Surf’s Up
Acrylic on Canvas: 48” by 36”/ $ 699.
It’s All About Water!
A short while ago I read a book titled The First Americans: In Pursuit of Archaeology’s Greatest Mystery by Jake Page. It was fascinating to learn of cultures who were in this country as far back as 40,000 years. Previous Archaeological thinking had suggested that the Clovis people, a name taken from the arrow points they made, came over the land mass in the Bering Straits approximately 12,000 years ago. It has been quite a struggle to convince Clovis diehards that people populated the Americas before that time.
The part that fascinated me the most, however, had to do with arguments that were made around the advances and receding of various ice ages. What stuck in my memory is that these climate changes occurred rapidly and not over tens of thousands of years as I previously thought.
In paying attention to the Paris talks and listening to climatologists speak of rising sea levels, I am reminded that hundreds of thousands of people face displacement. As I mentioned in my last newsletter, “When we speak of migrations from Syria, we haven’t seen anything like what will happen when low lying countries are flooded.
This week my cousin’s wife brought to my attention an article about the Quinault Indian Tribe in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. They gained recent press by taking it’s environmental plea to Paris. The tribe has a small village at the mouth of the Quinault River, relying on a sea wall that was recently repaired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to protect them from the encroaching Pacific Ocean. The temporary fix will not last, so the tribe has decided that it is going to have to move their 700 members, school, court, police and homes to another location.
The tribe has also experienced the drying up of a glacier that used to bring them cool water during the summer. Now the river runs dryer, effecting the salmon runs that support their Indian Nation.
In the short run, those who live in coastal cities throughout the world are going to have to prepare now by protecting natural shoreline buffers and building protective barriers. Without preparation, coastal wetlands, that protect the shore from flooding are going to be damaged, leaving local wildlife with less habitat.
Of the 20 countries the largest populations at risk from flooding are in China at about 50 million people, followed by Vietnam, Japan, India, and Bangladesh. By percentage of population the Netherlands is first at 47%, then Vietnam, Thailand and Japan. The US is not immune, with about 3.1 million people at risk.
Other causes of migration have to do with desertification of land due to global warming, over grazing of animals, and expansion of crop-growing ares. These are among the reasons there is currently so much fighting in the middle east. Areas like the Amazon also are in danger of becoming deserts due to deforestation. Forests and rivers running dry affect wildlife and drinking sources, contributing to war over who controls water resources.
It is important not to bury our heads, but a time to take action, to prepare for a future with mass migrations continuing. The climate summit is concerned with stopping greenhouse gasses but that is not enough. Another world wide conference needs to be called to prepare for widespread displacement of populations due to climate change.
Artwork is always for sale. Please contact me at marilynne@eichingerfineart.com.
I look forward to hearing your comments below.
http://www.npr.org/2015/12/01/455745765/facing-rising-waters-a-native-tribe-takes-its-plea-to-paris-climate-talks – About the Quinault tribe.
http://www.weather.com/science/environment/news/20-countries-most-risk-sea-level-rise-20140924 – 20 most at risk countries.
http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/impacts/effects/coastal.html – about climate change and coastal regions.
http://www.worldpreservationfoundation.org/topic.php?cat=climateChange&vid=23#.VmdmXISsZHg – desertification.
Home » Blog » It’s All About Water!
Table of Contents
Surf’s Up
Acrylic on Canvas: 48” by 36”/ $ 699.
It’s All About Water!
A short while ago I read a book titled The First Americans: In Pursuit of Archaeology’s Greatest Mystery by Jake Page. It was fascinating to learn of cultures who were in this country as far back as 40,000 years. Previous Archaeological thinking had suggested that the Clovis people, a name taken from the arrow points they made, came over the land mass in the Bering Straits approximately 12,000 years ago. It has been quite a struggle to convince Clovis diehards that people populated the Americas before that time.
The part that fascinated me the most, however, had to do with arguments that were made around the advances and receding of various ice ages. What stuck in my memory is that these climate changes occurred rapidly and not over tens of thousands of years as I previously thought.
In paying attention to the Paris talks and listening to climatologists speak of rising sea levels, I am reminded that hundreds of thousands of people face displacement. As I mentioned in my last newsletter, “When we speak of migrations from Syria, we haven’t seen anything like what will happen when low lying countries are flooded.
This week my cousin’s wife brought to my attention an article about the Quinault Indian Tribe in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. They gained recent press by taking it’s environmental plea to Paris. The tribe has a small village at the mouth of the Quinault River, relying on a sea wall that was recently repaired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to protect them from the encroaching Pacific Ocean. The temporary fix will not last, so the tribe has decided that it is going to have to move their 700 members, school, court, police and homes to another location.
The tribe has also experienced the drying up of a glacier that used to bring them cool water during the summer. Now the river runs dryer, effecting the salmon runs that support their Indian Nation.
In the short run, those who live in coastal cities throughout the world are going to have to prepare now by protecting natural shoreline buffers and building protective barriers. Without preparation, coastal wetlands, that protect the shore from flooding are going to be damaged, leaving local wildlife with less habitat.
Of the 20 countries the largest populations at risk from flooding are in China at about 50 million people, followed by Vietnam, Japan, India, and Bangladesh. By percentage of population the Netherlands is first at 47%, then Vietnam, Thailand and Japan. The US is not immune, with about 3.1 million people at risk.
Other causes of migration have to do with desertification of land due to global warming, over grazing of animals, and expansion of crop-growing ares. These are among the reasons there is currently so much fighting in the middle east. Areas like the Amazon also are in danger of becoming deserts due to deforestation. Forests and rivers running dry affect wildlife and drinking sources, contributing to war over who controls water resources.
It is important not to bury our heads, but a time to take action, to prepare for a future with mass migrations continuing. The climate summit is concerned with stopping greenhouse gasses but that is not enough. Another world wide conference needs to be called to prepare for widespread displacement of populations due to climate change.
Artwork is always for sale. Please contact me at marilynne@eichingerfineart.com.
I look forward to hearing your comments below.
http://www.npr.org/2015/12/01/455745765/facing-rising-waters-a-native-tribe-takes-its-plea-to-paris-climate-talks – About the Quinault tribe.
http://www.weather.com/science/environment/news/20-countries-most-risk-sea-level-rise-20140924 – 20 most at risk countries.
http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/impacts/effects/coastal.html – about climate change and coastal regions.
http://www.worldpreservationfoundation.org/topic.php?cat=climateChange&vid=23#.VmdmXISsZHg – desertification.
Table of Contents