The Serviceberry: Abudance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer

 

   What is love? Love is empathy, cooperation and care; love works for restoration and harmony; Love cares about respect, justice and sustainability; it inspires gratitude and reciprocity. It expresses itself in the gifts of Mother Earth, which are assaulted by greed. What is greed? Greed is violence, oppression, lust and corruption.

    Do your choices align with love or do they align with greed?

    I highly recommend Robin Wall Kimmerer’s latest book. If I belonged to a book club, I would offer it as a thought-provoking source of discussion and inspiration.

 

   The Gift economy

   I had never heard of “gift economies” before. It was a novelty concept. I became aware of it for the first time when I read The Serviceberry.

   The Serviceberry is an introspective invitation to belong to a gift economy, one that thrives in acts of gratitude, kindness and reciprocity.

   “Gift economies arise from an understanding of earthly abundance and the gratitude it generates.”

   “In ecological economics, the focus is on creating an economy that provides for a just and sustainable future in which both human life and nonhuman life can flourish.”

   I have to admit that my actions, aspirations and ideas align with the foundation of this little book. I read it in only two hours, and now I am returning to it to reflect on the author’s thoughts and insights, and to gain a deeper understanding of it. After reading this book, I came to the realization that I carve a balance between the demands of a market economy and the volunteering of my work as a member of the gift economy. The joys I harvest as a result of it are robust and amazing…

 

 

The gift of water

 

Market economies commodify the gifts of the Earth. An example of this is the commodification of clean water. I appreciate the way in which she describes the situation:

      “It was previously unthinkable that one would pay for a drink of water; but as careless economic expansion pollutes fresh water, we now incentivize privatization of springs and aquifers. Sweet water, a free gift of the Earth, is pirated by faceless corporations who encase it in plastic containers to sell. And now many can’t afford what was previously free, and we incentivize wrecking public waters to create demand for the privatized.  What induces people to buy bottled water from a corporation more convincingly than contaminated water flowing from the faucet?”

  The system causes several kinds of scarcity to make a profit of them. This one really made me think about the situation from a new perspective, because this is exactly what the fossil fuel corporations do and it is why they have worked so hard for decades to thwart the development of clean energies that are necessary to protect the quality of air and water and to address climate change.

 

Clean energy to address climate change

  When choices are made to reinforce and promote the production of clean energy, the quality of water and air are also protected. In contrast, keeping coal plants open and ditching rules that help to protect the quality of water and air are actions that not only make people sick, but also create a scarcity of clean water and air. These actions also affect the climate, and worsening climate change leads to food scarcity.  

 This made me think about what Donald Trump is doing: he is keeping coal plants open and loosening restrictions that protect the quality of water and air. As a result of the weakening of these restrictions, mercury, lead and other dangerous chemicals are released into the environment. These contaminants poison the air and water. I invite you to do your research and find out the effects that these contaminants have on babies and children…Knowledge is power, so empower yourself.

 

  Robin Wall Kimmerer summarizes the situation in a way that illuminates the reality of what is happening:

                                             “Climate catastrophe and biodiversity loss are the consequences of unrestrained taking by humans.”

   For some people gift economies are utopian ideals that are not realistic, but the alternative is not sustainable either, so what are we supposed to do?

  The good news is that when you open your awareness to the actions of gift economies and give them a name, you can see the sprouting buds of gift economies around you. They are not rare or strange. 

 

   Let’s share some simple hints to help the gift economy flourish in its own right…

“Never take the first one. Never take the last.”

“Take only what you need.”

“Take only that which is given.”

“Never take more than half. Leave some for others.”

“Harvest in a way that minimizes harm.”

“Use it respectfully. Never waste what you have taken.”

“Share.”

 “Give thanks for what you have been given. Give a gift in reciprocity for what you have taken.”

  I endeavor to do so with every post I write… It is an action of gratitude for every book I read. Her messages resonate strongly with My Writing Life: Awareness, Reflection, Inspiration.

 

 

The gift of her book

   The author’s advance payments from this book about the gift economy of the natural world will be donated as a reciprocal gift, back to the land, for land protection, restoration, and justice in support of healing land and people.

   She has an important suggestion  here: Consider reciprocating the gifts of the Earth in your own way. “Whatever your currency of reciprocity—be it money, time, energy, political action, art, science, education, planting, community action, restoration, acts of care, large and small—all are needed in these urgent times.”

   The Serviceberry cites some interesting books to encourage the reader to learn more about the topics she presents. I disagree with the reviewers who said her book is “repetitive.” Nothing could be further from the truth. When one cares to pay attention to genuinely learn about what she is offering, one is better prepared to welcome the new information that is necessary to understand the topic better. Those reviewers may have poor attention spans, which can be an impediment in understanding the depth of the content.

 

  The need for incremental changes

  Gradual incremental changes are necessary to build up the foundation of the so-called gift economies. It takes patience, integrity and motivation to make it possible, but it also needs a new kind of awareness. Gratitude is essential. Actions of solidarity and cooperation are part of the gift economies. Bear in mind that these actions are often discouraged in authoritarian regimes because tyrants want to pit people against each other to weaken them, and to abuse power and oppress communities.  Tyrants and their sycophants use people’s distrust and skepticism to divide and dominate people. In other words, what Robin proposes is the antidote to greed, abuse and exploitation. It is a form of creative resistance to the abuse caused by greed. It requires an open mind and a genuine motivation to improve the current situation.

 

If you enjoyed this post, you can check my writing on the following books:

 

The Permaculture Transition Manual

 

How can I help? Saving Nature with your Yard

 

The book of Hope

 

Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer

 

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

 

What a Bee Knows

 

Birding to Change the World

 

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, professor and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology and the founder of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment.

 The charming Illustrations are by John Burgoyne. You can visit his site here:

 

 

 

Happy World Bee Day!

 

Honor the bees today and everyday by avoiding the use of herbicides and pesticides. Plant native plants that have not been sprayed with harmful chemicals. Learn how to support the bees by reading the following article. Enjoy their visits to the garden. Fearing bees is an act of ignorance, so learn as much as you can about them and celebrate their presence in the garden. By supporting bees, you also help other pollinators that sustain the health of the ecosystem as well as your own health.

https://xerces.org/pesticides/risks-pesticides-pollinators

 

The Permaculture Transition Manual: A Comprehensive Guide to Resilient Living

 

   Due to the high prices of groceries one of my goals is to optimize the production of food in my backyard.

  Think about the benefits of enjoying fresh, locally grown food while supporting the earth and helping to maintain the water and air clean. What is not to like about this? To accomplish this goal, I rely on the principles of permaculture.

   The Permaculture Transition Manual by Ross Mars is a good resource to work toward the goal of producing more nutrient-dense food in less space while supporting the health of the planet. In doing so, we collaborate to sustain the ecosystems that support life, the production of healthy food and the supply of clean water.

  You don’t even need to own a garden to do so. You can join a community garden and work to apply permaculture principles there. Another option is to support a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that you trust. The options do not exclude each other, which means that you can choose all of them.

   Supporting initiatives and policies that encourage the development and promotion of permaculture principles is a path of health, balance and harmony with one another and with the earth. It creates the setting for an environment that is better able to respond to the challenges posed by climate change. Furthermore, it helps to reduce carbon emissions which contribute to worsening climate change, and it avoids the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides that poison our water, air and soil.

 

Food sovereignty and food security. What do they mean?

 The first chapter of the book is a clear introduction to the topic. It also explains the difference between food sovereignty and food security.

 Food sovereignty has to do with the control we have over the food we eat. Having food sovereignty means that we have more responsibility and are more involved over the policies that apply to food production.

Food security is about access to sufficient food that is safe and nutritious. There are four components of food security: availability, access, use and stability.

  Access can be compromised when people cannot afford to buy the food they need to stay healthy. The use of food can also be affected when certain foods are not safe to be consumed. There are multiple aspects of food security and food sovereignty that are threatened and affected by the current regime in the United States of America. You can read about this here, and I encourage you to share this information extensively with your networks:

   Irrespective of your political party affiliation, you will be appalled to learn that the Trump regime is taking away the subsidies that supply fresh, healthy food to school children and, in doing so, it hurts local farmers who count on that income to support and sustain their farms.

  I do not understand why any person in his or her right mind would vote to take food away from children while compromising the farmers who supply the food. It makes no sense.

 

Permaculture goes beyond food production

 While it is true that permaculture is about growing enough food and having a lifestyle that will enable you to become self-reliant—not self-sufficient-- and less dependent on the marketplace and agencies outside of our control, permaculture is also a way of life in which we choose to live more sustainably. It is about how we deal with water, energy, soil and other living beings in sustainable ways. I like how Ross Mars summarizes it through this powerful statement:

                                           “Permaculture is fundamentally a vocation, a way of life. It is about taking responsibility for your life and doing the things you feel are important for your own well-being and for the wellbeing of others and to help the environment.”

 

    Unfortunately, the American regime is under the control of politicians who do not believe in sustainability. Donald Trump’s executive orders have the intention to ditch the policies that curb carbon emissions. This assault will worsen the quality of the air we all breathe, irrespective of one’s political affilitation. What kind of “president” gets rid of regulations that help citizens protect the quality of the air they breathe?

 Air pollution is one of the biggest killers across the world.

  Donald Trump’s executive orders  and his big ugly bill will help to kill more people. Why? His priority is to serve the interests of the fossil fuel corporations that help fund his political campaigns.  Yet everybody needs clean air and water. It does not matter what political party they belong to. 

  The fossil fuel corporations may satisfy his interests because they may provide funding for his political campaigns, but polluting the air and worsening climate change do not make America great, so let’s make sure we share the links in this post to help people understand the consequences of the senseless executive orders and the big ugly bill.

   In the meantime, you can also read Ross Mars’ didactic book. It contains several suggestions, advice and information to apply permaculture principles to your garden and lifestyle.

 

 Supplementary links:

https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2025/06/04/trumps-big-ugly-bill-budget-reconciliation/

 

https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2025/05/19/trump-says-he-loves-farmers-hes-dismantling-the-agency-helping-their-communities-survive/

https://apnews.com/article/school-lunch-usda-trump-c1485f824573913fe9a734bbf1273e26

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/12/trump-canned-food-price-metal-tariffs

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/12/climate/trump-ev-power-plant-rollbacks#openweb-convo

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/18/climate/food-crops-heat-rain#:~:text=Rising%20global%20temperatures%20are%20set,to%20a%20sweeping%20new%20analysis.

https://www.cleanairfund.org/news-item/deaths-air-pollution-data-hope/#:~:text=The%20World%20Health%20Organization%20estimates,from%20burning%20wood%20and%20charcoal.

 

Other blog posts you may enjoy:

 Sweet in Tooth and Claw: stories of generosity and cooperation in the natural world by Kristin Ohlson. 

What a Bee Knows, by Stephen Buchmann

Addendum: I attended the peaceful No Kings Protest yesterday (June 14). I took photos of some of the signs to share them here:

Addicted to Growth: Societal Therapy for a Sustainable Wellbeing Future by Robert Costanza

                                     

  Two years before he was born, Robert Costanza’s mother lost her baby when she was six months pregnant. It happened in the year 1948 in Donora, Pennsylvania, with the Donora Smog, an environmental disaster that helped to raise awareness on the dangers of air pollution.

 The incident led to 20 immediate deaths in October, 1948, and another 50 deaths took place within the following month. Respiratory problems affected a large fraction of the population. Robert’s mother lost her baby after she got sick with pleurisy and pneumonia.

  This environmental disaster and the unregulated industrial emissions and car exhaust in big cities like Los Angeles and New York sparked an outcry that led to the creation of the Clean Air Act in 1968. Yet these changes were not followed by any long-term plan to build a sustainable economy.

   How can we develop an economy that is not about providing short-term benefits but that evolves to develop a creative plan to address the issues the system perpetuates consistently? These issues are climate and environmental disruption, biodiversity loss, financial instability, inequality and eroding democracies.

    Robert Costanza argues that the GDP or Gross Domestic Product should not be used as an indicator of a healthy economy. Every country uses GDP to assess the health of the economy. The use of the GDP dominates policy goals and consumerism. Yet the GDP is misleading. He explains this thoroughly in his book Addicted to Growth.

 To understand the limited value of the GDP, take a moment to reflect on the true goal of the economy.

       What is the goal of the economy?

 Robert Costanza states that the economy should sustainably improve human wellbeing, and he reminds us that the quality of human life is interdependent with the quality of all life on the planet. On the other hand, what happens when humans are at the service of the economy? What happens if the economy grows at all costs by exploiting the environment, compromising physical and mental human health and causing the extinction of multiple species?

  According to Robert Costanza, "we are trapped in an addictive pattern of behaviors called social traps, or societal addictions, that provide short-term rewards but are detrimental and unsustainable in the long run.” 

 I would argue that it is detrimental right now if you consider the current effects of the climate crisis as I write these words.

  Robert Costanza’s reflections and facts encourage us to get together to create a vision of the kind of world we want. He also sets the strategies to face the addiction through something called Motivational Interviewing (MI), a non-judgmental approach that is based on fostering a positive vision. He describes the elements of the motivational interviewing technique in detail and I highly recommend this chapter. It has the potential to kindle conversations that may help us find common ground with others, and to work toward a shared vision of the future.

Overcoming an addiction

  “It is rarely effective to confront addicts concerning the damage they are causing to themselves and to others.” Denial is the most likely response when an addict is confronted. For this reason, an introspective read of the MI and the application of these elements in different settings may help create a path of understanding and hope.

 The fossil-fueled economic growth and the “economic growth at all costs” model are important aspects of this societal addiction. We must address it in constructive ways. To do this, Robert Costanza invites us to review how we dealt with societal addictions before. For example, he refers to slavery and tobacco as forms of societal addictions.

  How did societies overcome past addictions? He cites the example of slavery in the United States of America as a form of addiction. The American South wanted the profits of slavery, so they refused to abolish it. Even after slavery ended, it took one hundred years for the Civil Rights Movement to take place, and we are still dealing with the aftermath of slavery.

  Tobacco is another example of a societal addiction. Despite the clear evidence of the effects of tobacco on human health, it took fifty years to reduce smoking rates by fifty percent. Why did it take so long?

 

 “It took 50 years for smoking rates to halve in the face of tobacco companies seeking to lobby governments and muddy the waters of scientific evidence. Advocacy, policies, and education can work but in the face of determined opposition it can take a long time.”

  Like the tobacco industry, the fossil fuel industry knew about the dangers in using their products. They were well aware of the links with climate change and the consequences of spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but they used the strategies of the tobacco industry. They invested in ongoing disinformation campaigns and political lobbying to prevent change.  Robert Costanza makes it clear: “In fact, both the tobacco and fossil fuel industries used many of the same scientists, publicists and advertising firms to downplay the dangerous impacts of their products. Both industries continue to work like drug dealers concerned with their own interests by preventing the addiction from being recognized and overcome.”

 On why I read this book by Robert Costanza

  When I read the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, I became intrigued to learn more about ecological economics, so I researched information on the topic and I came across the works of Robert Costanza. I borrowed his book from the library.

  Robert Costanza is Professor of Ecological Economics at the Institute for Global Prosperity (IGP) at University College London (UCL). He is the 2024 winner of the Blue Planet Prize. His work brought global attention to the previously understated importance of ecosystem services. As a co-founder of ecological economics, a new field of study that recognizes that the economy is embedded in society and a finite biosphere, Professor Costanza advocates for an ecologically sustainable wellbeing society. You can learn more about his work by visiting his website:

https://www.robertcostanza.com/

 

 Conclusion

  If you don’t have time to read the whole book, go to chapter 5 and read pages 102, 111 and 112. I hope this will help you to broaden your perspective on the subject and to set new expectations. I would like to ask Robert Costanza what the universities are doing to integrate ecological economics into mainstream economics.

  Finally, Chapter 6 of Addicted to Growth provides a variety of practical ways through which people and countries are already working to build a sustainable, healthy future in harmony with the environment.  We can all be part of this movement to embody the vision and policies that foster the development of sustainable, healthy, happy and fair societies, so I hope I inspired you to you explore his book. Hopefully, Addicted to Growth: Societal Therapy for a Sustainable Wellbeing Future will be shared in high schools and universities. I strongly encourage educators to read it and share it.

  A world of peaceful, healthy coexistence is possible when we create the medium and mindsets to make it possible.  

 

 Relevant links:

https://sph.emory.edu/about/communications/health-wanted/show-notes/episode-fifteen-smoking/index.html

 

https://commonhome.georgetown.edu/topics/climateenergy/defense-denial-and-disinformation-uncovering-the-oil-industrys-early-knowledge-of-climate-change/

 

https://www.greattransition.org/publication/farming-for-a-small-planet

 

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/11/wildfires-los-angeles-climate-crisis-john-vaillant

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22012025/trump-executive-orders-have-advocates-across-the-nation-on-edge/

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to check my writing on Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

Photo by Sebastian Gabriel. Source: unsplash.com

The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl

 

 “What more could anyone ask from a new year than the promise –or just the hope—of renewal?” Margaret Renkl.

  I dare say that hope is not enough. Hope is in desperate need of awareness, reflection and inspiration to make sustainable, empathic choices.

  I was drawn into Margaret Renkl’s world when I learned about her interest in rescueing a sick fox. Margaret Renkl lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she has formed a close bond with the wildlife on her backyard by observing her surroundings.

  The sick fox was probably suffering from mange. Margaret explains that mange is common in suburban foxes because the “manicured” gardens deprive foxes of the sources of food they need to survive. Under normal, healthy conditions foxes’ immune systems may be able to fight off the mites that cause mange, but suburban foxes suffer the consequences of the use of poisons that people use in their gardens. “Manicured” lawns use different poisons, and Margaret Renkl elucidates it in simple terms:

 “Homeowners set out poisons that keep seeds of weeds from germinating. Then they spray a different poison that kills any plants that germinate anyway. Still another poison kills the insects that eat the “desirable” plants. Yet another kills the field mice trying to survive in a place without fields.

“And those poisons end up in the air and the water. They end up in our bodies, linked to asthma, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, autism, and several cancers.” She is distraught to watch the consequences of bluebirds ingesting poisoned insects, and Cooper’s hawks eating those bluebirds.

  I am thankful for this book, for it conveys the information that can make a difference in our communities.

  Over the years I've tried to communicate her message in several ways to different people, but to no avail. I witnessed a massive increase in the use of pesticides and herbicides recently.

  I used to relish the visit of various kinds of bees on the wildflowers in my pollinator garden, and I wrote about bees a few times here. Then in the year 2024 I hardly saw any bees in my garden. It was a lonely experience.

  I contacted a professor of entomology from a reputable university. I was sent multiple scientific papers, which validate my concerns and support the content of My Writing life blog. I have used several books at My Writing Life blog: Awareness, reflection, Inspiration to motivate people to do the right thing, but it has not been enough.

   I still come across the fake “pollinator gardens” with pesticides on the lawn. It is necessary to communicate the message with clarity: a pollinator garden with pesticides on its lawn is NOT a pollinator garden. Pesticides take a toll on the health of pollinators, so let people know that by using pesticides on their lawn they are not creating a pollinator garden. They are doing just the opposite.

  What is not to like about the graceful flight of a monarch butterfly visiting our backyards?

 

  I am thrilled when I come across a toad in the safe haven of our garden. We don’t spray herbicides and pesticides in our yard. In refraining from spraying poisons, we create a little forest of hope in our tiny corner of Mother Earth.

 I could spend hours appreciating the masterpiece of patterns and colors that Mother Nature put together in this toad’s skin…I had never seen a toad like this one before, so I took this photo. Strangely enough, this toad has the smooth skin of a frog. I am enchanted by the beauty and mystery of this amphibian.  

  Did you know that toads can feed on thousands of mosquitoes every summer? Yes, they do eat a variety of insects, and mosquitoes are included in their menu. We don’t have to poison the toads. They are very sensitive to the chemicals humans use in their gardens. We need the toads to do what they are expected to do in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystems where we can all thrive without poisoning our water, air and soil.  

  With climate change getting worse, no repellent will be able to deal with the consequences of the proliferation of mosquitoes. Diseases such as Dengue and West Nile encephalitis, which are transmitted by mosquitoes, are rising steadily.

  Mosquitoes are part of the source of food for toads and spiders, and we need toads and spiders in the web of life, but the use of pesticides and herbicides are destroying their lives, and, in the process, we are suffering the consequences of this lack of judgment. The bats are also in need of protection, and I explained this before here.

  The gist of The Comfort of Crows

 The Comfort of Crows is akin to a personal journal in which Margaret Renkl shares her connection with wildlife and her concerns over what we humans are doing to the environment and to ourselves. There are threads of her personal life interwoven into her narrative, but the charm of her book lies in her observations of wildlife and her response to her setting. In other words, she shares her poetical musings and the practical ways in which she tries to support what remains amid the destruction caused by irrationality, denial and neglect.

  The limitations of her actions did not stop Margaret Renkl from making choices that leave sparks of hope for the reader.  

   She contemplates the wonders of the four seasons, marveling at the lives of the creatures that surround her. She also shares the grief that emerges from watching nature closely. The effects of climate change and the multiple poisons that people use in their “manicured” gardens are evident.

   I think we should start calling them gardens of death or doom instead of using the word “manicured” gardens to refer to the abuse of such chemicals.

    It was also heartbreaking to read about the loss of some of the trees in her own garden, which took place after the happily married couple next to her backyard died. The builders came with their equipment and harmed the roots of her own old trees.

  As you know, the roots of trees do not understand anything about property lines, so the parts of the roots that were harmed in her neighbors’ home killed her trees altogether.

  The thoughtless actions of these builders could be used as a metaphor and a symbol of the lack of awareness and empathy in certain human behaviors.

 

Trees are not just trees

   Trees provide the oxygen we need to survive. They provide relief from the intense summer heat and protect the soil from erosion. Trees are not just trees, but they are also the organisms that live in them. Furthermore, trees supply the dead leaves that feed the soil, the leaves that form the shelter on the ground to various living beings belonging to complex ecosystems that support our own life on earth, and all these creatures play necessary roles in the precious web of life. You may not see them, but they are there and they need those dead leaves on the ground.  

 

 

  Using mathematics to spark awareness

   You will encounter people who don’t understand that destroying the environment is bad for the economy. I come across them often. We are responsible for helping them understand that supporting the health of ecosystems makes our economies stronger, and we have to make clear that destroying ecosystems is shattering economies across the world. To do so, we can use the power of mathematics. I can give a few examples here:

   A single bat can eat 3,000 insects in one night. Bats contribute one million dollars a year to Thailand’s economy by helping to reduce the loss of rice crops. In the United States of America, bats save three billion dollars every year by protecting corn and cotton crops. In addition to being pollinators, bats’ droppings are effective fertilizers. Poisoning their sources of food is a very bad idea.

  More than 80 percent of the leading 115 major crop species worldwide depend on or partially benefit from floral visitation by animal pollinators. Pollination by animals contribute to an estimated 35 percent of global total crop production. Globally, the animal value of insect pollination of plants was estimated to be around 190.5 billion U.S. dollars.

  In addition to addressing the massive use of pesticides and herbicides, we have to acknowledge and tackle the climate crisis. Climate change will continue to increase the price of food. In 2023 extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts and floods were the main disruptors of food prices, even though the mainstream media has failed to report this critical issue consistently. These events caused widespread damage to crops and livestock globally.

 Rice, for example, cannot get efficiently self-pollinated in hotter temperatures. Extreme heat degrades the grain quality and reduces its yield.

 Severe weather patterns degrade the quality of our produce. Heat waves scorch fruits and vegetables. Furthermore, an excess of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere affects the micronutrient content of produce.  The elevated levels of carbon dioxide led to a decrease in the root uptake of nutrients by the plants according to research. A decline in the content of minerals in the plants, such as zinc, potassium, nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron and copper due to high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been well documented.

 Severe weather events are expensive reasons for crop loss: for example, 118.7 billion dollars in 2021-2022 were lost in crops value.

  In the year 2024, 500 billion dollars were lost in damages in the United States of America due to extreme weather events according to a report by AccuWeather. To understand how disaster events are on the rise, it may be helpful to check the graph from this link of Yale Connections:

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/01/u-s-billion-dollar-weather-disasters-set-an-all-time-record-in-2023-with-28/

 

 The artworks in this post and my final message

   I have shared some of the delightful artworks included in the book. The artist who created the masterpieces is Billy Renkl, Margaret’s brother.

   I will close this post with a quote by Margaret Renkl, because it summarizes what she tries to communicate in The Comfort of Crows:

     “I rejoice in what is eternal, even as I force myself to face what is not, to let my heart be broken again and again and again. The very least I owe my wild neighbors is a willingness to witness their struggle, to compensate for their losses in every way I can, and to speak on their behalf about all the ways I can’t.”

Here’s a video about the differences between toads and frogs and how you can protect them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF0EWfbevrM

 I also invite you to learn about Dr. Tyrone Hayes's story:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp-Bvp2oOyQ

 Feel free to share this blog post with your friends. Let’s create ripples of hope and positive changes for the New Year.

 

 Photo of fox is by Scott Walsh. Source: Unsplash.com

    Relevant links:

https://xerces.org/press/new-report-finds-that-bumble-bees-have-undergone-dramatic-declines

https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/pollination-loss-removes-healthy-foods-from-global-diets-increases-chronic-diseases-causing-excess-deaths/

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/03/we-need-to-talk-about-food-prices/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8803495/

 https://www.beyondpesticides.org

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/26/us-farmers-embracing-wildflowers-prairie-strips-erosion-pollinators

 

If you enjoyed this blog post, feel free to check my writing on the following books:

 Sweet in Tooth and Claw by Kristin Ohlson

What a Bee Knows by Stephen Buchmann

Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid by Thor Hanson

Volcanic Adventures in Tonga by Ann Goth

Addendum: after consulting an expert in amphibians, I learned that my photo shows a Gray Treefrog. (I suspected it could be a kind of frog and I was correct). 

The Darkness Manifesto: on Light Pollution, Night Ecology, and the Ancient Rhythms that Sustain Life by Johan Eklof

 

 Who doesn’t appreciate the beauty of a starry sky? The quiet light of stars and planets and the serenity of the moonlight evoke a sense of mystery and wonder.  For many living beings, however, the light from the stars and the moon is a guide and a resource required for survival.  On the other hand, the artificial lights that humans infuse into the night erase the delicate nature of the night sky.

 The abusive use of garish human lights confuses insects, birds and various living beings who depend on the moon and the stars to get food, mate and thrive.

  Life is regulated by rhythms. Both day and night form the natural rhythm of the world, and respecting this balance supports human health. I appreciate how Johan Eklof details the effects of darkness on the way the human body functions. The hormone fluctuations that result from respecting the natural cycles of light and darkness support the quality of sleep, restoring and bolstering health and stamina.

 Half of all insects are nocturnal. They need several hours of continuous darkness to obtain food and find a mate. Eklof explains it clearly, “The night’s limited light protects these insects, and the pale glow from stars and the moon is central for their navigation and hormonal systems. Disturbances in the natural oscillation between light and dark is therefore a threat to the night insects’ very existence.” The lighting in cities disrupts the health of thousands of living beings in various ways; Eklof’s book helps readers understand this phenomenon on multiple levels. In the state of Florida, for example, research showed how the lighting in cities inhibited the birds’ immune system and the impact of this situation on human beings: “Sparrows with West Nile fever were infected an average of two days longer if they were exposed to artificial light during that time. This increased the risk that the virus would spread to human beings.”

 A single bat can eat 3000 insects in one night. For this reason, they are very good at controlling the population of mosquitoes. Bats can make a big difference in the comfort felt on a terrace on quiet summer evenings. In Asia rice is the most important food for billions of people. One hundred million tons of rice are destroyed every year, but bats help to reduce the loss of rice by feeding on the insects that destroy those crops. Pesticides are not as effective as bats. Besides, pesticides have an impact on human health and the environment. Bats contribute one million dollars a year to Thailand's economy. In North America bats save three billion dollars every year by protecting corn and cotton crops. Bats are also pollinators, just like hummingbirds, bees, bumblebees, and moths. Furthermore, their droppings are effective fertilizers. In order to survive, bats need the darkness of the night.

After a powerful earthquake in Los Angeles in 1994, a power outage hit the city. As a result, the Milky Way, which had not been seen for decades, became visible. The emergency services were flooded with calls about the strange light phenomenon. The power outage allowed people to see something that light pollution had kept hidden...

 Human beings insist on negating the need for darkness by inundating the night with unnecessary lights. Light pollution is often ignored. Yet it contributes to the extinction of several species, disrupting entire ecosystems and wreaking havoc on human health. Eklof’s book educates readers to understand the need for a paradigm shift in the attitude toward the darkness of the night. It inspires us to cherish it and to recognize the essential role it plays in our lives.

  France is ahead in the field of addressing light pollution, but it is not the only country that began to tackle the issue. “France passed legislation in 2019 over how much light can be emitted into the atmosphere. In 2021 the law was fully implemented and regulates everything from brightness and color temperature to time of day and the coverings of street lighting. It remains to be seen how this will be implemented in practice and what the effects will be. But more and more countries are undertaking similar initiatives. In the Austrian capital of Vienna, they’ve started turning out the lights at 11:00 p.m., and in Groningen in the Netherlands industry and agriculture lights are regulated by law. Western Europe seems to have woken up in this regard, while the rest of the world is still at the starting block about the threat of light pollutants.” There are promising examples in other places. For example, the city of Flagstaff in Arizona received a special recognition: the Dark Sky City status as a pioneer in introducing lighting regulations to enhance the night sky. Their ambition was to be able to see the preserved night sky in an urban environment; astronomers were the driving force of the regulations.

 In the meantime, it is not difficult to turn off the lights when we don’t use them. It is even easier to avoid wasting money on lights that invade the precious darkness of the night. We may be rewarded with the image of a peaceful sky illuminated by the glow of the moon and the stars. It is empowering to know that we can save lives through simple actions. 

Photo by Neida Zarate. Source: Unsplash. 

Here's an article with more information and ideas on how to address light pollution:

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/light-pollution/

Light pollution threatens coastal marine ecosystems. Here's an article on this:

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/09/light-pollution-threatens-coastal-marine-systems