Earthfamily Changes

Yesterday was a big day for Earthfamilyalpha.

We broke a page view record.

And, we had the debut of a new contributor , and I am totally jazzed about it. The Culture of Life post is thoughtful and touching. I suspect you will agree.

Several people have e mailed and asked if they can forward their e mails to their own lists or post the link on their sites. The answer of couse is, absolutely. Do it do it do it.

Also, if you have some addresses that you think should go on the distribution list, E Mail them to Earthfamilyalpha@hotmail.com

If you missed these two stories yesterday,

Don't.

The first one may not get much play here inside the shaping zone.

This version is from Al Jazeera but I saw it in the Telegraph and the Guardian.

Panel sounds ecosystem alarm
Wednesday 30 March 2005,

Nearly two-thirds of the ecosystem services that support life on Earth are being degraded or used unsustainably,and the harmful consequences of this could grow significantly worse in the next 50 years, scientists say.

"Any progress achieved in addressing the goals of poverty and hunger eradication, improved health, and environmental protection is unlikely to be sustained if most of the ecosystem services on which humanity relies continue to be degraded," the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis Report, conducted by 1300 experts from 95 countries, said.

Although evidence remains incomplete, there is enough for the experts to warn that the ongoing degradation of 15 of the 24 ecosystem services examined is increasing the likelihood of potentially abrupt changes that will seriously affect human well-being.

And as if we need to give the story a little down home meaning, we have the Bee story:

Parasite thins ranks of vital honeybees
SUSAN SALISBURY Cox News Service
Posted on Tue, Mar. 29, 2005

WEST PALM BEACH - More than $15 billion in U.S. crops rides each year on the tiny legs of an insect.

The honeybee is the major carrier of pollen for seeded fruits and just about anything that grows on a vine. Everything, in other words, from apples to zucchini.

"If honeybees ceased to exist, two-thirds of the citrus, all of the watermelons, the blueberries, strawberries, pecans and beans would disappear," said Jerry Hayes, chief of apiary inspection with the state's Division of Plant Industry.

But now it's the bee itself that is disappearing.

Under attack from a Southeast Asian parasite, vast numbers of the creatures are dying off, worried industry experts say. More than 50 percent of the bees in California, critical to the success of the Golden State's almond crop, have died in the past six months. Frantic growers there have sent out the call around the world, including Florida, for hives.

It's not only California that's suffering the ravages of the determined pest. Experts say as many as 40 to 60 percent of the bees nationwide have perished during the same six-month period.

"It's the biggest crisis that has ever faced the U.S. beekeeping industry," said Laurence Cutts, president of the Florida State Beekeepers Association, and a retired apiary inspector with the state Department of Agriculture.

Uh, in case you haven't thought about it.

We like really, really need bees.


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