem has been a plague of pests. Jekka McVicar, who is growing organic herbs at Alveston, near Bristol for her Chelsea exhibit, has found so many greenfly on plants such as lettuce and mint that she has had to brush them off with a dry paint brush (not being able to use pesticides as an organic grower). "It's very time-consuming," she said.

Chris Beardshaw, who is recreating an Edwardian country house garden, said that columbines, for example, which had already flowered, were having to be replaced with achilleas. "Normally you would not expect achilleas to flower until late June or even early July," he said." LINK

Great actual headline: Global Swarming

FANTASTIC.

"Climate change is not the wrath of God, but one possible consequence of rising global temperatures may be almost Biblical in nature: a population explosion of bugs. " LINK

The irony- it burns, it burns. Again.

So, if you read the post about the ludicrously expensive and oh-so-fashionable eco-totes, and maybe thought, well, $960 for a Hermes shopping tote is a bit out of line, but gee, that Anya Hindmarch "I'm not a plastic bag" bag sounded neat-o, well, think again.

"However, the I'm Not a Plastic Bags are actually even less "green" than customers realised: they were made in China, using cheap labour, from non-fair trade, non-organic cotton - a fabric as environmentally damaging as plastic. Petra Kjell, campaigner with the Environmental Justice Foundation, says: "Cotton accounts for 16 per cent of global insecticide releases - more than any other single crop. Of the $2bn of chemical pesticides used on cotton crops each year, at least $819m are considered toxic enough to be classified as hazardous by the World Health Organisation. Aldicarb is one of the most toxic pesticides applied to cotton, yet it is also the second-most used pesticide in global cotton production. One teaspoonful of aldicarb on the skin would be sufficient to kill an adult."

Sainsbury's issued a statement saying it had "never claimed the bag was fair trade or organic. The point of the bag is that it can be re-used, thereby saving millions of plastic bags from being used in future years. The bag was designed to raise awareness of the issue of the abusive use of disposable plastic bags, a goal which it has achieved internationally, beyond anyone's expectations". However, many shoppers reported that their I'm Not a Plastic Bag purchase was handed to them in... a plastic bag." LINK

California drought effects being seen in wildlife.

This California drought is prettty awful- 25% of normal rainfall has fallen this year in the LA area, and of course, that is having an impact on the flora and fauna.

""We don't have poppies this year. This is about the worst we've seen," she said. "It's desert-brown."

The relentlessly dry weather has made this a spring like no other across the region, wreaking havoc on the ecosystem.

The effects of the prolonged dryness can be seen and felt all around. Seasonal ponds are cracked dry, leaving no haven for some frog eggs or fairy shrimp to hatch. Some flower-dependent butterflies are staying dormant for another season.

Plants aren't bearing berries; some oak trees aren't sprouting acorns. Bees are behaving strangely.

The problem is apparent in Ventura County, where ranchers are selling their cattle early or thinking about moving them to other states. Ranchers' lands, starved of rainwater, have not grown the natural grasses key to feeding cattle through the spring and summer." LINK

LA takes eco-friendly shopping totes to predictable absurd heights, but still, this seems like a good thing.

This is somewhere between laughing, crying, and cheering.

"There's paper. There's plastic. Then there's the $960 reusable Hermes shopping bag.

Originally designed for discerning Europeans, it hits America this summer, and if it sounds like an exotic fluke, consider the new $843 grocery tote by Italian designer Consuelo Castiglioni of Marni.

Or the $495 organic cotton canvas shopper, due out in June from Stella McCartney.

Or the now-famous I'm Not a Plastic Bag by the British handbag designer Anya Hindmarch, which has been selling at more than 10 times its $15 price on EBay.

A spokeswoman for Hermes, for example, said that their new Silky Pop, a hand-wrought silk tote that collapses into a wallet-size pouch of calfskin, was intended as a high-end alternative to the extra fold-up shopping bag that many European women already carry in their purses. ("Say you're out walking. You decide to pick up a few apples, you pull out your bag," she explained, then quickly added: "Though obviously, Hermes clients usually aren't shopping for their own groceries.")

This month's Vogue mentions all four in a call to arms of sorts, urging fashionistas to become more bag-wise: "No loitering, girls," contributing editor Sarah Mower exhorted. "Today, let us go out and harness the power of fashion to change the way the nation shops. One stylish act of rebellion in supermarkets, delis, drugstores and designer emporiums and at market stalls is all it takes: Say no to plastic bags. Whip out your own brilliant alternative. Make people stare. Break a habit. Set a trend."" LINK