Sunday, August 4, 2019

KELP, forget kale

At a large gathering of a current events discussion group called WHAT on Friday one of the men talked about work being done by WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanic Institute) -- one of the world's leaders in oceanic studies. He quoted a scientist who believes kelp (sea weed to most of us) can be farmed in almost all ocean areas. It can feed millions (even if, like me, they have to get accustomed to the taste) (and I admit I'm not yet a fan of kale but maybe I can forget about it).
However, kelp is not merely a food -- for humans, fishes and probably animals -- but it is an emitter of oxygen to replace that which is being lost in the atmosphere. I Googled it just now and find that is is being farmed several places and processed for consumption. I know it has been part of the diets of Japanese people for a long time.

What good news that is, if it catches on around the world! The Sunday paper is full of bad news so some good news is much appreciated. I had previously read that climate change could be reversed if we would plant 2 billion trees. Well, good luck with that! However an encouraging note in yesterday's paper said that either Eritrea or Ethiopia (neighbors, once a single country) planted 2 Million (a long way from Trillion) trees in the past month.

Meanwhile young white men are taking up guns and going to public places and shooting randomly at innocent people, including children. I cannot imagine what is going in their minds. I can understand anger at someone or some institution but I cannot imagine taking a lethal weapon and pointing it at strangers in a public place and shooting.  But who doesn't remember being a child, making a  pistol of your hand (thumb up, index pointing) and saying "bang, bang, you're dead'? in play ... and sometimes in anger and sometime in jokey way. But ... So I read many things and grasp at little threads of hope, like kelp and trees,getting rid of mini plastic bottles of shampoo.  I would also hope they'd add the "nips" --  mini bottles of alcoholic beverages. Those little bottles are the most prevalent litter in local parking lots and roadsides.

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