Tackling the Climate Change issue
We woke up this morning to a white winter land.
May 12, 2018, 8am MST (green leaves still on the trees)
So what better time is there to discuss the climate than now? I'm not going to get into any debate about whether the climate is due to man made activities, is a natural phenomenon or a combination of both. I'm not going to talk about whether we are warming or cooling either. What strikes me about this topic is how people miss the point.
We need to find ways to deal with the changes, no matter the root causes.
I cannot change other people, but I sure can find ways to survive and change my life style so that I can help Mother Earth. I've been around for over 50 years and when I was a kid, snow in May was an anomaly. Now, snow in May or even September is common place. In fact, in the last 5 years we have had 2 seasons where there was snow on the ground for 6 months or more. I don't ever recall that happening when I was a kid. So what are we doing about it?
We decided this spring that we will now plan for 6+ months of snow for each winter. We already restructured our lives to account for a very short growing season, so despite the early snow, our garden is in and we are in the process of canning, freezing and preserving for the long winter. We were not caught unprepared this year because of the work we have done over the years.
But I know that almost all farmers in the region have been caught unprepared. The industrial food system cannot cope fast enough to deal with these changes. There is a lot of crops still sitting on the ground getting snowed on. Southern Alberta had a drought all year and northern Alberta had rain and now snow. Hay prices have nearly tripled from last year and I expect the harvest to be impacted.
While people are debating climate change, how many people are taking steps to secure their own food stuffs? How many people are planting their own gardens, building green houses and learning how to forage in the bush so that they can survive should the climate take a drastic turn? How many people would consider that the climate has already taken a drastic turn?
I for one, would raise the flag and say that the climate has changed, significantly!!! I've seen it unfold over the last 5 years. I don't need charts, graphs, statistics or other models to prove the point. My own observations have shown me that the weather we once had is no more. So it is up to me to accommodate those changes if we are going to survive them.
September 12, 2018, 10:30am. Ground is white again.
I know deep in my heart that the industrial food system will not survive these changes. It is so large and bloated, that it cannot keep up to the steep curve of changes that I am now witnessing. They can throw all kinds of technology at the problem, but it is too late and it won't work. What is required is that the individual take responsibility for their own needs as the system is cracking under the climate pressures.
Here is the kicker to all of this
If people are dependent upon the system to feed them and the system fails, who is responsible? Not the system. The individual will always be held accountable for their own needs. If the individual fails to provide for his / her own needs, then the individual will die. The individual has NOBODY to blame but themselves.
However, there are abusive, violent, coercive and evil people out there who will do almost anything to entice slavery and dependency so that they can siphon energy from the people. Their own greed and lust for power will result in sabotage and other acts of horror to ensure that people don't work towards independence from these pirates. Whether the climate crashes the system or some other natural or man made trigger causes it, we have a spiritual duty to ensure that we not only survive the crash but thrive as well. We cannot do that if we don't have the skills, knowledge or experience to make that transition. Waiting for the system to crash is too late. We must be proactive and take steps now so that when it does happen, we can protect our family, clans and tribes.
While politicians argue over the cause of the changes, they implement changes to continue sucking the life from the people and ensuring dependency is maintained.
Warning
Mother Earth will not tolerate this abusive and violent behaviour much longer. She will shake herself like a wet dog and when she does, cities will fall, systems collapse and chaos will unfold like never before. Most of us don't remember what it was like in the 30's during the great depression. My dad remembered and told me stories. He said that the farmers were okay because they could grow their own food. The people that suffered the most were the ones that lived in the cities.
In the 30's, 50% of the population was rural and 50% was urban. Today, 2% is rural and the vast majority of that 2% is industrial farmers. 98% of the people depend on that 2%. Do you really think this is not going to be a problem? If you agree with me, chances are you are already growing your own food and working to get out of the cities. A system collapse now will be a thousand times worse than the 'Great Depression'. It will make the Great Depression look like a tea party.
It seems only a short time ago that you were sharing the start of the summer in your part of the world - how quickly time progresses!
I agree completely with your message @wwf, even though I am not as close to the ground as you are most days, things are changing, rapidly.
It does not take a heavily educated person to see that this is going to be a monumental problem.
Absolutely. It's only a case of when.
Indeed time does pass quickly through the summer. My dear brother, I am honoured you stopped by to comment. It has been a while. As I start to feel better, I am able to interact with people a bit more as well.
I spend a LOT of time outside, watching, observing and feeling. I see great changes and this early snow fall is yet another example of the changes. In the last few years we would get snow in early October. This is a first for me as we got snow in mid September. Things are definitely changing my friend. I hope this helps you in your own journey.
I think your assessment is bang on. It's only a matter of when!!! Peace to you brother.
I'm glad you are feeling better, you'll need to be for the coming months I suspect.
It is certainly making me think. Best of luck for the cold months @wwf, take care.
I've been thinking some similar things. Do you follow @mountainjewel? They have some great posts on putting up a high tunnel (sort of greenhouse) for winter growing. I myself am glad to live in a rural area, though renting a house with no garden right now. But I hear all the time of how the farmers are having smaller harvests due to lack of Spring/Summer rain and Winter snow.
I do follow her. I've also posted regarding our FreeDome Greenhouse as well, thought that was almost a year ago. We have done lots of work to be self sufficient. Perhaps it is time to repost some of those old posts.
Yes, farmers are struggling. That is not a good sign. <3
I think occasionally reposting some "oldies but goodies" is a good idea. The population around here changes quite a bit over the months, and it's hard to find anything more than a couple months old.
I may do that. Re-post some of the more popular ones from days gone bye.
Agreed entirely, @wwf!
We haven't seen snow here yet (western Washington state) but fall definitely started about a week ago... normally we have lots of long sunny days till mid-October; now it's cool and rainy.
It really doesn't do us much good to run around in a circle going "the sky's gonna fall!" we need to DO things!
We live on the outskirts of a smaller town (about 9,000 people) and have been doing more and more "urban homesteading" over the past few years, getting rid of the expanse of lawn that was here when we bought the place, and replacing it with food growing areas. Plan to continue doing so. Only thing less than ideal is that we can't keep "livestock" animals according to neighborhood rules, but we're on the water so we have access to fish.
=^..^=
Good for you @curatorcat. The more people that take responsibility for their own food, the better this transition will go. We made sure to be away from any town or large city. While it is decidedly inconvenient, it is also a protection from being over run when the shit hits the fan. Yapping about the problem is not the solution. Actions speak louder than words in my view. Mother Earth will provide for those who did the work to build a healthy relationship with her. Peace to you.
I agree wholeheartedly. If we hadn't been prepared with a large garden and a well-stocked pantry we would have been in trouble a long time ago and we don't have snow. But we do have natural disasters as well as man-made ones.
Last night about we heard from an unofficial source (reliable) that this country will be out of money by November. (we think sooner) Then at 11:34 pm our time we had a 5.9 earthquake epicenter 30 km from our homestead. This was followed by a tsunami alert at 11:54 pm our time. The rest of the night was waiting for the other shoe to drop, namely, the volcano located 40 km from us started rumbling, threatening to erupt.
So if we aren't responsible for own destiny, no else is going to step up to the plate to save the day.
My thoughts and prayers continue to reach out to you and all those in that country. I agree with you. If the shit hit the fan there, you can bet that the government would be looking after itself first before reaching out to help the people. Each individual is responsible for him / her self. When their immediate needs are met, then they can help others. There is a reason why the air lines ask that you put your own mask on first before trying to help somebody else. You cannot help others when you are unconscious or dead! I'm glad that you were prepared and that you are a living example of what I'm talking about. Peace to you sister.
Thank you, @wwf. I hope you are feeling better.
I'm not feeling better, but I am hopeful that the protocol that I'm on will result in a full recovery. I still experience good days and not so good days.
As long as the good days become more frequent and you are making progress. It seems the older we get, the longer our bodies take to recuperate.
@wwf you are absolutely right. I don't know why more people so not reason this way. We must prepare ourselves and adapt quickly before we find ourselves either with no help or at the mercy of the corporatocracy
I don't know why more people don't reason this way either. So be it. These are life and death issues. I cannot express it enough. I've been on a world famous documentary UNGRIP, on more radio shows than I can count, written books, blogs, held workshops and done lots of activism to express my views. Not much more I can do. The rest is up to the individuals themselves.
Grandpa (a farmer born in 1900) told there would come a time when you would have to protect your garden and livestock with a gun as desperate people try to take what is not theirs...
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4 snow free months... less a few days.
Yup. Ready, set, ....
lol... Short summer
good combination and added snow looks so beautiful..