Far from the fires of summer and fed by the torrential rains of November, the lichens are in their full glory right now. Worldwide, lichens take as much carbon out of the […]
Global Warming & Cooling Cycles, Okanagan Style

When the apple trees are pumped full of nitrogen and water to make the apples big and keep them from burning when they can’t get cool in the summer sun, then some […]
Balancing the Atmosphere With Algae

So, on the grasslands, blue green algae (part of this healthy soil crust in the Cariboo) pulls nitrogen from the sky and makes it available to plants. So does the lichen on […]
Global Warming: A Gift from Alberta for Your Christmas Tree

I found this bit of fun in the bush behind our house at 150 Mile House in 2005. Perfect for getting you going in the Christmas season, eh!
Climate Change? Not This Time

It used to be that Canada geese, those endearing and silly honkers, flew south to the United States for the winter, and then came back north. Now they honk around the Okanagan […]
Getting Intimate With Global Cooling Processes

A gopher mound cools the earth by making a trail of bare-soil seed-beds that hold the snow and reflect light and heat. The plants that sprouted there in September need that cover […]
What Saskatoons, Elms and Ashes Can Teach Us About Global Warming

The buds of saskatoons opened on February 1 this year. We can expect the cold to keep them in this expectant state for many weeks yet. Look at the tiny blossoms touching the […]
Every Mound of Grass is a Greenhouse
I live in an exotic landscape on a planet whirling through solar space, in which every greenhouse has a heating system pointed straight at the sun, to melt water and get things […]
How to Beat Global Warming By Turning the Grasslands Upside Down

Water has a surface tension. It divides light into bands of energy. It keeps some and sends more away, but not evenly. So does mullein. In mullein’s case, it covers its pulpy, […]
Global Warming is Half the Story
Naomi Klein has written a strong, compassionate article about this summer’s fires and hurricanes, and has illustrated it with stunning and heartbreaking photographs. https://theintercept.com/2017/09/09/in-a-summer-of-wildfires-and-hurricanes-my-son-asks-why-is-everything-going-wrong/ Her title suggests that her purpose may have […]