Good to Know

  HOW BENEFICIAL ARE TREES? medicine cabinets - 1 out of 4 pharmaceuticals are tree based (rainforest) food baskets - tre es provide fruits, nuts, and berries for people and wildlife  air filters-   trees absorb nasty pollutants from the air  ear plugs - trees and shrubs reduce noise pollution Earth’s saviour - trees are carbon sinks reducing GHG  municipality money makers - trees provide recreation and tourism  air coolers - trees cool asphalt on streets and parking lots extending the life of asphalt windbreaks- trees in fields shield against wind and help protect crops snow fences - spruce trees planted close together along highways prevent snow from drifting onto roads helping to reduce accidents privacy fences - trees can block unattractive views natural healers - h ospital patients with views of trees recover faster   r ain umbrellas - trees intercept rainfall and reduce run-off natural energizers - many studies have shown if you go for a w...

CODE RED FOR MOTHER EARTH!  Whenever there is a Code Red warning, everyone knows there is some kind of serious and immediate emergency. All involved personnel spring into action and as quickly as possible play their specific role to save lives, mitigate the damage, and do everything in their power to stabilize the situation and return to normalcy. Recently world renown, highly regarded, and vigorously trained scientists warned leaders from every country that the whole Earth is facing a global emergency requiring a Code Red warning. For the first time in history we are all being impacted by global overheating, climate chaos, and unprecedented extreme weather events that are more frequent, more severe, and last longer.   Leaders of the world including the G20 countries the clock is ticking! Tick! Tick! Tick! And like Greta Thunberg declared bla, bla, bla is no longer acceptable or helpful! You can no longer ignore the catastrophic and devastating impacts global overheatin...

GANDER AND 7, 000 STRANDED PASSENGERS    20  years ago the World Trade Center was attacked; the Pentagon went up in flames, 3,000 died    on that harrowing day. All the planes in the sky carrying over 7, 000 passengers were ordered not to land in the US, just in case missiles had been ordered to attack all planes – the airspace shut down.   The Us now    faced with an impossible dilemma! Luckily,    the US’s steadfast ally readily opened up an international airport at Gander on the island of Newfoundland, known locally as “the rock”.     People from Newfoundland are known for their generous hearts, their selflessness, and their willingness always to lend a helping hand. They knew the passengers    would be    frightened and    frantic with worry as they had no idea where they had landed nor why. The residents of Gander –a town of 10, 000 and surrounding small villages now faced a logistics night ma...

    THE  NEED TO COOL OUR CITIES   By 2050, 68 % of people are expected to live in urban centers. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin (2019) found that American cities need 40% urban canopy to significantly reduce urban heat.  Unfortunately, very few cities, especially in poorer countries have green spaces with towering trees.  As well as helping to reduce urban temperatures, trees provide a myriad astounding benefits to all of us here on Earth. o trees are the cheapest, safest, and most effective tools for mitigating the devastating impacts of climate chaos  such as famine producing droughts and deadly floods  o the roots of trees prevent good soil from being blown away and turning large tracts of land into sandy deserts o the shade of trees keep spawning grounds for fish and other aquatic life cool so  the eggs do not dry out from the intense heat of the sun o   trees help reduce  flooding and ero...

     AMAZON - DID YOU KNOW? Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon is the richest man in the world and in July 2021 it was reported that he became the first trillionaire in the world! If you want to visualize how much money that is- think about how long it would take to dig a million holes  2000 times and fill each one with a million dollars!  Not only did he not pay any taxes, whatsoever, last year, (2019) but through a series of tax loop holes with complete disregard for the survival of the American economy , this self- serving CEO readily collected  129 million dollars back from the US government. His employees make a measly $ 28, 465 per year!    He has been described as a “cold blooded corporate titan”.   Every time you buy from Amazon you are contributing to the demise of the local businesses in your town. For every  single job  Amazon creates, 2  jobs , often much better, are lost in your local community. Bez...

W HALES AND GHG EMISSIONS Most people on Earth are completely ignorant of the fact that whales actually help reduce global overheating! How is this possible? 50% of the world’s carbon is actually stored in coastal ecosystems.   The oceans actually suck up 25% of the carbon we produce   and 25% is absorbed by land plants and trees. When most marine animals poop the excrement sinks to the bottom of the oceans. But, that is not the case with whales.   Whales’ poop does not sink to the bottom. It’s like a slurry floating at the surface and when it was analyzed it was found to contain high levels of iron and nitrogen. This nitrogen helps feed phytoplankton which bloom profusely as it   floats on the   ocean’s surface. When phytoplankton photosynthesizes they remove carbon dioxide   from the atmosphere which is   a huge contributor to global overheating. The whale poop-phytoplankton- carbon-reduction relationship  is  a perfect...

 R ESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH In 1894 attending residential schools for all Indigenous children was made compulsory. This school operated for over 100 years until 1996.    The purpose of the schools was to remove the Indigenous children from the influence of their own special culture and assimilate them into the dominant Canadian culture. The majority of residential schools were operated by the Catholic Church. One would have expected to carry out the Government’s mandate that the teaching of Christ would have guided all actions in teaching Indigenous children, such as, readily demonstrating love, kindness, understanding, consideration, fairness, and justice.  “Let the little children come to me and not hinder them, the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” And Jesus took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them, and blessed them. As well, would one not more readily embrace a different culture, if the representatives of the dominant cult...