Dead Zones Increased Worldwide by a Third Between 1995 and 2007

Dead zones are areas of seafloor where there is not enough oxygen for most marine life to survive. Often these dead zones are caused by an increase of nutrients in coastal waters which leads to excessive phytoplankton growth that depletes oxygen in effected areas.

This map highlights dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay during summer 2005.  Areas in red have low or no oxygen. A study at the College of William and Mary shows that dead zones have increased world-wide by a third between 1995 and 2007.

~exerpt from Global Warning: A Virginian’s Guide to Climate Change.

Merry A. Outlaw, Williamsburg Garden Club

Temperature and CO2 Concentration as Demonstrated by the Vostok Ice Core

Vostek Ice Core Data

 Using data gathered from ice cores in ancient ice deposits of Antarctica, scientists can see carbon levels back over 400,000 years. These scientists have discovered that carbon levels stayed within a fairly close range up until recent times when higher levels have become evident.   At no point in the past 400,000 years did carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere rise above 300 parts (molecules) per million molecules (PPM).  In modern times, however, they are now at roughly 384 parts per million (PPM). 

 Over the past 400,000 years, there has been a close connection between the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the overall temperature of the Earth.  It is so striking a relationship that they look almost like the same data sets in different colors.

~excerpt from Global Warning: A Virginian’s Guide to Climate Change

Merry A. Outlaw, Williamsburg Garden Club

Choking Poison Ivy Tendrils? Invasion of the Aphids? A Garden Club of Virginia member wonders if these sound like horror film titles.

For the next seven months, current and former members of the Conservation and Beautification Committee will travel around the Commonwealth to present a program, “Global Warning: A Virginian’s Guide to Climate Change.” This presentation addresses the science and impacts of climate change and provides various solutions to this problem. Why should the GCV be involved in this discussion? How can we not be? Our members are Virginia’s pre-eminent gardeners, horticulturists, and flower arrangers. We are the caretakers of our Commonwealth’s abundant flora and fauna. We can’t help but notice that lilacs no longer bloom on Mother’s Day; pests are surviving our milder winters; and we have even had to move our Daffodil Show to an earlier date because of changes in bloom time. We are witnesses to these changes.

We are also grandmothers, mothers, sisters, and aunts. Unless changes are made in how we produce and use energy, a child born today could be living on an Earth that is very different from the one we currently inhabit. This discussion is not political. It is one of air quality, water quantity, economic stability, and national security. As Sen. John Warner testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 21, 2009: “Leading military, intelligence, and security experts have publically spoken out that if left unchecked, global warming could increase instability and lead to conflict in already fragile regions of the world. “ He went further to say that these conflicts put our young people at risk as they are called to bring stability to those regions.

This presentation’s message is one of optimism – we can make a difference – there are solutions – and we can take action. The time to begin is now. 

Sallie Sebrell, Nansemond River Garden Club and Blue Ridge Garden Club

The Garden Club of Virginia’s deLacy Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation Nominations Due

Joycelyn Sladen received her award in 2007

Just a reminder: December 1st is the deadline to nominate an individual, or a GCV member club, for the deLacy Gray memorial medal for conservation.  Did you know the following about the distinguished award?:

*It is a memorial to deLacy Thompson Gray,  originally given by The Dolley Madison Garden Club.

*It is presented to an individual member, or a member club, of the GCV.

*The memorial was first awarded in 1965 to recognize outstanding service in the  dissemination of knowledge of Virginia’s natural resources and to encourage their wise use.

*It is presented at the GCV Annual Meeting.

Recent winners include: Suzanne Wescoat, 2009; Eve D. Fout (posthumous) 2008; Jocelyn Sladen, 2007; Rossie Fisher, 2006; and Martha Wingfield, 2005.

To download an application for this prestigious award, please click here.

Merry A. Outlaw, Williamsburg Garden Club

The Last Fall Color in My Garden

A Japanese maple in my yard produces many beautiful leaves that will be composted for soil enrichment.

Merry A. Outlaw, Williamsburg Garden Club

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood for the Garden Club of Virginia’s 51st Annual Conservation Forum

Attendees from all over the Commonwealth gathered in Charlottesville on Friday, November 6, for the Garden Club of Virginia’s 51st Annual Conservation Forum, where we were greeted with colorful fall foliage, a brilliant blue sky, and seasonable temperatures.  The Abbott Center Auditorium in the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia was the venue for the well-attended forum.  We were warmly welcomed by Cabell West, President, Garden Club of Virginia, Ann Doyle, Chairman, Conservation and Beautification Committee, and Professor Richard Brownlee, co-leader of the Darden Batten Institute’s initiative on innovation and sustainable business.  The Darden School has been involved in sustainability for over 20 years, when Dr. Brownlee recognized that what is good for the environment and the world is also good for business.  Outstanding in the United States in the field of business sustainability, The Darden School was the perfect venue for this year’s forum.

Forum Chairman Karen Jones and members of the GCV’s Conservation and Beautification Committee assembled a talented panel of experts who spoke on sustainability.  Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, moderated the panel that included Larry Schweiger, President and Chief Executive Officer of National Wildlife Federation, who spoke about sustainability on the national level.  Schweiger emphasized that sustainability across the country is possible only through the implementation of a national plan to reduce climate change pollution.  Speaking about regional sustainability, Chris Miller, President of the Piedmont Environmental Council discussed integrating land conservation, local agriculture, historic tourism, land-use, and transportation solutions in the Piedmont region of Virginia. Here citizen-residents were consulted in the planning phase, and were given choice and voice in the procedures of identifying areas for slow growth as well as development. This region is recognized as one of the best “smart growth” areas in the United States. Rachel Flynn, Richmond’s Director of Community Development, discussed the creative designs, planning, and implementation of  revitalization plans for our capital city.  Here, too, Richmond residents were involved in the planning and design processes. Rachel emphasized that in order to save our planet and earth, we must first save our cities and towns–and Richmond is well on its way under her guidance.  A lively question and answer period followed the presentations, and everyone left invigorated and inspired to get to work on different aspects of sustainability.

The Albemarle Garden Club made the impressive floral arrangements that graced the hall, and Harris Teeter donated cloth shopping bags to all forum attendees.  The Darden School of Business and their Office of Sustainability provided support for the forum, and The Virginia Sportsman covered the event. Exhibitors included:  Charlottesville Community Design Center; Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Dan River Basin Association; Friends of Shenandoah Mountain; James River Green Building Council; National Audubon Society; National Wildlife Federation; Net Impact, UVA;  Piedmont Environmental Council; Public Policy Virginia; Scenic Virginia; Sierra Club; Southern Environmental Law Center; Trout Unlimited; Turning House Furniture; Virginia Association of Counties; Virginia Conservation Network; Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; Virginia Environmental Endowment; Virginia League of Conservation Voters; Virginia Society of Ornithology/Friends of Dragon Run; Wild Virginia; and Wise Energy for Virginia.

Select photos of speakers and forum activities follow; more may be found on the GCV website. Photography courtesy of Lea Shuba.

Merry A. Outlaw, Williamsburg Garden Club

 

Martinsville Garden Club Member Shares Green Website

Karen Jones, a member of the Martinsville Garden Club and the Garden Club of Virginia Conservation Committee, shared this wonderful Sierra Club website with me, and I thought you may enjoy it, too.  Sign up for the The Green Life email newsletter and you’ll receive a new idea for living well and doing good from Sierra magazine in your inbox every weekday! Enjoy!

Merry A. Outlaw, Williamsburg Garden Club

Williamsburg Garden Club Member’s Fall Foliage

Merry A. Outlaw, Williamsburg Garden Club

Garden Club of Virginia Member Ponders the Proposed Coal-Fired Power Plant in Surry

Debate continues in Tidewater and on the Southside of Virginia about Old Dominion Electric Cooporative’s (ODEC)  six-billion dollar, 1,500 megawatt coal-fired power plant proposed for Dendron in Surry County. If built, the plant would would be Virginia’s largest coal-burning plant, almost three times the size Dominion Virginia Power’s Wise County 585-megawatt plant currently under construction.  

Estimated annual emissions include 3,685 tons of sulfur dioxide, 3,085 tons of nitrogen oxides, 2,722 tons of particulates, 118 pounds of mercury, and 14.6 million tons of carbon dioxide.  Carbon dioxide is the gas that produces global warming.  Coal used in the plant may come from the practice that causes so much devastation in the southwestern part of Virginia known as mountaintop removal.

ODEC is not a profit-based energy company, rather they are a member-owned wholesale power supplier to 11 local electric distribution cooperatives in the mid-Atlantic, and their mission is to serve their over one million members.  They encourage energy efficiency and credit members with saving hundreds of megawatts  of electricity, thereby delaying, by several years, the need to construct a power station. 

To further delay or halt the need for an enormous new coal-fired power plant, I wonder if ODEC ’s members have considered investing in green, low-carbon energy savings and solutions, such as retrofitting  homes and offices with high-performance windows, weatherizing low-income homes, installing efficient heating and cooling systems? How about installing solar panels on members’ homes?  (Click here to see how one person did it in his own home.) Or, how about helping members install small, attractive wind  energy systems to power their homes?

Six billion dollars? One million members?  I wonder…

Merry A. Outlaw, Williamsburg Garden Club

Garden Club of Virginia Notes Interactive G-20 Carbon Emissions Website

The Washington Post invites you to explore changes, since 1950, in fossil fuel carbon emissions for G-20 countries on a keen new interactive website.  Total emissions of various countries, emissions per capita, and  specific details about individual countries are viewable by clicking on icons or by moving a slider bar.  To visit this fun and informative interactive site, click here.

Merry A. Outlaw, Williamsburg Garden Club